Utilities need upgrades for plug-in cars
Almost every major automaker plans to introduce an electric car over the next three years, even though many questions about the technology remain.
Earley said the nationÂ’s power plants and major power lines are capable of providing adequate electricity to meet the additional demand but the power lines in neighborhoods need to be upgraded.
With most plug-in electric vehicles expected to cost $40,000 or more, “We can pretty much guess what neighborhoods are going to buy these vehicles,” Earley said during a panel discussion on electric vehicles in Detroit hosted by Inforum.
“You will see breakers trip and you will see transformers burn out,” Earley said.
In addition to those challenges, panelists from General Motors, Chrysler and Ford acknowledged there are many other issues facing electric cars, including the cost of the lithium-ion batteries and the need for common standards.
Still, a consensus emerged that all of those problems can be solved. In fact, this year GM plans to introduce the extended-range Chevrolet Volt and Ford Motor plans to introduce an electric Transit Connect commercial van.
“This is an idea whose time has come and the technology is emerging to match it,” Earley said.
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Modular nuclear reactors a 'long shot' worth studying, says Yukon gov't
WHITEHORSE - The Yukon government is looking for ways to reduce the territory's emissions, and wondering if nuclear power is one way to go.
The territory is undertaking a feasibility study, to determine whether there's a future for SMRs — small modular reactors — as a low-emissions alternative to things such as diesel power.
The idea, said John Streicker, Yukon's minister of energy, mines and resources, is to bring the SMRs into the Yukon to generate electricity.
"Even the micro ones, you could consider in our remote communities or wherever you've got a point load of energy demand," Streicker said. "Especially electricity demand."
SMRs…
