Researchers from the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory and users from ExxonMobil have developed a new approach to identifying atoms that are neither carbon nor hydrogen within a specific type of molecule in crude oil. The team used non-contact atomic force microscopy (nc–AFM), a process in which... Read more →

GRI, a leading producer of specialty tires, has developed an Eco-Friendly version of its high-performance ULTIMATE XT solid tire. The GRI R&D team, in collaboration with a team of scientists from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Colombo, has developed the ULTIMATE XT eco-friendly version by replacing petroleum-based... Read more →

Four purely electrically powered Mercedes-Benz urban buses were handed over to Reutlinger Stadtverkehr (RSV) on 29 November. The eCitaro buses will operate on Reutlingen’s number 7 route, which is the town’s first E-line, from a new and purpose-built electric bus depot. The line concept provides for the eCitaro to be... Read more →

The BMW Group and Great Wall Motor have launched a new joint venture—Spotlight Automotive Limited—and are building a joint plant in China, where the BMW Group will produce future fully-electric models of its MINI brand. The plant will have a standard capacity of up to 160,000 vehicles per year, which... Read more →

Audi AG plans an outlay of approximately €37 billion for research and development expenditure and investment in property, plant and equipment over the next five years (2020 to 2024). The current planning reflects a significant improvement in investment and cost discipline, as well as the strong prioritization of investments in... Read more →

Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel have created a strain of the bacterium Escherichia coli that grows by consuming carbon dioxide instead of sugars or other organic molecules. The findings point to means of developing, in the future, carbon-neutral fuels. An open-access paper on the work... Read more →

Following the news that Audi will cut one in ten jobs to fund the shift to electric vehicles (EVs), Graeme Roberts, Automotive Editor at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, observed that a big industrial and economic adjustment is ahead as OEMs and suppliers find their footing in the... Read more →

Audi is introducing a standard technical update for its first all-electric product, the e-tron. This combines optimized drive system hardware with software adjustments to improve efficiency. As a result, all versions of the e-tron SUV will come off the assembly line with an extra 25 kilometers (15.5 mi) or so... Read more →

Fuel-cell systems are a challenging technology that, much like combustion engines, require sophisticated thermal management and supplies of air and hydrogen. Pierburg GmbH, a subsidiary of Rheinmetall Automotive AG, is applying its accumulated combustion engine expertise in pumps and valves to offer special products for fuel-cell vehicles. In addition to... Read more →

Skeleton Technologies, a European provider of ultracapacitors and ultracapacitor energy storage systems for automotive, transportation, and grid applications, is bringing to market a new ultracapacitor product platform, the SkelCap SCA0300, to address the fast-growing markets in manufacturing and warehouse logistics. The strict power quality requirements in manufacturing are driving the... Read more →

Hospitalizations for several common diseases—including septicemia (serious bloodstream infection), fluid and electrolyte disorders, renal failure, urinary tract infections, and skin and tissue infections—have been linked for the first time with short-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5), according to a comprehensive new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School... Read more →

Concentrations of the harmful NO2 pollutant across 30 major European cities could be reduced by up to 40% with the correct traffic policy measures, according to EU Joint Research Center (JRC) scientists. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk in Europe.... Read more →

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, will collaborate with Bosch Rexroth to develop fully electric versions of its reachstacker and heavy forklift solutions. This collaboration represents another significant milestone on Kalmar’s journey to offer electrically powered options for its entire equipment portfolio by 2021. Bosch Rexroth, a world-leading supplier of drive and... Read more →

What is currently the world’s largest pilot plant for the CO2-neutral production of hydrogen has successfully commenced operation at the voestalpine site in Linz, simultaneously setting an international milestone in the advancement of new energy supply options. As part of the EU-funded H2FUTURE project, partners voestalpine, VERBUND, Siemens, Austrian Power... Read more →

ZF Friedrichshafen AG is establishing a third Chinese research and development center in Guangzhou in southern China. ZF already has two development centers in China, both located in Shanghai. With their respective focus on the development of active and passive safety technology as well as driveline and chassis technology, the... Read more →

Fisker Inc. opened reservations for the Ocean electric luxury SUV, arriving in 2022, through its website and native mobile app—available globally on the App Store and Google Play store. Reservations are set at US$250 per vehicle and are fully refundable. The all-electric SUV will come standard with a range target... Read more →

Researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China and George Washington University in the US report in a new paper in the ACS journal Accounts of Chemical Research that a range of important carbon nanomaterials can be produced at high yield by molten carbonate electrolysis. In the Solar... Read more →

A new open-access study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) finds that Vertimass’ integrated, cost-efficient process to convert ethanol into a blend-stock consisting of a mixture of C3 – C16 hydrocarbons containing paraffin, iso-paraffins, olefins, and aromatic compounds can reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 40 and... Read more →

XALT Energy is powering the US’ first, long-distance, all-electric passenger coach in tests with private and public transportation providers in the United States. XALT Energy, a company of Freudenberg Sealing Technologies, is a Midland, Michigan-based global developer and manufacturer of lithium-ion technology solutions. XALT Energy is working in partnership with... Read more →

Stadler and San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) have signed the first contract to supply a hydrogen-powered train to run in the United States. SBCTA awarded the contract with an option to order four more vehicles in the future. The FLIRT H2 train is planned for passenger service in 2024.... Read more →

Rio Tinto has approved a $749-million (A$1-billion) investment in its existing Greater Tom Price operations (100% owned) to help sustain the production capacity of its world-class iron ore business in the Pilbara of Western Australia. The investment in the Western Turner Syncline Phase 2 (WTS2) mine will facilitate mining of... Read more →

Rheinmetall Automotive’s KS HUAYU AluTech GmbH is producing its first all-aluminum four-cylinder diesel engine for a widely used passenger car diesel engine series from a major German automobile manufacturer. This is the transverse version of the engine series that is now in volume production. For the engines developed with a... Read more →

Plug Power Inc., a provider of hydrogen fuel cell systems and fueling solutions enabling e-mobility, announced a new agreement with Spanish hydrogen production and distributor Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos (CLH). Through the agreement, CLH will develop hydrogen production assets and downstream markets in Spain, in the industrial, mobility and power... Read more →

Living in a more polluted area is associated with a greater likelihood of having glaucoma, a debilitating eye condition that can cause blindness, according to a new UCL-led study in the UK. People in neighborhoods with higher amounts of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution were at least 6% more likely... Read more →

Collaboration to advance development of urban mobility extended to 2022 Focus on support for e-mobility, innovative mobility services, intelligent transport networking and autonomous driving WeShare, Volkswagen’s full-electric car sharing service, to start in Hamburg next spring with over 1,000 electric vehicles From end of 2019, MAN electric buses to make... Read more →

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Chair of the Governor’s Biofuels Coalition, and Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem sent a joint letter to President Trump requesting that he direct the EPA to enforce Section 202 of the Clean Air Act that requires the reduction and elimination of toxic carcinogenic aromatics from... Read more →

Rice University researchers have developed an inorganic method to synthesize ammonia that is both environmentally friendly and can produce the valuable chemical on demand under ambient conditions. The research is described in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The Brown School of Engineering lab of materials scientist Jun Lou... Read more →

The Missouri Propane Education and Research Council presented Student Transportation of America (STA) a check for $20,000 for its acquisition of new propane school buses. These emissions- and cost-reducing propane school buses are in service throughout the Kansas City Public Schools district. The rebate presented to STA is part of... Read more →

The estimated annual fuel costs for model year (MY) 2019 all-electric light-duty vehicles are the lowest of all the different vehicle technologies, ranging from a low of $500 to a high of $900 per year, according to the US Department of Energy (DOE). The annual fuel costs for plug-in hybrid-electric... Read more →

​ Qatar Petroleum announced that it will raise Qatar’s LNG production capacity to 126 million tons per annum (mtpa) by 2027, representing an increase of 64% from the current 77 mtpa. The announcement was made by Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO... Read more →

New investment in wind, solar, and other clean energy projects in developing nations dropped sharply in 2018, largely due to a slowdown in China. While the number of new clean power-generating plants completed stayed flat year-to-year, the volume of power derived from coal surged to a new high, according to... Read more →

Women in their 70s and 80s who were exposed to higher levels of air pollution experienced greater declines in memory and more Alzheimer’s-like brain atrophy than their counterparts who breathed cleaner air, according to a new study by researchers at USC, Wake Forest School of Medicine, and their colleagues at... Read more →

Heliogen, a company that is transforming sunlight to create and replace fuels, recently announced its launch and also said that it has—for the first time commercially—concentrated solar energy to exceed temperatures greater than 1,000 degrees Celsius. At that temperature, Heliogen can replace the use of fossil fuels in critical industrial... Read more →

Starting 1 January 2020, the Volkswagen Group’s Car.Software organization will operate as an independent business unit. As a Group company, the Car.Software organization will centralize the associates and subsidiaries within the Group that develop car software and software for the digital ecosystems. Initially, around 3,000 digital experts from the software-related... Read more →

Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) have found a way to synthesize a special type of perovskite that promotes the production of ammonia, which has key applications in fertilizer production and hydrogen energy. This new synthesis process can be carried out at temperatures immensely lower than that of... Read more →

The first ŠKODA CITIGOe iV has rolled off the production line at the Volkswagen plant in Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava. The five-door city car is the brand’s first battery-powered car. Its real-life range allows drivers to cover up to 260 km (162 miles). The lithium-ion battery has a net capacity of... Read more →

New research led by The University of Manchester has developed a metal-organic framework (MOF) material that provides a selective, fully reversible and repeatable capability to capture nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a toxic air pollutant produced particularly by diesel and bio-fuel use. The NO2 can then be easily converted into nitric acid,... Read more →

Atomic City Transit in Los Alamos, New Mexico has agreed to purchase two Proterra Catalyst 35-foot E2 buses and two Proterra 125 kW plug-in charging systems. Atomic City Transit is Proterra’s first customer in New Mexico, increasing Proterra’s reach into 43 US states and Canadian provinces with more than 100... Read more →

Group14 Technologies announced $18 million in new financing from Amperex Technologies Limited (ATL), Showa Denko (SDK), Cabot Corporation, BASF Venture Capital, and OVP Venture Partners. The new funds will be used to scale-up manufacturing of a next-generation silicon-carbon composite anode material and advance into commercial production. Group14 Technologies—a 2016 spin-off... Read more →

A coalition of US public health and environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) challenging its revocation of California’s waiver for its greenhouse gas emission standards for new motor vehicles, as well as the state’s zero emission vehicle (ZEV) standards. This lawsuit against EPA is... Read more →

Keysight Technologies has achieved 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) validation of the industry’s first cellular vehicle-to-everything communications (C-V2X) radio frequency (RF) conformance test case. As a result, Keysight is enabling the automotive industry to accelerate commercialization of connected cars and autonomous vehicles. Performance validation of C-V2X is crucial for C-V2X... Read more →

“Insights into Future Mobility,” a multidisciplinary report released by the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), explores how individual travel decisions will be shaped by complex interactions between technologies, markets, business models, government policies, and consumer preferences—and the potential consequences as personal mobility undergoes tremendous changes in the years ahead. The report... Read more →

POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels, LLC, a joint venture of Royal DSM and POET, LLC, will pause production of cellulosic biofuels at Project LIBERTY and shift to R&D focused on improving operational efficiency. This step is a result of EPA challenges with the implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The joint... Read more →

BASF officially launched its smart Verbund project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, China, and commenced building its first plants. It marks a milestone of the company’s US$10-billion investment project announced in July 2018. (Earlier post.) The first plants will produce engineering plastics and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to serve the increasing needs... Read more →

BASF officially launched its smart Verbund project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, China, and commenced building its first plants. It marks a milestone of the company’s US$10-billion investment project announced in July 2018. (Earlier post.) The first plants will produce engineering plastics and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to serve the increasing needs... Read more →

Volkswagen is focusing its motorsport strategy on electric mobility. A clear emphasis on fully electric racing cars will be backed up by the farewell to factory-backed commitments using internal combustion engines. The role as a technological pioneer will continue to be taken over by the ID.R electric race car, which... Read more →

Gevo, Inc. signed a Fuel Sales Agreement with Scandinavian Airline System SAS) to produce and supply sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for use and distribution in low-carbon fuel regions of the United States. With the finalization of this new supply contract, Gevo will supply SAF to SAS from Gevo’s expanded Luverne,... Read more →

Uber is adding more polluting car trips to already-clogged European cities such as London and Paris, new analysis by European NGOs suggests—contributing to air pollution and climate change and exploding the company’s sustainability claims. Data compiled by Euromonitor for European research and campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) shows a... Read more →

Valmet Automotive has started the production of EV battery packs in its new plant in Salo, Finland. The battery plant project has progressed on schedule, and with the ramp up of production volumes, Valmet Automotive will continue recruiting more employees to the Salo plant. Valmet Automotive has completed the first... Read more →

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is proposing taking the 75 megahertz of spectrum in the 5.9 Ghz band currently allocated for Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) for the transportation and automotive industries and to reallocate it for different services. Under his Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which will be considered at the 12... Read more →