The Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid is powered by a 416 horsepower hybrid system. The electric drive produces 95 hp,and electricity is stored in a newly developed lithium-ion battery, which at 9.4 kWh has increased capacity over the previous battery (1.7 kWh). Via the integrated on-board charging componentry and the standard Porsche Universal Charger (AC), the battery can reach full charge within approximately two and a half hours when connected to a 240V power source.Final U.S. EPA fuel economy ratings will be available closer to launch, but Porsche estimates that the electric driving range of the Panamera S E-Hybrid will be greater than 20 miles. The Panamera S E-Hybrid can reach up to 84 mph in all-electric operation. The Panamera S E-hybrid is capable of accelerating from 0-60 mph in 5.2 seconds, which is an improvement of a half second compared to the Panamera S Hybrid.The 2014 Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid will be available late in 2013, starting at $99,000.

(source: habitat.com – written by Marc Carter, 04/03/13)

Denmark’s aim to be 50 percent powered by offshore wind by 2020 suggests that the country’s adoption of renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure is running ahead of schedule—just last year a government report stated a goal for 35 percent by 2020, and an extraordinary 100 percent from renewables by 2050. The latest turbine installation brought the capacity of Denmark’s Anholt closer to the total 400MW generation planned for the facility, which is one of five significant wind farms in Danish waters.According to Forbes, however, this is set to soon be eclipsed as the government puts out a call for bids for an additional 1,500 MW (1.5 GW), of offshore wind. In the near term, wind power will be accompanied by biomass and gas power, in an effort to take all coal-fired plants offline within 20 years. But Denmark, fast to embrace the enormous wind potential of the North Sea, has met with a few bumps as they develop greater reliance on offshore farms.The New York Times explained “A major concern is that the supply of electricity might exceed demand for about 1,000 hours each year by 2020 unless there are substantial changes in the way electricity is managed in Denmark,” management which currently relies on exporting excess wind power to support hydroelectric systems in nearby Norway and Sweden, and then buying renewable energy back in times of lower supply or in other words “Norway and Sweden’s hydro systems serve as large batteries in a larger interconnected system.” But there have been rare instances of this system failing — for a few hours over the winter, Denmark’s surplus was so great that they had to pay other countries to take their wind power.As for the adoption of broader sustainable practices, Copenhagen provides an extraordinary example of ambitious planning with an aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 through a number of strategies. Nationwide, the government appears equally hopeful. The government hopes to have 200,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2020, and recently installed Europe’s first nationwide electric car charging network. Better Place estimates that there could be 20,000 electric cars on Danish roads by 2014—which will far from make up the majority of traffic in a nation of 5.5 million people, but it’s Western union money transfer still a substantial start.

Wind power generation quietly hit a huge number of milestones around the world over the course of 2012. And while there have been slow-downs in turbine installation and wind farm development in some countries, the Earth Policy Institute shows that overall the trend of record-breaking wind power development looks set to continue. Even in China, where, as Grist reports installation has slowed amid “concerns about project quality and inadequate electricity transmission and grid infrastructure,” more electricity was generated by wind turbines than by nuclear power plants in 2012. Thoroughly cementing China’s position as the world leader in wind power Western union fees “GTM Research and Azure International project that China will reach 140,000 megawatts of wind by 2015 and nearly 250,000 megawatts by 2020,” as China continues to produce more than a quarter of the world’s total wind power.

Even as we see headlines about the massive untapped US wind power potential in areas such as the Great Lakes, development is still moving at an impressive rate (offshore wind farms presently only exist in China, Japan and Europe—though this may soon change). With 5,200 MW of wind turbines set online in December 2012, the US stands second only to China in wind power production. Denmark’s advances are similarly impressive, and supported by ambitious government plans to see 50 percent of the nation’s powered sourced from wind farms by 2020. But as countries with an established track record of wind farm development continue to contribute to a sharp increase in global wind power generation (Grist provides exhaustive details), there is encouraging news from nations relatively new to renewable energy in general and specifically to wind power.

The long-awaited Lake Turkana Wind Power, which could provide 10% of Kenya’s power may break ground this year. This could be a huge and vital step on continent with vast wind power potential where there was only 100 MW installed in 2012. Equally, areas of Central and South America as well as Eastern Europe are advancing burgeoning wind power projects. For as much as we hear about areas with massive untapped potential for wind power generation, as well as quite legitimate concerns about wind turbine design—global wind power development is moving ahead at a remarkable pace.

(source:habitat.com; written by Charley Cameron, 04/03/13)