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Global research from ABB E-Mobility shows: Children drive the future of electric vehicles

Brian Pierce on October 7, 2022

Children are already driving the electric car revolution even though they are not yet allowed to drive themselves, a new global survey shows. ABB E-Mobility, the world leader in electric vehicle charging solutions, has conducted research that shows that children not only educate parents on environmental issues and rebuke them when they behave in an unfriendly way, but also contribute to discussions around larger purchases, for example electric vehicles.

Children play an important role in accelerating the transition to electric cars, shows a study from ABB E-Mobility ahead of World EV Day.
Almost 60 percent of parents say they are educated about environmental issues by their children, and over two-thirds discuss electric car purchases with them
Despite an increasing demand, almost half of parents say that their employer’s policy does not support the transition to electric cars

Other questions raised in the survey show both the pace of the changeover to electrification and in which areas work remains to be done. Almost 8 out of 10 parents say they would be more likely to buy a particular property if there was an electric vehicle charger installed – such as ABB’s Terra AC charging box – which shows how important it is to facilitate easy and convenient charging.

That children are interested in the environment is a matter of time and it is something positive and shows that we can influence the new generation in a positive direction when it comes to the incredibly important environmental issue we are facing today. We all know that electric cars are important, but how can we switch to electric cars if we don’t have a good enough charging infrastructure for electric cars. Therefore, these young voices can be the melody of the future.

As a parent myself, I want to return a clean planet to my children and who better lobbyists for this than my own children.

Also Read: Very high electricity prices – this is how you protect yourself

Very high electricity prices – this is how you protect yourself

Brian Pierce on October 6, 2022

We are facing an autumn and winter with the risk of very high electricity prices. Here is current information about the electricity price situation and what you can do to protect your finances.

We understand your concern about electricity prices! Last winter, galloping costs led to multiple electricity costs for many customers and subscribers. We are now facing an autumn and winter when the risk is unfortunately great that electricity prices will reach even higher heights.

Save energy with new habits

The cheapest kilowatt-hour is the one that is not used! You can do more than you think to save more electricity and more money than you think and see the difference already tomorrow. What we can do to influence our electricity costs is to reduce our energy consumption.

Why are electricity prices so high?

The anxiety in the market is currently very high with very large price fluctuations from day to day and from hour to hour. Prices fluctuate both up and down, but from a historically high price level. The energy situation in Europe as a whole is very strained. See historical prices for electricity in the UK.

The most important reasons for high electricity prices right now:

The uncertainty surrounding the availability of gas and coal from Russia. Gas and oil prices currently have a major impact on electricity prices. Reduced access to nuclear power, from and to a little windy and thus reduced production of wind power electricity.

Review your warm-up

For most households, heating accounts for the largest part of electricity consumption. By switching to a more efficient heating solution, you can save a lot of electricity and thus a lot of money. And: the higher the electricity prices, the faster you can recoup the investment. The fastest and easiest way for many is to invest in a new heat pump.

There is a lot of talk about hourly rate agreements right now as a new way to reduce your electricity costs. The basic idea is that you use as much electricity as possible when electricity is cheapest. With an hourly price agreement, you get an electricity price per hour instead of per month. You pay the price of electricity exactly when you use it, every single hour. Hourly price agreements suit you who live in a villa or terraced house and can control and plan your electricity consumption for the low price hours.

Hepatitis and influenza viruses in the wastewater

Brian Pierce on October 6, 2022

During 2020 and the covid19 pandemic, researchers at KTH developed a method to detect the presence of coronavirus in wastewater. In this way, society could be warned if and when a new wave of disease was on its way. Now the researchers have expanded the virus hunt to also include, among other things, hepatitis, seasonal flu and monkeypox.

– Our research group has developed a new method to detect the presence of adenovirus F41, a virus identified as the primary cause of the new outbreak of hepatitis in children. Our method is specialized in measuring the amount of human adenovirus and we have just presented our method to the European Commission and the Public Health Agency, says Zeynep Cetecioglu Gurol, senior lecturer at KTH.

Increased number of outbreaks

The research work has been carried out at the Albanova University Center and colleague Mariel Perez Zabaleta, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Industrial Biotechnology at KTH, says that there are good reasons to keep an eye on the spread of various viruses in society. The World Health Organization WHO has reported an increasing number of outbreaks of hepatitis among children under the age of 16 in the world in 2022. The exact figures are 1,010 cases of which 22 deaths in a total of 35 countries.

– These cases are unrelated to travel, and most children tested positive for adenovirus F41 as the predominant, new hepatitis variant. Five percent of 1,010 children have had to undergo a liver transplant, says Mariel Perez Zabaleta.

She further explains that there are studies from 2022 that point to a connection between Adenovirus F41 (HAdV F41) and covid19 (SARS-CoV-2), that people with both viruses can have more powerful inflammations in, for example, the liver. This applies not least to children.

– Tracking how this hepatitis virus spreads in the population, and specifically keeping an eye on Adenovirus F41 in areas with schools, can help authorities and healthcare to act if they see a high spread of infection among young people. A clear picture of the ongoing spread of infection could also be helpful in investigating the cause of the hepatitis outbreak, says Mariel Perez Zabaleta.
Not only viruses are tracked

Not only viruses that cause covid19 and hepatitis

It is not only viruses that cause covid19 and hepatitis that researchers can now detect in waste water. In the hunt for monkeypox, samples have been analyzed from water treatment plants.

High demands on carbon dioxide reduction

Brian Pierce on October 5, 2022

The researchers assume that in 2040 there will be a requirement for 80 percent lower carbon dioxide emissions from the EU’s energy and transport system than the 1990 level, and that the requirement in 2060 will be 105 percent, i.e. negative emissions corresponding to 5 percent of the emissions for 1990.

It is assumed that carbon dioxide capture and storage is integrated with biomass use for power and industrial heat, and with biofuel production. Liquid biofuel from solid biomass is assumed to be based on residual products from the forest industry and produced via the Fischer Tropsch process.

The results of the model then show that cost-effective system solutions that reach the emission targets for the year 2040 may mean that the need for liquid fuels for the transport sector is still based on fossil raw materials. For 2060, the emissions target will be reached with the help of electrofuels and by compensating the use of fossil-based liquid fuels via negative emissions.

A cost perspective

Requirements for 20 percent mixing of biofuels in liquid fuels can increase the total energy system cost by 2-14 percent in 2040 (10-66 billion Euro). In 2060, 50 percent involvement would increase the cost by 4-8 percent (18-40 billion Euros).

– These are no small sums when you consider that all vehicle fuel in the EU in 2018 cost 280 billion euros, says Chalmers researcher Lina Reichenberg, who participated in the study.

This can be the effect at the system level if the availability of domestic biomass is limited and one is referred to importing more expensive biomass. The costs will then be higher than if the biomass is used for industrial heat and cogeneration.

The system becomes more flexible and less vulnerable if there is access to more different and more cost-effective technologies for converting biomass and if we can broaden access to bio-based raw materials. A complementary way is to develop flexible biorefineries that can adjust their production to respond to market needs. Then it is also easier to avoid lock-in effects.