Why did Better Place fail?: Range anxiety, interpretive flexibility, and electric vehicle promotion in Denmark and Israel

With almost $1 billion in funding, Better Place was poised to become one of the most innovative companies in the electric mobility market. The system Better Place proposed had two novel prongs; first, to reduce the cost of batteries, and second, to reduce range anxiety, public infrastructure concerns, and long charging times. Yet, despite this seemingly strong combination, Better Place failed to make any progress in Denmark and Israel, the first two markets it operated in, and subsequently declared bankruptcy, selling off its collective assets for less than$500,000. Drawing from science and technology studies and the notion of “interpretive flexibility,” this paper posits several reasons to explain the failure of Better Place, including that Denmark is not as “green” as it seems nor is the Israeli market as attractive as believed, and that Better Place's solution to charging time and range anxiety resolved a psychological, not a functional, barrier of the general public to adopt electric vehicles. Before investigating these two reasons, the paper presents a short history of Better Place and explores the contours of its operations in Denmark and Israel. It then discusses why Better Place “failed” across both countries before concluding with implications for energy planning, policy, and analysis

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

Combined in situ XPS and in situ soft XAS study of Cu/ZnO catalysts for methanol steam reforming

Copper-Zinc oxide (alumina) catalysts are industrially relevant for a variety of processes (low temperature methanol synthesis, low temperature water-gas shift reaction, methanol steam reforming). We used high pressure X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) and high pressure soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) for an extensive in situ study of Cu/Zn catalysts during the activation process in H2 and during the methanol steam reforming reaction. Analysis of XP core level spectra and the Cu L2,3 – and Zn L2,3 near edge X-ray absorption fine structure revealed detailed information about the catalyst surface under the presence of the reactive gas phase. We found that the reduction process (activation) plays a decisive role for the state of the catalysts under methanol steam reforming conditions. The Zn3p/Cu3p intensity ratio altered during the reduction process. A Zn species different to ZnO was found after calcination. Furthermore, a surface oxygen species (additional to ZnO) was observed after reduction and under reaction conditions. This investigation highlights the potential of surface sensitive in situ methods like high pressure XPS and soft XAS in general

In situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of methanol steam reforming on Cu/ZnO catalysts

Cu/ZnO (alumina) catalysts have found industrial use for the low-temperature methanol synthesis, for the low-temperature water-gas shift reaction, and for the steam reforming of methanol. An important application could be the onboard production of hydrogen for fuel cell application. It is the proposed synergistic effect in the binary copper/zinc oxide that makes this system interesting for investigation. The knowledge of the relationship between the catalytic activity, surface structure, and bulk structure is necessary in order to elucidate synthesis pathways to new and improved catalysts. Cu/ZnO catalysts have been studied during the activation process and during the methanol steam reforming reaction by in situ XPS and in situ NEXAFS at U49/2-PGM1

Cation Effects on the Acidic Oxygen Reduction Reaction at Carbon Surfaces

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a widely used green oxidant. Until now, research focused on the development of efficient catalysts for the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e– ORR). However, electrolyte effects on the 2e– ORR have remained little understood. We report a significant effect of alkali metal cations (AMCs) on carbons in acidic environments. The presence of AMCs at a glassy carbon electrode shifts the half wave potential from -0.48 to - 0.22 VRHE. This cationic induced enhancement effect exhibits a uniquely sensitive on/off switching behaviour depending on the voltammetric protocol. Voltammetric and in situ X-ray photoemission spectroscopic evidence is presented, supporting a controlling role of the potential of zero charge of the catalytic enhancement. Density functional theory calculations associate the enhancement with the stabilization of the *OOH key intermediate as a result of locally induced field effects from the AMCs. Finally, we developed a refined reaction mechanism for the H2O2 production in presence of AMCs