WLTP IEM and Gravitricity _ Fully Charged News

# Article Based on Video Transcription

## Introduction: Celebrating Milestones

Hello and welcome to another episode of Fully-Charged News. We are thrilled to share some exciting news: we have reached a significant milestone with over 30 million views and 250,000 subscribers. Your support means the world to us, and if you haven't subscribed yet, please consider clicking that subscribe button—it's a simple gesture that helps us continue creating valuable content.

## Navigating Energy Acronyms: Understanding NEDC and WLTP

Let's delve into the world of energy and transport acronyms. First up is **NEDC**, the New European Drive Cycle. Despite its name, it's neither new nor particularly accurate. Automakers use NEDC to rate fuel economy and emissions, but these figures are often misleading. For instance, a car claiming 60 miles per gallon under NEDC might not perform as expected in real-world conditions. Similarly, an electric vehicle's range of 120 miles under NEDC is overly optimistic.

Thankfully, the **WLTP** (Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure) is set to replace NEDC. This more realistic testing method provides a clearer picture of a vehicle's true capabilities. For example, while the new Nissan Leaf boasts a 220-mile range under NEDC, WLTP estimates it around 170 miles, offering a more reliable figure.

## The Internal Energy Market (IEM): Vital Connections

Next, we explore the **IEM**, the Internal Energy Market, which facilitates the transfer of electricity across borders. This market allows the UK to import power from countries like Denmark and France via undersea cables and the Eurotunnel. However, as Britain exits the European Union, the future of the IEM is uncertain. Negotiations have yet to begin, leaving questions about how reliant we are on these connections.

Experts warn that leaving the IEM could lead to increased electricity costs and grid instability. With only eight nuclear scientists from the EU remaining out of 60 needed, the UK faces a daunting challenge in managing its energy future without adequate expertise.

## EURATOM Treaty: Overseeing Nuclear Activity

The **EURATOM** treaty is another critical agreement tied to EU membership. It oversees civilian nuclear activities, including waste storage and safety across Europe. As we leave the EU, the UK must also exit this treaty, which raises concerns about our ability to regulate nuclear power independently.

Currently, the UK lacks sufficient expertise to oversee its nuclear program alone. With 52 of 60 nuclear scientists from the EU, there's a pressing need to find replacements. This issue was not discussed during the Brexit campaign, highlighting the lack of transparency and preparedness in energy policy.

## Gravitricity: Innovative Energy Storage

Shifting gears, let's explore an innovative solution to energy storage proposed by **Gravitricity**. This company plans to use old coal mine shafts for their system. A 30-ton concrete weight is suspended inside the shaft, connected by strong cables wound around drums. When electricity demand peaks, the weight is slowly lowered, generating power through a generator.

This mechanical system offers a reliable and long-lasting storage solution, ideal for intermittent energy sources like wind and solar. Gravitricity's future plans involve using existing drilling equipment to create small, underground installations near renewable energy farms, potentially storing multiple gigawatts of electricity.

## Closing Thoughts

As we navigate the complexities of energy policy post-Brexit and embrace innovative solutions like Gravitricity's, it's clear that the road ahead is challenging yet full of potential. We appreciate your continued support and invite you to subscribe for more insights into the ever-evolving world of energy and transport.

Thank you for tuning in, and a special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help keep this show running. If you feel inspired to contribute, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Until next time, stay informed and engaged with the latest developments shaping our energy future.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello and welcome to another episode of fully-charged news well the first thing I want to mention is that we have passed a bit of a milestone it's important to us at fully-charged not really important in the greater the grand global picture but it's really important to us we passed 30 million views and we've passed 250 thousand subscribers which is just amazing we're really grateful for everyone who's subscribed if you haven't subscribed just click that button it's not that hard in this episode I want to talk about four letter acronyms and three-letter acronyms and the clever habit of joining two existing words together and making one new word and all of this is relevant to the world of energy and transport let's start with a four letter acronym NEDC now of course some of you will have heard of this NEDC stands for new european drive cycle except it's not new and it's not very good now the NEDC is the system that all car makers must use to inform people about the fuel economy of their vehicle and the amount of emissions coming out of the tailpipe when you hear that the NEDC rating on a car is 60 miles to the gallon or we kind of know now that's absolute rubbish or if the NEDC range on an electric car is a hundred and twenty miles we know that's not strictly accurate yes if you drive on a perfectly still summer's day when it's not too hot not too cold in the Netherlands on the flattest Road they've got and you never go above about 43 miles an hour you can achieve what the NEDC suggests but forget all that because now there's the W LTP the worldwide harmonized light vehicle test procedure the W LTP so exciting now this is what car makers will use in future and it's much more realistic now you'll see this in an upcoming episode on fully-charged where I get to test drive the new 40 Cal or our Nissan Leaf using the eep Edel sorry I'm a bit obsessed with the EPAct it's just such a brilliant thing anyway the NEDC range of the new Nissan Leaf is stated at 220 miles the W LTP the one that Nissen agree is far more realistic states the range at about a hundred and seventy miles on a charge so that is very good news roll on WL T P next it's a three letter acronym the i.e m so what you may ask is the IEM is that the band that did that song back in the eighties that's me in the corner that's me in the spotlight losing my religion no that's REM this is the IEM now does anyone who lives in the UK you remember this being referred to or even acknowledged during the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union ring any bells well I'd never heard of it I don't think it was even mentioned the IEM is the internal energy market it's what allows us to buy multiple gigawatts of electricity from the likes of Denmark the Netherlands and France it's the long-standing commercial agreement that allows us to run power through the very big wires that are dropped onto the seabed of the North Sea and go through the Eurotunnel I've seen them in there they're really big fat wires I mean they're like huge and they bring an enormous amount of electricity into the UK's National Grid so here's a good question how reliant are we on these connections very are there negotiations taking place to make sure these agreements stay no it's total and utter chaos how do I know this because I've spoken to a couple of MPs a retired MP is now in the House of Lords and a couple of civil servants who are all involved in Britain's energy future and they've said that they hope for the best yes about the negotiations that haven't even started yet is the IEM and extremely linked to the customs union that our current government want to dump yes is it gonna be a right mess and very likely caused an increase in the amount we pay for electricity we get from Europe who knows well I'll tell you who knows no one and now for two existing words that are joined together to make one new word Europe and atomic you join them together and you get your atom it's just like Britain and exit when you join them together you get brexit isn't it fun so what is your atom well it's another long-standing agreement that has been signed by all European countries to oversee all civilian nuclear activity that's not nuclear power stations nuclear waste storage that kind of thing it sounds very sensible we need a governing body to make sure that we keep nuclear power stations safe and ensure the long-term storage of highly toxic nuclear waste is properly managed now well we have to leave the your Atem treaty when we leave the EU yes why because it is inextricably linked in fact it's part of the European Court of Justice the ECJ another three-letter acronym according to the current government we are leaving the ECJ so how many nuclear scientists do we need to oversee the UK's nuclear power program well we currently have 60 52 of them are from the EU so we have eight and we need 60 where can we get more no one knows was this mentioned during the campaigning I think we've worked out the answer to that one now I'm not saying I told you so like I knew about all this before the referendum none of us did unless you've work in them in the energy sector we weren't told any of this by either side during the debate it just wasn't mentioned so you may ask is this information I've just given you politically biased well no it's simply a statement a fact we don't have any agreement or even the potential arrangement on any of these vital issues it's not even a question of whether it's a good idea or an incredibly stupid idea to leave the EU it's a question of competent government which currently is something we clearly don't have and just in case you're wondering the Labour Party are just as bad they have no realistic alternative they're just as confused they're miles behind in the polls when they should be miles ahead it's absolutely tragic isn't that lovely for the rest of us porn up too so I've got a clue what's going on but don't worry you're not alone no one has a clue what's going and finally some other news that's a lot easier to understand a much more fun graphic tricity love that word now this is a new company that haven't actually built anything yet but they're well on their way to raising the funding necessary to start what Gravett Rissa t are proposing is simple it's an easy to install scalable reliable energy storage system they plan to use an old coal mine shaft for their test installation a 30 tongue concrete weight will be suspended inside the shaft supported by a series of pulleys mounted on the surface at times of peak demand this weight is very slowly very slowly so they'll just drop it it's very slowly lowered down the shaft now this weight is attached to some really really tough big strong cables they are not some bits of string that I do really proper kind of steel horses massive thick cables and they in turn are then wound around drums giant drums that what these big wires are wound around and so as the weight drops these the the weight pulls the wires and the wise start to turn the drums the drums are then connected to a gear box that speeds them up and they go as the big drum goes slowly like that the little gears going and they're driving a generator generating electricity then when the huge 30 ton lump of concrete is at the bottom of the shaft they wait until electricity is cheap clean and abundant and then they wind it back up again using the same motors that have just been used as generators because it's the same things it's just like when you use regen braking in an electric car now this is a perfect solution for intermittent energy sources like wind and solar they very often produce excess power so you use that excess power to wind the massive weight up the shaft and then when you need power and it's not windy and it's not sunny you start to lower that great big weight and you generate loads of electricity now this system can store multiple megawatt hours of electricity there's no chemicals the batteries can't be worn out you can recharge them and discharge them endlessly it's a very simple mechanical system that requires very little maintenance now in future they plan to use existing drilling equipment the sort of thing you'd use for fracking or drilling for oil they'll drill a great big hole down in the ground they'll drop a very very long sort of tubular weight in it and they'll put a little generator at the top this is a tiny little installation you won't even see it once it's finished it'll all be some underneath the ground and that way that can drop down and lift up the little weight as long as it's until the cows come home the thing is one of those isn't going to make a big difference but hundreds and hundreds of them distributed all around the country situated near big wind and solar farms they could store literally multiple gigawatts of electricity around the country for use when we need it I love it can't wait to go and see a gravity installation anyway that's all we've got time for I just want to mention a few patreon supporters who donate $10 a month or more that helped keep this show on the road they are Doug Palmer Martin bro Berg gido bath Zach Lindsay Laura Reynolds big thank you Laura D heroine and James Kendall thank you so much your support is really genuinely appreciated so please subscribe if you haven't done already please have a look at their patreon page don't feel obliged at all but you know if you feel like supporting us we'd be hugely grateful and as always if you have been thank you for watchinghello and welcome to another episode of fully-charged news well the first thing I want to mention is that we have passed a bit of a milestone it's important to us at fully-charged not really important in the greater the grand global picture but it's really important to us we passed 30 million views and we've passed 250 thousand subscribers which is just amazing we're really grateful for everyone who's subscribed if you haven't subscribed just click that button it's not that hard in this episode I want to talk about four letter acronyms and three-letter acronyms and the clever habit of joining two existing words together and making one new word and all of this is relevant to the world of energy and transport let's start with a four letter acronym NEDC now of course some of you will have heard of this NEDC stands for new european drive cycle except it's not new and it's not very good now the NEDC is the system that all car makers must use to inform people about the fuel economy of their vehicle and the amount of emissions coming out of the tailpipe when you hear that the NEDC rating on a car is 60 miles to the gallon or we kind of know now that's absolute rubbish or if the NEDC range on an electric car is a hundred and twenty miles we know that's not strictly accurate yes if you drive on a perfectly still summer's day when it's not too hot not too cold in the Netherlands on the flattest Road they've got and you never go above about 43 miles an hour you can achieve what the NEDC suggests but forget all that because now there's the W LTP the worldwide harmonized light vehicle test procedure the W LTP so exciting now this is what car makers will use in future and it's much more realistic now you'll see this in an upcoming episode on fully-charged where I get to test drive the new 40 Cal or our Nissan Leaf using the eep Edel sorry I'm a bit obsessed with the EPAct it's just such a brilliant thing anyway the NEDC range of the new Nissan Leaf is stated at 220 miles the W LTP the one that Nissen agree is far more realistic states the range at about a hundred and seventy miles on a charge so that is very good news roll on WL T P next it's a three letter acronym the i.e m so what you may ask is the IEM is that the band that did that song back in the eighties that's me in the corner that's me in the spotlight losing my religion no that's REM this is the IEM now does anyone who lives in the UK you remember this being referred to or even acknowledged during the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union ring any bells well I'd never heard of it I don't think it was even mentioned the IEM is the internal energy market it's what allows us to buy multiple gigawatts of electricity from the likes of Denmark the Netherlands and France it's the long-standing commercial agreement that allows us to run power through the very big wires that are dropped onto the seabed of the North Sea and go through the Eurotunnel I've seen them in there they're really big fat wires I mean they're like huge and they bring an enormous amount of electricity into the UK's National Grid so here's a good question how reliant are we on these connections very are there negotiations taking place to make sure these agreements stay no it's total and utter chaos how do I know this because I've spoken to a couple of MPs a retired MP is now in the House of Lords and a couple of civil servants who are all involved in Britain's energy future and they've said that they hope for the best yes about the negotiations that haven't even started yet is the IEM and extremely linked to the customs union that our current government want to dump yes is it gonna be a right mess and very likely caused an increase in the amount we pay for electricity we get from Europe who knows well I'll tell you who knows no one and now for two existing words that are joined together to make one new word Europe and atomic you join them together and you get your atom it's just like Britain and exit when you join them together you get brexit isn't it fun so what is your atom well it's another long-standing agreement that has been signed by all European countries to oversee all civilian nuclear activity that's not nuclear power stations nuclear waste storage that kind of thing it sounds very sensible we need a governing body to make sure that we keep nuclear power stations safe and ensure the long-term storage of highly toxic nuclear waste is properly managed now well we have to leave the your Atem treaty when we leave the EU yes why because it is inextricably linked in fact it's part of the European Court of Justice the ECJ another three-letter acronym according to the current government we are leaving the ECJ so how many nuclear scientists do we need to oversee the UK's nuclear power program well we currently have 60 52 of them are from the EU so we have eight and we need 60 where can we get more no one knows was this mentioned during the campaigning I think we've worked out the answer to that one now I'm not saying I told you so like I knew about all this before the referendum none of us did unless you've work in them in the energy sector we weren't told any of this by either side during the debate it just wasn't mentioned so you may ask is this information I've just given you politically biased well no it's simply a statement a fact we don't have any agreement or even the potential arrangement on any of these vital issues it's not even a question of whether it's a good idea or an incredibly stupid idea to leave the EU it's a question of competent government which currently is something we clearly don't have and just in case you're wondering the Labour Party are just as bad they have no realistic alternative they're just as confused they're miles behind in the polls when they should be miles ahead it's absolutely tragic isn't that lovely for the rest of us porn up too so I've got a clue what's going on but don't worry you're not alone no one has a clue what's going and finally some other news that's a lot easier to understand a much more fun graphic tricity love that word now this is a new company that haven't actually built anything yet but they're well on their way to raising the funding necessary to start what Gravett Rissa t are proposing is simple it's an easy to install scalable reliable energy storage system they plan to use an old coal mine shaft for their test installation a 30 tongue concrete weight will be suspended inside the shaft supported by a series of pulleys mounted on the surface at times of peak demand this weight is very slowly very slowly so they'll just drop it it's very slowly lowered down the shaft now this weight is attached to some really really tough big strong cables they are not some bits of string that I do really proper kind of steel horses massive thick cables and they in turn are then wound around drums giant drums that what these big wires are wound around and so as the weight drops these the the weight pulls the wires and the wise start to turn the drums the drums are then connected to a gear box that speeds them up and they go as the big drum goes slowly like that the little gears going and they're driving a generator generating electricity then when the huge 30 ton lump of concrete is at the bottom of the shaft they wait until electricity is cheap clean and abundant and then they wind it back up again using the same motors that have just been used as generators because it's the same things it's just like when you use regen braking in an electric car now this is a perfect solution for intermittent energy sources like wind and solar they very often produce excess power so you use that excess power to wind the massive weight up the shaft and then when you need power and it's not windy and it's not sunny you start to lower that great big weight and you generate loads of electricity now this system can store multiple megawatt hours of electricity there's no chemicals the batteries can't be worn out you can recharge them and discharge them endlessly it's a very simple mechanical system that requires very little maintenance now in future they plan to use existing drilling equipment the sort of thing you'd use for fracking or drilling for oil they'll drill a great big hole down in the ground they'll drop a very very long sort of tubular weight in it and they'll put a little generator at the top this is a tiny little installation you won't even see it once it's finished it'll all be some underneath the ground and that way that can drop down and lift up the little weight as long as it's until the cows come home the thing is one of those isn't going to make a big difference but hundreds and hundreds of them distributed all around the country situated near big wind and solar farms they could store literally multiple gigawatts of electricity around the country for use when we need it I love it can't wait to go and see a gravity installation anyway that's all we've got time for I just want to mention a few patreon supporters who donate $10 a month or more that helped keep this show on the road they are Doug Palmer Martin bro Berg gido bath Zach Lindsay Laura Reynolds big thank you Laura D heroine and James Kendall thank you so much your support is really genuinely appreciated so please subscribe if you haven't done already please have a look at their patreon page don't feel obliged at all but you know if you feel like supporting us we'd be hugely grateful and as always if you have been thank you for watching\n"