Renault's 'Advanced Battery Storage' will help with renewable energy

Renault has launched an initiative which will use electric vehicle batteries in electricity storage systems for integration with national electricity grids, writes Brian Byrne.

The systems, labelled 'Advanced Battery Storage', will be able to store and provide a minimum of 60MWh of electricity to even out fluctuations between production and consumption in grids which use renewable energy from wind and solar as a component of their output.

The systems will be in place several sites in France and Germany by 2020.

They will use both 'second life' batteries from older EVs and new batteries stored while waiting for use in new electric vehicles.

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EMI causing car problems?

There's a lot of talk around that electromagnetic interference can be causing issues with the electronics of cars, causing problems like unintended acceleration.

It is generally denied by carmakers, who say their electronics are sufficiently shielded against EMI. But the suggestions persist, even into courtrooms.

This article in USA Today is a good resume of the situation.

Biomass 'better used for electricity'

The case for building an ethanol delivery infrastructure gets a hit today in favour of using biomass to produce electricity, as being 80 percent more efficient.

The report from Science, highlighted in the MIT Technology Review, strengthens the case for the electric vehicles regime.

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