Discussions about electric vehicles (EVs) often focus on the additional demands they will put on the power grid in future years, with concerns about the grid’s reliability and ability to meet peak demand often taking center stage. There’s no doubt that a widespread transition to EVs would pose real challenges, but utilities in California and elsewhere are also starting to think creatively about how to transform those challenges into an opportunity — although there are significant hurdles to clear along the way, including the needed buy-in from EV owners. In today’s RBN blog, we explain California’s so-called duck curve, show how certain EV solutions aim to address some of the power grid’s current problems, and look at some ways to get EV drivers to become active (and willing) participants in a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) initiative, which increasingly looks like an essential element in any long-term plan.
We first looked at EV charging in a 2021 blog, Electric Avenue, where we laid out the basics of charging technology and how the increased electrification of passenger transportation might impact the energy and power markets in California and Texas — two populous but very different states. Our One Shining Moment series then looked at the sudden burst of attention EVs have received recently, including the impact of last year’s higher gasoline prices on the EV market, and we’ve also explored how the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is incentivizing automakers to make more EVs (and batteries) in the U.S. while also posing challenges for automakers looking to meet the requirements of the revised EV tax credits.
RBN Energy’s US CO₂ Infrastructure map brings together legacy Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) assets, as well as announced large-scale Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration (CCUS) projects, all in our signature concise, accurate, and intelligible style.
In Part 1 of this series we discussed the introduction of bidirectional charging and V2G technology. In essence, V2G technology treats high-capacity EV batteries not only as power sources to energize cars, trucks and SUVs, but also as potential backup storage for the power grid. Through the use of vehicles with bidirectional charging capabilities (such as the Ford F-150 Lightning) and advanced charging stations, electricity could be pushed to (and pulled from) connected vehicles based on the demand for electricity at any given time. It’s part of a larger initiative known as vehicle-grid integration. While any meaningful scale for this sort of integration is still a very long way away, the vision is that this extra energy could be used to help power houses, other buildings — and ultimately anything connected to the grid.
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About the song
“Connection” was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and appears as the fourth song on side one of The Rolling Stones’ seventh American studio album, Between the Buttons. The song seems to portray the time that The Rolling Stones spent waiting on planes at various airports while touring. On closer inspection of the lyrics, it seems to foreshadow the drug busts that Richards, Jagger and Brian Jones experienced in Great Britain in 1967. “My bags they get a very close inspection. I wonder why it is that they suspect ’em. They’re dying to add me to their collection. And I don’t know if they'll let me go.” Norman Pilcher, the arresting officer in the Richards, Jagger, Jones, Donovan, John Lennon and George Harrison cases on similar cannabis possession charges, was later convicted himself in September 1973 of perjury and sentenced to four years in prison. The line “simolima pilchard” in the lyrics of The Beatles’ “I am the Walrus” refers to the ex-sergeant, as does the 2003 Primus song, “Pilcher’s Squad.” The thumping kick drum heard on “Connection” was supplied by Jagger, who beat on Charlie Watts’s kick drum with his hands during an overdub. Personnel on the record were: Mick Jagger (harmony vocal, tambourine, kick drum), Keith Richards (lead vocal, guitars, bass), Charlie Watts (snare drum), and Jack Nitzsche (piano, organ bass pedals).
Between the Buttons was recorded between August and December 1966 at RCA Studios in Hollywood and Olympic and Pye Studios in London, with Andrew Loog Oldham producing. Released in February 1967 in the US, it went to #2 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. It has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album featured Brian Jones using an assortment of different instruments, including a recorder, vibraphone, saxophone, accordion, and dulcimer. It would be the last Rolling Stones album produced by Loog Oldham. One single was released from the LP.
The Rolling Stones are a British rock band formed in London in 1962 by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts. Jones left the band in 1969 and was replaced by Mick Taylor. Taylor was replaced by Ronnie Wood in 1974. Bill Wyman left the band in 1993 and has been replaced by Darryl Jones on tour. Charlie Watts died in 2021 and has been replaced by Steve Jordan on tour. They have released 30 studio albums, 35 live albums, 29 compilation albums, three EPs, and 121 singles and have sold more than 200 million records worldwide. The Rolling Stones have won three Grammy Awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the UK Music Hall of Fame. In 2003 Mick Jagger was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to popular music. The Rolling Stones continue to record and tour.
