One of the challenges of constructing a global hydrogen economy is hydrogen transportation by sea. A new approach developed by researchers from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria and international colleagues proposes using solid air (nitrogen or oxygen) as a medium for recycling cooling energy across... Read more →

GTT, TotalEnergies, LMG Marin and Bureau Veritas have signed an agreement for a Joint Development Project (JDP) to develop a 150,000 m3 capacity liquid hydrogen (LH2) carrier concept design fitted with GTT’s membrane-type containment system. Low-carbon hydrogen offers a promising solution to decarbonize hard-to-electrify industries as well as heavy-duty terrestrial... Read more →

ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Solutions (CVS) division has introduced a new high-speed electric air compressor for fuel cells. ZF also announced this to be an exclusive development agreement with the Liebherr Group’s Aerospace & Transportation product segment. The partners will develop advanced fuel cell air compressor systems for their respective customer... Read more →

ZF Aftermarket is expanding its range of spare parts for electric cars. The latest product for the independent aftermarket is the Electronic Brake Booster from its TRW brand. This system is an integral part of the braking system in vehicles that don’t have an internal combustion engine or which use... Read more →

Vulcan Energy Resources signed a Term Sheet agreement with Nobian GmbH (Nobian) for the formation of a 50/50 joint venture over, and equity financing of, Vulcan’s Central Lithium Plant (CLP), which forms part of Vulcan’s Zero Carbon Lithium Project (earlier post). The strategic partnership is subject to the parties entering... Read more →

In a paper in Chinese Physical Letters, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences report manufacturing practical pouch-type rechargeable lithium batteries with a gravimetric energy density of 711.3 Wh⋅kg−1 and a volumetric energy density of 1653.65 Wh⋅L−1. Current advanced practical lithium-ion batteries have an energy density of around 300 Wh⋅kg−1.... Read more →

The Daimler Truck group launched a line of electric trucks in the US market under the new brand name RIZON. The RIZON brand and its vehicle offerings will be presented to the public for the first time at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo, scheduled to run from May 1-4,... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted the Advanced Clean Fleets rule (earlier post), which will require a phased-in transition to zero-emission medium-and-heavy duty vehicles. While trucks represent only 6% of the vehicles on California’s roads, they account for more than 35% of the state’s transportation-generated nitrogen oxide emissions and... Read more →

Stellantis N.V. and exploration and development company Alliance Nickel (formerly GME Resources) signed a binding offtake agreement for the supply of 170,000 tons of nickel sulfate and 12,000 tons of cobalt sulfate in total over an initial five-year period. This represents approximately 40% of forecast annual production of the NiWest... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) announced up to $5 million in funding (DE-FOA-0002784, Topic E) to evaluate the feasibility of extracting rare earth and other high-value trace critical minerals from macroalgae. Seaweeds accumulate trace metals in such an efficient way that this... Read more →

Bosch is expanding its semiconductor business with silicon carbide chips. The technology company plans to acquire assets of the US chipmaker TSI Semiconductors, based in Roseville, California. With a workforce of 250, the company is a foundry for application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs. Currently, it mainly develops and produces large... Read more →

​ Optimus Technologies recently announced a $17.8-million Series A funding round led by Mitsui & Co. out of Tokyo, Japan. The round included participation from one of North America’s largest commercial fleets, Chevron Renewable Energy Group, and Pittsburgh regional investors including: Idea Foundry, Inc., Innovation Works, Richard King Mellon Foundation,... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has adopted the In-Use Locomotive Regulation—a new rule aimed at reducing emissions from all switch, passenger, industrial and freight line haul locomotives when they operate within the state. Under the In-Use Locomotive Regulation, operators will now be required to pay into a spending account,... Read more →

Porsche AG and Norsk Hydro ASA will work together to further reduce the carbon footprint of Porsche’s car models by using low-carbon aluminum and extrusions from Hydro. In addition, the two companies will collaborate on an innovative value chain concept for battery materials and its recycling. Hydro will deliver to... Read more →

Constellium SE will work with Renault Group to establish a closed-loop aluminum recycling process for the all-new Megane E-TECH Electric. Renault Group has developed a recycling process to bring manufacturing scrap from the stamping process directly back to Constellium, resulting in a reduced CO2 footprint. Based on best practices to... Read more →

Motiv Power Systems has launched its next-generation electric trucks for medium-duty fleets. Motiv is a 14-year veteran providing all-electric step vans, box trucks and shuttle buses capable of moving 2-6 ton payloads. The company has deployed more than 150 vehicles and driven more than 2.5 million miles with fleets across... Read more →

Daimler Truck North America (DTNA), NextEra Energy Resources and BlackRock Alternatives, through a fund managed by its Climate Infrastructure business, (BlackRock), announced Greenlane, the name of their joint venture (earlier post) to design, develop, install and operate a US nationwide, high-performance zero-emission public charging and hydrogen fueling network for medium-... Read more →

Suncor Energy agreed to purchase TotalEnergies’ Canadian operations through the acquisition of TotalEnergies EP Canada Ltd., which holds a 31.23% working interest in the Fort Hills oil sands mining project (Fort Hills) and a 50% working interest in the Surmont in situ asset. T his will add 135,000 barrels per... Read more →

TTTech Auto launched the N4 Network Controller, a high-performance Electronic Control Unit (ECU) with advanced networking capabilities. The N4 is designed to play a central role in modern automotive E/E architectures, paving the way to software-defined vehicles. The N4 Network Controller provides all conditions to ensure cybersecurity according to ISO... Read more →

Glencore will acquire 30% of Hydro’s Brazilian alumina refinery Hydro Alunorte and Hydro’s 5% ownership in the Brazilian bauxite producer Mineracão Rio do Norte (MRN). MRN is Brazil’s largest bauxite producer. Glencore will also acquire an additional 40% stake in MRN, which is currently owned by Vale. This 40% interest... Read more →

Rio Tinto has entered into a binding agreement to acquire the Platina Scandium Project (PSP), a high-grade scandium resource in New South Wales, from Platina Resources Limited for $14 million. The project, near Condobolin in central New South Wales, contains a long life, high-grade scalable resource that could produce up... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz EQE and EQS customers in the North America can now opt for more performance with the new Acceleration Increase On-Demand upgrade for select Sedan and SUV models. Optionally available as an Over-the-Air update, this new feature raises the vehicle’s output by up to 80 hp and improves acceleration from... Read more →

In March, Toyota’s GR Corolla H2 Concept (liquid hydrogen-powered Corolla) suffered a fire during a tet run and withdrew from the opening of the ENEOS Super Taikyu Series 2023 Powered by Hankook Round 1 Suzuka. (Earlier post.) Now, Toyota says that with the Super Taikyu season kicking off at Suzuka... Read more →

Hydrogen specialist H-TEC SYSTEMS—a subsidiary of MAN Energy Solutions—has held the groundbreaking ceremony for its new production facility in Hamburg. The H-TEC SYSTEMS Stack Manufacturing & Development Center will gather stack development, production and testing in one location, employing several hundred employees in the long term. As early as 2024,... Read more →

Rheinmetall’s Sensors and Actuators division has won a new order for more than 150,000 HRB 1800 hydrogen recirculation blowers. The contract, worth a figure in the mid-double-digit million-euro range, is from a new customer. For Group subsidiary Pierburg, this is an important milestone in the development of innovative fuel cell... Read more →

Infineon Technologies AG and Schweizer Electronic AG (ETR: SCE) are collaborating on an innovative way to further increase the efficiency of chips based on silicon carbide (SiC). Both partners are developing a solution to embed Infineon’s 1200 V CoolSiC chips directly onto printed circuit boards (PCB). This will increase the... Read more →

onsemi, a provider of intelligent power and sensing technologies, and premium electric mobility brand ZEEKR have entered a long-term supply agreement (LTSA). onsemi will provide its EliteSiC silicon carbide (SiC) power devices to increase the powertrain efficiency of ZEEKR’s smart electric vehicles (EVs), resulting in improved performance, faster charging speeds... Read more →

SKF has signed a letter of intent with CAKE, the Swedish maker of premium, lightweight, electric motorcycles, to explore how it can incorporate bearings produced with the lowest possible carbon emissions. CAKE and Vattenfall have committed to producing the Cleanest Dirt Bike Ever by removing carbon emissions from every part... Read more →

SKF and Pagani S.p.A. formed a technical partnership to develop lightweight, low-friction bearings for Pagani’s hypercar vehicles. The two companies have enjoyed a 25-year automaker-supplier relationship. Pagani S.p.A is an Italian hypercar manufacturer established in 1998 by Horacio Pagani. The company rapidly made its name as a constructor of bespoke... Read more →

The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden is leading a research project targeting a new generation of sulfur-based batteries. The focus of the research project “MaSSiF – Material Innovations for Solid-State Sulfur-Silicon Batteries” is the design, construction and evaluation of lightweight and low-cost sulfur-based prototype cells... Read more →

Singapore—based Berge Bulk, one of the world’s leading independent dry bulk shipping companies, and ABS signed a joint project agreement to conduct a detailed feasibility study for the conversion of methanol-fueled propulsion system and aim to kickstart in Q1 2024. The two companies will collaborate on a broad range of... Read more →

MAN Energy Solutions’ MAN 175D engine is formally approved for operation on biofuels, effective immediately. This applies to all standard biofuels such as HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) and FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Ester) fuels up to a content of 100%. The engine itself does not require any technical adjustments, following... Read more →

Raven SR, a renewable fuels company (earlier post), and Cap Clean Energy, a clean energy development company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to co-develop biofuels facilities in Canada to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel (RD) for the heavy duty transport sector. The... Read more →

BMW i Ventures announced an investment in Canada-based Cyclic Materials, a circular supply chain company focused on recycling rare earth elements (REE) (earlier post). The $27-million Series A funding was led by BMW i Ventures (BiV) and Energy Impact Partners (EIP), and included participation from Fifth Wall, Bioindustrial Innovation Canada... Read more →

General Motors and Samsung SDI plan to invest more than $3 billion to build a new battery cell manufacturing plant in the United States that is targeted to begin operations in 2026. The plant will have more than 30 GWh of capacity and will bring GM’s total US battery cell... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group plans to set up an electric vehicle (EV) battery cell production joint venture in the US with partner SK On. The Group affiliates Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation and Hyundai Mobis each approved the plan at their respective board meetings. In November 2022, the Group signed a... Read more →

Siro, a joint venture between Farasis Energy and Turkish global mobility technology brand Togg (earlier post), has started production at the new Gemlik site in Turkey on 31 March. The plant, with a capacity of 3 GWh/annum, will produce battery modules and packs based on Farasis Energy’s high-performance lithium-ion technology.... Read more →

Sibanye-Stillwater announced that as part of a previously announced rights issue to secure the outstanding equity funding for its Keliber Lithium project in Finland (earlier post), the Finnish Minerals Group (which manages the Finnish State’s mining industry shareholdings), will increase its holding in the Keliber project from 14% to 20%,... Read more →

In an open access paper in the Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, researchers at the University of Surrey (UK) have investigated the effect of group riding on cyclists’ exposure to vehicle pollutants. For major cycle lanes cutting thorough many large cities, cars and bicycles share the same stretch... Read more →

Using a novel combination of cryogenic transmission electron tomography and deep learning, EPFL researchers have provided a first look at the nanostructure of platinum catalyst layers, revealing how they could be optimized for fuel cell efficiency. Most proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) catalysts contain platinum—a scarce and precious metal. There... Read more →

Toyota was earlier granted a Zero Emission Powertrain (ZEP) Executive Order (A-014-1170) from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for its new heavy-duty fuel cell electric powertrain kit. (Earlier post.) The hydrogen-fueled powertrain kit includes a 200 kWh Li-ion battery; hydrogen fuel storage tanks (58.8 kg capacity, 700 bar), fuel... Read more →

Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK has signed a deal with the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) Cymru to optimize hydrogen fuel cell assembly. Advancements have been made to the Hydrogen Electric Propulsion Systems (HEPS) assembly testbed, based at AMRC Cymru in North Wales since work began in October... Read more →

Sysco Corporation, the world’s largest food distributor, unveiled its vision for the Riverside Electric Vehicle Hub, which will transform the company’s distribution center into the focal point of its electrified fleet. One of the first electric vehicle hubs of its kind, the Riverside project is a foundational step toward Sysco’s... Read more →

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Seaborg Technologies announced a consortium to develop floating nuclear power plants with Seaborg Technologies’ compact molten salt reactor (CMSR) technology. The power plants will be installed on barges with a modular design able to deliver from 200MWe to 800MWe,... Read more →

Proman Stena Bulk, the joint venture between tanker company Stena Bulk and methanol producer Proman, successfully completed the first barge-to-ship methanol bunkering on the US Gulf Coast. The JV tankers Stena Pro Marine and Stena Prosperous were refueled with methanol via barge while discharging petroleum products at a terminal in... Read more →

At a ceremony in South Korea in March, HHI-EMD—a MAN Energy Solutions two-stroke licensee—marked the manufacture of the world’s largest methanol-powered two-stroke engine, a MAN B&W G95ME-LGIM type. Simultaneously, the engine’s manufacture pushed the company past the 200 million brake-horsepower milestone for low-speed, two-stroke engines. With its 95 cm cylinder... Read more →

On the foundation of their 2021 collaboration agreement and of technical work achieved together over the past two years, Nouveau Monde Graphite and Caterpillar signed definitive agreements for Caterpillar to supply NMG’s Matawinie Mine with an integrated solution that covers a zero-exhaust emission fleet, supporting infrastructure, and service. Caterpillar is... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group’s battery company PowerCo SE aims to build its largest gigafactory to date in St. Thomas, Ontario/Canada with an annual production capacity of up to 90 GWh in the final expansion phase. The planned investment of up to €4.8 billion / CAD$ 7 billion until 2030 has the... Read more →

Volkswagen Group deliveries of all-electric vehicles (BEVs) rose by 42% in Q1 2023 compared to the prior-year period, which was hit harder by supply chain issues. A total of 141,000 BEVs were handed over to customers, up from 99,200 in the first quarter of 2022. BEVs made up 6.9% of... Read more →

California posted new light-duty zero emission vehicle (ZEV) sales—battery-electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and fuel cell vehicles (FCEV)—of 124,053 units in Q1 2023, representing 21.1% market share of the total 588,455 light-duty vehicles sold, according to the California Energy Commission. The Q1 sales bring the cumulative ZEV sales in the... Read more →