The theme for batch two this year was: flattening the climate curve.
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Transportation is responsible for 30% of the EUs total CO2 emissions.
And cars are the biggest polluters,accounting for 60.7%of CO2 coming from road transportation.
So whats holding people back?
And thats been the same for the last ten or fifteen years.
Connected with this are questions about charging infrastructure.
What if I want to go on a road trip?
Will I have to hitchhike halfway through?
Rather than targeting people already interested in buying an electric car, we want to focus on other people.
People who live in apartments and cant charge at home.
Or people who want to drive long distances every day, Hoefsloot said.
And just how do they plan to do this?
Thus Lightyear was born in 2016.
They also made the Lightyear One more energy efficient.
So, for every bit of energy you have, you’re free to go twice the distance.
The third problem they want to solve for consumers in the future is cost.
A lot of people still dont have the money to buy an electric car.
Thats why the push coming from the EU with its new incentives for alternative energy vehicles is so important.
They now have a number of vacancies they want to fill on their website.
Hoefsloot encouraged anyone who believes they can help the team achieve their ambitions to reach out.
Sometimes, in the Netherlands, I have the feeling that we hold ourselves back.
Were a small country.
Were not the US.
And sometimes we start to think: Can we do this?
Maybe we should start with a smaller mission?
Shaping an emission-free energy system
Its not just our wheels that could use a green energy boost.
A fully sustainable and interconnected energy system would bring us a big step forward in powering the net-zero future.
But, as Bushell explains, its not that easy.
If you look specifically at the electricity system, supply and demand always need to be in balance.
When they see more is being used, they burn more coal and gas.
Similarly, when they see less electricity is being consumed, they reduce output.
What hinders the widespread adoption of renewable energy is that its harder to control than fossil fuels.
Bushell and his team atSympowerrealized that the energy transition would require new demand response technology and solutions.
Thats why the company focuses on providing flexibility by regulating demand instead of supply.
Basically, assets such as fridges can control when electricity is consumed.
This is exactly what we do.
Sympower has grown rapidly due to a very enthusiastic client base which has helped it spread the word organically.
However, there are still hurdles that Sympower has to overcome to reach a wider audience.
Bushell told TNW:
One of the biggest challenges we face is regulation.
Slow regulatory changes are probably our biggest blocker at the moment.
If anyone tells you what they do is the one key thing, I would be very skeptical.
A combination of solutions is what is actually needed.
I do believe that we provide an essential service the energy transition cant succeed without flexibility.
Guess where the other 45% come from: the actual materials/product we produce (including waste).
Right now they dont really have an idea of whats going through their organization.
So if the information is already there, its not comparable and its dispersed.
And thats where we come in handy.
This also leads to some unlikely matches.
Clearly, opposites do attract.
Because thats what we need if we want to tackle this.
We cant just go on our gut feeling.
We see that a lot with circularity ending up as a gimmick.
Thats why gathering data is so important.
The biggest hurdle we see is that the urgency is quite low.
People find it hard to relate to something thats not tangible.
So the incentive scheme isnt tailored towards taking action in the majority of organizations, Damen told TNW.
ButHardt Hyperloopis making some exciting new advancements that could cut a three-hour intercity trip down to just 30 minutes.
Not only is the hyperloop system expected to take less time, its also powered by renewable energy.
The energy-efficient tech behind the system is perhaps the most interesting part.
Each hyperloop vehicle is pushed through the tube system using a combination of electromagnetic suspension and electric propulsion.
As Bushell of Sympower said:
I think its definitely starting.
I dont think were there yet.
But theres still a lot of awareness that we could bring.
