Aramco completes acquisition of 10% stake in Horse Powertrain

Following the signing of definitive agreements on 28 June 2024 (earlier post), Aramco has completed its acquisition of a 10% equity stake in Horse Powertrain Limited based on an enterprise value of €7.4 billion. The transaction builds on Aramco’s efforts to develop new mobility solutions with the potential to reduce... Read more →


General Motors and LG Energy Solution are extending their 14-year battery technology partnership to include prismatic cell development. GM expects the prismatic cell technology developed under the agreement to power future GM electric vehicles, as part of the company’s strategy to diversify its supply chain, leveraging multiple chemistries and form factors.... Read more →


Study finds that when anticipating the end of oil, industry cuts investments and produces less

A new National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper by Ryan Kellogg, a professor and deputy dean for academic programs at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy finds that when oil producers anticipate a long-run decline in demand for oil, they begin investing less into exploration... Read more →


Volvo VNR Electric surpasses 10M miles in customer operations

Volvo Trucks North America announced that its Class 8 Volvo VNR Electric model has surpassed 10 million miles of zero-tailpipe emissions in customer operations since commercial orders began in December 2020. Nearly 600 Volvo VNR Electric trucks are now operating across the United States and Canada by fleets of all... Read more →


Blue Bird joint venture Micro Bird to establish bus manufacturing facility in New York State

Blue Bird Corporation, the leader in electric and low-emission school buses, lauds the U.S. expansion of Micro Bird’s manufacturing operations to build small and midsize buses in New York State. Micro Bird, a 50/50 joint venture of Blue Bird Corporation and Girardin, has confirmed the purchase of the Nova Bus... Read more →


Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares resigns; new CEO will be appointed in the first half of 2025

Stellantis N.V. announced that the company’s Board of Directors, under the Chairmanship of John Elkann, accepted Carlos Tavares’ resignation on 1 December from his role as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. Tavares was expected to retire once his contract expired in early 2026. The process to appoint the new... Read more →


Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, with colleagues in Korea and Illionois, have developed high-entropy lithium-rich layered oxide cathodes (HE-LLO) for Li-ion batteries. A paper on their work is published in Journal of Power Sources. High-entropy oxides (HEOs) are emerging as promising cathode materials for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their... Read more →


Researchers improve catalyst stability for dry reforming of methane into syngas

A research team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has found a way to thwart deactivation of catalysts for the dry reforming of methane. Dry reforming of methane converts methane and carbon dioxide into syngas, a valued mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide used by oil... Read more →


Hapag-Lloyd concludes long-term offtake agreement with GoldWind for green methanol; annual delivery of 250,000 tonnes

Hapag-Lloyd has reached an agreement with Goldwind, a global strategic partner in clean energy with headquarters in Beijing, China, for the delivery of 250,000 tonnes of green methanol per year. The green methanol will consist of a blend of bio- and e-methanol, ensuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction of at... Read more →


ArcelorMittal slows making final investment decisions on European decarbonization plans

ArcelorMittal has previously announced the intention to invest in lower carbon emissions “hydrogen ready” DRI-EAF (DIrect Reduced Iron - Electric Arc Furnace) facilities to replace several blast furnaces across its European business as a key strategic first step towards reducing emissions. In all cases, the host countries offered funding support... Read more →


Galp decides not to move forward with Aurora lithium hydroxide project

Galp has decided not to proceed with the construction of the Aurora project (earlier post). Originally a 50/50 partnership between Galp and Northvolt, the latter communicated to Galp in early 2024 its decision to cease investing in Aurora. Northvolt recently filed for Chapter 11 in the US. (Earlier post.) Aurora... Read more →


Notre Dame opens world’s first Large Mach 10 Quiet Wind Tunnel

Earlier this month, the University of Notre Dame marked the successful opening of a Large Mach 10 Quiet Wind Tunnel, the first and only facility of its kind in the world. The facility supplies a unique environment for exploring hypersonic flight dynamics, turbulence, flight control, and propulsion. Designed for high-quality... Read more →


BMW Group building battery recycling competence center in Germany; direct recycling

BMW Group is building a Cell Recycling Competence Center (CRCC) for battery cells in Kirchroth, in the Straubing-Bogen district of Lower Bavaria, where it will implement a process referred to as direct recycling. This procedure enables residual materials from battery cell production, as well as whole battery cells, to be... Read more →


Volkswagen’s new Tayron SUV (earlier post) has entered production at the Wolfsburg plant in Germany. Customers will be able to choose from seven efficient engines, including two next-generation plug-in hybrid drives (eHybrid). These offer electric ranges of more than 100 kilometers and long traveling distances of up to 850 km... Read more →


Orange County to buy 40 hydrogen fuel cell buses, 10 electric

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Board of Directors approved the purchase of 50 new zero-emission buses, marking a major milestone in an ongoing effort to transition the bus fleet to 100% zero-emission technology by 2040. The purchase, unanimously approved by the board on Monday, 25 November, includes 40 hydrogen... Read more →


Volkswagen Group and SAIC Motor extend joint venture agreement until 2040; focus on accelerating electrification strategy

The Volkswagen Group is strengthening its successful 40-year partnership with SAIC Motor for the long term. In Shanghai, both companies signed an extension of their joint venture agreement until the year 2040. The original joint venture agreement was valid until 2030. By extending the agreement, the partners are creating early... Read more →


CSIRO electrolyzer pilot demonstrates efficiency and durability at Bluescope Steel Plant

CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has successfully trialed its hydrogen production technology at BlueScope’s Port Kembla Steelworks in New South Wales, demonstrating affordable and renewable hydrogen can be generated at scale to help decarbonize heavy industry. CSIRO’s tubular solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) technology has clocked 1000 hours of successful operation... Read more →


LR announces partnership with Samsung Heavy for floating production and storage system for green ammonia

Lloyd’s Register (LR) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) for the joint development of a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) system for green ammonia.  The FPSO process has been widely used in the oil and gas industries, but its application for ammonia is relatively... Read more →


Topsoe and Aramco to advance low-carbon hydrogen solutions using eREACT

Topsoe and Aramco signed a joint development agreement (JDA) to produce low-carbon hydrogen, also referred to as blue hydrogen, using Topsoe’s eREACT technology in Aramco’s Shaybah NGL facility. The JDA underlines the two parties’ strategic collaboration and ambitions to bring carbon-reducing technology to the market. This collaboration will further demonstrate... Read more →


Consortium led by MAHLE developing hydrogen engines for off-road applications

Vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, and science, as well as small and medium-sized companies, including DEUTZ, KIT, The German Aerospace Center (DLR), Purem by Eberspaecher, Claas, Braunschweig University of Technology, Liebherr, Nagel, Umicore, NGK and Castrol, have joined forces to investigate the cross-application use of hydrogen-engine powertrain concepts for construction and agricultural... Read more →


Daimler Buses has been confirmed by Hamburger Hochbahn AG as the sole supplier of up to 350 fully electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro and eCitaro G city buses. Over the next five years, the new solo and articulated buses are to be delivered to the northern German city of Hamburg. The Mercedes‑Benz... Read more →


Rivian receives conditional commitment for up to $6.6B Loan from DOE’s ATVM program

EV manufacturer Rivian Automotive received conditional commitment from the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program for a loan of up to $6.6 billion (including $6 billion of principal and approximately $600 million of capitalized interest). If finalized, the loan would support the construction of Rivian’s... Read more →


DOE to award up to $2.2B to two regional hydrogen hubs

The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced up to $2.2 billion in award commitments for two Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) that will help accelerate the commercial-scale deployment of low-cost, clean hydrogen. The two awardees—Gulf Coast H2Hub and Midwest H2Hub—are part of DOE’s H2Hubs program, which was created by... Read more →


Hygenco selects Topsoe as technology licensor for first phase of planned green ammonia complex in India

Topsoe has signed an agreement with developer Hygenco to provide its dynamic ammonia technology for Hygenco’s upcoming green ammonia plant in Gopalpur, Odisha, India. Hygenco will utilize Topsoe’s advanced dynamic green ammonia technology, allowing for flexible and efficient operations while optimizing overall performance. This technology will support Hygenco’s ambition of... Read more →


Commerce Department awarding Intel up to $7.9B to support multiple projects in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon

The US Department of Commerce awarded Intel Corporation up to $7.865 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities. The award follows the previously signed preliminary memorandum of terms, announced on 20 March 2024, and the completion of the Department’s due diligence. The... Read more →


Technology group Wärtsilä is part of a new research project exploring innovative technology for cleaner, more energy-efficient engines utilizing a closed loop combustion cycle. The research will focus on the use of argon—a non-toxic ideal gas present in the atmosphere—to increase efficiency of balancing engines. The co-innovation project is run... Read more →


BMW Group enables automated driving in-plant for new vehicles

The BMW Group is systematically advancing the digitalisation and automation of its production processes within the BMW iFACTORY framework. Since 2022, the company has been testing Automated Driving In-Plant (AFW) for new vehicles at its largest European plant in Dingolfing. Following successful CE certification, the pilot project is now transitioning... Read more →


Veloz’s Q3 2024 California EV Market Report showcases a continued rise in electric vehicle (EV) adoption statewide. According to the latest data from the California Energy Commission (CEC), 115,897 new EVs were sold, propelling California past the milestone of 2 million cumulative EVs sold. California’s new EV market share reached... Read more →


General Motors launches Cadillac Formula 1 Team and power unit

General Motors and TWG Global have reached an agreement in principle with Formula 1 to bring a Cadillac team to the series in 2026. GM is also launching an F1 power unit that will put the Cadillac Formula 1 Team on the path to being a “full works” team.mdbuilding its... Read more →


Mitsubishi backs battery-swapping company Ample with $25M

Battery-swapping company Ample has secured a $25-million investment from Mitsubishi Corporation. Mitsubishi’s support will help Ample scale its battery-swapping infrastructure worldwide, giving drivers everywhere access to efficient, reliable energy. Mitsubishi Corporation will collaborate closely with Ample, leveraging their expertise in mobility, renewable energy, energy storage, and battery reuse and recycling... Read more →