Albemarle, a leading global producer of lithium, bromine and catalyst solutions, expects lithium industry demand to reach 1.14 million MT LCE (lithium carbonate equivalent) by 2025—approaching approximately 30% CAGR—driven by increasing EV sales volumes and battery sizes. With battery costs declining and performance improving, there is an increasing need for... Read more →

ExxonMobil has made a discovery at Pinktail in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana. The Pinktail well encountered 220 feet (67 meters) of net pay in high quality hydrocarbon bearing sandstone reservoirs. In addition to successful appraisal of the Turbot discovery, the Turbot-2 well encountered 43 feet (13 meters) of net... Read more →

Researchers from Newcastle University in the UK have engineered Escherichia coli bacteria to capture carbon dioxide using hydrogen gas to convert it into formic acid. The research, accepted for publication in Applied and Environmental Microbiology raises the possibility of converting atmospheric CO2 to commodity chemicals. Escherichia coli is gram-negative bacterium... Read more →

Energy company SG H2 Energy; the City of Lancaster, California; and Iwatani, Japan’s leading hydrogen industrial gas company and a developer of hydrogen refueling stations (HRS) in California, are launching California’s first closed-loop green hydrogen ecosystem for transportation. In May 2020, SG H2 announced it was bringing the world’s biggest... Read more →

Frost & Sullivan projects that the global Li-ion battery materials market will reach $51.60 billion by 2027 from $18.75 billion in 2020 at a 15.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). The advancements in battery chemistries and technologies, upsurge in electric vehicle (EV) sales, evolving regulatory scenario, and increasing consumer preferences... Read more →

An international collaboration of scientists has taken a significant step toward the realization of a nearly “green” zero-net-carbon technology that can efficiently convert CO2 and hydrogen into ethanol. The study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, lays out a roadmap for successfully navigating this challenging reaction and... Read more →

Electrolytic hydrogen production powered by renewable energy is seen as an environmentally friendly means to ameliorate global climate and energy problems. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a research team has now introduced a novel and inexpensive material for electrodes that may provide for highly efficient, energy-saving hydrogen production: porous, phosphorized... Read more →

Wabtec, a leading global provider of equipment, systems, digital solutions and value-added services for the freight and transit rail industries, as well as the mining, marine and industrial markets, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) which formalizes their joint aim to create technologies that will... Read more →

Porsche and Siemens Energy have joined forces with a number of international companies to build an industrial plant for the production of nearly CO₂-neutral fuel (eFuel) in Punta Arenas, Chile. A pilot plant is initially being built north of Punta Arenas in Chilean Patagonia, which is expected to produce around... Read more →

Israel-based StoreDot, the developer of extreme fast charging battery technology for electric vehicles (earlier post), has demonstrated a prototype 4680 form factor cell that is fully charged in just 10 minutes. StoreDot’s extreme fast charging cells have been in development for more than three years. Work for these technologies was... Read more →

An international automaker has awarded the Rheinmetall technology group an important order for CWA400 coolant pumps. Worth a figure in the two-digit million-euro range, the transaction marks the extension of an existing contract. Delivery of the pumps, which are earmarked for installation in luxury hybrid vehicles with 2.5-liter four-cylinder engines,... Read more →

Arbor Renewable Gas, LLC (Arbor Gas) will use Topsoe’s TIGAS technology for producing renewable gasoline at a new facility in the Gulf Coast region. The facility—expected to be operational by 2024—will produce 1,000 barrels per day of renewable gasoline with a significantly negative carbon intensity score under California’s Low Carbon... Read more →

As part of a White House roundtable to launch the Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) Grand Challenge to decarbonize the aviation sector by 2050 (earlier post), the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $64.7 million in funding for projects focused on producing cost-effective, low-carbon biofuels. These investments will advance technologies to... Read more →

The Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries (FCAB) released the Pre-application Battery Test Manual, which defines a series of tests to characterize performance and life behavior for advanced batteries. The manual is based on broad technical needs across multiple applications and was developed to provide federal sponsors and battery end users... Read more →

The Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Transportation (DOT) and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) are launching a government-wide Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge to meet the demand for sustainable aviation fuels by working with stakeholders to reduce costs, enhance sustainability, and expand production and use of sustainable aviation fuels... Read more →

United and Honeywell announced a joint multimillion-dollar investment in Alder Fuels—a company that is developing technologies for producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at scale by converting abundant biomass, such as forest and crop waste, into sustainable low-carbon, drop-in replacement crude oil that can be used to produce aviation fuel. When... Read more →

Chevron USA, a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, and Gevo have signed a letter of intent (LOI) to invest jointly in building and operating one or more new facilities that would process inedible corn to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which can lower the lifecycle carbon intensity of fuels used in the aviation... Read more →

Lightning eMotors, a provider of specialty commercial electric vehicles for fleets, and ABB announced a partnership to offer DC fast electric vehicle chargers for commercial electric fleet vehicles. The high-output 20 kW to 350 kW DC fast chargers will be available via Lightning Energy, a division of Colorado-based Lightning eMotors.... Read more →

by Michael Sivak, Sivak Applied Research. In 2003, Michael Flannagan and I published a detailed analysis of the relative safety of flying and driving in the United States. The flying data were for 1992 through 2001, and thus they included the year of the 9/11 attacks. The analysis showed that,... Read more →

A new Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program— Environmental Microbes as a BioEngineering Resource (EMBER) (HR001121S0035)—seeks to develop novel, bio-based technologies to overcome key challenges facing domestic supply of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) critical to the US and Department of Defense (DoD). Although the US has domestic REE resources,... Read more →

Three weeks after the announcement of an e-methanol sourcing agreement in Europe (earlier post), A.P. Moller – Maersk has invested in California-based WasteFuel, a start-up focused on turning waste into sustainable aviation fuel, green bio-methanol, and renewable natural gas. This investment is made through Maersk Growth, the corporate venture arm... Read more →

Power management company Eaton’ Vehicle Group has partnered with Ballard Fuel Cell Systems and the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop heavy-duty truck fuel cell technology. The partnership is the result of a grant Eaton’s Vehicle Group received from the US Department of Energy to develop... Read more →

Honda will start a testing program for autonomous vehicles in September 2021, taking a step toward an autonomous vehicle mobility service (MaaS) business in Japan, which Honda is planning to launch under collaboration with Cruise and General Motors. The testing program for autonomous vehicles mobility service technologies will be conducted... Read more →

Polestar has released the LCA reports for the new Polestar 2 versions (Long-range Single-motor and Standard-range Single-motor), including all emissions from cradle to grave. The company published an evaluation of the carbon footprint of the Long-range Dual-motor Polestar 2 in 2020. The new LCAs represent a continuation of that work;... Read more →

KAMAZ has presented the KAMAZ-6290 hydrogen fuel cell bus at the COMTRANS-2021 international exhibition in Moscow. There is still a lot of work to be done. In 2022, we intend to test a prototype KAMAZ hydrogen fuel cell bus in the streets of Moscow, in the environment of actual operation.... Read more →

Loop Energy, a developer and manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cell-based solutions, is partnering with METTEM-M Ltd., a developer of vehicle control systems and systems integrator, to provide hydrogen electric powertrain solutions to commercial vehicle OEMs across Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and greater Europe. The companies’ first joint... Read more →

Chevron USA, a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, and Caterpillar announced a collaboration agreement to develop hydrogen demonstration projects in transportation and stationary power applications, including prime power. The goal of the collaboration is to confirm the feasibility and performance of hydrogen for use as a commercially viable alternative to traditional... Read more →

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation (A.4302/S.2758), setting a goal for all new passenger cars and trucks sold in New York State to be zero-emissions by 2035. In addition, the Governor directed the Department of Environmental Conservation to release the proposed Advanced Clean Truck regulation that would significantly reduce... Read more →

The number of electric vehicle miles traveled (eVMT) has been increasing each year since the introduction of the first mass market plug-in vehicles in late 2010. Beginning in 2014, annual all-electric vehicle eVMT has exceeded that of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the US, reaching a new high of nearly... Read more →

Mobileye, an Intel company, unveiled the 6-passenger, road-ready electric autonomous vehicle (AV) that will be used for commercial driverless ride-hailing services in Tel Aviv and Munich starting in 2022. Equipped with the Mobileye Drive self-driving system featuring 8 EyeQ5 SoCs in the AVKIT58, the all-electric Mobileye AVs will operate under... Read more →

At IAA Mobility, during his first in-person keynote since taking the helm of Intel in February, CEO Pat Gelsinger predicted that semiconductors will account for more than 20% of the total premium vehicle bill of materials (BOM) by 2030. That represents a 5x growth rate over 2019’s 4% figure. This... Read more →

Wärtsilä has developed and delivered a mobile battery container solution that will enable inland waterway vessels to operate with zero emissions. The first order, comprising three units, was placed by ZES (Zero Emission Services) BV, a Netherlands-based company founded in 2020 by ING Bank, energy and technical service provider Engie,... Read more →

Wright Electric has begun testing its 2 MW (~2,700 horsepower) motor for electric and hydrogen aircraft. (Earlier post.) It’s the largest propulsive aerospace motor in existence to the company’s knowledge—about 2x larger than other propulsive motors in testing. Wright’s motor can work in 150+ passenger aircraft in a 10-motor-array format,... Read more →

Hyzon, a supplier of hydrogen fuel cell-powered heavy vehicles, announced that ZeroAvia has placed an order for Hyzon Motors’s next generation, high-performance lightweight fuel cell. ZeroAvia will evaluate the fuel cell for use in its zero-emission aircraft development program, which focuses on hydrogen-electric solutions. ZeroAvia selected Hyzon’s fuel cell stack... Read more →

Archer Aviation, a developer of all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft has been actively engaged with the FAA through its Center for Emerging Concepts & Innovation and the Los Angeles Aircraft Certification Office to develop the airworthiness and environmental requirements necessary for full certification of its eVTOL aircraft. Archer... Read more →

E-mobility specialist QUANTRON AG is preparing to launch the electric QUANTRON 12m low-floor bus. The city bus will be available in two versions: the BEV version can be ordered from the end of 2021, and the FCEV from spring 2022. The zero-emission bus will be in a similar price range... Read more →

Ballard, a global leader in fuel cell technologies, and QUANTRON, a global leader in electric vehicle integration have formed a strategic partnership for the development of hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks. The combined, complementary expertise of Ballard and QUANTRON enables broader customer access to zero emissions fuel cell electric trucks... Read more →

Solid Power, Inc., an industry-leading developer of all-solid-state battery cells for electric vehicles, is adding a second Denver-area production facility in Thornton, Colorado. The new facility will greatly expand Solid Power’s capacity to produce key materials for its all-solid-state battery cells, including the ability to produce up to 30 metric... Read more →

In a livestreamed briefing on batteries and carbon neutrality, Toyota Chief Technology Officer Masahiko Maeda said that the company will invest ¥1.5 trillion (US$14.3 billion) in the development of a battery supply system and research and development by 2030. Toyota currently assumes it will go beyond the 180 GWh worth... Read more →

Chevron USA, through its Chevron Products Company division, Delta Air Lines, and Google announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to track sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) test batch emissions data using cloud-based technology. Sustainable aviation fuel is produced from biofeedstocks that can reduce lifecycle carbon intensity significantly when compared to conventional... Read more →

Gevo plans to install an alcohol-to-hydrocarbon process pilot unit at its facility located in Luverne, Minnesota. The pilot unit is being designed to produce market development quantities of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable premium gasoline, other renewable fuel products, as well as provide capability to supply market development quantities of... Read more →

In an online event from Seoul, Hyundai Motor Group presented plans to popularize hydrogen by 2040 through the introduction of new technologies and mobility solutions in transportation and other industrial sectors. The Group said it will electrify all new commercial vehicle models—featuring fuel cell electric or battery electric powertrains, as... Read more →

A new way of anchoring individual iridium atoms to the surface of a catalyst significantly increased its efficiency in splitting water molecules, scientists from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University reported in an open-access paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). …we... Read more →

A team of researchers from Sasol and the Catalysis Institute at the University of Cape Town (UCT) has made advancements in the use of commercial iron catalyst, produced cheaply and at large scale at Sasol’s Secunda plant, which would enable conversion of unavoidable or biogenically-derived carbon dioxide (CO2) and green... Read more →

Wallbox, a leading provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions worldwide, unveiled Hypernova, the company’s fastest and most sophisticated public charging station yet, at IAA Mobility in Munich. Hypernova can deliver up to 350 kW that allows it to fully charge an electric car in the time it takes to... Read more →

Bosch is introducing a flexible smart charging cable with integrated control and safety technology also does without the usual “charging brick”—the bulky in-cable control box—when charging at a 230-volt power socket. This means the flexible smart charging cable weighs less than three kilograms. On average, this is a good 40%... Read more →

In electromobility, Bosch is growing twice as fast as the market, and will generate more than €1 billion euros in sales this year. Bosch offers a wide range of options here: from e-bikes to construction machinery, and from silicon carbide chips to pre-integrated e-axle modules. This business is continuing to... Read more →

BMW is presenting two concept electric two-wheelers at IAA Mobility: BMW i Vision AMBY, a high-speed pedelec and BMW Motorrad Vision AMBY, combining the benefits of a motorcycle with those of a bicycle. AMBY stands for “Adaptive Mobility”. From the outside, the BMW i Vision AMBY looks similar to an... Read more →

At IAA Mobility in Munich, ZF is presenting the Moldular eDrive Kit for purely electric drives. Th kit bundles the entire expertise of ZF's e-mobility team for system solutions, components, and software controls in a flexible and modular platform. The Modular eDrive Kit can halve the development time until series... Read more →

The novel Common Pressure Rail Hybrid system by Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) applied to excavators, which results in significant improvements in energy-efficiency, has received the Volvo Technology Award 2021. The Volvo CE team from Sweden and South Korea has worked closely with Finnish company Norrhydro in the research project, leveraging... Read more →