Tag: EV

The Inflation Reduction Act At Work

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The Inflation Reduction Act At Work

 

The Inflation Reduction Act At Work

By D. S. Mitchell

In the Winter edition of “Solutions,” a publication of the Environmental Defense there was a brief article on the Inflation Reduction Act by Vanessa Glavinskas.  Ms. Glavinskas explained five benefits to the average American to facilitate the transition to clean renewable energy.  The new law allocates $369 billion to address climate change and promote lower-carbon living through rebates and tax credits. Listed below are five areas of your home where you can start saving money today.

The Roof: Time to add solar panels. The new law provides tax credits of up to 30% to households that invest in clean energy. The credit is retroactive to 2022. The typical cost for a residential solar set up is around $19,000. In that scenario a homeowner would save $5,700. The cost of the system is usually recouped within 12 years.

The Driveway: The new law gives tax credits of up to $4,000 for buying a used electrical vehicle and up to $7,500 for a new EV. The EV must have final assembly in North America to qualify. This means some brands won’t qualify. So if it is important to you to get those tax credits make sure you confirm that the EV you intend to buy was assembled in the U.S.A.

The Kitchen: Gas stoves leak the super pollutant methane, comparable to 500,000 gasoline powered cars. Furthermore gas stoves also release the carcinogenic benzene. If you want to transition to an electric stove, oven, or range there are rebates of up to $840.

The Laundry Room: Heat pump clothes dryers, rarely seen in the U.S. but popular in Europe take a bit longer to dry a load of clothes but are much more energy efficient than traditional models. Qualifying households can get a rebate of up to $840.

The Thermostat: A heat pump is an efficient way to heat and cool your home. With a heat pump the system transfers heat between your home and the outdoors and can save you hundreds of dollars annually. Most U.S. households can qualify for a tax credit up to $2,000. Low income families may be able to qualify for a tax credit of as much as $8,000 per installation.

 

 

The Electric Vehicle Revolution

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The Electric Vehicle Revolution

The Electric Vehicle Revolution is here

Electric vehicles are the future, be ready. . . 

The Electric Vehicle Revolution

“Adoption of a new technology, like EV’s (electric vehicles) may seem slow or look like it’s never going to happen, until it passes a threshold. . . .and then it just takes off.” *Reda Cherif  

By D. S. Mitchell

Horse and Buggy Days

There is a growing understanding that gas and diesel-powered vehicles will soon join the horse and buggy and dial telephone. New studies support a rapid acceleration process and a gathering momentum of the coming EV tsunami. Surprising as it may seem, soothsayers predict that more than 90% of all passenger vehicles in the U.S., Canada, Europe and other wealthy industrialized countries will be EV by 2040. Some studies are even more bullish, predicting that by 2030, ninety percent of all U.S. vehicles will be EV. That is less than 9 years away.

A Big Culprit

One of the major sources of deadly air pollution, and a major factor in climate change, is transportation. In order to protect the climate and the health of our citizens it is imperative we modify the vehicles on our roads. A few years ago, transportation edged out power plants as the leading source of carbon emissions. We can end this catastrophe. Sources tell us a rapid shift to electric vehicles can cut more than 800 million tons of CO2 emissions every year by 2040, and cumulative reductions will reach 16.2 billion tons by 2050.

New Technology

The transition is going to happen fast because EV’s are better than gas vehicles. There is less maintenance, lower operating costs, and more power. A big factor in boosting sales of EV’s is that production costs are also coming down. The cost of an EV battery has dropped 86% in the last 10 years. In spite of chip shortages and COVID-19 challenges, Ford Motor Co. has been showing profits throughout 2021. Ford announced that its F-150 Lightening electric pickup has generated over 120,000 pre-orders since it was unveiled to great fanfare in May.

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EV: The Obvious Future

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EV: Electric Vehicles The Obvious Future

By D. S. Mitchell

*”Adoption of a new technology like EV’s (electric vehicles) may seem slow or look like it’s never going to happen, until it passes a threshold… and then it just takes off.” Reda Cherif for the International Monetary Fund

Slashing EPA Annual Budget by Over 30%

When Trump won the 2016 presidential election I knew the attack on the environment would move forward like a bulldozer in a butterfly garden. In Trump’s first year in office he pulled the United States out of the landmark Paris climate deal, paving the way for the continued reckless burning of fossil fuels. The Paris Climate Accord is non-binding on signers, but focuses on a global effort to hold the Earth’s temperature rise to fewer than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. The consequences of failing to limit greenhouses gases and thereby their destructive effects is a future most of us do not want to imagine.

High Jacking the Mission of the EPA

In March of 2018, Trump proposed slashing the EPA annual budget by over 30%.  Since 2017 the EPA has lost more than 700 employees, including 200 scientists. Meanwhile the disgraced and the now thank God departed, Scott Pruitt, wasted Agency money on a 24 hour security detail, expensive air travel, and sound proof booths for his office. Rather than protect the environment and work with the world to limit green house gas production this administration wants to subsidize coal, and ramp up oil exploration in previously protected wilderness areas and vulnerable off-shore sites.

EV Promises Reduced Air Pollution

Despite the bad news on so many U.S. environmental fronts there is good news in the automobile industry. Automobile manufacturer’s world-wide are committing to the EV.  They see the handwriting on the wall.  The governments of Europe, China, and India are committed to reducing air pollution. Part of that vision will be enabled by electric vehicles. The mass acceptance of the EV will consequently cut the production of fossil fuels and their consumption. Perhaps that is the reason coal, and gas producers are in such a hurry to mine and pump fuel reserves while they still have an opportunity. Because they, more than any other industry, recognizes the world is changing.

Horse and Buggy Days

There is a growing understanding that gas and diesel-powered vehicles will soon join the horse and buggy, and the dial telephone. New studies support a rapid acceleration process and a gathering  momentum of  the coming EV tsunami. Surprising as it may seem The International Monetary Fund and Georgetown University predicts that more than 90% of all passenger vehicles in the U.S., Canada, Europe and other wealthy industrialized countries will be EV by 2040. Some studies are even more bullish than the IMF projections. In fact, there are predictions that by 2030, ninety percent of all U.S. vehicles will be EV. That is a mere 12 years away.

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