California runs on 100 percent renewables, briefly, for the first time ever

Less than two weeks after notching up a record 97.6% of instantaneous renewables on its grid, California has passed a major new milestone, with 100% of the state’s electricity supplied by renewable sources for a short period over the weekend.

According to the California Independent System Operator, the milestone was achieved within a 15-minute period between 2.45 pm and 3 pm on Saturday, April 30, California time, marking the first time ever the massive state has been powered entirely by renewables.

Such levels have become common in smaller grids such as South Australia, but the milestone in California – one of the world’s biggest economies and biggest grids – is hugely significant.

As illustrated in the charts below, when state electricity demand passed 18GW at around 2.50pm, renewable energy was supplying around 18.6GW, compared to just over 2GW each from nuclear and gas, and a measly 9MW from coal.

At that time, the vast majority of the renewable energy supply was coming from California’s solar power resources, around 12.4GW, while another 4.7GW was being supplied by wind power. Geothermal, small hydro, biogas, and biomass filled out the remainder.

The state has been edging towards the 100% milestone for weeks, hitting a previous high of 97.6% on April 03, which had, in turn, beat the previous record of 96.4 percent set on March 27.

The milestone was celebrated on social media platforms including Twitter and LinkedIn as the first, but definitely not last time for a state that is shooting for 60% renewables by 2030 100% “carbon-free” by 2045.

“Twenty years ago no one thought we could get to 100% renewable energy. But bit by bit, bill by bill, and solar panel by the solar panel we did it,” said Dan Jacobson, a senior advisor to Environment California.

“This is a great day for California and the rest of the world. 100% clean energy is ready for prime time. The future is here today in California,” Jacobson said.

“Now we need to get our state running on 100% clean energy for the whole day, the whole week, and the whole year. It’s time to move to 100% clean energy, 100% of the time.”

The milestone comes as California debates the future of nuclear power in the state, with Governor Gavin Newsom under pressure to prolong the operating life of the state’s last remaining nuclear plant.

The state government has been planning since 2016 to replace the Diablo Canyon facility this decade with solar, battery storage, and wind, but is considering applying for a federal grant to extend its life.

Meanwhile, the addition of new renewable capacity in the state is cracking on, with 600MW of solar and 200MW of wind scheduled to be added to the grid by the beginning of June, along with 1.3GW worth of new battery storage capacity, which is expected to grow from 2,700MW to 4,000MW by June 1.

Source: reneweconomy

Evolution of wind turbine over the years

 Evolution of wind turbine heights and outputs.:

For conventional generators, such as a coal plant, a megawatt of capacity will produce electricity that equates to about the same amount of electricity consumed by 400 to 900 homes in a year. https://lnkd.in/gyMsFXxf

In the near future, one wind turbine can power 5200-13,500 homes!

Coexpair breaks record with 12 meters long RTM equipment!

 1000 tons clamping force, 180°C heating, aluminum mold, close dimensional tolerances. A multi-molds industrial side loading workstation with an integrated large injection system.

Coexpair & Radius Engineering Partners, the largest suppliers of aerospace RTM equipment worldwide, welcome you at JEC Paris next week (Hall 5 - booth L58). We are ready for your most challenging projects!

Source:Andre B -CEO (Coexpair)

Indian EV passenger vehicle quarterly sales in Q1-2022

Indian EV passenger vehicle mass-market has posted the highest-ever quarterly sales in Q1-2022. This is largely contributed by Tata products namely – Nexon EV and Tigor EV. The introduction of the right BEV products at the right price is fueling the EV demand in India. With a 95% market share, Tata continues to be the market leader with the right product at the right price, way ahead of competitors. Tata Nexon EV has even outsold Nexon diesel in 2022!

UBC team discovers ‘silver bullet’ to keep medical devices free of bacteria

University of British Columbia researchers have found a ‘silver bullet’ to kill bacteria and keep them from infecting patients who have medical devices implanted.

The team from UBC and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute has developed a silver-based coating that can easily be applied to devices such as catheters and stents. Their novel formulation, discovered by screening dozens of chemical components, overcomes the complications of silver that have challenged scientists for years.

“This is a highly effective coating that won’t harm human tissues and could potentially eliminate implant-associated infections. It could be very cost-effective and could also be applicable to many different products,” said Dr. Jayachandran Kizhakkedathu (he/him), professor in UBC’s department of pathology and laboratory medicine, Centre for Blood Research and Life Sciences Institute and co-senior author of the study published today in ACS Central Science.

Implanted medical devices can save lives, but they carry a great risk of infection which usually arises from contamination as the device is being implanted. Urinary tract infections from catheters, for example, are among the most common hospital-acquired infections.

Silver has long been viewed as a potential solution because of its ability to kill bacteria, but its use on implanted devices poses several challenges that have stumped researchers until now. The main challenge is its toxicity. Too much of the poison that kills bacteria can also be bad for human cells and tissues.

Coatings incorporating silver have also proven overly complicated to make, lacked durability, became easily gummed up with proteins or crystals, or simply didn’t adhere well to the surface of devices and implants.

The UBC team led by Dr. Hossein Yazdani-Ahmadabadi, a former chemistry PhD student from the Kizhakkedathu laboratory, combined silver nitrate, dopamine, and two hydrophilic polymers to generate the coating. Once implanted, it releases silver ions gradually in small, controlled quantities—enough to kill bacteria but not harm human cells. It repels live and dead bacteria and other fouling agents from its surface, keeping it clean.

It also maintains its killing activity for longer than has been achieved by other coatings.

The researchers tested it for 30 days in an environment with a high concentration of diverse and resilient bacteria known to cause infections. Their device came away with no bacteria attached. A seven-day test with live rats was performed the same way and did not harm the rats’ tissues.

“Other silver-based coatings rely on contact killing, meaning the bacteria have to attach to the material in order to be exposed to the silver and die.

Source: Kizhakkedathu laboratory

how processing conditions are impacting crystallinity and as a consequence the performance of plastic parts.

 🔥Rule of thumb post - how processing conditions are impacting crystallinity and as a consequence the performance of plastic parts.

Crystallinity only plays a role with semi-crystalline polymers such as polyamides and polyolefins. High-density polyethylene can achieve crystallinity levels of 85% and ranges among the polymers with the highest crystallinity. Allover, for most semi-crystalline polymers crystallinity, ranges below 50%.

📌Mechanism of crystallinity

The main drivers for crystallinity are time and temperature. The formation of crystallinity starts below the melting point and stops below the glass transition area. As long the material is above the glass transition point, molecule mobility is given to form regions of crystallinity within the amorphous regions. Therefore, the most effective temperature window is below the melting point and above the glass transition point. Crystal formation and growth vary for each semi-crystalline polymer and there is an optimum temperature for growth. The slowest growth is achieved just below the melting point.

📌What to take care of during processing (injection moulding)

In general, the faster the crystals form and with them the material modulus, the faster the part demoulding can take place. For optimizing the cycle time, moulders tend to lower the mould temperature, which in fact is counterproductive. Selecting the optimal mould temperature will result in high yield quality parts. 

The table shown in the document below shows the crystallinity of selected polymers with their tool temperatures.

📌Advantages of high crystallinity

The high crystallinity results in high strength, stiffness, higher chemical resistance and a higher resistance toward environmental stress cracking (ESC). Furthermore, the modulus retention of unfilled semi-crystalline polymers above the glass transition temperature is higher compared to amorphous polymers. Unreinforced PBT has a modulus of 2340 MPa at room temperature and at 100°C the modulus still achieves levels of 330 MPa. Another example is polyamides: the water uptake occurs mainly in the amorphous regions. The higher the crystallinity, the lower the amorphous regions with water uptake possibilities. As a result part dimensions will be kept more accurate.

Sumitomo Chemical’s New Facility to Commercialize Sustainable Polyolefin

 Sumitomo Chemical completed the construction at its Chiba Works (Ichihara, Chiba, Japan) of a pilot facility to manufacture ethylene using renewable ethanol as a raw material. The Company will verify an ethylene manufacturing technology at this new facility to commercialize polyolefin products that are environmentally sustainable and compatible with a circular economy and will provide samples to develop the market, with the aim of contributing to creating a circular economy.

Plastics such as polyolefin are essential materials for everyday life and are widely used in a variety of applications, such as automobiles, electronic devices, and packages and containers. Meanwhile, it has become a pressing global issue to recycle plastic products made from fossil resources and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions generated over their lifecycle, from production to disposal after use.

Circular Economy Initiatives

The new pilot facility at Chiba Works will produce ethylene from ethanol produced from waste by SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD., with which Sumitomo Chemical is collaborating on circular economy initiatives, as well as from bio-ethanol derived from biomass, such as sugarcane and corn. Leveraging the R&D and process engineering capabilities it has cultivated over many years, Sumitomo Chemical will work on the validation and scale-up of manufacturing technology for converting renewable ethanol into ethylene*1, while also working to produce, renewable ethanol-based ethylene, polyolefin products with quality equivalent to conventional polyolefin, with the aim of commercializing it in FY2025.

In addition, aiming to commercialize those polyolefin products as environmentally-sustainable products, Sumitomo Chemical will work to quantify their impact on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by life-cycle assessment using the Company’s proprietary carbon footprint calculation system. It will also begin an effort to obtain ISCC PLUS certification for those polyolefin products to manage them across its entire supply chain, from raw materials to finished products, by applying the mass balance approach. In addition, Sumitomo Chemical will launch a new website to provide customers with useful information on and promote the marketing of, its sustainable technologies and products. The Company will consider selling the renewable ethanol-based polyolefin products under its Meguri®4 brand, launched last year, to raise its profile in society and their value.

Source: Sumitomo Chemical