Former Boise State coach Chris Petersen still gets asked about the Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma on the first day of 2007. That game had everything. Underdog Boise State took a 28-10 lead over one of college football's blue bloods that was followed by a 25-point Sooners run capped by what could have been a back-breaking interception return for a touchdown with 1:02 left. Then the Broncos used three trick plays that remain sensations to not only force overtime but win 43-42. And then there was the marriage proposal by Boise State running back Ian Johnson — shortly after scoring the winning two-point play — to cheerleader Chrissy Popadics that was accepted on national TV. That game put Broncos football on the national map for most fans, but looking back 18 years later, Petersen sees it differently. “Everybody wants to talk about that Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl game, which is great how it all worked out and all those things,” Petersen said. “But we go back to play TCU (three years later) again on the big stage. It's not as flashy a game, but to me, that was an even better win.” Going back to the Fiesta Bowl and winning, Petersen reasoned, showed the Broncos weren't a splash soon to fade away, that there was something longer lasting and more substantive happening on the famed blue turf. The winning has continued with few interruptions. No. 8 and third-seeded Boise State is preparing for another trip to the Fiesta Bowl, this time in a playoff quarterfinal against No. 5 and sixth-seeded Penn State on New Year's Eve. That success has continued through a series of coaches, though with a lot more of a common thread than readily apparent. Dirk Koetter was hired from Oregon, where Petersen was the wide receivers coach. Not only did Koetter bring Petersen with him from Oregon, Petersen introduced him to Dan Hawkins, who also was hired for the staff. So the transition from Koetter to Hawkins to Petersen ensured at least some level of consistency. Koetter and Hawkins engineered double-digit victory seasons five times over a six-year span that led to power-conference jobs. Koetter went to Arizona State after three seasons and Hawkins to Colorado after five. Then when Petersen became the coach after the 2005 season, he led Boise State to double-digit wins his first seven seasons and made bowls all eight years. He resisted the temptation to leave for a power-conference program until Washington lured him away toward the end of the 2013 season. Then former Boise State quarterback and offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin took over and posted five double-digit victory seasons over his first six years. After going 5-2 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he left for Auburn. “They just needed consistency of leadership,” said Koetter, who is back as Boise State's offensive coordinator. “This program had always won at the junior-college level, the Division II level, the I-AA (now FCS) level.” But Koetter referred to “an unfortunate chain of events” that made Boise State a reclamation project when he took over in 1998. Coach Pokey Allen led Boise State to the Division I-AA national championship game in 1994, but was diagnosed with cancer two days later. He died on Dec. 30, 1996, at 53. Allen coached the final two games that season, Boise State's first in Division I-A (now FBS). Houston Nutt became the coach in 1997, went 4-7 and headed to Arkansas. Then Koetter took over. “One coach dies and the other wasn't the right fit for this program,” Koetter said. “Was a really good coach, did a lot of good things, but just wasn't a good fit for here.” But because of Boise State's success at the lower levels, Koetter said the program was set up for success. “As Boise State has risen up the conference food chain, they’ve pretty much always been at the top from a player talent standpoint,” Koetter said. “So it was fairly clear if we got things headed in the right direction and did a good job recruiting, we would be able to win within our conference for sure.” Success didn't take long. He went 6-5 in 1998 and then won 10 games each of the following two seasons. Hawkins built on that winning and Petersen took it to another level. But there is one season, really one game, no really one half that still bugs Petersen. He thought his best team was in 2010, one that entered that late-November game at Nevada ranked No. 3 and had a legitimate chance to play for the national championship. The Colin Kaepernick-led Wolf Pack won 34-31. “I think the best team that I might've been a part of as the head coach was the team that lost one game to Nevada,” Petersen said. "That team, to me, played one poor half of football on offense the entire season. We were winning by a bunch at half (24-7) and we came out and did nothing on offense in the second half and still had a chance to win. “That team would've done some damage.” There aren't any what-ifs with this season's Boise State team. The Broncos are in the field of the first 12-team playoff, representing the Group of Five as its highest-ranked conference champion. That got Boise State a bye into the quarterfinals. Spencer Danielson has restored the championship-level play after taking over as the interim coach late last season during a rare downturn that led to Andy Avalos' dismissal . Danielson received the job full time after leading Boise State to the Mountain West championship . Now the Broncos are 12-1 with their only defeat to top-ranked and No. 1 seed Oregon on a last-second field goal . Running back Ashton Jeanty also was the runner-up to the Heisman Trophy . “Boise State has been built on the backs of years and years of success way before I got here,” Danielson said. "So even this season is not because of me. It’s because the group of young men wanted to leave a legacy, be different. We haven’t been to the Fiesta Bowl in a decade. They said in January, ‘We’re going to get that done.’ They went to work.” As was the case with Danielson, Petersen and Koetter said attracting top talent is the primary reason Boise State has succeeded all these years. Winning, obviously, is the driving force, and with more entry points to the playoffs, the Broncos could make opportunities to keep returning to the postseason a selling point. But there's also something about the blue carpet. Petersen said he didn't get what it was about when he arrived as an assistant coach, and there was some talk about replacing it with more conventional green grass. A poll in the Idaho Statesman was completely against that idea, and Petersen has come to appreciate what that field means to the program. “It's a cumulative period of time where young kids see big-time games when they're in seventh and eighth and ninth and 10th grade and go, ‘Oh, I know that blue turf. I want to go there,’” Petersen said. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballPremier League leaders Liverpool ruthlessly exploited another slip by their title rivals to move seven points clear with a match in hand after a 3-1 win over Leicester. Chelsea’s surprise defeat at home to Fulham earlier in the day had been an unexpected gift for Arne Slot’s side and they drove home their advantage by outclassing the struggling Foxes. Having overcome the early setback of conceding to Jordan Ayew, with even the travelling fans expressing their surprise they were winning away after taking just five points on the road this season, the home team had too much quality. Further goals from Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah, with his 19th of the season, stretched Liverpool’s unbeaten run to 22 matches. For Leicester, who had slipped into the bottom three after Wolves’ win over Manchester United, it is now one win from the last 10 in the league and Ruud van Nistelrooy has plenty of work to do, although he was not helped here by the absence of leading scorer Jamie Vardy through injury. It looked liked Liverpool meant business from the off with Salah’s volley from Gakpo’s far-post cross just being kept out by Jakub Stolarczyk, making his league debut after former Liverpool goalkeeper Danny Ward was omitted from the squad having struggled in the defeat to Wolves. But if the hosts thought that had set the tone they were badly mistaken after being opened up with such simplicity in only the sixth minute. With a surprise lead to cling to Leicester knew they had to quell the storm heading their way and they began by trying to take as much time out of the game as they could, much to Anfield’s frustration. It took a further 18 minutes for Liverpool to threaten with Gakpo cutting in from the left to fire over, a precursor for what was to follow just before half-time. That was the prompt for the attacks to rain down on the Foxes goal, with Salah’s shot looping up off Victor Kristiansen and landing on the roof of the net and Robertson heading against a post. Gakpo’s inclination to come in off the left was proving a problem for the visitors, doing their utmost to resist the pressure, but when Salah curled a shot onto the crossbar on the stroke of half-time it appeared they had survived. Early the second half Darwin Nunez fired over Ryan Gravenberch’s cross before Jones side-footed home Mac Allister’s cross after an intricate passing move inside the penalty area involving Nunez, Salah and the Argentina international. Leicester’s ambition remained limited but Patson Daka should have done better from a two-on-one counter attack with Mavididi but completely missed his kick with the goal looming. Nunez forced a save out of the goalkeeper before Gakpo blasted home what he thought was his second only for VAR to rule Nunez was offside in the build-up. But Liverpool’s third was eventually delivered by the left foot of Salah, who curled the ball outside Kristiansen, inside Jannick Vestergaard and past Stolarczyk inside the far post.
The Foreign Office (FO) on Tuesday — in a response to critical statements over the recent sentencing of 25 civilians by military courts — said that the country’s legal system was consistent with “international human rights law, including provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)”. This week, the European Union , the United Kingdom , and the United States raised concerns over the sentencing , which came after a military court last week sentenced 25 PTI activists to imprisonment ranging from two to 10 years for their involvement in the May 9, 2023 riots , which broke out following the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan. The EU spokesperson recalled that under the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), beneficiary countries, including Pakistan, have voluntarily agreed to implement effectively 27 international core conventions, including the ICCPR, in order to continue benefitting from GSP+ status. Meanwhile, the PTI — whose activists were among the men sentenced by military courts last week — maintained its criticism of the verdicts. Calling the international community’s apprehensions “well-founded and justified”, the PTI yesterday expressed the fear that trying civilians in military courts could further isolate Pakistan on the global stage. In a statement issued today, the FO said that the legal system in the country was consistent with international human rights law. “It has remedies of judicial review by the superior courts and guarantees promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” it said, adding that the verdicts were made under a law enacted by the parliament and in line with the judgment of the Supreme Court. “Pakistan believes in constructive and productive dialogue to promote principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.” The statement said that Pakistan was fully committed to implementing the commitments made under the “GSP Plus Scheme and core international human rights conventions”. “We will continue to engage with our international partners including the European Union to uphold the international human rights law, without any discrimination and double standards,” it said. Military courts sentenced 25 civilians on Dec 21 to prison terms ranging from two to 10 years for their involvement in violent attacks on military installations on May 9 last year. The development came after SC’s constitutional bench conditionally allowed military courts to pronounce the verdicts of 85 under-custody civilians in cases pertaining to the May 9 riots. Following the announcement, persons who can be released after remissions can “be released forthwith and the persons who have to yet undergo the sentence awarded to them, their custody” will be handed over to the “concerned jail authorities”, as per the SC order. In its statement, the military said, “In light of the Supreme Court decision, Field General Court Martial (FGCM) have in first phase promulgated the punishments to following 25 accused; after examining all evidence, affording all legal rights to the accused and completion of due process.” In the first phase of sentencing, the military courts have handed down punishments ranging from two to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. “All convicts retain the right to appeal and other legal recourses, as guaranteed by the law and the Constitution,” the ISPR said. It further said that “promulgation of the sentences of remaining accused is also being done and will be announced shortly as and when the due process is complete”.Dana Hull | (TNS) Bloomberg News Jared Birchall, Elon Musk’s money manager and the head of his family office, is listed as the chief executive officer. Jehn Balajadia, a longtime Musk aide who has worked at SpaceX and the Boring Co., is named as an official contact. Related Articles National Politics | Trump’s picks for top health jobs not just team of rivals but ‘team of opponents’ National Politics | Biden will decide on US Steel acquisition after influential panel fails to reach consensus National Politics | Biden vetoes once-bipartisan effort to add 66 federal judgeships, citing ‘hurried’ House action National Politics | A history of the Panama Canal — and why Trump can’t take it back on his own National Politics | President-elect Trump wants to again rename North America’s tallest peak But they’re not connected to Musk’s new technology venture, or the political operation that’s endeared him to Donald Trump. Instead, they’re tied to the billionaire’s new Montessori school outside Bastrop, Texas, called Ad Astra, according to documents filed with state authorities and obtained via a Texas Public Information Act request. The world’s richest person oversees an overlapping empire of six companies — or seven, if you include his political action committee. Alongside rockets, electric cars, brain implants, social media and the next Trump administration, he is increasingly focused on education, spanning preschool to college. One part of his endeavor was revealed last year, when Bloomberg News reported that his foundation had set aside roughly $100 million to create a technology-focused primary and secondary school in Austin, with eventual plans for a university. An additional $137 million in cash and stock was allotted last year, according to the most recent tax filing for the Musk Foundation. Ad Astra is closer to fruition. The state documents show Texas authorities issued an initial permit last month, clearing the way for the center to operate with as many as 21 pupils. Ad Astra’s website says it’s “currently open to all children ages 3 to 9.” The school’s account on X includes job postings for an assistant teacher for preschool and kindergarten and an assistant teacher for students ages 6 to 9. To run the school, Ad Astra is partnering with a company that has experience with billionaires: Xplor Education, which developed Hala Kahiki Montessori school in Lanai, Hawaii, the island 98% owned by Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison. Ad Astra sits on a highway outside Bastrop, a bedroom community about 30 miles from Austin and part of a region that’s home to several of Musk’s businesses. On a visit during a recent weekday morning, there was a single Toyota Prius in the parking lot and no one answered the door at the white building with a gray metal roof. The school’s main entrance was blocked by a gate, and there was no sign of any children on the grounds. But what information there is about Ad Astra makes it sound like a fairly typical, if high-end, Montessori preschool. The proposed schedule includes “thematic, STEM-based activities and projects” as well as outdoor play and nap time. A sample snack calendar features carrots and hummus. While Birchall’s and Balajadia’s names appear in the application, it isn’t clear that they’ll have substantive roles at the school once it’s operational. Musk, Birchall and Balajadia didn’t respond to emailed questions. A phone call and email to the school went unanswered. Access to high quality, affordable childcare is a huge issue for working parents across the country, and tends to be an especially vexing problem in rural areas like Bastrop. Many families live in “childcare deserts” where there is either not a facility or there isn’t an available slot. Opening Ad Astra gives Musk a chance to showcase his vision for education, and his support for the hands-on learning and problem solving that are a hallmark of his industrial companies. His public comments about learning frequently overlap with cultural concerns popular among conservatives and the Make America Great Again crowd, often focusing on what he sees as young minds being indoctrinated by teachers spewing left-wing propaganda. He has railed against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and in August posted that “a lot of schools are teaching white boys to hate themselves.” Musk’s educational interests dovetail with his new role as Trump’s “first buddy.” The billionaire has pitched a role for himself that he — and now the incoming Trump administration — call “DOGE,” or the Department of Government Efficiency. Though it’s not an actual department, DOGE now posts on X, the social media platform that Musk owns. “The Department of Education spent over $1 billion promoting DEI in America’s schools,” the account posted Dec. 12. Back in Texas, Bastrop is quickly becoming a key Musk point of interest. The Boring Co., his tunneling venture, is based in an unincorporated area there. Across the road, SpaceX produces Starlink satellites at a 500,000-square-foot (46,000-square-meter) facility. Nearby, X is constructing a building for trust and safety workers. Musk employees, as well as the general public, can grab snacks at the Boring Bodega, a convenience store housed within Musk’s Hyperloop Plaza, which also contains a bar, candy shop and hair salon. Ad Astra is just a five-minute drive away. It seems to have been designed with the children of Musk’s employees — if not Musk’s own offspring — in mind. Musk has fathered at least 12 children, six of them in the last five years. “Ad Astra’s mission is to foster curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in the next generation of problem solvers and builders,” reads the school’s website. A job posting on the website of the Montessori Institute of North Texas says “While their parents support the breakthroughs that expand the realm of human possibility, their children will grow into the next generation of innovators in a way that only authentic Montessori can provide.” The school has hired an executive director, according to documents Bloomberg obtained from Texas Health and Human Services. Ad Astra is located on 40 acres of land, according to the documents, which said a 4,000-square-foot house would be remodeled for the preschool. It isn’t uncommon for entrepreneurs to take an interest in education, according to Bill Gormley, a professor emeritus at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University who studies early childhood education. Charles Butt, the chairman of the Texas-based H-E-B grocery chain, has made public education a focus of his philanthropy. Along with other business and community leaders, Butt founded “Raise Your Hand Texas,” which advocates on school funding, teacher workforce and retention issues and fully funding pre-kindergarten. “Musk is not the only entrepreneur to recognize the value of preschool for Texas workers,” Gormley said. “A lot of politicians and business people get enthusiastic about education in general — and preschool in particular — because they salivate at the prospect of a better workforce.” Musk spent much of October actively campaigning for Trump’s presidential effort, becoming the most prolific donor of the election cycle. He poured at least $274 million into political groups in 2024, including $238 million to America PAC, the political action committee he founded. While the vast majority of money raised by America PAC came from Musk himself, it also had support from other donors. Betsy DeVos, who served as education secretary in Trump’s first term, donated $250,000, federal filings show. The Department of Education is already in the new administration’s cross hairs. Trump campaigned on the idea of disbanding the department and dismantling diversity initiatives, and he has also taken aim at transgender rights. “Rather than indoctrinating young people with inappropriate racial, sexual, and political material, which is what we’re doing now, our schools must be totally refocused to prepare our children to succeed in the world of work,” Trump wrote in Agenda 47, his campaign platform. Musk has three children with the musician Grimes and three with Shivon Zilis, who in the past was actively involved at Neuralink, his brain machine interface company. All are under the age of five. Musk took X, his son with Grimes, with him on a recent trip to Capitol Hill. After his visit, he shared a graphic that showed the growth of administrators in America’s public schools since 2000. Musk is a fan of hands-on education. During a Tesla earnings call in 2018, he talked about the need for more electricians as the electric-car maker scaled up the energy side of its business. On the Joe Rogan podcast in 2020, Musk said that “too many smart people go into finance and law.” “I have a lot of respect for people who work with their hands and we need electricians and plumbers and carpenters,” Musk said while campaigning for Trump in Pennsylvania in October. “That’s a lot more important than having incremental political science majors.” Ad Astra’s website says the cost of tuition will be initially subsidized, but in future years “tuition will be in line with local private schools that include an extended day program.” “I do think we need significant reform in education,” Musk said at a separate Trump campaign event. “The priority should be to teach kids skills that they will find useful later in life, and to leave any sort of social propaganda out of the classroom.” With assistance from Sophie Alexander and Kara Carlson. ©2024 Bloomberg News. Visit at bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
JAMAICA, N.Y. , Dec. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The New Terminal One at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) today announced that Turkish Airlines will begin operations at the new terminal when it opens in 2026. Turkish Airlines will also unveil a brand new, state-of-the-art lounge for its premium customers, launching the next phase of the award-winning airline's growth at its top U.S. gateway. The New Terminal One, set to be the largest international terminal in the United States , will offer best-in-class amenities and innovative technology for a transformational and efficient travel experience. The New Terminal One is a key component of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's $19 billion transformation of JFK Airport into a world-class gateway, which will include two new terminals, the modernization and expansion of two existing terminals, a new ground transportation center, and an entirely new, simplified roadway network. Turkish Airlines, which currently flies 19 times weekly from JFK Airport to its hub at Istanbul , providing seamless connections to its extensive global network, will continue to offer top-tier service from the new terminal. As part of its expansion in the JFK market, Turkish Airlines will open an 11,000-square-foot lounge in the New Terminal One – twice the size of the airline's lounge at the existing Terminal 1. The new lounge will feature premium amenities, expansive views of JFK Airport's airfield and provide direct boarding access to aircraft, offering unmatched convenience for Turkish Airlines' business class customers and top-tier frequent flyers. Recognized for its exceptional in-flight service, Turkish Airlines recently received the World Class Award from the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) for the fourth consecutive year, placing it among just 10 airlines in the world to have received this prestigious recognition. Turkish Airlines was also chosen as the Best Airline in Europe nine times by Skytrax. Over the years Turkish Airlines also received accolades from Skytrax and other prestigious organizations numerous times for its Business and Economy Class offerings and Lounges. Turkish Airlines offers service to 351 destinations, including 25 in the Americas. Turkish is a member of the Star Alliance and will join other alliance members at the New Terminal One: LOT Polish Airlines, EVA Air and Air China. "We are thrilled to welcome Turkish Airlines to the New Terminal One at JFK, where their commitment to world-class customer service aligns perfectly with our mission to provide an unparalleled customer experience," said The New Terminal One Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Aument . "We look forward to working closely with our colleagues at Turkish Airlines to elevate the travel experience for customers from 2026 and beyond." Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee Prof. Ahmet Bolat stated: "We are excited to bring Turkish Airlines' world-class service to the New Terminal One at JFK, further enhancing our passengers' travel experience with a state-of-the-art-lounge. This move underlines our commitment to continue our growth in the U.S market." In addition to Turkish Airlines, the New Terminal One has partnered with several other global carriers, including Air France, KLM, Etihad, LOT Polish Airlines, Korean Air, EVA Air, Air Serbia, SAS, Neos and Philippine Airlines. Air China is also partnering with the terminal on elevating the travel experience for Chinese customers visiting New York . The New Terminal One is focused on improving the customer experience by collaborating with potential airline partners. This includes working with airline teams across all customer journey touchpoints. Set to be JFK Airport's largest terminal when complete, the New Terminal One will offer a world-class customer experience and additional widebody aircraft gate capacity – providing international airlines a unique opportunity to grow their service at JFK, the top global gateway to the U.S. About The New Terminal One The New Terminal One at John F. Kennedy International Airport is a bold and exciting project to develop a world-class international terminal that will serve as an anchor terminal in the Port Authority's $19 billion transformation of JFK into a global gateway to the New York metropolitan area and the United States . The New Terminal One will set a new standard for design and service, aspiring to obtain a Top 5 Skytrax ranking and be considered one of the finest airport terminals in the world. The New Terminal One is being built on sites now occupied by Terminal 1 and the former Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, where it will anchor JFK's south side. Construction is taking place in phases. The first phase, including the new arrivals and departures halls and first set of 14 new gates, is expected to open in 2026. At completion, anticipated in 2030, the New Terminal One will be 2.6 million square feet, making it the largest terminal at JFK and nearly the same size as LaGuardia Airport's two new terminals combined. The New Terminal One will be a 23-gate, state-of-the-art, international-only terminal. Sustainably designed and future-focused, the terminal will feature expansive, naturally lit public spaces, cutting-edge technology, and an array of amenities, all designed to enhance the customer experience and compete with some of the highest-rated airport terminals in the world. The New Terminal One consortium of labor, operating, and financial partners is led by Ferrovial, JLC Infrastructure, Ullico, and Carlyle. The New Terminal One is being built by union labor and is committed to local inclusion and labor participation, focusing on diversity and capacity-building opportunities, including ambitious participation goals of 30% for minority and women-owned enterprises, 10% for local business enterprises and 3% for service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. To learn more about the New Terminal One at JFK International Airport, visit https://www.anewjfk.com/projects/the-new-terminal-one/ About Turkish Airlines Established in 1933 with a fleet of five aircraft, Star Alliance member Turkish Airlines has a fleet of 491 (passenger and cargo) aircraft flying to 351 worldwide destinations in 130 countries (298 international destinations and 53 domestic destinations within Turkiye). More information about Turkish Airlines can be found on its official website www.turkishairlines.com or its social media accounts on Facebook, X, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/turkish-airlines-to-begin-operations-at-the-new-terminal-one-at-jfk-and-unveil-world-class-lounge-302331710.html SOURCE The New Terminal One at JFKBellville’s DJ Sanders, a man of his word, signs with A&M despite late push from Texas
Harvard president privately tells faculty university needs to rethink messaging after GOP victoryMajor probe into details of former dictator’s deathKey Takeaways: Trucks won’t all be electric immediately, so don’t build charging for 100% electric Design charging microgrids for standardized increments of capacity Analyze all sites and design increments that are good enough Gaining the benefits of electric trucks, including significantly reduced maintenance and operations costs and increasing market share, doesn’t have to start big. In fact, the best way to start is small, within the constraints of the grid, leveraging buffering batteries and onsite solar to enable a portion of the fleet at the depot or visiting truck stops to be electric immediately. Adding capacity to the microgrid, often aligned with the ability of utilities to add grid connections and approval for larger solar arrays, can be integrated with increases in electric fleet sizes. As the authors — Rish Ghatikar and Michael Barnard, experts in sustainability, transportation, and strategy — explored in their diagnosis of the challenges of truck charging, there are overlapping concerns which can heavily slow down deployment of megawatt scale charging solutions to accelerate truck electrification. That led to the simplifying policy of depot and truck stop microgrids with solar, battery storage, power management, and charging systems. The target audiences for this material — major logistics firms like Walmart which own and operate many depots, owners of significant numbers of truck stops, and likely turn-key vendors of microgrids for truck charging — must consider not only the solution of a microgrid, but an approach to charging-based microgrids that is optimal given the challenges and constraints to charge electric trucks. A key challenge of installing charging systems with an optimal mix of power levels is that a grid connection capable of delivering a megawatt or more of power to each of several charge points for heavy trucks simultaneously can take years to be approved and delivered. It requires the utility to restructure the grid from the truck stop to the secondary distribution substation and likely to the primary distribution substation. It can require new wires capable of delivering the higher power required. It will require a very significant scale of transformer at the truck stop. A second key challenge is that there won’t be that many trucks to charge initially, so high capital costs would need to be serviced until truck and charging throughput volumes increase. The authors propose a design principle, which is to plan for optimal capacity, start with small build-outs, and incrementally add charging, generation, and storage capacity to the microgrid as more demand is anticipated, likely in two to three subsequent increments. The corollary to this is that the components chosen for the microgrid must be amenable to this, something explored more fully in the next action article on microgrid component modularity for truck charging. A small starting point can be achieved with a suitable grid connection in months, not years. One of the authors, Barnard, explored this with a hypothetical truck stop in the article Dirt Cheap Batteries Enable Megawatt-Scale Charging Without Big Grid Upgrades Right Away , inspired by the announcement by EV battery giant CATL of $56 per kWh LFP batteries deliverable in the fourth quarter of 2024. Such microgrids ensure power is available to trucks when needed. Truck stops already consume a good deal of electricity for the pumps, air pressure hoses, repair services, restaurant facilities, climate control, etc. They have much more grid-connected load than the average residence, typically capable of delivering 360 kW or more of power. That’s used well under maximum potential power and energy demand levels, as they are overbuilt to avoid challenges and enable later growth. Further, there are peaks and lulls over the day, with typical rush points when many trucks arrive simultaneously, along with other truck stop customers. The figure below is a simplified example of what battery buffering at a truck stop can achieve. The flat line near the bottom is a constant draw of about 80% of maximum power from the grid over 24 hours. The bright colored, tall and peaky line is the charge of a 1.5 MWh capacity battery pack. The dashed lines are trucks charging. Over the 24 hours, the battery’s charge goes up and down, but demands from the grid remain constant. When a truck rolls in needing its 1 MWh battery charged, it will likely be at 20% charge and wish to get to 80%, the normal procedure for the fastest charge for the highest range with the lowest battery degradation. Batteries charge more slowly from 80% to 100%, so recharging from 20% to 80% is optimal for normal use and increases battery lifespan. 600 kWh is sufficient for a Tesla Semi to drive 300 miles before recharging is again required, and for other current models of trucks like the Nikola, about 270 miles. That’s five to six hours of driving time, half of the permitted driving time for a driver in the US per day. This simple model with a relatively inexpensive buffer battery at the rapidly lowering battery costs we’re seeing serves 10 semi trucks a day from one or two megawatt-scale chargers, sufficient for initial truck volumes in most cases for most truck stop locations in the first year of electrification of trucking. Obviously this simplified model doesn’t account for other electricity demands in the truck stop, including the increasing numbers of electric cars that will undoubtedly want to quickly charge and move on as well. However, this scale of power demand, 360 kW, typically takes 1-3 months to install, so adding it to the existing solution isn’t significantly expensive or time consuming. Typically it takes less than a year to put in a power connection sufficient for double that power draw — 720 kW. A slightly bigger battery would enable over 20 trucks to be charged in rush periods. Of course, it also makes sense to add solar panels on all rooftops and canopies, including parking lot shading canopies constructed to maximize local generation, as well as nearby fields, when available, that can be leased for the purpose. This too can be done in stages as the microgrid expands. This can eliminate daytime power demands from the grid entirely, and over time provide local grid stabilization, demand management, and net metering returns of energy to avoid utilities from having to purchase more capacity. Conceptually for a truck stop, as shown in the illustration below, a first increment would put solar panels on the drive through truck fueling canopy and the truck stop building. A pair of megawatt-scale chargers would replace two fuel pumps or be added to the end of the fueling canopy. A battery-electric storage system sized for the required capacity would be built in an appropriate place on the lot. The second increment would add solar panels on canopies over the car park, adding shade amenity and some car charging, more megawatt-scale chargers and more battery capacity. The third increment would include a solar farm in a nearby field, when available, and more megawatt-scale chargers, more battery capacity, and finally an upgraded grid connection. Collectively, solar generation and battery energy storage with microgrid energy management collectively function as a distributed energy resource. Note that in the diagram, BESS is an abbreviation for battery energy storage system, a commonly used acronym in the space. The pattern for depot charging will be different of course, shown conceptually in the illustration below. A typical depot pattern of nighttime parked fleets and daytime deliveries can minimize the need for megawatt-scale charging. Depot vehicles usually have shorter service day mileage than long haul trucks and so will require fewer kWh of charging each day. Also these vehicles have longer dwell times, and slower charging levels can meet the charging needs. A buffer battery may need to have a higher capacity to shift more electricity from solar generation into the nighttime, as an obvious example of distributed energy resource sizing optimization. Conceptually, the first increment of depot charging would have warehouse rooftop solar, an appropriately sized battery, some parking Level 3 or even Level 2 charging, and some loading bay Level 3 charging for top ups. The second increment would add more parking and loading bay charging and solar canopies with Level 2 charging for light vehicles including delivery vans and employee vehicles, as well as additional battery capacity. The third increment would complete loading bay charging potential, include all truck stalls with chargers, put additional solar on empty fields on the property and finally upgrade the grid connection. When land and electric expansion is possible, megawatt charging stations for microgrids must be designed to incrementally scale with power systems capable of high power loads, which may involve reinforced grid interconnections or integration with on-site energy generation and storage solutions. To support high power demands and reduce grid dependency, such microgrid truck charging must use sustainable distributed energy sources such as solar panels and energy storage. Use of solar panels and energy storage systems aligns with sustainability targets for fleet operators looking to lower carbon footprints and meet their environmental, social, and governance plans. Such solutions not only offer microgrid resiliency (to operate in an islanded mode), it can also reduce long-term operational costs by using lower-cost renewable energy and energy management services. The costs of microgrids for trucks at both depots and stops depends on the number and types of chargers installed and magnitude of distributed energy sources, site size, and electrical interconnection, to name a few. Any sizing and electrical connection needs must be optimally designed to ensure adequate sizing based on local freight operational needs. Any lower sizing of charging strains freight logistics’ confidence in electric truck charging to meet their operational needs. Conversely, higher sizing of charging strains grid power procurement from utilities or grid operators and increases operational costs for microgrids. What’s been observed in electrifying fleets that follow this pattern is that total productive hours for drivers can actually increase. In many cases, a depot truck’s first stop in the morning is a gas station nearby, and lineups for gas pumps are a fact of life. Driving to the gas station, fueling, and then driving to the first delivery point is replaced with driving straight to the first delivery point. Fleets are finding up to an hour of additional delivery time in a day with battery-electric vehicles that are already charged when drivers show up to work. For a major organization considering a series of microgrids, standardization of the components, sizes, and vendors is key. There will be a Pareto optimum size for likely three or four increments over time, and the authors’ recommendation is that each is a standardized size, power, capacity, and components mix that is repeated multiple times. No site is unique. Creating a simple menu of three to four sizes of charging microgrid to pick from and a simple sizing algorithm avoids what Flyvbjerg terms the uniqueness bias and will accelerate deployment, reduce risks, and reduce costs. More details on differences in sites and the key requirement for standardized modularity are in the next article. Obviously, a small initial increment will mean faster planning and construction time, and lower capital costs, matching expenditures more closely to increased revenue. The next action for the target audiences is to consider the locations that they have under their control, and rank them by volume. Either develop the expertise in house or hire an external consulting firm to develop an initial microgrid capacity increments set that make sense for your business and volumes. This will inform later actions and may be adjusted. Previous articles in this series: Accelerating Electrification: Freight Trucks Will Dominate In The US Electrified Freight: Trucking Will Grow & Big Logistics Players Will Dominate Trucking Will Electrify, But What Hills Must Be Flattened? Charging Microgrids: Progress for Electric Trucks, Challenges Remain About the authors: Rish Ghatikar has an extensive background in decarbonization, specializing in electric vehicles (EVs), grid integration, and demand response (DR) technologies. At General Motors (GM), he advanced transportation electrification energy services, as part of a broader climate strategy. Previously, at Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), he focused on digitalizing the electric sector, while at Greenlots, he commercialized EV-grid and energy storage solutions. His work at the DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory spearheaded DR automation to support dynamic utility pricing policies. An active climate advocate, Ghatikar advises on policies and technologies that align the grid with transportation and energy use for sustainable growth. Michael Barnard, a climate futurist and chief strategist at The Future Is Electric (TFIE), advises executives, boards, and investors on long-term decarbonization strategies, projecting scenarios 40 to 80 years into the future. His work spans industries from transportation and agriculture to heavy industry, advocating for total electrification and renewable energy expansion. Barnard, also a co-founder of Trace Intercept and an Advisory Board member for electric aviation startup FLIMAX, contributes regularly to climate discourse as a writer and host of the Redefining Energy – Tech podcast. His perspectives emphasize practical solutions rooted in physics, economics, and human behavior, aiming to accelerate the transition to a sustainable future. CleanTechnica's Comment Policy LinkedIn WhatsApp Facebook Bluesky Email Reddit
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