October 29 2007

Hybrid Cars and Wind Power

Svensk Vindkraft Bild_Image 01

The bucolic Scandinavian country of Sweden plans to ramp up its wind energy production in the years to come and plans to couple it with battery hybrid car technology.

You might also be interested on read about best windshield wipers for your vehicle which is vital for the car’s safety.

The country currently produces little wind energy in relation to other european countries such as Germany (20K MW), Spain (11K MW) and Great Britain (2,000 MW). Sweden in comparison produces 572 MW per year. With most of its other renewable energy sources already sufficiently tapped (biomass and hydro - sorry PV no sun in Scandinavia), wind is going to be an increasingly important energy source. The Swedish government has already set a goal of 4.9 TWh by 2010 (up from 1.2 TWh now).

Their plan is significant because of its implementation. Like many countries the grid is not set up to transfer large amounts of energy from the wind rich areas to the more populated regions of the country. The strategy is therefore to use smaller locally based windmills to generate electricity, and to use cars as way to store that electricity. Plug-in hybrid cars are perfectly suited to storing wind energy generated during the daytime and slowly releasing it at an "offpeak" time.

For more information please visit the Swedish Wind Power website or the original article at Treehugger.

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November 4th, 2007 at 10:07 PM

Chessia

Once again, I am impressed by the Swedes. What a lovely socialist place to live-no wonder they have such strict immigration laws. I just wish the US could get on board with this kind of innovation. The US congress is debating a bill that would create a 35 mpg standard by 2020 and a standard that 15% of electricity must be derived from renewable energy by 2020. It is actually not a very aggressive bill, but you wouldn't know it by all the debate it is stirring up. It is massively important that it pass so that the US starts to truly think and act green. We must take the first step, and hope for more to follow. I am asking everyone who believes in this to sign the a petition in support of the bill so that the US starts to wean itself off oil. Click here http://www.energybill2007.org to sign.

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