Ford has revealed the next-generation Ranger mid-size pickup truck. Order books for next-generation Ranger will open in Europe in late 2022 for customer delivery in early 2023. The current Ranger is Europe’s pick-up segment leader and recently set a new September year-to-date sales record of 45,539 units, with market share... Read more →

The Oregon Environmental Quality Commission approved the Clean Trucks Rule, which adopts California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) Rule and Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Omnibus rules (HD Omnibus) for Oregon. Under the ACT Rule, Oregon requires medium- and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers to sell zero-emission vehicles as a certain percentage of sales,... Read more →

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., Subaru Corporation, Toyota Motor Corporation, Mazda Motor Corporation, and Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. jointly announced that, toward the achievement of carbon neutrality, they will take on the challenge of expanding fuel options through the use of internal combustion engines at the (three-hour) Super Taikyu Race in... Read more →

Evolve Transition Infrastructure LP, a publicly traded limited partnership focused on the acquisition, development and ownership of infrastructure critical to the transition of energy supply to lower carbon sources, and HOBO Renewable Diesel, LLC, a renewable fuel project developer, announced an agreement for Evolve to fund the construction of HOBO’s... Read more →

Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and Progress Rail, A Caterpillar Company are partnering with Renewable Energy Group (REG) to test high-level renewable fuel blends including both biodiesel and renewable diesel in support of the companies’ sustainability goals. Trials and qualifications of up to 100% bio-based diesel fuel are important steps... Read more →

ClearFlame Engine Technologies, a startup developing net-zero engine technology (earlier post), has secured $17 million in Series A financing, which will enable commercialization of the company’s innovative engine technology for the long-haul trucking, agriculture and power generation sectors. The financing was led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures with participation from Mercuria,... Read more →

Hydra Energy, the Hydrogen-as-a-Service (HaaS) provider for commercial fleets looking to reduce emissions and costs with limited risk and no up-front investment (earlier post), has delivered its first hydrogen-converted, heavy-duty truck to paying fleet customer Lodgewood Enterprises. Hydra offers a proven hydrogen-diesel, co-combustion retrofit approach; the retrofitted engines can run... Read more →

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is helping a client develop a simple post-refinery treatment process that reduces exhaust emissions from diesel engines by overcoming the soot/nitrogen oxides (NOx) reduction trade-off that has plagued engine researchers for decades. The result is a modified fuel that potentially could replace today’s ultra-low sulfur diesel,... Read more →

Researchers from Monash University and Hokkaido University have developed a method to produce dimethoxymethane (DMM)—a diesel blend fuel currently of great research interest—via CO2 hydrogenation in methanol over a novel ruthenium-based catalyst. DMM thus produced could be used as a fuel in a conceptual circular carbon cycle when produced using... Read more →

The enhanced D13 Turbo Compound (D13TC) engine from Volvo Trucks is now standard on all Volvo VNL models, providing enhanced fuel efficiency and reducing overall cost of ownership. In Europe and other key markets, the D13TC engine has exceeded expectations and has proven to be fuel efficient, reliable and popular... Read more →

In Hiroshima, Mazda Motor Corporation announced plans to expand its SUV lineup globally starting from 2022. The new models will include the Mazda CX-50 to be produced in its new US plant, as well as models in our Large Product group, including the Mazda CX-60, Mazda CX-70, Mazda CX-80 and... Read more →

New research by economic and public policy consulting group M.Cubed finds a proliferation of backup generators across California, with nearly 90% being diesel-fueled, posing significant obstacles to achieving greenhouse gas reduction targets and driving nearly $136 million in annual health costs. Over the last year, the generator population jumped by... Read more →

Biofuels producer Renewable Energy Group joined Iowa State University (ISU) at the BioCentury Research Farm (BCRF) to mark the start of a new hydrotreater pilot plant. This project is the result of a three-year collaboration between REG and the ISU Bioeconomy Institute. REG converts waste and byproduct fats and oils... Read more →

bp plans to invest $269 million investment in three projects at its Cherry Point Refinery in Washington state, aimed at improving the refinery’s efficiency, reducing its carbon dioxide emissions and increasing its renewable diesel production capability. The investment is aligned with bp’s aims to be net zero across its operations... Read more →

A new total cost of ownership (TCO) study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) finds that battery-electric and fuel-cell electric commercial trucks could be economically competitive with conventional diesel trucks by 2025 in some operating scenarios. Spatial and Temporal Analysis of the Total Cost of Ownership for Class 8... Read more →

Forest products company SCA and St1 have entered a joint venture in Sweden to produce and sell renewable HVO diesel and biojet fuel. SCA will supply tall oil to the joint venture for feedstock and will invest approximately SEK 0.6 billion (US$71.7 million) in the company. SCA and St1 will... Read more →

Royal Dutch Shell will build an 820,000-tonnes-a-year biofuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam, the Netherlands, formerly known as the Pernis refinery. Once built, the facility will be among the largest in Europe to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel made from waste. Shell expects... Read more →

Jacobs Vehicle Systems and Tula Technology have signed a cooperation agreement to accelerate the development of Jacobs Cylinder Deactivation (CDA) valve actuation technology in conjunction with Tula’s Dynamic Skip Fire (DSF) control algorithms (earlier post). Cylinder Deactivation leverages Jacobs’ well-established componentry to disable engine valves in selected cylinders allowing a... Read more →

Xtreme Diesel Performance (XDP), an automotive parts manufacturer and retailer based in Wall Township, New Jersey, with a sales distribution center in Las Vegas, Nevada, has agreed to stop manufacturing and selling parts for diesel pickup trucks that, when installed, bypass, defeat, or render inoperative EPA-approved emission controls and harm... Read more →

Chevron USA, a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, and Bunge North America, a subsidiary of Bunge Limited, announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) of a proposed 50/50 joint venture to help meet the demand for renewable fuels and to develop lower carbon intensity feedstocks. Upon finalization of the joint venture, Chevron... Read more →

Neste is the first company in Finland to provide a service for companies and other organizations to monitor their climate emissions caused by the use of transport fuels. According to Neste’s industry survey conducted in August 2021, the use of Neste MY Renewable Diesel has increased rapidly in the public... Read more →

ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing LLC has introduced ExxonMobil Renewable Diesel process technology (EMRD) to help meet the evolving needs for mobility, while utilizing renewable feedstock. This new process technology converts feedstocks including, but not limited to, vegetable oils, unconverted cooking oil and animal fats, into renewable diesel. One challenge when... Read more →

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s (SFMTA) Municipal Railway (Muni) has awarded a contract to ElDorado for 30 electric hybrid E-Z Rider II model heavy-duty 30-foot transit buses, which will feature the Allison H 40 EP hybrid propulsion system. Allison Transmission’s H 40/50 EP Series is a two-mode parallel hybrid... Read more →

Imperial is moving forward with plans to construct a major renewable diesel complex at its Strathcona refinery near Edmonton, Alberta—the largest refinery in western Canada. This new complex is expected to produce more than 1 billion liters (260 million gallons US) per year of renewable diesel from locally sourced and... Read more →

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) and ADM announced an agreement to form a joint venture for the production of soybean oil to supply rapidly growing demand for renewable diesel fuel. Under the terms of the agreement, the joint venture will own and operate ADM’s previously announced soybean processing complex in Spiritwood,... Read more →

Strategic Biofuels announced that its Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Test Well Program was successfully completed at the company’s Louisiana Green Fuels Project (LGF) in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana. LGF is the first renewable diesel fuel project to achieve this milestone. The goals of the test well program were to demonstrate... Read more →

Researchers at Chang’an University in China investigated the effect of blends of Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) diesel fuel from indirect coal-to-liquid (CTL) and petroleum diesel fuel on combustion and emission characteristics under various injection timing (IT) and engine loads. A report on their work is published in the journal Fuel. The common-rail... Read more →

A new report from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Co-Optima initiative identifies the top 13 diesel fuel blendstocks from biomass resources that could reduce harmful emissions from medium- to heavy-duty diesel vehicles. The top 13 blendstocks include hydrocarbons, esters, and ethers that have the potential to reduce GHG emissions... Read more →

The US Army has awarded Cummins an $87-million contract to complete the development of the Advanced Combat Engine (ACE), a modular and scalable diesel engine solution, capable of hybridization, that uses innovative opposed-piston (OP) technology to provide leap-ahead capabilities in power density and heat rejection not available in the current... Read more →

US production capacity for renewable diesel could increase significantly through 2024, based on announced projects and those that are under construction, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Growing targets for state and federal renewable fuel programs and incentives for renewable diesel production are driving this expansion. As of... Read more →

The European Commission has found that Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen group (Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche) breached EU antitrust rules by colluding on technical development of NOx aftertreatment systems. The Commission has imposed a fine of €875,189,000 (US$1.04 billion). Daimler was not fined, as it revealed the existence of the cartel... Read more →

Kia has presented the fifth-generation Kia Sportage SUV. Developed on a new architecture, the all-new Sportage will offer gasoline and diesel powertrains at market launch later this year, followed by hybrid-electric (HEV) and plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) models. The new Sportage debuts numerous technologies, including Kia’s E-Handling system that enhances... Read more →

Neste, the world’s leading provider of renewable diesel (RD) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has launched Neste MY Renewable Diesel in the Belgian market. The fuel, produced from 100% renewable raw materials, is brought to the Belgian market in collaboration with the channel partner EG Group. Neste MY Renewable Diesel... Read more →

Tula Technology, Inc., a leader in propulsion efficiency, will release the findings of a recent simulation study to evaluate the efficacy of its newest technology at the FEV Powertrain Conference. The study validated that Tula’s Dynamic Skip Fire (DSF) developed for mild-hybrid diesel vehicles reduced CO2 emissions in a 2.3... Read more →

A team at Chalmers University (Sweden) has tested blends of OME3-5, HVO and RME in a light- and heavy-duty CI engine. For the study, which is published in an open-access paper in the journal Fuel, OME3-5 was blended with hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), rapeseed methyl ester (RME) and the C8-alcohol... Read more →

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and PBF Chalmette Refinery Manager Steven Krynski announced that the company is studying the possible conversion of an idled refinery unit into a renewable diesel production complex. The refinery’s parent company, PBF Energy, would make a $550-million capital investment to retrofit a hydrocracker unit—out of... Read more →

Aemetis awarded an engineering services contract to Worley for the Aemetis ‘Carbon Zero’ renewable jet and diesel plant in Riverbank, California. (Earlier post.) The Aemetis Carbon Zero renewable jet and diesel project is designed to hydrotreat renewable oils with hydrogen from orchard and forest wood waste. By utilizing hydroelectric electricity... Read more →

Canada-based Covenant Energy Ltd. has chosen Haldor Topsoe’s HydroFlex renewable fuel technology to produce renewable diesel from vegetable oil. The 6,500 barrels-per-day renewable diesel unit will be built in Saskatchewan, Canada, and is scheduled to go into operation early in 2024. Topsoe will also provide its H2bridge hydrogen technology based... Read more →

Aemetis, Inc. has awarded an engineering services contract to Worley for the Aemetis “Carbon Zero” renewable jet and diesel plant in Riverbank, California. The Aemetis Carbon Zero renewable jet and diesel project is designed to hydrotreat renewable oils with hydrogen from orchard and forest wood waste. By utilizing hydroelectric electricity... Read more →

UrbanX Renewables Group of Long Beach, CA, executed a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract with Hyundai Engineering Co., Ltd—an essential step for building the state’s first facility producing ultra-low carbon renewable diesel. The company will produce its XRD renewable diesel from vegetable oil, fats and waste cooking oils through a... Read more →

UK-based ULEMCo signed an exclusive MoU with ENGV Pty Ltd to collaborate on developing a market for its hydrogen dual fuel technology in Australia. The scope of the agreement extends across Australia and into commercial vehicles, particularly heavy-duty applications like refuse collection, urban trucks, buses and prime movers. By using... Read more →

ADM plans to build North Dakota’s first dedicated soybean crushing plant and refinery to meet fast-growing demand from food, feed, industrial and biofuel customers, including producers of renewable diesel. Based in Spiritwood, ND, the approximately $350-million crush and refining complex will feature state-of-the-art automation technology and have the capacity to... Read more →

Startup ClearFlame Engine Technologies announced a partnership with Alto Ingredients, a leading producer of specialty alcohols and essential ingredients, to conduct pilot demonstrations of ClearFlame’s solution for diesel engines using low-cost ethanol in Class 8 trucks. ClearFlame will provide Alto with a Class VIII truck retrofitted with a 500hp heavy-duty... Read more →

Seaboard Energy has chosen Haldor Topsoe’s HydroFlex hydroprocessing fuel technology to produce renewable diesel from tallow and soybean oil. The 6,500 barrels-per-day renewable diesel unit is currently under construction at Seaboard Energy’s site in Hugoton, Kansas, and is scheduled for operation at the end of 2021. Topsoe has been developing... Read more →

Cummins Inc. announced that the latest B6.7 Performance Series engine in Europe—used in agriculture, mining and construction applications—not only meets EU Stage V, delivering near-zero emission levels of NOx and PM, but it also features stop-start capability which can help operators further reduce running costs, as well as their environmental... Read more →

Argonne National Laboratory is helping Caterpillar improve efficiency and reduce emissions in their heavy-duty diesel engines. Heavy-duty diesel engines still power most large vehicles used in the construction, mining and transportation industries in the United States. Engineers are working to improve the fuel efficiency of these engines while minimizing pollution... Read more →

In the first quarter of 2021, hybrid electric vehicles made up 18.4% of total passenger car sales in the EU, almost doubling their market share in a year, according to data from the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA). Demand for electrically-chargeable cars also increased in Q1: battery-electric vehicles made... Read more →

ExxonMobil and Global Clean Energy have expanded their five-year agreement to increase ExxonMobil’s purchase of renewable diesel to up to 5 million barrels per year. ExxonMobil will be the exclusive buyer of renewable diesel from Global Clean Energy’s biorefinery in Bakersfield, California, which is on schedule to begin production in... Read more →

The Love’s Family of Companies, Cargill and their affiliates have entered into a 50/50 joint venture to produce and market renewable diesel. The joint venture is called Heartwell Renewables and will result in the construction of a new production plant and more than 50 jobs in Hastings, Nebraska. The plant... Read more →

Topsoe has signed a contract with Tidewater for the delivery of Topsoe’s HydroFlex technology (earlier post) in Canada. The technology will be utilized in a new 3,000 barrels per day renewable diesel facility that will be constructed at the site of Tidewater’s existing Prince George refinery in British Columbia, Canada.... Read more →