Shell Canada has announced the first commercial application of a new high-temperature froth treatment processing technology—Shell Enhance—that it says will improve energy efficiency and reduce costs in oil sands production. Developed by Shell Canada with the help of government scientists at Natural Resources Canada’s CANMET Energy Technology Centre facility in... Read more →

Support for increasing fuel-efficiency standards. Click to enlarge. Fully 78% of Americans want Washington to impose a 40 mile per gallon (mpg) fuel-efficiency standard for American vehicles, according to a new Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) national opinion survey released by the nonprofit Civil Society Institute (CSI). Ninety percent of Americans... Read more →

Producing cellulosic ethanol. Click to enlarge. The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) today released a report, Achieving Sustainable Production of Agricultural Biomass for Biorefinery Feedstock, that details the potential of cellulosic biomass as an energy resource and the promise of no-till farming for greater residue collection. It also proposes guidelines and... Read more →

Use of ultrasound technology to desulfurize and hydrogenate heavy crude oil adds $3.30 to $3.50 in value per barrel of Maya crude according to tests commissioned by the technology developer, SulphCo. SulphCo’s Sonocracking technology upgrades sour heavy crude oils into sweeter, lighter crudes, producing more gallons of usable oil per... Read more →

Design of the H to-go system. Click to enlarge. On 11 Dec, an international collaboration lead by RENZ (Renewable Energy New Zealand), a New Zealand-based Charitable Trust, will introduce an on-board electrolysis unit that produces and injects small amounts of hydrogen into the combustion cylinders of an engine. The result... Read more →

The ACPL-M61T optocoupler. Avago Technologies recently introduced the industry’s first automotive-grade 10 MBd digital interface optocoupler. The company is a leading supplier of innovative semiconductor solutions for advanced communications, industrial and commercial applications. Optocouplers transfer signals and data from one subsystem or piece of electronics equipment to another without making... Read more →

Broin Companies, the nation’s largest dry mill ethanol producer, plans to build a cellulosic ethanol production facility in the state of Iowa with a completion date expected in 2009. The company will convert Voyager Ethanol, located in Emmetsburg, Iowa, from a 50 million gallon per year (MGPY) conventional corn dry-mill... Read more →

Argentina’s oil seed processing facilities in 2004. Source: USDA FAS. The Argentine Biofuels Chamber (ABC) is a new professional international trade association representing the biofuels industry in Argentina. Its mission is to coordinate and interact with a broad range of cooperators from the public and private sectors as well as... Read more →

Colusa Biomass Energy Corporation (CBEC) has completed its first-ever rice straw harvesting operation in Colusa County, California. The company plans to build a biorefinery to convert waste rice straw into ethanol. (Earlier post.) CBEC announced that it had collected 6,800 tons of rice straw in a truncated harvest period of... Read more →

The Wu Zhou Long Motors hybrid bus exported to AFVS earlier this year. AFV Solutions (AFVS) has entered into an agreement with Baolong Group Company, Ltd., a Chinese multi-purpose vehicle manufacturer, jointly to market, sell, manufacture and/or assemble light- to heavy-duty hybrid vehicles. AFV Solutions will acquire patents, licensing agreements... Read more →

Dyadic International, a biotechnology company developing enzymes for use in the production of cellulosic ethanol, has entered into a $13-million private placement of its common stock with institutional investors. The deal includes 2,787,000 shares of common stock at a price of $4.68 per share and warrants to purchase up to... Read more →

The hybrid A5 ISG. China’s Chery Automobile has introduced a production-ready hybrid version of its popular A5 sedan at the 2006 Ninth Beijing International Auto Exhibition. The new A5 ISG is a parallel hybrid with an all-electric capability at start-up or speeds below 40 kph (25 mph). The hybrid combines... Read more →

Graphical overview of EU-25 biofuels use in 2005. Click to enlarge. A report just published by the European Union Select Committee of the House of Lords (earlier post) assesses the varied progress of EU member states in promoting the use of biofuels and concludes that without the implementation of a... Read more →

New York Times. India’s leading sport utility maker—Mahindra & Mahindra—plans to sell its SUVs and pickup trucks in the United States through an American distributor, bringing Indian-made vehicles to the United States for the first time. The company will sell its vehicles through Global Vehicles USA., a distributor based in... Read more →

The Rice work demonstrates a method for the “prolific” generation of carbon nanotubes of the same type. Click to enlarge. Rice University chemists have revealed the first method for cutting carbon nanotubes into “seeds” and using those seeds to sprout new nanotubes. The findings offer hope that seeded growth may... Read more →

Canada’s The Globe and Mail reports that while Shell Canada is moving ahead with a C$10- to C$13-billion plan to increase its Athabasca oil sands production, it is also looking for government support for a carbon capture and storage project for its Scotford upgrader. The Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP)... Read more →

In response to recent legislation, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) expanded its regulation prohibiting onboard cruise ship incineration to include ocean-going ships, such as container vessels, that weigh more than 300 gross registered tons. The ARB also amended an existing rule to require some owners to upgrade or replace... Read more →

Fraunhofer USA, the American subsidiary of Germany’s largest research and development organization, recently won four major awards amounting to $2.9 million from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The Fraunhofer Center for Laser Technology (CLT) won three of the four awards, one of which is for the application of “Advanced Laser... Read more →

Japan Today reports via Kyodo News that Toyota Motor Corp plans to commercialize a diesel hybrid subcompact car as early as 2010 in cooperation with Isuzu Motors Ltd., according to “informed” but unnamed sources. Earlier in November, Toyota acquired a 5.9% stake in Isuzu and the two companies announced they... Read more →

Ford Motor Company has selected Eaton Corporation to provide advanced air delivery compressors to the automaker’s FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership fuel cell demonstration program. Eaton has been developing engine air management components and systems for passenger vehicles and stationary engine manufacturers for decades. Its expertise includes Roots-type superchargers and by... Read more →

Central Bio-Energy, LLC (CBE), a Nebraska-based firm, plans to invest more than $500 million to build three 100-million-gallon-per-year corn ethanol plants in Seward, Howard and Chase counties in Nebraska. This investment will make CBE one of the leading ethanol producers in Nebraska, officials said. Projected annual revenues, when all three... Read more →

2007 Vauxhall Astra. GM is introducing a set of new engines for the 2007 Astra (Opel/Vauxhall): two gasoline engines that offer improvements in fuel economy and CO2 emissions as well as increased performance and two versions of a 1.7-liter diesel engine. The Astra line-up now offers a total of 11... Read more →

Nikkei. Toyota Motor plans to gain a bigger share of the Chinese market for environmentally friendly cars by introducing more hybrid models to the market, according to Executive Vice President Yoshimi Inaba. Speaking at the 2006 Beijing International Automotive Industry Exhibition (Auto China 2006), Inaba said Toyota wants to “expand... Read more →

Projected ethanol production and corn use by marketing year. Click to enlarge. A new commentary by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) identifies the most critical research and policy issues raised by the need to sustain a rapid expansion of corn-based ethanol production. CAST is an international consortium... Read more →

Formula 1’s carmakers and the FIA (the organization that governs world Formula One racing) have come to an agreement on a new framework that will govern the sport until 2012. FIA president Max Mosley and Burkhard Göschel, chairman of the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association, also reaffirmed F1’s commitment to developing... Read more →

Nikkei. Nippon Kasei Chemical Co., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., will increase production of high-grade aqueous urea solution used in SCR (selective catalytic reduction) systems to reduce NOx emissions from diesel engines. Nippon Kasei Chemical plans to raise the annual production of the substance at its plant in Kitakyushu... Read more →

Canada’s Nova Bus introduced the Nova LFS hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) during the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) Trans-Expo earlier in November. Nova Bus is a division of Prevost Car Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Volvo Bus Corporation. The Nova LFS HEV features the GM-Allison EP40 two-mode hybrid system.... Read more →

A new report released by the American Academy of Microbiology outlines the potential for microbial energy conversion as a partial solution to the problems of energy shortages and climate change. In microbial energy technologies, microorganisms make fuels out of raw organic materials, thereby converting the chemical energy in the biomass... Read more →

The high-end Steiger 530. Agricultural equipment leader Case IH is promoting the use of biodiesel in its products. All Case IH engines are now warranted for approved B5 blends and use of B20 blends is approved on all Case IH engines other than common rail. When approved supplies are available,... Read more →

Codexis uses its MolecularBreeding platform for directed molecular evolution to produce biocatalysts. Click to enlarge. Shell Oil Products US, a subsidiary of Shell Oil Company, and Codexis Inc., a privately held biotechnology company, will collaborate to explore enhanced methods of converting biomass to biofuels. Terms of the newly announced agreement... Read more →

The EPA awarded $250,000 to King County, Washington, and a consortium of 13 other Washington cities and counties to help launch a program to purchase hybrid diesel-electric utility trucks. EPA awarded the grant to the Northwest Hybrid Truck Consortium as part of its National Clean Diesel Campaign to encourage and... Read more →

The University of Nevada Las Vegas Research Foundation (UNLVRF) has awarded Proton Energy Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Distributed Energy Systems Corp., a $2.3-million contract for follow-on research into advanced proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis. The study is funded by a grant to UNLVRF from the US Department of Energy.... Read more →

Raser Technologies, Inc., a technology licensing company established to develop and license advanced electric motor, controller and related technologies, has received a contract for the design and development of working prototypes of a Symetron Enhanced Integrated Starter Alternator (ISA) for use by the US Army in its fleet of more... Read more →

Marathon Oil Corporation and The Andersons, Inc. are beginning construction of an ethanol plant located in Greenville, Ohio. The Greenville site will be the first to be constructed by The Andersons Marathon Ethanol LLC, a 50/50 joint venture between The Andersons, Inc. and Marathon Petroleum Company LLC, a wholly owned... Read more →

NearBio map. Click to enlarge. NearBio, operated and invented by WHDC LLC, a privately held company specializing in distributed mobile applications, has introduced a service that enables mobile phone users (and computer users) to find the nearest biodiesel fueling locations based on city, zip code, or GPS coordinates. The national... Read more →

Nissan Diesel and AB Volvo will jointly develop medium-duty trucks for worldwide sales. The joint effort expects to combine the Japanese truckmaker’s strength in smaller trucks with the Swedish expertise in manufacturing heavy-duty models. The companies will also conduct a joint study on advanced technologies such as hybrid engines, alternative... Read more →

The 6th annual meeting of the Hybrid Truck Users Forum (HTUF), held this week in San Diego, California, provided an indication of the increasing momentum behind commercialization efforts for a variety of hybrid technologies for a range of truck fleet applications. The annual meeting was the group’s largest yet, with... Read more →

Monthly average of PM10 and NO2 in winter months of Sept to Feb during 1998-2006. Since 2004, the data shows an upward trend. Click to enlarge. A new assessment by India’s Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) of the trends in the peak pollution levels of Delhi during winter months... Read more →

Brazil’s first hydrogen fuel-cell bus. Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy and EMTU/SP (São Paulo Metropolitan Urban Transport Company) have officially launched the country’s first hydrogen fuel-cell bus project, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (PNUD), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Projects Funding Body (FINEP). The... Read more →

Nikkei. Toyota Motor expects US sales of hybrid vehicles in 2007 to grow 30% over its 2006 estimate to about 300,000 units. Toyota sees its hybrid sales growing now that local output of the gasoline-electric version of the Camry sedan has been launched, strengthening its supply capabilities. Toyota Motor Sales... Read more →

The ProPulse hybrid system applied in a tactical vehicle. Click to enlarge. Oshkosh Truck Corporation is presenting its proprietary ProPulse series-hybrid drive technology in a refuse vehicle application at the 2006 Hybrid Truck Users Forum (HTUF) during the 6th National HTUF meeting being held in San Diego, California, 14-16 November.... Read more →

In 2007, London is almost doubling its congestion-charge area with the orange-shaded extension to the left. The original C-charge area is to the right. Click to enlarge. The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, today announced that he will take forward the policy of reducing London’s CO2 emissions by introducing emissions-based... Read more →

The widespread application of new aerodynamic technologies on tractor-trailer trucks could cut US fuel consumption by nearly one billion gallons per year, according to the results of a two-year collaborative study conducted by members of the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) and the US Department of Energy (DOE). Four TMA members—International... Read more →

The HTM P125 module. Maxwell Technologies, Inc. has introduced a compact, fully integrated, 125-volt BOOSTCAP ultracapacitor module to provide an easy-to-integrate building block for scalable energy storage and power delivery solutions for heavy hybrid and electric vehicles and heavy duty industrial applications requiring up to 1,500 volts. The new HTM... Read more →

Clio III. Renault is applying a new 2.0-liter gasoline engine (M4R) developed jointly by Renault and Nissan within the framework of their Alliance to the B-Segment Clio. This is the first Renault-Nissan Alliance-developed gasoline engine to power a Renault model. The 16-valve 101.5 kW (140 hp) engine develops 194 Nm... Read more →

Fuel Cells 2000 and the US Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen Program have launched a new searchable database that documents fuel cell and hydrogen activity in the United States, including stationary installations, vehicle demonstrations, fueling stations, and policies, initiatives, and legislation designed to advance the development and use of hydrogen... Read more →

GS AgriFuels Corporation has taken a 10% stake in ZeroPoint Clean Tech, Inc. for $2.5 million. ZeroPoint is a development stage company commercializing patent-pending and proprietary biomass gasification, gas-to-liquids, gas processing and fuel reforming, and evaporation technologies. The syngas output of ZeroPoint’s gasifier can either be used to generate electricity... Read more →

Green Star biodiesel reactor heading to South Africa. Green Star Products has signed an agreement with De Beers Fuel Limited of South Africa to build 90 biodiesel reactors. Each of the biodiesel reactors will be capable of producing 10 million gallons of biodiesel each year for a total production capacity... Read more →

Renewable resources could produce 25% of the combined demand for electricity and motor vehicle fuels in the United States by 2025 at little or no additional cost if fossil fuel prices remain high enough and the cost of producing renewable energy continues falling in accord with historical trends, according to... Read more →

Phantom view of the Bonner engine. Click to enlarge. In a poster session at the upcoming 25th Army Science Conference, to be held 27-30 November 2006 in Orlando, the Army Research Laboratory’s Vehicle Technology Directorate is presenting an overview of three unconventional engine concepts being developed under its sponsorship. The... Read more →