Texas Cities Get More Electric Vehicle Charging

NRG Energy (editors note: I get it!) has announced that they are going to be installing 70 EV charging stations in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area and 50 more in Houston by the end of next year, which is exciting considering Texas's traditional focus on oil.

NRG has holdings in wind, solar, and nuclear energy which is good considering one of the complaints about electric vehicles is that a majority of the electricity that will be used to power these vehicles is coming from dirty sources such as coal.

Yes, I realize that nuclear isn't completely clean and has risks which have become painfully apparent with the happenings in Japan, but I still maintain that it is a better technology than coal which essentially poisons everything it touches.

The only lame part of this story is the fact that NRG is planning on calling these stations "freedom stations." Nothing against freedom, but seriously? So weak.

In any event, the EV's success is going to be initially determined by the southern and western states which all have ideal climates for EV operation (warm, dryish, not too many hills). Because of this, it is good to see that cities are getting ahead of the curve and providing a charging infrastructure for the initial adopters of these vehicles.

Electric Vehicle Charging? There's An App For That.

First off, I am sorry that I missed Sunday Comics and Monday's post. I was sick and I probably would have just posted gibberish anyways seeing that I am the only writer for this blog, so it was probably for the best that I waited until today.


With that said, I am planning to have a post go out today (obviously), tomorrow, and then Friday - all of which will be followed by TWO comics over the weekend. I don't spoil you because I care, I just like the attention.
---

I've been looking for a way to weasel in a reference to the iPhone on this blog for a while now, but I haven't seen an opportunity until now.

There is a new addition to Apple's App Store that is promoting a sustainable lifestyle through EV Plug Sharing. It is called PlugShare, which has been released by California-based Xatori.

The New York Times screams:

“We want to break down that barrier in people’s minds about where it’s acceptable to charge,” said Armen Petrosian, Xatori’s co-founder and chief technology officer. “We think the infrastructure to charge is everywhere.”

Drivers can punch in their destination to see the availability of shared outlets as well as public charging stations along their route.

This is pretty cool because even if you don't own an electric car, you can still be part of the adoption movement of EV's by making your home available as a charging station. Why would you do that?

Profit.

I started writing this article just so I could put this picture on the blog.

The way I see it, this is a great way to make some money off these EV suckers... I wish I could get one.

If you have a person that wants to plug into your charging station for an hour or so, this will cost you about 20 cents. Solution? Charge them a dollar.

This is Lemonade Stand 101. Granted, if you are running a Level 2 charging station, the 240 Volt AC you are distributing will be more expensive, but that is just when you scale your prices.

Are you going to become rich doing this? Probably not, but at least you are doing something to help inspire change. One of the biggest hurdles that EV's will face is the charging network that needs to be put in place.

However, Apps like this open up a world of possibility that isn't available with the traditional gasoline infrastructure, and this could end up being pretty cool if people embrace the technology.

Chicago's Infrastructure Project: Electric Vehicle Charging

A faithful reader emailed me this article late Monday evening, and my first reaction was to write up an article right then and there because the subject matter was very exciting...

...then a voice popped up in the back of my head:

BUT WAIT! If I write an article now, that means that I will have to write 4 articles this week to maintain the Monday/Wednesday/Friday structure you have laid out. The HORROR.

So now thanks to my never failing rational/procrastinating side, you are getting this article a bit later, but I promise it is still good!
---

Some very exciting things have been happening lately. No, not the fact that Charlie Sheen has turned his failed career into one of the most exciting one-line quote factories to ever exist (I'm Bi-Winning!).

Chicago is going to start investing deeply into an Electric Vehicle charging network. Exelon has partnered with the city in an effort to roll out 280 charging stations throughout the Chicagoland area, including two sections that will be equipped with solar power!

“ComEd is preparing now for what may be a large influx of PHEVs in the market and managing its impact on the grid,” Kerry Kelly-Guiliano, the Exelon spokesperson, said in an email, referring to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. “And they are putting in place the charging infrastructure to demonstrate that Chicago is plug-in ready.”

The locations for the charging stations have yet to be determined, but Kelly-Guiliano said they would most likely be deployed at places like shopping malls, Chicago’s two airports, and rest stops along the Illinois Tollway in the city.

This is exciting news because one of the biggest hurdles to EV adoption will be the availability of charging stations to help curb range anxiety. By getting ahead of the curve, Chicago is making strides to show early adopters that their investments will be supported.

The one thing I wish this article did say was what types of charging stations they will be rolling out and what the charging time stats are projected to be for these "electric pumps," but I suppose that information will become available shortly.

High-speed Rail: Florida Vacation Edition

Greetings from Sanibel Island! Right now it is 66°F and sunny, a nice change from the Chicago weather that I have been weathering (Editors Note: Word Play!) for the past few months.

Do you ever sit and watch television while traveling and enjoy how different the programming is when compared to your home's channels?

• Why do the cheesy car dealership commercials seem even cheesier here?
• Why do the Anchormen/women on the local news seem weird?
• Where the hell is ESPN?

These are the questions I ask myself when I sleep in and wait until it is time to go to the beach. However, today I had to ask myself an even more serious question about the news...

Why the hell did Florida torpedo the high-speed rail that was planned between Tampa and Orlando?

The governor of Florida stated:

He also said if the project failed, the state would have to return the money to the federal government. Scott said he informed U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood of his decision earlier Wednesday.

I don't know enough about the finer workings of project funding, but here is the thing though: It wouldn't fail.

Orlando is essentially the hottest tourism spots in the nation, and the high-speed rail between Orlando and Tampa is just a piece of a larger rail system. High-speed rail WILL be implemented in other states which will lead to revenue streams that Florida will lag behind and ultimately have to play catchup.

In a state which is hurting for new sources of revenue due to the housing collapse and the generally undiversified economy, you would think that attracting more tourism and new markets would be high on the list of things to do.

And here is my final point, which is also more of a finishing blow. If federal funding is such a bad thing and the governor expects private industry to take the initiative on these projects, then where do you think Florida would be without the Federal-Aid Highway Act and I-75?

There is no way that private industry would have constructed any highway system, and this state would be completely different without the artery that is I-75.

I'm getting kind of preachy, but here are the points to take away from all this:

• High-speed rail needs to be the future of America's transportation infrastructure.
• This won't happen without federal assistance.
• Florida's rejection won't stop other states from pursuing these systems.
• This will lead to Florida falling further behind other states.

I'm off to lay on the beach!

Electric Vehicles: The Charging Hurdle

Even though job searching and application submissions have reached a fever pitch for yours truly, I did get around to reading an interesting article on electric vehicles and the charging infrastructure that needs to be developed. The entire article can be found here, but I actually thought the most interesting part of the entire article was the comments section.

For those that read a lot of articles (or watch a lot of YouTube videos), you will know that the comments sections are typically plagued with misinformed ranting and multiple ad hominem attacks. While these are sometimes amusing to read, it is scary to think that there are actually people out there that are subscribing to these shallow points of view.

With this in mind, I was relieved to see a poster that went by the name of Garry G actually presenting interesting points of view. The most enjoyable part of this rather long commentary was when he said the following:

"I am a professional strategist w/ clients in the transportation/utility infrastructure world - and realize this is a multi-decade transition. But building fixed plug in infrastructure is a 20th century strategy to a 21st century problem. Portable fuels must be included in the EV media landscape."

I believe that this is a concept that many people are not ready to truly wrap their heads around. Most people are still trying to make EV's fit into the traditional vehicle model, which may prove to be similar to trying to pound a round peg into a square hole.

While Garry G doesn't present any concrete solutions, his comments provide readers a different way of thinking about how we should approach these issues. Even though I know the majority of people that read the article will probably not even read what he said, it was a breathe of fresh air in an otherwise hostile commentary environment.

On a not-so-related note, saying ad hominem made me think of a great Surviving The World that was just posted and I have linked to below. Enjoy!

Back To Basics: Bike Infrastructure

Living near Chicago, I have enjoyed the perks of having various bike paths throughout the city and along the lake. It is great exercise and provides and cheap way to get from point A to B without emitting any pollution or consuming fuel.

My Sweet Ride

This addresses two obvious issues that are very important to this country:

• Weight Control
• Energy Consumption

To my surprise though, job creation may be addressed through the expansion of a biking infrastructure. A study in Baltimore has shown that the investment into biking infrastructures creates more jobs when compared to a focus on traditional roadways:

Each $1 million spent creating on-street bike lanes directly creates 7.9 jobs and creates a total of 14.4 jobs when we include the indirect and induced effects,” the author, Heidi Garrett-Peltier, writes, “The two categories of road repairs have the lowest employment effects, with 3-4 direct jobs and approximately 7 total jobs created for each $1 million.

Obviously this interests me because biking reduces pollution and helps people lead a healthier life, all while being financially attractive to the government.

As I have said before, the only way any of these environmentally friendly projects will achieve staying power is if they make financially sound arguments, and as far as I can tell from this Baltimore study, a furthered investment into biking infrastructures seems like a no-brainer.

Combining Infrastructures: Cellular Networks & Wind Turbines

I was driving today streaming Pandora Radio through my iPhone and I began to think about how this would not have been possible over 5 years ago due to the lack of high-speed data networks spread across the area.

For the most part high-speed networks are plentiful around big cities such as Chicago, but they are still lacking in the remote parts of the nation. A good example of this is when I was driving from Chicago to Ohio during Thanksgiving.

For the most part, Pandora was able to stream throughout Northern Indiana along 1-65, but it started to get choppy when I passed Indianapolis all the way along 1-70 to Columbus.  The choppiness could be attributed to the patchy high-speed coverage along the highway, and this is where I believe a logical solution presents itself.

Because data networks tend to suffer in remote areas and wind turbines tend to produce the most energy in the same remote areas, I think this is a great opportunity for cellular companies to partner with wind turbine manufacturers and construct hybrid wind turbine-cellular towers.

There are a few examples of these being built, but nothing on a large scale.  More and more people are relying on these high-speed data networks for their everyday lives, which means that these networks will need to be bulked up all across the nation.  This will increase their demand for energy, and I believe that this is a great opportunity for them to invest in clean energy.

By constructing wind turbines that double as cell towers they are essentially increasing their bottom line by not having to buy energy from utilities and instead being able to sell the excess energy back to consumers.

Like any of these energy solutions, this would require a larger upfront investment, but considering that America's information network is an ongoing project, I don't see a reason why they wouldn't attack both of these long-term projects at the same time.

When most business decisions come down to resource allocation, building one tower instead of two saves money and makes sense.

Solar Versus Wind: Solar Is Sexier

A recent poll taken inside my own head shows that sex sells; so guess what, baby? Solar is sexy.

A Google Image Search for "Sexy Solar" turned up some weird stuff.  Rawr.

Yes, the cost of wind energy is more competitive with energy produced from incinerating coal (if you like to ignore the social and environmental externalities that aren't taken into consideration), but solar is so much cooler.

This is because solar can be implemented on a more personal level.  They can be installed on a smaller scale allowing users to avoid many of the the NIMBY issues that plague neighborhoods debating whether they should invest in a wind turbine or not.  Homeowners can install solar panels on their roof to generate their own electricity and heat their water, and now drivers have been able to have a solar panel on the roof of their car to power their airconditioning (as seen in the 2010 Toyota Prius).

My rendition of the 2013 Toyota Prius - Wind Edition... Consumers will hate it.

These are things that people haven't been able to do on a small scale with wind turbines and solar keeps advancing on enjoying more applications.  One example of these advancements can be seen with Konarka, a company pursuing "solar plastic" as Grist reports:

Konarka of Lowell, Mass., says its "Power Plastic" has set a new record, achieving a 8.3 percent efficiency rate in converting sunlight into electricity. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory certified the efficiency rating....

...Now, 8.3 percent is less than half the efficiency of a conventional crystalline silicon photovoltaic panel like those found on residential rooftops. But it's a notable achievement for a solar cell that uses organic molecules to generate electricity. The great promise of organic molecules is that they can be produced at far less cost than standard silicon solar panels, but the low efficiency of organic photovoltaics has limited their use.

This is exciting because as solar panels become lighter and more customizable, they can be placed in even more places.  One example that Grist gives is that these plastic panels can be used as roofs for bus stop waiting stations to power lights and wireless routers.

I think this is great because as I mentioned yesterday, the faster that cities start placing more of their infrastructure "off-the-grid" with alternative energy sources, the more money tax payers will save.