Reader Feedback and Electrolyzers
Cheers RVA!
Today should be mostly sunny with a high of 88. The weekend looks similar with a bit more clouds and possibly a rain shower on Sunday.
the juice:
Today’s Juice is actually a guest post from CheersRVA enthusiast Graham Sheridan. Graham was one of the first subscribers of CheersRVA and has some news on Hydrogen Fuel in the Richmond area:
Last month Topsoe Energy announced a factory building electrolyzers in Chesterfield. This is a $400 million investment and will employ 150 people.
What is an Electrolyzer?
Electrolyzers zap water to split it into component parts – hydrogen and oxygen to create hydrogen fuel.
What is “green” hydrogen?
Green Hydrogen is fuel where the power used to create the hydrogen fuel comes from renewable sources.
Why Hydrogen?
Hydrogen is an experimental fuel with potential to decarbonize industries where direct electrification (putting energy onto a battery you charge by plugging in, like an EV for example) is not possible: very long-haul trucking, ships, aviation, even power generation in power plants. Using Hydrogen creates only water as an emission – no carbon!
Hydrogen in RVA?
The RVA area has been preparing for a Hydrogen future: Ethero Truck + Energy in Mechanicsville sells trucks that run on Hydrogen. Also, Independence Hydrogen makes Hydrogen fuel in Petersburg as a byproduct of bleach manufacturing (the chemical compound for Ammonia is NH3).
The technology has a ways to go – according to the Alternative Fuels Data Center there are no public Hydrogen fueling stations on the east coast.
Virginia Clean Cities works to keep abreast of all the latest information on hydrogen as an alternative fuel in transportation through collaboration with partners, conferences, and more.
the pulp:
A man was found dead with a gunshot wound on Chamberlayne Avenue Thursday morning, from channel 8
Richmond Schools receives letter seeking millions in damages over deadly graduation day shooting, from channel 6. The mother of Shawn Jackson is seeking $11 million in alleged damages. A third party investigation revealed school personnel knew of threats of violence against Jackson, which was also part of the reason Jackson was a homebound student.
the dive:
Continuing yesterday’s discussion of the Governor’s decision to take a less aggressive approach towards transitioning to electric vehicles, a CheersRVA reader offered an opinion and some “back of the envelope” calculations on the efficiencies of Electric Vehicles:
“I kind of hate the whole push for electric cars now; it’s way too late and car companies just want money. It isn’t going to have as much of an impact as riding a bike or public transportation. Especially with the effects of creating the batteries.
“But I don’t like seeing this argument (EV’s still require carbon sources of energy) because even though natural gas sucks, at least with EV’s there is the opportunity to switch to cleaner power in the future.
“Also, it’s hard to compare all the effects of natural gas burning to a car’s engine, but as far as efficiency, gas cars are at about 30% and natural gas power plants can be up to 60%. Electric vehicles are 77% efficient, taking the final to about 46%, which is still more efficient than a car’s engine.
“The big thing though is being able to improve the power grid sources in the future instead of being stuck burning gasoline.”
It’s great to have this kind of a feedback and insight from a reader. I really appreciate hearing what people have to say, especially those with expertise in a specific field.
the vibe:
As always feel free to send me feedback on the newsletter.
Apparently Apple maps has added 3-D satellite imagery to Richmond, per reddit.
Have an efficient day and a great weekend RVA!
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