Norway state firm Avinor plans to buy battery-powered aircraft

The Norwegian government on Thursday expressed a desire to buy electric planes in coming years in an attempt to duplicate its success in becoming the world leader in sales of electric cars (EVs).

State firm Avinor pushes for use of electric planes

Avinor, a state firm that runs 45 airports in Norway claimed that the government commitment to the battery-powered aircraft could encourage the development of electric and hybrid technologies by large companies such as Airbus or Boeing.

Dag Falk-Pedersen, who heads Avinor, told reporters at a conference in Oslo: “In my mind, there’s no doubt that by 2040 Norway will be operating totally electric on short-haul flights. Airbus told us they need a customer and they need a market - and we can offer them both. Of course they need a bigger market and more customers. But someone has to start.”

Falk-Pedersen said that because of the mountains and fjords many runways must be short and are ideal for electric planes that can accelerate faster than conventional aircraft. He said that the company could be presenting a tender within a year or two to commercialize electric aircraft. The tender might be for 5 to 15 planes with between 12 and 50 seats.

Norway hopes to duplicate it success with electric cars

As reported in a January article, Norway's new registrations for electric cars including hybrids for 2017 was more than 50 percent.

Norway's Transport Minister Ketil Solvik-Olsen said that the government was trying to repeat this success in promoting electric cars in pushing for more electric airplanes. The government gives tax breaks, and other perks such as free parking and charging points for those who purchased electric cars (EVs).

The minister admitted that when he began to talk about battery-powered planes most people were at least a bit sceptical.

Norway needs to reduce it greenhouse gas emissions

The greenhouse gas emission in Norway in 2016 were three percent above 2016 levels. EV promotion and now pushing for electric planes along with the use of more biofuels. The Norwegian government appears determined to reduce its pollution.

Electric planes need a lot of development to be commercial

Electric planes can receive their electric power from many different sources not just batteries as are the planes Norway intends to buy. Other sources of power are solar panels, fuel cells, and power beaming among others.

Electric planes have huge problems with weight, the bulk of batteries, and limited ranges.

A Seattle-area startup last October with capital backing from Boeing and JetBlue Airways Corp has announced a hybrid electric aircraft to be marketed by 2022. Note that it is a hybrid rather than completely powered by batteries. It will be able to carry up to 12 passengers.

Most electric planes have not been designed to carry many passengers

The CityAirbus

Airbus is building the CityAirbus an electrically powered Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft (VTOL) as a demonstrator. It is intended to carry four passengers initially with a pilot. However, it is intended to eventually become an autonomous aircraft. Flights with and then without pilots are planned this year and next with certification and commercial introduction planned for 2023.

Solar Impulse 2

The Solar Impulse 2 is famous in that it is the first electrically powered plane to circumnavigate the globe starting in 2015 but not ending until 2016 as it had a long stop in Hawaii for battery repairs.

The plane has four electric motors. It gets its power from solar cells on the wings and on the horizontal stabilizer. The power is stored in lithium polymer batteries and drive propellers.

The Solar Impulse 1 made a trip from Madrid Spain to Rabat Morocco in 2012.

Previously published in Digital Journal

Norway to buy battery-operated ferries to help the environment

The Sognefjord shipyard made fuel-guzzling boats for the oil industry for many years. Now its prosperity lies in going green, as the shipyard is assembling the first ferry boats that will be entirely powered by batteries.

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Erlend Hatleberg, a project manager at Havyard Group ASA, that runs the Sognefjord shipyard building the new ferries, said that they will be producing the ferries for the next five years. Hatleberg emphasized that although they had been in a deep lull in ferry orders over recent years, activity was now back.

Electrifying ships lags behind EV production.

Even so, there are dozens of battery-powered boats about to make their maiden voyages through inland waters in Norway, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Some are even autonomous boats with no crew.

Norway is at the forefront of the push to use electric power. The state oil company is actually expanding into offshore wind farming. People drive more electric cars per capita than any country in the world in spite of the fact Norway is a northern country with long and cool winters.

Norway has an ambitious target of having all boats that carry both passengers and cars along the coast to be battery-operated by 2030. This still will have a minimal effect globally.

To electrify the global fleet would be an enormous undertaking

There are 50,000 tankers, freighters, and carriers in the world's oceans that would be required to switch to renewable energy. The biggest ships have diesel engines the size of a four-story house. The global fleet's emissions are comparable to those of 64,000 passenger cars.

The International Council on Clean Transportation predicts that by 2050 sea transport could account for 17 percent of CO2 emissions, a huge increase from the two or three percent the transport causes at present. Shipping was not included in the Paris agreement.

In any event, battery technology has not evolved to the point where it could power ships on long ocean voyages according to the International Maritime Organization. However, the organization is set to release an initial set of guidelines for the reduction of greenhouse gases in April.

Lloyd's Register Group said in a December report: “Battery technology is simply not competitive and still requires significant further evolution in terms of performance and cost reduction before it could be preferable to synthetic fuel options,”

Norway coast ideally suited for electric-powered ships

Along Norway's coasts there are many populated waterfront areas that allow the ships to be easily recharged. Often the charging time is minimal as show on the appended video. The ships improve air quality and noise pollution as well.

Norway has hundreds of long narrow inlets that can stretch even hundreds of kilometers inland. Ferries are an essential addition to road transportation. Edvard Sandvik, head of the Public Roads Association said that by 2021 there should be about 60 battery-powered or hybrid ferries in operation.

First electric ferry started operation in 2015.

The Ampere is a catamaran with two hulls. It is 80 meters long and 21 wide with seven crew cabins and 140 chairs. It can carry up to 120 cars and 360 passengers.

The groundbreaking ferry was constructed by the Norwegian Shipyard Fjelistrand in Omastrand in collaboration with Siemens and Nortel. It was the world's first electric-powered ferry. It was delivered in October 2014, but did not start commercial operations until May 2015.

The Ampere operates in the Sognefjord between the two villages of Lavik and Oppedal. It makes about 34 trips a day. It takes only about 20 minutes for each trip and about ten for loading and unloading cars and passenger.s.

The advanced vessel operates on a 5.7km crossing in the Sognefjord between the villages of Lavik and Oppedal. It makes approximately 34 trips a day, each trip requiring approximately 20 minutes, excluding the 10 minutes of loading and unloading time for cars and passengers.

The nation and regional Norwegian government spend about $386 million a year to operate 200 ferriesthat serve 130 routes.

Turkey provided Norway with two electric ferries in January

Tersan Shipyard in Turkey delivered two battery-powered ferries to Fjord1 in Norway just one week apart from each other. The Eidsfjord and Glopperfjord will operate in Nordfjord on the west coast of Norway.

The ferries will need to stop for only nine minutes in ports for recharging.

Mehmet Gazioglu, managing director of the Tersan shipyard said: “We are so proud to deliver these fully battery-operated ferries and honoured to be part of the first ferry connection in Norway where the road administration requires use of zero-emission technology,”

Previously published in Digital Journal

US ranks 14th in World Happiness Report, Norway first

The World Happiness Report, was released today the International Day of Happiness. The report is by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network funded by the Ernesto Illy Foundation.

 

The survey ranks 155 countries by their happiness levels. The report for 2017 is the fifth one to come out since 2012. The first report was in support of the UN High Level meeting on happiness and well-being. Happiness and well-being measures have since become important measures of human progress. The survey is of one thousand people in each country and asks them rank on a scale of 0 to 10 whether they are living their best life: "Researchers then use six measures to try to understand the results: gross domestic product per capita, life expectancy, support from relatives or friends, charitable giving, freedom to make life choices, and perceived levels of government and corporate corruption." The rankings use averages of the last three years of surveys.

The U.S. continued to fall in the rankings to 14th among the 155 countries but in terms of developed OECD countries it fared even worse coming in just 19th of the 34 countries in the organization. Economist, Jeffrey Sachs, one of the editors of the report said: “The predominant political discourse in the United States is aimed at raising economic growth, with the goal of restoring the American Dream and the happiness that is supposed to accompany it. But the data show conclusively that this is the wrong approach.” Sachs is show on the appended video. He appears to be talking about the previous years report.

This year Norway took the top ranking followed by Denmark previously at the top and then Iceland. Syria, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Central African Republic were the least happy. Canada was in the top ten ranking 7th.

The happiness level is not likely to be increased much by an increase in GDP as compared to improvement of other aspects of life researchers claim. For example, the happiness index is falling in part because of a perceived increase in corruption and a decrease in social support. To make up for this GDP would need to increase per person by a whopping $82,000. The authors estimate to get back to 2006 levels of happiness per-person GDP would need to grow by $133,000. As for ways to boost US happiness ratings:Sachs suggested five means by which to improve social trust: campaign finance reform, policies aimed at reducing income inequality (such as public financing of health), improved social relations between native born and immigrant Americans, working to move past the fear of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and improved access to high-quality education.Sachs claims that the U.S. was facing a social crisis not an economic one.

Canada's ranking of seventh is the lowest it has had since the rankings began in 2012. Canada has usually taken 5th or 6th spot. Canada's actual score this year was 7.316 versus 7.404 in 2016 and 7.427 in 2015. John Helliwell, an economist at the University of British Columbia and lead author of the report said: "It's the human things that matter. If the riches make it harder to have frequent and trustworthy relationships between people, is it worth it?' Of Norway the highest ranking country the report said that such qualities as freedom, caring, generosity honesty, health, income and good governance kept Norwegians happy even though revenues were falling due to the steep decline in oil prices. The report noted: "By choosing to produce its oil slowly, and investing the proceeds for the future rather than spending them in the present, Norway has insulated itself from the boom and bust cycle of many other resource-rich economies."

The top ten countries all ranked highly in terms of income, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on in times of trouble, generosity, freedom and trust. The least happy countries all suffer from deep economic problems but also civil war or internal violence as well as in Syria.

In spite of opposition Norway intends to shut down FM in favor of digital radio this year

In spite of the fact that a survey showed that 66 percent of Norwegians oppose the move while only 17 percent favor it, the Norwegian parliament has given the go-ahead to switch off the FM radio network in favor of digital audio broadcasting (DAB).

The parliament is swayed by the fact that DAB allows more channels. However, there are two million cars in Norway that do not have DAB receivers. The cost for a good adapter for the FM radio is about $235 Canadian. Many home radios will also be unable to receive the signal although digital TVs will. Critics claim that the move is just too early. Norwegians are not prepared for it and will resent the extra expense and inconvenience it will cause them.

Norway is not the only country considering such a switch with Switzerland planning a switchover by 2020, and the UK and Denmark also looking at a switch. If the Norwegian change goes smoothly, these countries may move more quickly.

A digital radio tuner equipped radio available now in Australia

Pure

The shutdown is scheduled to begin in Bodo on January 11. By the end of 2017 it is planned to close all national FM broadcasts in favor of DBA. DBA is said to have less hiss and clearer sound than FM. DBA is described by Wikipedia as follows:In digital broadcasting systems, the analog audio signal is digitized, compressed using formats such as MP2, and transmitted using a digital modulation scheme. The aim is to increase the number of radio programs in a given spectrum, to improve the audio quality, to eliminate fading problems in mobile environments, to allow additional datacasting services, and to decrease the transmission power or the number of transmitters required to cover a region. However, analog radio (AM and FM) is still more popular and listening to radio over IP (Internet Protocol) is growing in popularity.

There are several other digital wireless radio systems than the one used in Norway, DAB. Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) is also used in Europe and Japan has ISDB-T and there is another technique used in the US and Arab countries called HD Radio.

FM broadcasting gives high-fidelity sound over the radio much superior to the AM stations. In Europe especially the AM bands are too many and this has helped the development of more FM stations.

Head of Digital Radio Norway, Ole Torvmark said: "We're the first country to switch off FM but there are several countries going in the same direction." Even Torvmark admitted that the challenge of fitting Norwegian cars with adapters costing over two hundred dollars Canadian was a huge challenge. An MP, Ib Thomsen, from the Progress Party which is part of the Conservative-led government said: "We are simply not ready for this yet. There are two million cars on Norwegian roads that don't have DAB receivers, and millions of radios in Norwegian homes will stop working when the FM net is switched off. So there is definitely a safety concern." However, for the same cost as FM, DAB will allow eight times more radio stations.

The UK is planning to review the need for a switchover once digital listening reaches 50 percent. UK Digital Radio spokesperson, Yvette Dore said that this level could be reached by the end of 2017 if current trends continue.

Australia tops Better Life Index rankings

Australia came up on top of the rankings in the Better Life Index of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) Each of eleven categories were ranked in 36 countries.

In spite of the highest rankings the Labor government of Julia Gillard has low ratings in polls in Australia! However, the Index stats are excellent. Life expectancy is 82 years two years above the OECD average of 80. Employment is also well above the average.

After Australia the next best country is Norway. Coming in a respectable third is the U.S. in spite of having a relatively high unemployment rate. Canada is further behind coming sixth after fourth place Sweden and fifth place Denmark. Turkey was in last place.

The new scale was used beginning in 2011 as a way to measure well being of countries in more ways than simply economic growth. As well as income and education, the scale includes work-life balance and life satisfaction.

Canada shows increasing income inequality. The report notes::"In Canada, the [household net-adjusted disposable income] of the top 20 per cent of the population is 53,988 USD a year, whereas the bottom 20 per cent live on 10,077 USD a year." Canada does not fare well on work-life balance or civic engagement either.

The average voter participation in OECD countries is 73 per cent while Canada is just 61 per cent. For more see this article and also here.

U.S. eleventh in World Happiness Rankings

The Earth Institute a think tank at Columbia University has released its first ever World Happiness Report. According to the report Canada is the fifth-happiest country in the world.

Surprisingly the top 3 are all those dark and dreary northern Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Finland, and Norway in that order.. Then comes the Netherlands close by Denmark. Canada is the happiest outside of Europe. The U.S. missed the top ten and came in at a relatively gloomy eleventh.

The happiest countries are among the wealthier countries and the least happy: Togo, Benin, Central African Republic are among the poorer countries. For much more and a slide show of the happiest countries see this article.

Money in elections a country comparison

According to the Center for Responsive politics a whopping 6 billion dollars will be spent by campaigns, political parties, and corporations in an attempt to elect their chosen candidate as the U.S. president. Those spending all that cash in these lean economic times must expect a good return on their investment.

The amount spent in the U.S. is larger than the sums spent in other countries. However, as TI (Transparency International) points out it is not just the amount but the source of funds that worry many citizens.

In the United Kingdom expenditure on electioneering is actually going down. Expenditures dropped 26 per cent from 2005 to 2010 elections. However the absence of limits for donations by individuals or corporations has helped erode public confidence. A TI spokesperson said:"When donors are making contributions exceeding £20,000 ($31,000) -- and some are making donations well over £250,000 ($390,000) -- it's perfectly understandable you don't give away that kind of money without expecting something in return," Late last year an advisory group recommended increased public funding as a way to make the influence of big donations less powerful in the electoral process. However funding political parties is no doubt not a priority for the public! All the main political parties rejected the idea.

Norway is a country where public funding is accepted. Almost three quarters of the income of parties comes from the public purse. In Norway political ads are banned from television and radio!

India has experienced a huge inflow of corporate money into politics. The Indian Electoral Commission believes that up to 2 billion dollars will be donated by corporations to influence the outcome in Uttar Pradash state elections. In India parties often buy votes with gifts and even cash. At least this means the political process is of some value to citizens!

The CNN article also considers the situation in Russia, Brazil and Nigeria. Brazil is interesting. According to TI about 2 billion dollars was spent by parties and candidates in the 2010 presidential election. Almost 98 per cent of funds for the winner's campaign came from corporations. Her opponent's funding was 95.5 per cent from corporations. In spite of the fact the winner was a former Marxist guerrilla corporations obviously bet slightly more on her. Brazil has great inequality of income and wealth.