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Articles Posted by M. Dodge Thomas

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  • Diversifying a US$200 billion market: The alternatives to Li-ion batteries for grid-scale energy storage

    02/23/2023 1:44:42 PM PST · by M. Dodge Thomas · 15 replies
    Energy Storage News ^ | February 21, 2023 | Oliver Warren
    Many stakeholders are pinning their long-term storage hopes on lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery storage solutions, with this market expected to grow by almost 20% per year between 2022 and 2023, according to Precedence Research. But the reality is that, although Li-ion batteries have an important role to play on the road to net zero, this technology is neither robust nor versatile enough to single-handedly fulfill energy storage requirements. As a result, a diverse range of alternative grid-scale solutions that can deliver an unprecedented expansion in storage capacity are needed to offset our reliance on Li-ion batteries and drive the renewable energy...
  • Europe’s largest transmission-connected BESS begins ‘world first’ reactive power services contract.

    02/13/2023 1:35:25 PM PST · by M. Dodge Thomas · 35 replies
    Energy Storge News ^ | Feb 13,223 | Andy Colthorpe
    A battery storage system in the UK has begun delivery of reactive power services to the grid in what has been claimed as a world first contract of its kind. Developer-investor Zenobe Energy also said that its 100MW/107MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Capenhurst, Chester, is currently the largest battery project directly connected to the transmission grid anywhere in Europe... The BESS will reduce the amount of curtailment of renewable energy, particularly wind, in the Mersey region of north-west England where it is located, as well as reducing the amount of gas-fired generation needed to balance the supply and...
  • Development of a lithium-air battery with an energy density over 500 wh/kg

    01/28/2022 10:05:54 AM PST · by M. Dodge Thomas · 77 replies
    Science Daily ^ | January 20, 2022 | National Institute for Materials Science, Japan
    Researchers have developed a lithium-air battery with an energy density of over 500Wh/kg -- significantly higher than currently lithium-ion batteries. The research team then confirmed that this battery can be charged and discharged at room temperature. In addition, the team found that the battery developed by the team shows the highest energy densities and best cycle life performances ever achieved. These results signify a major step toward the practical use of lithium-air batteries.
  • Invenergy Announces Approximately $3 Billion Investment from Blackstone Infrastructure Partners to Accelerate Renewable Development Activities

    01/10/2022 9:43:46 AM PST · by M. Dodge Thomas · 1 replies
    Blackstone Investment Group ^ | Jan 7, 2022 | Blackstone
    NEW YORK, NY, CHICAGO, IL, AND MONTRÉAL, QC – JANUARY 7, 2022 – Today, Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) announced that funds managed by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners have entered into a definitive agreement with Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Invenergy for an approximately $3 billion equity investment in Invenergy Renewables Holdings LLC (“Invenergy Renewables” or “the company”), the largest private renewable energy company in North America. Blackstone’s investment will provide capital to accelerate Invenergy’s renewables development activities. CDPQ and Invenergy management remain the majority owners of the company and Invenergy will continue as managing member.
  • Korea Zinc agrees to invest US$50m in gravity storage startup Energy Vault ahead of NYSE listing

    01/08/2022 2:48:37 AM PST · by M. Dodge Thomas · 24 replies
    Energy Storage News ^ | January 6, 2022 | Andy Colthorpe
    Gravity-based energy storage technology company Energy Vault has formed a strategic partnership with non-ferrous metals smelting and refinery company Korea Zinc, including a US$50 million investment commitment. The announcement, made yesterday, comes as Swiss-American company Energy Vault targets a business combination with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Novus Capital Corporation II. The transaction is expected to close during this quarter and the combined company, to be named Energy Vault Holdings, will list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as a result. Energy Vault said in October as it announced the intended merger that it has private investment in public...
  • Decommissioned Audi EV batteries used in 4.5MWh stationary energy storage system in Germany

    01/04/2022 2:56:29 AM PST · by M. Dodge Thomas · 8 replies
    Energy Storage News ^ | Andy Colthorpe
    Used lithium-ion batteries taken from carmaker Audi’s electric vehicles (EVs) have been repurposed into a ‘second-life’ stationary energy storage system by energy company RWE at a project in Herdecke, Germany. RWE has deployed the system, which has a capacity of around 4.5MWh, at the site of its pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) plant at Hengsteysee reservoir in the North-Rhine Westphalia region of north-west Germany. The decommissioned batteries are taken from development models of Audi’s e-tron EVs, which have a maximum range of 252 miles when used for transport. They still had about 80% of their residual capacity remaining when taken...
  • Unit Flexibility and Asset Optimization: Helping Coal-Fired Power Plants Survive in a Renewables-Driven Market

    12/28/2021 4:43:02 AM PST · by M. Dodge Thomas · 31 replies
    Power Magazine ^ | Dec 1, 2021 | POWER Editorial Board
    Current market conditions, political pressures, and environmental compliance burdens have greatly reduced the amount of power that coal-fired plants produce annually. However, the greatest impact on coal-fired plants has been the resurgence of the American natural gas market, thus providing an abundant and cheap source of a cleaner-burning fuel. Couple this with the growing impact of renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar power, and it’s easy to understand why many coal-fired plants are struggling to stay in operation. The survival of coal-fired power plants demands that managers adapt and reinvent their industry. Units must be able to provide...
  • Cadillac Drops 40% of Dealerships Unwilling to Invest in the Conversion to Electric Vehicles

    11/09/2021 7:15:35 PM PST · by M. Dodge Thomas · 167 replies
    Reuters ^ | Nov 8, 2021 | Joseph White
    Cadillac has largely completed a restructuring of its U.S. dealer network and expects to have 560 dealers by the end of this year, compared with about 920 three years ago, said Rory Harvey, head of the global Cadillac brand. GM (GM.N) has booked a total of $274 million in costs during 2020 and 2021 related to the effort to buy out Cadillac dealers who were not prepared to invest $200,000 to $500,000 per store in the equipment and training to support the brand's shift to an all-electric vehicle lineup, planned by 2030.
  • Tony Seba on The Collapse Of Carbon Based Enegy Sector

    10/16/2021 2:22:25 AM PDT · by M. Dodge Thomas · 88 replies
    RethinkX Group ^ | 1/1/21 | Tony Seba
    We are on the cusp of the fastest, deepest, most profound disruption of the energy sector in over a century. Like most disruptions, this one is being driven by the convergence of several key technologies whose costs and capabilities have been improving on consistent and predictable trajectories – namely, solar photovoltaic power, wind power, and lithium-ion battery energy storage. Our analysis shows that 100% clean electricity from the combination of solar, wind, and batteries (SWB) is both physically possible and economically affordable across the entire continental United States as well as the overwhelming majority of other populated regions of the...
  • Healthcare Economics in 8 Minutes (How To Really Make It Cheaper)

    03/25/2017 8:45:52 AM PDT · by M. Dodge Thomas · 46 replies
    Healthcare In America ^ | March 8th, 2017 | Joe Flower
    "Customers in healthcare ask a different question than customers in most markets. Whether hospitals (as customers of suppliers) or individuals needing an operation, healthcare customers mostly don’t ask, “Can we afford it?” Or even, “What’s the best value for the money?” They ask, “Is it covered? Can we get reimbursed for this?” And the reimbursement or coverage is set by complex non-market mechanisms that in most parts of the market are themselves opaque to the customer. So there is no real customer and no real price signal in most relationships throughout the market."
  • We Desperately Need a Twenty-First Century View of the Economy.

    02/21/2016 1:33:12 AM PST · by M. Dodge Thomas · 22 replies
    Evonomics ^ | 02-21-2016 | Nick Hanauer and Eric Beinhocker
    For everyone but the top 1 percent of earners, the American economy is broken. Since the 1980s, there has been a widening disconnect between the lives lived by ordinary Americans and the statistics that say our prosperity is growing. Despite the setback of the Great Recession, the U.S. economy more than doubled in size during the last three decades while middle-class incomes and buying power have stagnated.... (yet) for too many families, the American Dream is becoming more a historical memory than an achievable reality. These facts do not just highlight the issues of inequality and the growing power of...
  • Hospitals looking for cash upfront

    11/17/2013 5:57:44 AM PST · by M. Dodge Thomas · 64 replies
    The Chicago Tribune ^ | Nov 17, 2013 | Peter Frost, Chicago Tribune reporter
    Before undergoing an MRI, a CT scan or a surgery to clean up that wobbly knee, consumers had better become accustomed to hearing: "How do you intend to pay for that?"... The shift comes as more consumers enroll in so-called high-deductible health plans, which require consumers to pay more out of pocket in exchange for lower monthly premiums. As a result, health care providers must collect a larger portion of patient bills from consumers themselves, rather than their insurance companies. It's a delicate balance for hospitals, which have certain legal and ethical obligations to care for people who arrive with...
  • The Real Republican Adversary? Population Density

    09/04/2013 5:19:18 AM PDT · by M. Dodge Thomas · 26 replies
    Dave Troy Blog ^ | November 19th, 2012 | Dave Troy
    Curious about the correlation between population density and voting behavior, I began with analyzing the election results from the least and most dense counties and county equivalents. 98% of the 50 most dense counties voted Obama. 98% of the 50 least dense counties voted for Romney... At about 800 people per square mile, people switch from voting primarily Republican to voting primarily Democratic. Put another way, below 800 people per square mile, there is a 66% chance that you voted Republican. Above 800 people per square mile, there is a 66% chance that you voted Democrat. A 66% preference is...
  • Vanity: It's Time To Let Go Of "They Stole It"

    11/08/2012 6:25:55 AM PST · by M. Dodge Thomas · 82 replies
    11-8-2012 | Self
    Reading the last two days discussion of what happened Tuesday, IMO there is one line of argument that needs to be abandoned because it's both incorrect and counterproductive: "They stole it". The problem with the "vote fraud" theory is that that convincing evidence that it's not correct; for example the actual results were very close to the aggregate polling predictions in the last weeks before the election, see for example: http://election.princeton.edu/2012/11/07/after-the-storm/ For that to happen you would not only have to rig not only the election but also both the national and state level polling in such a way that...
  • Choosing the Road to Prosperity Why We Must End Too Big to Fail—Now

    04/15/2012 6:49:01 AM PDT · by M. Dodge Thomas · 6 replies
    Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas ^ | 4/1/2015 | Harvey Rosenblum
    The too-big-to-fail institutions that amplified and prolonged the recent financial crisis remain a hindrance to full economic recovery and to the very ideal of American capitalism. It is imperative that we break up the big banks...
  • Herman Cain's 9-9-9 Tax Plan

    10/19/2011 10:54:18 AM PDT · by M. Dodge Thomas · 25 replies
    Tax Policy Center ^ | Oct 18, 2011 | Tax Policy Center (Brookings Institution )
    "The Tax Policy Center has estimated the distributional effects of a fully-phased-in version of Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan. Herman Cain’s plan would eliminate the current individual income tax, corporate income tax, payroll tax, and estate and gift tax and substitute three taxes imposed at a 9 percent rate: 1) a 9 percent “national sales tax” 2) a 9 percent “business flat tax”, and 3) a 9 percent “individual flat tax.” Based on descriptions from the Cain campaign website and Fiscal Associates, the firm that analyzed the proposal for the Cain campaign, we conclude that all three taxes are versions...
  • Accounting fore the Cost of US Health Care - Executive Summary

    09/10/2011 5:37:44 AM PDT · by M. Dodge Thomas · 13 replies
    McKinsey Global Institute ^ | December, 2008 | McKinsey Global Institute
    See link for executive summary of study.
  • 2010 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations and Unfunded Mandates

    02/05/2011 7:04:00 AM PST · by M. Dodge Thomas · 2 replies
    Office of Management and Budget, US Goverment ^ | 1/1/2011 | Office of Management and Budget
    The Regulatory Right-to-Know Act calls for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit to Congress each year “an accounting statement and associated report” including: (A) an estimate of the total annual benefits and costs (including quantifiable and nonquantifiable effects) of Federal rules and paperwork, to the extent feasible: (1) in the aggregate; (2) by agency and agency program; and (3) by major rule; (B) an analysis of impacts of Federal regulation on State, local, and tribal government, small business, wages, and economic growth; and (C) recommendations for reform.
  • America's Economic Malady: A Bad Case of 'Baumol's Disease'

    12/12/2010 2:48:36 AM PST · by M. Dodge Thomas · 36 replies
    www.dailyfinance.com ^ | 12/11/10 See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/fMXqv2 | Charles Hugh Smith
    Goods-producing industries could achieve high productivity growth as labor-saving automation and supply-chain efficiencies scaled up. But jobs in nursing and teaching required the same number of person-hours with patients or students as they did in years past. In other words, labor-intensive services had far lower rates of productivity growth than did goods-producing industries. And yet salary increases in those service sectors -- education, health care, government, to name a few -- keep pace with those in industries where raises are justified by greater productivity. This difference has a consequence that few had noticed before: As gross domestic product rises due...
  • The Recession and Recovery in Perspective (Interactive Graphics)

    04/02/2010 6:44:51 AM PDT · by M. Dodge Thomas · 4 replies · 283+ views
    Federal Reserve Bank Minn. ^ | 4/2/2010 | Federal Reserve Bank Minn.
    The 2007-2009 recession is widely thought to have ended sometime last summer. How bad was this recession, and how quickly is the economy recovering? How does this recession and recovery compare to previous cycles?