Lead levels in London’s atmosphere have dropped significantly since lead additives in gasoline were phased out, and currently meet UK air quality targets. However, despite this drop, airborne particles in London are still highly lead-enriched compared to natural background levels, according to new research published in the Proceedings of the... Read more →

The energy density of traditional lithium-ion batteries is approaching a saturation point that cannot meet the demands of the future—in electric vehicles, for example. Lithium metal batteries can provide double the energy per unit weight when compared to lithium-ion batteries. The biggest challenge hindering their use is the formation of... Read more →

Researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in collaboration with two electric utilities, recently examined the causes, costs and lead times of distribution system upgrades anticipated for depot charging of short-haul heavy-duty trucks in the United States. The team also developed synthetic depot charging load profiles for heavy-duty trucks... Read more →

SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall have now produced hydrogen-reduced sponge iron on a pilot scale. The technological breakthrough within the HYBRIT (earlier post) initiative cuts about 90% of the emissions in connection with steel production and is a decisive step on the road to fossil-free steel. The test production was carried... Read more →

Rio Tinto will deploy the world’s first fully autonomous water trucks at its $2.6-billion Gudai-Darri iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The new vehicles, primarily used for dust suppression on site, will enhance productivity by enabling mine operations to track water consumption digitally and reduce waste. Rio Tinto... Read more →

Volvo Car Group intends to establish a joint venture with Swedish battery company Northvolt to develop and produce more sustainable batteries, tailored to power the next generation of pure electric Volvo and Polestar cars. As a first step for the 50/50 joint venture, Volvo Car Group and Northvolt aim to... Read more →

The Zaragoza, Spain City Council is ordering 68 Irizar e-mobility electric buses—51 12-meter units and 17 articulated. These buses will be progressively incorporated into the service from the last half of next year and will be operated by Avanza. This is the largest electric bus project to date for Irizar... Read more →

Canada has launched the $1.5-billion Clean Fuels Fund with a call for proposals for projects that increase Canada’s capacity to produce clean fuels. Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources, made the announcement during the World Hydrogen Technologies Convention hosted by the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association and supported... Read more →

Toyota Research Institute (TRI) unveiled new robotics capabilities aimed at solving complex tasks in home environments. Specifically, TRI roboticists were able to train robots to understand and operate in complicated situations that confuse most other robots, including recognizing and responding to transparent and reflective surfaces in a variety of circumstances.... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group, Boston Dynamics, Inc. and SoftBank Group Corp. announced the completion of Hyundai’s acquisition of a controlling interest in Boston Dynamics from SoftBank, following the receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The deal valued the mobile robot firm at $1.1 billion. Additional financial details were... Read more →

Porsche is investing a high double-digit-million amount in its new joint venture company Cellforce Group GmbH. Porsche and joint venture partner Customcells, a spin-off from Fraunhofer, also announced the launch of production of high-performance battery cells at Porsche’s Weissach Development Center. The new high-performance cells use silicon as the anode... Read more →

Japan Airlines (JAL) has conducted the first flight with a mixture of two different types of SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) produced domestically in Japan. As a first step forward the commercialization of domestically-produced SAF around 2030, SAF produced at the demonstration plants has now passed the quality inspection and became... Read more →

A Henry Ford Health System study published in The Laryngoscope shows that head and neck injuries caused by use of e-scooters have been on the rise since rideshare systems were introduced to the public in late 2017. Kathleen Yaremchuk, M.D., Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck... Read more →

GM’s BrightDrop (earlier post) is collaborating with the University of Washington’s Urban Freight Lab (UFL), The City of Seattle, and tech and delivery companies, AxleHire, Coaster Cycles and REEF, to launch one of the nation’s first zero operating-emissions, last-mile neighborhood delivery hubs. The delivery hub in Seattle’s Uptown neighborhood is... Read more →

Autonomous electric buses could make short-range transit safer and more efficient; however, articulated buses or those with passenger trailers require too much energy and are not flexible enough to accommodate the highly fluctuating passenger numbers. The solution could be platooning, in which several vehicles follow each other at short distances,... Read more →

Aemetis awarded an engineering services contract to Worley for the Aemetis ‘Carbon Zero’ renewable jet and diesel plant in Riverbank, California. (Earlier post.) The Aemetis Carbon Zero renewable jet and diesel project is designed to hydrotreat renewable oils with hydrogen from orchard and forest wood waste. By utilizing hydroelectric electricity... Read more →

The first phase of the traction battery production project of Sichuan Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL-SC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CATL, is now in operation. Since September 2019, CATL and the city government of Yibin have successively signed contracts for the CATL-SC traction battery phase I to phase VI projects,... Read more →

In Russia, JSC Rusatom Overseas (a company of ROSATOM); Metalloinvest, a leading manufacturer and supplier of iron ore products and hot briquetted iron (HBI) in the world market, and one of the regional producers of high-quality steel; and Air Liquide signed a memorandum of understanding to study the possibility of... Read more →

Russian Railways, RUSNANO and the Sinara Group signed an agreement to cooperate on the development of mainline locomotives using a power plant based on hydrogen fuel cells together with lithium-ion batteries. Russian Railways will act as a potential customer of locomotives, while the Sinara Group, represented by the Sinara—Transport Machines... Read more →

ENEOS Holdings, Inc. and Ample, Inc., a US-based startup in which ENEOS has invested in, are collaborating to launch an EV battery swapping service in Japan. Through this partnership, both companies aim to develop an energy delivery service for EVs (in the form of battery swapping) that is quick, convenient,... Read more →

According to a new study by researchers from Delft University of Technology, in the context of current recharging time, Dutch EV drivers in general prefer not to participate in “vehicle-to-grid” (V2G) contracts, while the opposite is true in the context of fast recharging. With regard to specific V2G contract attributes,... Read more →

Rolls-Royce is entering new aviation markets to pioneer sustainable power and as part of that mission will be developing energy storage systems (ESS) that will enable aircraft to undertake zero emissions flights of more than 100 miles on a single charge. Rolls-Royce is planning an £80-million (US$110 million) investment in... Read more →

Origin Materials launched its Net Zero Automotive Program with Ford Motor Company. The Net Zero Automotive Program is a sustainable automotive supply chain initiative focused on industrializing new materials to drive decarbonization in the automotive industry. Origin Materials has developed technology which turns sustainable wood residues into cost-advantaged, carbon-negative materials... Read more →

Volkswagen is pressing ahead with the use of 3D printers in car production. For the first time, binder jetting is being used to manufacture components at the company’s main plant in Wolfsburg, Germany. (earlier post) Whereas conventional 3D printing uses a laser to build a component layer by layer from... Read more →

The BMW Group is beginning to test near-standard vehicles with a hydrogen fuel cell drive train in everyday conditions on European roads. Prototypes of the BMW i Hydrogen NEXT will examine how effectively the CO2-free drive train, model-specific chassis technology and vehicle electronics systems work together under real-life conditions. The... Read more →

Germany will invest some €227 million to support the electrification of rail, with a focus on batteries and hydrogen fuel cells, including charging and refueling infrastructure. Currently, 61% of the rail network in Germany is electrified with overhead lines. Conventional rail vehicles with diesel engines are currently used almost exclusively... Read more →

Volkswagen revealed the new ID.4 AWD electric SUV, bound for dealers in the US in the fourth quarter. With two electric motors, max 295 horsepower and an estimated 0-60 mph time of 5.7 seconds for the AWD Pro model, the ID.4 AWD offers performance and all-weather traction with a starting... Read more →

Mazda Motor Corporation announced its new technology and product development plans, which include the introduction of a dedicated EV platform—SKYACTIV EV Scalable Architecture—in 2025, which can be adapted for various vehicle sizes and body types. Mazda has been continuously enhancing its internal combustion engines (SKYACTIV-X and new straight-six engines) and... Read more →

General Motors and Liebherr-Aerospace will join forces to develop a hydrogen fuel cell power generation demonstrator system for aircraft. The two companies will explore possiblities to develop an integrated system, customized to the performance and economic requirements of commercial aircraft. The construction and testing of this demonstrator—based, in part, on... Read more →

Bosch has signed a long-term agreement with cellcentric to supply electric air compressors with integrated power electronics. These compressors govern the fuel-cell system’s oxygen supply. A 50:50 joint venture between Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group AB, cellcentric is responsible for all activities along the entire value chain. Like Bosch,... Read more →