Energy storage installations around the world will multiply exponentially, from a modest 9GW/17GWh deployed as of 2018 to 1,095GW/2,850GWh by 2040, according to the latest forecast from research company BloombergNEF (BNEF). The total demand for batteries from the stationary storage and electric transport sectors is forecast to be 4,584GWh combined... Read more →

A team at the University of Delaware has demonstrated a direct ammonia fuel cell (DAFC) prototype with a peak power density of 135 mW cm-2 at 80 ˚C. The DAFC employs an ammonia-tolerant precious-metal-free cathode catalyst (Acta 4020) and a high-temperature-stable hydroxide exchange membrane (HEM). A paper on the work... Read more →

Australia-based biotechnology company Circa Group, which produces its bio-based solvent Cyrene from waste cellulose, is participating in a project to develop the first UK industrial scale capability to reclaim and reuse the most valuable components of end-of-life electrical vehicle (EV) batteries. The R2LIB (Reclamation, Remanufacture of Lithium Ion Batteries) project... Read more →

The i-CoBat project—a collaboration between M&I Materials, WMG and Ricardo —aims to develop and to demonstrate a new form of EV battery cooling technology based on cell immersion cooling using dielectric fluid. This innovation promises improved power output and cell longevity, faster charging rates and lower costs, significantly addressing the... Read more →

CSIRO scientists have developed a new way to account for ozone in computer simulations of the climate. This latest modeling shows that the oceans take much less ozone out of the atmosphere than previously thought. This has implications not only for the understanding of future global warming, but also on... Read more →

James Cook University (JCU) scientists in Australia are using 3D printing to create fuels for rockets, and using tailor-made rocket motors they’ve built to test the fuels. JCU lecturer in mechanical engineering Dr Elsa Antunes led the study, published in an open-access paper in the journal Aerospace. The JCU scientists... Read more →

The California Environmental Protection Agency has issued a solicitation for members of a new advisory group to help steer policies pertaining to the recovery and recycling of lithium-ion vehicle batteries sold with motor vehicles in the state. Advisory Group members will not receive travel stipends or per diem for participation... Read more →

With its EcoPaintJet system, Dürr is presenting an automated application solution that ensures an unprecedented level of precision in applying sharp paint lines, enabling two-tone painting with reduced cost and effort. The EcoPaintJet also offers important benefits in the painting of electric cars. The EcoPaintJet is a quantum leap in... Read more →

Scientists at ETH Zürich and oil and gas company Total have developed a new catalyst that efficiently converts CO2 and hydrogen directly into methanol. Offering realistic market potential, the technology paves the way for the sustainable production of fuels and chemicals. ETH Zürich and Total have jointly filed a patent... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems announced a purchase order from Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. for 12 FCmove-HD fuel cell modules to power 12 buses to be deployed with SASA Bolzano, the public transport operator in Bolzano, Italy under the Joint Initiative For Hydrogen Vehicles Across Europe (JIVE) funding program. (Earlier post.)... Read more →

The US Department of Energy announced $50 million for new and innovative research of technologies for trucks, off-road vehicles, and the fuels that power them. Funded through the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), these selections highlight the DOE’s priorities in gaseous fuels research, including natural gas,... Read more →

Physicists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Multiscale Systems, Inc. have simulated what it would take for hackers to wreak widespread havoc in a city by randomly stranding cars. The researchers want to expand the current discussion on automotive cybersecurity, which mainly focuses on hacks that could crash one... Read more →

Thomas Built Buses Inc. has received full California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) certifications for its Type C electric bus, the Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley powered by Proterra electric vehicle technology. This certification officially qualifies Jouley for state vouchers. Thomas Built... Read more →

New Flyer Industries Canada, a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. (NFI), one of the world’s largest independent global bus manufacturers, announced the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC) and Brampton Transit have jointly secured $11.15 million in federal funding from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to support the adoption... Read more →

Eni has released the 18th edition of the World Oil, Gas and Renewables Review, the annual statistics report on oil, natural gas and renewables sources. The first volume of the report, the World Oil Review, is devoted to oil reserves, supply, demand, trade and prices with a special focus on... Read more →

In the US, more than 50 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 traveled to school in 2017, according to the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). More than half (54.2%) were driven to school in a private vehicle, while 33.2% typically traveled by school bus. The distance... Read more →

Switzerland’s first system for the commercial production of hydrogen is planned at the Gösgen hydropower plant. The 2 MW system is to be constructed by Hydrospider, which is owned in equal shares by Alpiq and H2 Energy. The system is to be constructed on the left bank of the Aare... Read more →

On 26 July, the first flue gas from the natural gas power plant, the Shepard Energy Center in Calgary, Canada, was directly transformed by the C2CNT process (earlier post) into carbon nanotubes. In a related new study in the Journal of CO2 Utilization (Wang et al.) new developments of the... Read more →

Continental is enhancing and refining its Intelligent Glass Control solution, opening up new possibilities for greater comfort, safety and energy efficiency. A modern car contains, on average, around five square meters of glass—almost twice as much as 30 years ago. While many components—from the inside mirror with a built-in tiredness... Read more →

Researchers at McGill University in Canada have shown that previously unknown mercury-containing nanoparticles exist in the air by using high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging (HR-STEM). Their open-access paper appears in Scientific Reports. Mercury is an important global toxic contaminant of concern that causes cognitive and neuromuscular damage in humans.... Read more →

An international team of scientists has observed a previously unclear inflammatory mechanism caused by airborne particles that can worsen asthma symptoms. The paper is published in the journal Toxicological Sciences. Research teams from Hiroshima University, the University of California and the Leibniz Research Institute identified a cell receptor—AhR—that was activated... Read more →

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has awarded a 4-year $19.4M contract to ThayerMahan Inc. The contract provides funding to develop innovative autonomous systems, as well as continue to improve ThayerMahan’s proprietary acoustic and electronic search systems, in support of Navy and Marine Corps missions. The program, Development, Testing and... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is awarding $43.6 million in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II Release 2 grants to projects that demonstrate commercial feasibility for innovations during the second phase of their research. Phase II awards range from $975,000... Read more →

Researchers in Europe have found that while diesel particulate filters (DPFs) have to a large extent masked the role of diesel fuel properties on particulate emissions, there is still room for optimization, especially in particle number (PN) emissions of vehicles with frequent regenerations. Their study is published in the journal... Read more →

MAN Energy Solutions, Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies and Frames Group B.V. have signed a cooperation agreement in order to jointly design and build large scale hydrogen storage systems based on the Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) technology (earlier post). Developed by Hydrogenious, the LOHC technology uses heat transfer oil as a... Read more →

BP will form a 50:50 biofuels joint venture with Bunge—a leader in agriculture, food and ingredients. BP will combine its Brazilian biofuels and biopower businesses with that of Bunge to create a world-scale, highly-efficient producer of sugarcane ethanol in Brazil: BP Bunge Bioenergia. BP’s interest in the new venture will... Read more →

Stora Enso is investing €10 million to build a pilot facility for producing bio-based carbon materials based on lignin. Wood-based carbon can be utilized as a crucial component in batteries typically used in consumer electronics, the automotive industry and large-scale energy storage systems. The pilot plant will be located at... Read more →

Starting in 2021, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Poland (TMMP) plans to produce a second electronic continuously variable transmission (e-CVT) at its plant in Wałbrzych. With this €70-million investment, TMMP will also be producing one of the electric motors that is integral to Toyota’s hybrid electric powertrain system. Together with earlier announcements,... Read more →

Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. and Kansai University have developed a new technology to generate electric power from the rotation of a tire. The Energy Harvester takes advantage of the build up of static electricity—known as frictional charging—to produce power efficiently as the tire turns. Inside the Energy Harvester are two... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) awarded $2 million in federal funding for seven new high performance computing projects, as part of the High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) Initiative, a DOE-wide effort comprising EERE, the Office of Fossil Energy (FE), the... Read more →

The new Honda e EV features intuitive and advanced connectivity in a contemporary passenger cabin. The Honda e’s full-width digital dashboard, comprised of five integrated high-resolution color screens, is designed for effortless usability of the onboard connected apps and services. The Side Camera Mirror System screens are ergonomically placed at... Read more →

Intel and Apple signed an agreement for Apple to acquire the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business. Approximately 2,200 Intel employees will join Apple, along with intellectual property, equipment and leases. The transaction, valued at $1 billion, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory... Read more →

The aluminum producer Hydro now supplies sustainable aluminum for the battery housing of the Audi e-tron EV. The material is processed and manufactured along the entire process chain in an environmentally friendly manner and under socially acceptable working conditions. This has been confirmed by the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) with... Read more →

The 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 with the available, all-new 3.0L Duramax turbo-diesel engine delivers an EPA-estimated 33 mpg highway and 23 city in rear-wheel-drive models. EPA-estimated fuel economy for four-wheel drive models is 29 mpg highway/23 city. With an SAE-certified 277 horsepower and 460 lb-ft (624 N·m) of torque, the... Read more →

The first paperless, instantly financed and fully door-to-door tracked container made its way from Korea to the warehouse of Samsung SDS in Tilburg via Port of Rotterdam on Blockchain-based platform DELIVER. ABN AMRO, Port of Rotterdam and Samsung SDS demonstrated that blockchain technology enables interoperability, and that integrated container tracking... Read more →

The European car market dropped in June 2019 as 1.49 million vehicles were registered—down by 7.9% on the same time last year, according to data from JATO. It was the biggest monthly drop so far in 2019, as only four out of the 27 markets included in JATO’s analysis posted... Read more →

Researchers at Sandia and Pacific Northwest national laboratories are leading a collaborative effort to investigate how hydrogen affects materials such as plastics, rubber, steel and aluminum. The Hydrogen Materials Compatibility Consortium, or H-Mat, will focus on how hydrogen affects polymers and metals used in diverse sectors including fuel cell transportation... Read more →

Best Transportation, headquartered in Port Newark, NJ, announced its first usage of a fully electric class A tractor. The company successfully picked up a container in Maher Terminal, also headquartered in the Port, and delivered the container to a Costco Wholesale location within New Jersey using the BYD tractor. Best... Read more →

Lightning Systems, a developer of zero emission drivetrains for commercial fleets, has received an Executive Order from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for the Lightning Electric Ford F-59 platform, commonly used in food truck and delivery van applications. The latest Lightning Electric powertrain for the Ford F-59 chassis is... Read more →

LG Chem will host the 2nd Global Innovation Contest (GIC) for leading universities and research institutions worldwide. The contest is open for entry until 30 September in 4 categories: Petrochemicals, Batteries, Advanced Materials, and Bio technologies. Being the first of its kind in Korean chemical industry, Global Innovation Contest invites... Read more →

Renewable Energy Group, Inc. announced the closing of its New Boston, Texas biorefinery due to challenging business conditions and continued federal policy uncertainty, most notably the long-lapsed federal biodiesel tax credit. The company acquired the 15-million gallon per-year biodiesel plant near Texarkana, Texas in October 2012 and began producing biodiesel... Read more →

GKN Automotive will this month deliver its one-millionth eDrive system. Demand for GKN Automotive’s expanding eDrive portfolio, which encompasses a range of driveline technologies for electrified vehicles, has increased markedly over recent years. The company currently has five major eDrive mass production projects in progress in China and Europe. GKN... Read more →

As the Trump administration prepares to freeze emission standards for light-duty cars and trucks, a consortium of four automakers—Ford, Honda, BMW of North America and Volkswagen Group of America—and California have agreed on a voluntary framework to reduce emissions that could serve as an alternative path forward for clean vehicle... Read more →

UPS has applied to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for Part 135 certification to operate commercial drone flights in the UPS network under a subsidiary business called UPS Flight Forward, Inc. FAA grants the authority to operate on-demand, unscheduled air service via the Part 135 certificate. Air carriers authorized... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) concluded an agreement with Didi Chuxing (DiDi) to expand collaboration in Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in China. As part of this agreement, Toyota will invest US$600 million in DiDi and a joint venture, which the two companies will establish with GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.... Read more →

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden) with colleagues at Gyeongsang National University (Korea) have used an ionic liquid (Py1,4TFSI) as an electrolyte additive to enable longer cycle-life of Li/S batteries. By tuning the concentration of the ionic liquid (IL), they demonstrated an enhanced stability of the SEI and lower... Read more →

Magna and the BAIC Group have signed a framework agreement governing their electric vehicle manufacturing joint venture (earlier post) in Zhenjiang, China, which marks another milestone of their continued cooperation. The transaction, which is pending regulatory approval and other closing conditions, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of... Read more →

Hydrogenases are of biotechnological interest as they are able to efficiently produce hydrogen. Now, a team from Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) and the University of Oxford has discovered how hydrogen-producing enzymes (hydrogenases) are activated during their biosynthesis. They showed how the cofactor—part of the active center and also the heart of... Read more →

Volkswagen’s electric ID.R now holds records at Pikes Peak, the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, and the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The sports car will take on its next record attempt in September: The ID.R will set a target time on Tianmen Mountain in China. The goal for this outing is to set a... Read more →

Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) is committing to reduce its carbon output in the United States by entering into Virtual Power Purchase Agreements (VPPAs). It will use them to reduce emissions from its North American operations by up to 40% over the next 3 years. The move represents another major... Read more →