Nordic Green News – 8 September, 2020

Sweden to pay for cars to upgrade to biofuels

In conjunction with its state budget, the Government of Sweden issued a press release to advise that it intends to introduce assistance for motorists who wish to upgrade their cars from petrol or diesel service to biofuels or biogas. The budget is estimated to amount to SEK 10 million in 2022 and the same amount in 2023.

 

Tibber approved to trade in the Swedish national grid – will use car batteries as storage

Forbes writes that Tibber, a Swedish start-up electricity supplier, was approved by the Swedish national grid (Svenska Kraftnät) to bid in the primary reserve balancing market, known as the Frequency Containment Reserve (FCR), with demand flexibility in the form of its customers’ electric vehicles. “This represents the first time in Europe that primary balancing services are being provided by residential electric vehicles at such a scale,” says Tibber’s CEO Edgeir Vårdal Aksnes. “This milestone can help catalyse feedback loops to accelerate electrification, for example by lowering the cost of ownership of electric vehicles and thus helping accelerate the shift.”

 

Aksnes added, “Our vision is to revolutionize the energy market, putting households at the centre of the energy transition, while giving them the opportunity to take control of their electricity  consumption”. To do so, they formed a partnership with Easee, a Norwegian company producing EV chargers and software to develop a trading solution that can communicate directly with charging wall-boxes.

 

[Ed note: Nordic Green uses Tibber, which it views as the most innovative service on the market]

 

Siemens partners with Green Hydrogen Systems

Wind turbine manufacturer, Siemens Gamesa has chosen Denmark’s Green Hydrogen Systems, a producer of modular electrolysis technology, as a partner in a project to produce hydrogen using wind energy. The project will involve a 3 MW Siemens Gamesa wind turbine that feeds electricity into a electrolyser, which uses the electricity to split water into its constituent parts, hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen will be released into the atmosphere, and the hydrogen will be stored for subsequent distribution and use as a fuel for hydrogen-powered buses, taxis and cars. 

 

Denmark's third largest employers' organization to be the greenest and most digital

TEKNIQ represents approximately 4,200 companies in Danish electricity, plumbing and metal. with a total of 55,000 employees. TEKNIQ Employers' Board of Directors has adopted a strategy to become the greenest and most digital by 2025, via more flexible and uniform agreements, strengthened quality in all industries' educations and greater political impact. CEO Troels Blicher Danielsen said “Our companies play a crucial role in the green transition. It is our companies that install the new technology in the buildings, which account for 40% of Denmark's energy consumption. It is our companies that train the necessary skilled labor. And it is our companies that ensure the conversion to renewable energy in the fastest and most cost-effective way. We want to translate that position into political influence”.

 

Unique energy system to use waste heat to heat factory

VILPE ​​Oy a Finnish company, which manufactures ventilation and roofing products is replacing the factory's oil heating with rock heating. The geothermal heating system will differ from ordinary geothermal heating solutions, by taking full advantage of the waste heat that arises when machines are running and which would normally be lost. The new solution is the idea of ​​the Finnish company Tammi Kiinteistötekniicka.

 

Tarkett launches systems for recycling textile floors

A new ReStart Textile system by Tarkett means a potential climate saving. The system is already in operation and an initial project has been identified for approximately 4,000 sqm of floor space for recycling from the Swedish Tax Agency renovation in Sundbyberg. The plates will be sent to Tarkett's facility in the Netherlands, where the yarn is separated with the new technology. The degree of purity will be over 95%, which is a prerequisite for it to be recyclable. Tarkett estimates that up to half of the 2 million sqm of textile floor tiles laid in Sweden every year could be recycled.

 

Nominees for the Nordic Council Environment Prize 2020

A beekeeper, an association of ecological farming organisations, a travel agency and a climatologist are among the nominees for the Nordic Council Environment Prize 2020.

 

New Green Party formed in Denmark

A new green party has been formed, by defectors from the green party, Alternativet, which have formed the green-left party, the Free Greens.

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