Sustainable Arlington

Wednesday 18

VW's Electrify America to Install EV Chargers at Walmart Stores

Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE) unit Electrify America will install electric vehicle charging stations at more than 100 Walmart Inc (WMT.N) store locations in 34 U.S. states by mid-2019 as part of Electrify’s plans to bolster charging infrastructure across the country, the two companies said on Wednesday. “We recognize that electric vehicles are going to grow and become more relevant,” Mark Vanderhelm, vice president for energy at Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, told Reuters. “We are trying to get out in front of that.” The Walmart charging stations are part of a broader Electrify America project to install 2,000 chargers at nearly 500 charging stations across the country by June 2019. Wayne Killen, Electrify America’s senior director for infrastructure, said that 80 percent of the Walmart charging stations would be at store locations alongside highways, while the remaining 20 percent would be in metro areas. Killen said the highway locations will primarily provide chargers for trips between U.S. cities but also cross-country journeys along Interstate 10 between Santa Monica, California and Jacksonville, Florida, plus Interstate 80 that runs from San Francisco and Teaneck, New Jersey. “These charging stations will go a long way toward convincing folks that there are a lot of chargers out there,” Electrify America’s Killen said. Clusters of four to 10 chargers will be installed at the Walmart charging stations. VW has agreed to spend $800 million in California and a total of $2 billion nationwide on clean car infrastructure as part of its agreement after admitting to diesel[…]

MIT Spin-off Faces Daunting Challenges on Path to Build a Fusion Power Plant in 15 Years

Commonwealth Fusion Systems has pledged to build a commercial fusion reactor based on new superconducting magnets. Fusion power is always two or three decades away.  Dozens of experimental reactors have come and gone over the years, inching the field forward in some regard, but still falling short of their ultimate goal: producing cheap, abundant energy by fusing hydrogen nuclei together in a self-sustained fashion. Now an MIT spin-off wants to use a new kind of high-temperature superconducting magnet to speed up development of a practical fusion reactor.  The announcement, by Commonwealth Fusion Systems, based in Cambridge, Mass., caused quite a stir.  CFS said it will collaborate with MIT to bring a fusion power plant online within 15 years—a timeline faster by decades than other fusion projects. CFS, which recently received an investment of US $50 million from Eni, one of Europe’s largest energy companies, says the goal is to build a commercial fusion reactor with a capacity of 200 MWe.  That’s a modest output compared to conventional fission power plants—a typical pressurized water reactor, or PWR, can produce upwards of 1,000 MWe—but CFS claims that smaller plants are more competitive than giant, costly ones in today’s energy market. It’s certain that, between now and 2033, when CFS expects to have its reactor ready for commercialization, the company will face a host of challenges.  These revolve around key milestones that include:  fabricating and testing the new class of superconducting magnets, and using them to build an experimental reactor, which CFS named[…]

Children's Health Is Disproportionately Affected by Climate Change

They're more vulnerable than adults. Rising temperatures, drought, and weather disasters can threaten people’s health.  Nobody is exempt.  But … Perera:  “The health of children is disproportionately affected by climate change.” Frederica Perera is director of the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health.  She says children are vulnerable because their immune systems are not mature.  And, their rapidly growing bodies are more sensitive to damage from disease and environmental contaminants. In particular, children are more likely than adults to die from diarrheal disease, which is expected to become more common in some areas as the climate warms. And some children are at more risk than others. Perera:  “It is the children living in low income countries and communities who are most affected.” Low-income communities often lack the resources to effectively prevent and treat illness.  What’s more, climate change-related food shortages can lead to malnourishment, which puts children at greater risk of other health problems. To help protect children, Perera says we need to limit global warming by reducing fossil fuel emissions. Read more at Children's Health Is Disproportionately Affected by Climate Change

Tesla Aiming to Build 6,000 Model 3 Cars per Week by End-June

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) is aiming to ramp up production to 6,000 Model 3 cars per week by the end of June to reach its weekly goal of 5,000 and allow for a margin of error, automotive news website Electrek reported on Tuesday, citing a letter to employees from Chief Executive Elon Musk. Underscoring Tesla’s need to roll out cars quickly to customers and collect needed revenue, the company will also begin working around the clock on the Model 3 sedan, adding another shift within general assembly, and both the body and paint shops, Electrek quoted Musk as saying....The news comes a day after Tesla temporarily suspended its Model 3 assembly line in what the company said was a planned pause, its second since February, to improve automation and address bottlenecks that have delayed production. “We will be stopping for three to five days to do a comprehensive set of upgrades.  This should set us up for Model 3 production of 3,000 to 4,000 per week next month,” Electrek quoted Musk as saying. “Another set of upgrades starting in late May should be enough to unlock production capacity of 6,000 Model 3 vehicles per week by the end of June,” he added. Read more at Tesla Aiming to Build 6,000 Model 3 Cars per Week by End-June:  Report