Last modified on Mon 8 Mar 2021 04.00 EST
Instead of parking spaces, itâs flowerbeds and vegetable planters that line the car-free street of Solar Avenue in Leeds, where rows of 60 low-energy homes form a little oasis along a bend in the River Aire, a short walk from the city centre.
Built in a factory across the road, these terrace houses are made from super-airtight timber panels stuffed full of wood-fibre insulation, with triple-glazed windows and solar panels on the roof, each erected in less than a week. Using up to 10 times less energy than a conventional house, their heating demand is so low that they create excess electricity that is fed into a community grid and used to charge shared electric cars. There will soon be 1,000 such homes here, along with a combined primary school and care home, as well as a timber office building with yoga decks and a tennis court on the roof, together forming the pioneering Climate Innovation District.
Håkan Samuelsson, the Volvo chief executive, said the company did not want to be stuck targeting a shrinking market for petrol and diesel cars. He expected the carmaker’s sales to continue to grow as it moved to electric technology.
“To remain successful, we need profitable growth,” he said. “So instead of investing in a shrinking business, we choose to invest in the future – electric and online. We are fully focused on becoming a leader in the fast-growing premium electric segment.”
Rivals that have in 2021 unveiled formal plans to abandon fossil fuels include the Jaguar brand (by 2025) and luxury carmaker Bentley (by 2030). Jaguar’s move had “encouraged us to be a bit braver”, Samuelsson said.
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Scheme will issue vouchers to just 49,000 people by end of March at current rate, analysis finds
Forty per cent of UK emissions come from households. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian
Forty per cent of UK emissions come from households. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian
Fri 26 Feb 2021 01.00 EST
The government’s flagship green homes grant scheme will help just 8% of its target 600,000 households switch to renewable energy by the end of March, analysis reveals.
The £2bn for the scheme is being withdrawn at the end of next month. Analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank reveals that at the current rate it will issue vouchers to just 49,000 members of the public by that time.
Last modified on Fri 22 Jan 2021 09.19 EST
Electric vehicles are close to the âtipping pointâ of rapid mass adoption thanks to the plummeting cost of batteries, experts say.
Global sales rose 43% in 2020, but even faster growth is anticipated when continuing falls in battery prices bring the price of electric cars dipping below that of equivalent petrol and diesel models, even without subsidies. The latest analyses forecast that to happen some time between 2023 and 2025.
The tipping point has already been passed in Norway, where tax breaks mean electric cars are cheaper. The market share of battery-powered cars soared to 54% in 2020 in the Nordic country, compared with less than 5% in most European nations.