Vattenfall and BASF have agreed the sale of 49.5% of Vattenfall’s offshore wind farm Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ) in the Netherlands. Once fully commissioned it will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world and also the first one ever to be built without subsidies for the power produced. Vattenfall will use Hollandse Kust Zuid to supply fossil free electricity to its customers in the Netherlands. BASF will use its electricity share to support chemical production in sites across Europe. BASF and Vattenfall have signed a contract for the purchase of 49.5% of Vattenfall’s wind farm Hollands Kust Zuid by BASF. Including BASF’s contribution to fund the wind farm construction, BASF’s total commitment amounts to around €1.6 billion. Closing of the transaction is expected in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to the approval of the relevant authorities. Offshore construction of the wind farm will start in July 2021. Once fully operational, the wind farm will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world which does not receive any price subsidies for the power produced.
Spencerforhire
If you were asked to picture a typical electric vehicle (EV) owner, you probably wouldn’t think of James Watson. The 46-year-old from Stoney Creek, Ontario, isn’t a tech bro or an inner-city environmentalist. He’s a long-time car enthusiast who runs an automotive studio and collects MINIs. Seeking a reliable daily driver in 2016, he realised that EVs had begun to compete with traditional cars on price and took the plunge on a lease. Four years and 100,000 kilometres later, he was hooked. So, he decided to combine his passions to test out Canada’s first MINI Cooper SE, the electric version of the company’s popular MINI three-door hatch. This experience is quite common for first-time EV drivers. The electric car’s environmentally-friendly reputation belies serious power: because they don’t have to shift gears like their gas-powered counterparts, they can hit maximum torque from a standing start. And when that’s paired with a low centre of gravity (thanks to the location of the battery) and go-kart like handling, as in the MINI, the effect is even sportier. Result: the first-timer grin. “My wife actually didn’t like driving the car on Sport Mode, because she said it was too zippy,” Watson says. “So I’ve had to show her how to turn on Green Mode, which is more about range than performance.”
As we approach the finish line of Canada’s Future Fighter Capability Project, the competitive process to replace the legacy CF-18, proposals are the best fit for Canada and the Royal Canadian Air Force. With capability, affordability, and economic benefits to Canada playing unequal, but important roles in the process, Canada must make the right decision to ensure the RCAF can continue to deliver on a proud tradition of excellence in tactical fighter capability — today, and well into the future. But after years of covering this story, a common-sense solution has emerged; we can no longer afford the Lockheed Martin F-35. Allow me to explain. The last defense review — Strong, Secure, Engaged — determined Canada needed more fighter aircraft to protect its sovereignty and deliver on its defense partnership agreements than initially projected. That number grew from 65 to 88 fighters, and Canada’s current competitive fighter replacement process must deliver this quantity of aircraft as a mandatory requirement. This is the point where the Lockheed Martin F-35 option could fall out of contention. Depending on source, it will cost $36,000 per hour to operate the F-35.
In a recent review of the updated Tesla Model S Plaid, Motor Trend divulged that in stock form, the all-electric vehicle may not meet the required standards for competition in drag racing events sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). The updated Model S Plaid was revealed last week during a landmark event put on by the California based automaker. During the presentation, CEO Elon Musk extolled the capabilities of the flagship model, claiming that it has broken the “two-second barrier,” referring to the car’s 0-60 mph time. Turns out, that may be too fast for drag racing without additional safety modifications. According to the 2020 NHRA rulebook, a roll cage is mandatory in cars running 10.99 seconds or quicker in the quarter-mile or any car exceeding 135 mph.
Coal Miners Driving Teslas may seem like an oxymoron at first, but in the case of this particular YouTube channel, it’s actually something pretty amazing. I came across the story of these two brothers while working on another article about GM’s plan to convince Australia to adopt EVs. The two brothers, Daniel and Tim Bleakley, have created a YouTube channel where they share the experience of coal miners in Australia as they drive a Tesla. Daniel Bleakley, a native of Queensland, worked in the mining industry in Western Australia. He lost his job during the global financial crisis and started a printing company — only to later step away from that to focus on climate activism. “I’ve been growing it ever since but now I’ve stepped away to focus on climate activism. I’ve done a few actions with Extinction Rebellion, did a 10-day hunger strike. I was arrested for gluing myself to the Siemens window,” he told Crikey. “I put my life on hold to agitate for change.” The brothers are making an impact in a way that isn’t confrontational, and who better to share the Tesla experience with than coal miners — people who are exposing their health daily to mine an energy source that is also killing our planet.
Billed by championship co-founder Alejandro Agag as “probably the biggest news in the short history of Extreme E”, McLaren joins Cupra and GMC as the third manufacturer involved – while Lotus Engineering has a technical partnership with Jenson Button’s JBXE outfit. This decision to enter follows a “detailed evaluation of the series” carried out by McLaren, not unlike the process to decide if the team will take up its option to enter Formula E for the Gen3 rules in 2022-23. While McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown told select media, including Autosport, that no final decision had been made on a prospective Formula E or World Endurance Championship Hypercar programme, he said he expected Extreme E slots to be “sold out quickly” and that McLaren Racing “didn’t have the luxury of waiting another six months” to join. “We will be competing against big names we’re very familiar with from F1 and IndyCar [JBXE, Lewis Hamilton’s X44 team, Nico Rosberg’s Rosberg X Racing, Chip Ganaasi Racing] but, like all series we compete in, the competition objective is clear: we are there to win.”