Animal fats and used cooking oil are increasingly joining the likes of lithium, cobalt and copper as energy transitional materials where supply constraints are of growing concern, according to a new analysis of trade flows by S&P Global Commodity Insights Agribusiness Consulting group. The analysis, entitled Biofuel Feedstock Trade Flows:... Read more →

Ahead of the Paris Air Show held in Le Bourget, TotalEnergies is doubling production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at Grandpuits, bringing the site’s annual production capacity to 285,000 tons—almost double the capacity announced in 2020. TotalEnergies’s SAF is produced from waste and residues from the circular economy (animal fats,... Read more →

In 2022, Audi described a pilot program with partner companies Reiling Glas Recycling, Saint-Gobain Glass, and Saint-Gobain Sekurit to turn damaged auto glass into recyclable material for model production. (Earlier post.) Audi is now shifting the “GlassLoop” pilot project into standard production; for the windshields in the Audi Q4 e-tron,... Read more →

TECO 2030 and Skeleton Technologies have entered into a strategic partnership to accelerate the use of renewable hydrogen in the maritime sector and demonstrate zero-emissions voyage and port operations. Skeleton Technologies is a manufacturer of high power, fast charging energy storage for transportation, grid, automotive and industrial applications. As a... Read more →

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) researchers have developed a new pressing method, that produces a more uniform solid electrolyte than the traditionally processed material with more voids. The material can be integrated into a battery system for improved stability and rate performance. When a solid-state battery charges or operates, ions... Read more →

Scientists from Tokyo Tech have discovered Ba2LuAlO5 as a promising proton conductor for protonic ceramic fuel cells. The oxide exhibits proton conductivities of 10−2 S cm−1 at 487 °C and 1.5 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 232 °C, high diffusivity and high chemical stability without chemical doping. These new insights may pave the way... Read more →

Li-Metal Corp., a developer of lithium metal and lithium metal anode technologies for next-generation batteries (earlier post), has been awarded more than C$1.4 million in grant funding from various programs sponsored by the Government of Ontario to develop and commercialize its lithium metal production technology. The funding consists of a... Read more →

Luminar and Plus, a global provider of highly automated driving and fully autonomous driving solutions, announced a partnership to advance highly automated driving and safety systems for commercial vehicle manufacturers. Under the agreement, Luminar will be the exclusive provider of mid- to long-range lidar for PlusDrive, Plus’s factory-installed assisted driving... Read more →

China-based Dongfang Electric Corporation (DEC) reported successful testing of non-desalinated seawater electrolysis technology for hydrogen production powered by offshore wind. The floating hydrogen production platform Dongfu One is sited in an offshore wind farm in East China’s Fujian province. This project was a joint effort by DEC and a research... Read more →

The Yongsoo wave energy power plant, installed at berth 1 in the Korean Institute KRISO-Wave Energy Test Site (WETS), is preparing to produce green hydrogen from next year, according to a report from Ocean Energy Systems. Ocean Energy Systems (OES) is the short name for the Technology Collaboration Programme on... Read more →

Port of Argentia Inc. (Nefoundland, Canada) reached a binding agreement on commercial terms with Pattern Renewable Holdings Canada 2 ULC (Pattern Energy) for a planned renewable energy to green fuels project at Argentia. Argentia Capital Inc. (ACI), the Port’s 50/50 partnership with Torrent Capital Ltd., is a signatory to the... Read more →

Aclara Resources, a development-stage company that focuses on heavy rare earth mineral resources, has started the continuous operation of its newly constructed pilot plant for the Penco Module near Concepcion, Chile. The company produced the first sample of high purity Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREE) concentrate after a successful commissioning... Read more →

Nidec Corporation and Renesas Electronics Corporation agreed to join forces on the development of semiconductor solutions for a next-generation E-Axle (X-in-1 system) that integrates an EV drive motor and power electronics for electric vehicles (EVs). The 3-in-1 unit E-Axle integrates a motor, inverter, and gearbox (reduction gear). To realize high-performance... Read more →

Volvo Cars reported global sales of 60,398 cars in May, up 31% compared with the same month last year. The company’s fully electric cars were the main contributor to the growth, rising 196% during the period to 10,826 units (). Figures from May 2022 were negatively affected by lower production... Read more →

Green Battery Minerals (GEM) and Volt Carbon Technologies (VCT) have signed a preliminary mineral processing agreement. GEM had provided Volt Carbon with a single 5 kilogram sample of crushed feedstock that was obtained from GEM’s 100%-owned Berkwood Graphite project in Québec, Canada. Volt Carbon processed the sample using its proprietary... Read more →

Technology group Wärtsilä’s new patented and proprietary technology Wärtsilä Ammonia Release Mitigation Systems (WARMS) has received Approval in Principle from classification society DNV. The approval in principle covers its use on ships fueled by ammonia with the DNV Class notation gas fueled ammonia or on gas tankers fueled by ammonia... Read more →

Swiss marine power company WinGD and Japanese shipbuilder and technology developer Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. have signed a memorandum of understanding to enter into a partnership on ammonia-fueled vessels. The project will see WinGD applying its X-DF-A ammonia-fueled engines to a range of vessel designs, with Mitsubishi both designing the... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) released the US National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, a framework for accelerating the production, processing, delivery, storage, and use of clean hydrogen. The document explores opportunities for clean hydrogen to contribute to national decarbonization goals across multiple sectors of the economy. The Strategy... Read more →

General Motors plans to invest more than $1 billion in two of its Flint, Michigan, manufacturing sites—Flint Assembly and Flint Metal Center—to prepare those plants for production of the next-generation internal combustion engine (ICE) heavy-duty trucks. Product details and timing related to GM’s future HD trucks are not being released... Read more →

ABB E-mobility announced details of its new HVC360 fleet charging solution. While the growing number of public charging points is excellent news for EV drivers, these alone do not meet the needs of electric fleets. Despite comprising just 4% of vehicles, buses and trucks contribute 40% of global transport emissions,... Read more →

SK Signet celebrated the grand opening of its EV charger manufacturing facility in Plano. This facility will expand US-based manufacturing and R&D for electric vehicle charging equipment to support the growth of America’s EV infrastructure. The project was originally announced in November 2022 by SK Signet and the City of... Read more →

Constellation Energy has set an industry record for blending high concentrations of hydrogen with natural gas, further evidence that hydrogen can be an effective tool to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Working with Siemens Energy and EPRI, the hydrogen blending test was conducted at Constellation’s Hillabee Generating Station, a three-unit, 753-megawatt... Read more →

Researchers from Tokyo Tech have developed a tin-based metal–organic framework (MOF) that can photocatalytically reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) into formate under visible light. The tin-based MOF exhibited a high apparent quantum yield of 9.8% and carried out extremely selective photoreduction without needing an additional photosensitizer. This could prove extremely useful,... Read more →

Carbon removal company Equatic recently spun out from the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering’s Institute for Carbon Management to deploy the first technology that combines CO2 removal and carbon-negative hydrogen generation. Alongside the launch, Equatic entered into a pre-purchase option agreement with Boeing. Under the agreement, Equatic will remove 62,000... Read more →

Researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Saudi Aramco have published a study attempting to identify the best strategy for hydrogen internal combustion (IC) engines. Their paper appears in the journal Fuel. The team used computational simulations to evaluate the combustion and emission characteristics of four... Read more →

Amprius Technologies, the developer of the next-generation lithium-ion battery Silicon Anode Platform, announced that it and the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) mutually agreed to end the negotiation of a previously announced cost-shared demonstration project. (Earlier post.) Amprius thanked the DOE for... Read more →

EcoCeres, an Asia-based bio-refinery company, announced its first shipment of 100% agricultural waste-produced cellulosic ethanol to the European markets, a milestone the company achieved after commissioning another facility in China. EcoCeres can produce a diverse range of renewable biofuels, covering Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), Hydro-treated Vegetable Oil (HVO) and Cellulosic... Read more →

The legislation signed by President Biden to raise the debt ceiling also ratified and approved all permits and authorizations necessary for the construction and initial operation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and directed the applicable federal officials and agencies to maintain such authorizations. Further, and not later than 24... Read more →

Fuel cell systems company Advent Technologies Holdings signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Safran Power Units, a leader in auxiliary power systems and turbojet engines. Leveraging Advent’s proprietary Ion Pair Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) technology, and Safran Aerospace knowledge and capabilities, this new collaboration will seek to advance the... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $46 million in funding (DE-FOA-0002809) to eight companies advancing designs and research and development for fusion power plants. These awardees will work to acheive important technical and commercialization milestones to advance successful design of a fusion pilot plant (FPP) to move fusion toward... Read more →