World’s First Battery-Powered Piling Rig - Aarslef
Aarsleff expects to save 35,000 kg of CO2 and 14,000 litres of diesel every year from the battery-powered piling rig that has been made by Finland’s Junttan Oy.
Lars Dithmer, head of sustainability at parent company Per Aarsleff, said: “As the main part of the group’s carbon dioxide emissions originate from fossil fuels, we work hard to find alternatives to the many diesel-powered machines. The biggest challenge is the lack of large, powerful electric construction equipment or other sustainable driving force, but machine manufacturers are working hard to solve this. The future is beginning to look brighter for more environmentally friendly construction sites.”
AarsleffGroup’s chief executive, Jesper Kristian Jacobsen added: “This is just the beginning; we will soon see an increasing number of battery-powered machines of this kind at the construction sites. There are no excuses for choosing diesel if you have a more environmentally friendly alternative. Our sustainability work does not end here, it has just begun.”
US$1 Trillion Plan For Solar Energy Plants
At International Solar Alliance (ISA) general assembly, the Solar Investment roadmap for 2030 was discussed – the roadmap seeks to build US$1 trillion worth of solar power plants over the next ten years.
The assembly was presided over by Shri R.K. Singh, Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, and included speeches from US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, and the European Commission Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans.
“We are working towards mobilising US$1 trillion of investment for a massive deployment of solar energy technologies and for expanding solar markets,” said Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General of the ISA. “This would help achieve three different but interlinked objectives: promoting a clean energy transition; enabling energy access and energy security; and delivering a new economic driver for all countries.”
In his speech John Kerry said that, “Harnessing the full value of solar energy will require countries to invest in storage, in grid infrastructure and in flexibility in both demand and supply. “To connect solar power with parts of the economy that don’t currently use electricity, countries must invest in electric vehicles and clean fuels like hydrogen that can be produced using solar power.”