THE DAILY ROUNDUP – Monday

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Hi! Here is your daily dose of useful links and articles related to renewable energy and technology. Enjoy!

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UK universities in landmark deal to buy energy directly from windfarms

Twenty of the UK’s leading universities have struck a £50m deal to buy renewable energy directly from British windfarms for the first time. The collaborative clean energy deal will supply electricity from wind farms across Scotland and Wales to universities including Newcastle University, University of Exeter and Aberystwyth University. The landmark…

To support this commitment we aim to source all of our electricity from zero carbon sources by 2025, and this power purchase agreement makes a significant contribution towards this goal whilst delivering financial savings and budget stability.

James Rolfe, the chief operating officer at Anglia Ruskin University

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India has 150 million drivers, but only 8,000 of them want electric cars

Hyundai Motor Co. launched India’s first electric SUV this summer with a quirky TV commercial urging millennials to “Drive Into the Future.” A few months later, the automaker finds itself on a lonesome road. In a nation of about 150 million drivers, only 130 Kona SUVs were sold to dealers through August. That slow pace is emblematic of the difficulties carmakers face in…

The affordability of electric cars in India is just not there. I don’t think the government or the car companies expect that in the next two to three years there will be any real buying of electric vehicles.

R.C. Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

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BLOCKCHAIN IN BANKING: An inside look at four banks’ early blockchain successes and failures

Since its emergence at the start of the decade, blockchain has been heralded as one of the most transformative technologies for financial services. Blockchain hype has led financial institutions (FIs) to pour money into the space and into distributed ledger technology more broadly: about $1.7 billion annually as of 2018, per research from Greenwich Associates cited…

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New Eskom pricing can crush solar in South Africa

Eskom is considering a new pricing structure which will have a material impact on the value proposition of solar installations. Eskom generates revenue from two sources: fixed connection charges and electricity tariffs which vary based on usage. As a customer, the fixed connection charge is currently a relatively small part of your monthly electricity bill, with…

If we don’t start to fix the tariffs to respond to changes in technology and environment – to be more cost-reflective by recovering fixed costs through fixed charges – all customers will be impacted negatively.

Eskom

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Renault: F1 engines must go electric

Hybrid power units have been used in Formula 1 since 2014, but the use of Internal Combustion Engines and the burning of fossil fuels is at odds with the prevailing movement of the automobile industry. Although the 2021 regulations remain yet to be decided, the engine formula has been cemented and Abiteboul says that area must be revisited in the next change…

Things that people are saying today, they would not even have considered six months ago. Ferrari talking about a full-electric car!

Renault chief Cyril Abiteboul

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Three things to know about China’s energy transition

China’s coal consumption decreased from 70 percent of total energy to 55 percent over the last decade. But it remains above the global average of 27 percent. The decrease in coal consumption has come primarily from a transition towards natural gas and non-fossil fuel sources like solar, wind and hydro. The scale of transformation in the country is rapid. Its first…

Oil security in China is a transportation issue. That’s why from central to local government, we are now taking great efforts to promote electric vehicles. It will be a huge trend in China.

Zhang Jie, Vice Chairman and General Secretary, Energy Investment Professionals Committee, Investment Association of China

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Sweden keen to share recycling expertise

Sweden, renowned for its sustainable and eco-friendly waste management, is keen to share its expertise with Qatar, Swedish ambassador Anders Bengtcen told Gulf Times. “We have a wide offering of sustainable technical solutions and Sweden is currently topping the list for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by being the closest country in the…

Nations can make good economic sense of waste if it is processed in the right way, coupled with knowledge dissemination among the public and easy access to waste separation as a solid foundation.

Swedish ambassador Anders Bengtcen

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