ROUSH CleanTech is the first original equipment manufacturer to receive California Air Resources Board’s (CARB’s) 0.02 grams per brake horsepower-hour certification for 2022 model year vehicles. The optional ultra-low CARB certification is 90% cleaner than current emissions standards for nitrogen oxides. The new engine certification covers ROUSH CleanTech Gen 5... Read more →

The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has released a report prepared by the consultancy Cerulogy that explores the potential market and environmental impacts of increased capacity for renewable diesel produced by hydrotreating oils and fats in the US. The United States currently supports renewable diesel supply through the federal... Read more →

BASF has signed a joint development agreement with China BlueChemical Limited Company, a leading natural gas producer, and the chemical engineering company Wuhuan Engineering Co., Ltd. to promote low-carbon development and utilization of marine gas resources. In the Dongfang Industrial Park of Hainan Province, China BlueChemical extracts large quantities of... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will evaluate whether emissions from piston-engine aircraft operating on leaded fuel contribute to air pollution that endangers public health and welfare. The agency plans to issue a proposal for public review and comment in 2022 and take final action in 2023. EPA has been... Read more →

Thermo King, the transport refrigeration brand of Trane Technologies, will transition to a lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant as standard in its truck and trailer units. This will reduce the carbon footprint of refrigerants used by its customers’ long-haul, middle-mile and last-mile delivery fleets by nearly 50%—approximately 650,000 metric... Read more →

A new modeling study led by researchers from George Washington Universit (GWU) finds that 86% of people living in cities worldwide (~2.5 billion people) are exposed to annual average levels of fine particulate matter exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline from 2005, leading to 1.8 million excess deaths in... Read more →

On 30 December 2021, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) announced that emergency regulations were filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office for the immediate adoption California’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulation (earlier post), which requires an increasing percentage of ZEV truck sales starting with Model Year 2025 and... Read more →

Starting immediately, Deutsche Post is offsetting any unavoidable CO2 emissions due to mail transport with investments in internationally recognized and certified climate protection projects at no extra charge. For the last ten years, DHL has transported all parcels for private customers with its climate-friendly “GoGreen” service. Up until now, the... Read more →

Ammonium is one of the specific components of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) that has been linked to a higher risk of death compared to other chemicals found in it, according to a new study in the journal Epidemiology. This finding stems from the largest global analysis of its kind, led... Read more →

The largest asset-based transportation company in Europe, Girteka Logistics, was one of the first road freight transport companies to be given the Green Carrier Certificate by one of its partners, DHL. (Earlier post.) The certificate was established by the German-based logistics company to certify its subcontractors, increasing the transparency behind... Read more →

Deutsche Post DHL Group is introducing a global DHL Green Carrier Certification to reward road transport subcontractors for their efforts to become more sustainable. As part of its sustainability roadmap, Deutsche Post DHL Group aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to below 29 million tons by 2030 and net-zero by... Read more →

NASA has selected four university-led teams for potential awards in the agency’s University Leadership Initiative (ULI) that will have them spend up to five years exploring novel ideas for improving aviation, including eliminating emissions and autonomy research in support of Advanced Air Mobility. Three of the four teams are working... Read more →

Methane pyrolysis technology company Monolith, a leader in clean materials production (e.g., hydrogen, earlier post; carbon black, earlier post), has received conditional approval for a $1.04-billion loan from the US Department of Energy (DOE). Established via the Title XVII Innovative Energy Loan Guarantee Program, the loan will allow Monolith to... Read more →

INNIO Waukesha Gas Engines has been selected to receive more than $2.2 million in funding from the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The funding is part of ARPA-E’s “Reducing Emissions of Methane Every Day of the Year” (REMEDY) program that was unveiled earlier this year (earlier... Read more →

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing the federal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for Model Years (MY) 2023 through 2026. The standards through 2026 also set the light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas (GHG) program on track to provide a strong launch point for the... Read more →

SK Inc., the strategic investment arm of South Korea’s SK Group, was part of a $50-million investment in Fulcrum BioEnergy, a US-based waste-to-fuels company. SK Inc. was joined in the investment with a Korean private equity fund. Fulcrum produce biofuel on a commercial scale by chemically converting municipal solid waste... Read more →

Fossil fuel combustion, a major source of air pollution, contributed to more than one million deaths globally in 2017, more than 27% of all deaths from outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5), according to a new report published by the Health Effects Institute (HEI). Coal combustion alone was responsible for half... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board approved a measure that will require most newly manufactured small off-road engines (SORE) such as those found in leaf blowers, lawn mowers and other equipment be zero emission starting in 2024. Portable generators, including those in recreational vehicles, would be required to meet more stringent... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board approved a smog-check regulation for medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses. While these heavy-duty vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 14,000 pounds comprise only 3% of all vehicles on California roads, they are responsible for more than 50% of nitrogen oxides... Read more →

Maersk has introduced the design of its eight groundbreaking and industry-leading 16,000 TEU container vessels powered by carbon-neutral methanol. Unique to the industry, this design allows a 20% improved energy efficiency per transported container, when comparing to the industry average for vessels in this size. The entire series is expected... Read more →

E-fuels are made by combining green hydrogen with CO2 to produce liquid fuel that can be similar to gasoline or diesel used in conventional engines (as well as kerosene used in aviation). Proponents claim that if renewable electricity is used and CO2 is captured from the air, then the e-gasoline... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) reached a settlement agreement with American Honda Motor Corporation, Inc. (Honda) of Torrance, California for $6.9 million for violations of CARB’s air quality regulations. This is the second enforcement action against Honda in the past two years. In 2019, CARB testing revealed several small... Read more →

Power management company Eaton’s Vehicle Group has demonstrated cylinder deactivation (CDA) as an effective technology for meeting future global emissions requirements for diesel-engine powered commercial vehicles. To date, the technology has been evaluated with a close-coupled selective catalytic reduction (SCR) aftertreatment system with and without a 48-volt electric heater. New... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $35 million in funding for twelve projects focused on developing technologies to reduce methane emissions in the oil, gas, and coal industries. DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) Reducing Emissions of Methane Every Day of the Year (REMEDY) program (earlier post) was unveiled... Read more →

Steel production could be made with almost no carbon emissions through $278 billion of extra investment by 2050, according to a new report from research firm BloombergNEF (BNEF). Hydrogen and recycling are likely to play a central role in reducing emissions from steel production. Steel is responsible for around 7%... Read more →

Initial findings from a world-first study of the impact of 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on both engines of a commercial jet have provided promising early results, according to the participants. The ECLIF3 study (Emission and Climate Impact of Alternative Fuels) (earlier post), involving Airbus, Rolls-Royce, German research center DLR... Read more →

An international team of scientists, led by NTU Singapore, has linked increased air pollution to an uptick in cases of lung adenocarcinoma (LADC) worldwide. Lung adenocarcinoma—an aggressive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)—is a type of cancer for which research strongly suggests that genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors play a part.... Read more →

Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser AS, a division of Nel ASA, has received a purchase order for a 20MW alkaline water electrolyzer from Ovako, a leading European manufacturer of engineering steel. The electrolyzer will be installed at Ovako’s existing plant in Hofors, Sweden. The fossil-free hydrogen will replace the use of fossil... Read more →

By disrupting normal societal activities such as driving, COVID-19 lockdowns afforded a unique opportunity to study their impacts on the environment. Researchers now report in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters that satellite data from before and during the spring 2020 lockdown in Los Angeles shows that vehicles, rather than... Read more →

A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) has launched its Green Finance Framework designed to allow the company to issue a variety of sustainable financing instruments which may include bonds, loans, project finance and other instruments. By establishing the new Green Finance Framework, Maersk intends to align its funding strategy with its... Read more →

The EU Innovation Fund will award a grant of €88 million to Neste’s green hydrogen and CO2 capture & storage project, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the Porvoo refinery in Finland. The project introduces carbon capture and storage (CCS) and electrolysis solutions that allow decarbonization of production... 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 →

The US Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) will produce cryogenically milled tire tread (CMTT) and provide samples to researchers to advance scientific study on tire and road wear particles (TRWP). In 2020, independent global emissions testing company Emissions Analytics reported that pollution from tire wear can be 1,000 times worse than... Read more →

Alcoa Corp. outlined a technology roadmap to support its vision to reinvent the aluminum industry for a sustainable future. The technologies in Alcoa’s roadmap, including a new, proprietary post-consumer scrap recycling process, have the potential to decarbonize a significant portion of the upstream aluminum supply chain and provide a competitive... Read more →

Effective 1 April 2022, the Port of Los Angeles will begin collecting its Clean Truck Fund (CTF) Rate to help speed the transition to zero-emissions trucks serving the San Pedro Bay port complex. The action was unanimously approved by the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners. Revenues will exclusively fund... Read more →

At COP26 in Glasgow, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the US Aviation Climate Action Plan, published by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which sets out to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from the US aviation sector by 2050. The document focuses on technologies that could substantially reduce the... Read more →

The COP26 pledge by governments, automakers and others to sell only zero-emissions cars and vans from 2035 in leading markets and by 2040 elsewhere (earlier post) needs to be backed up with actual targets set down in law, green NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) said. With China, the US, Germany... Read more →

At COP26 in Glasgow, 23 country governments; 10 governments in emerging markets and developing economies; 40 cities, states and regional governments; 11 automakers; 27 fleet owners and operators or shared mobility platforms; 13 investors with significant shareholdings in automotive manufacturers; 2 financial instituions; and 17 other organizations signed a declaration... Read more →

by Michael Sivak, Sivak Applied Research Battery electric vehicles are only as clean as the energy source used to generate the electricity that powers them. The calculated relative amounts of well-to-wheels emissions of greenhouse gases from eight different energy sources are shown in the table below. (The calculations were based... Read more →

Haldor Topsoe and Hyundai Oilbank have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under which the two companies will sign MOU Hyundai Oilbank and Topsoe will jointly seek to identify opportunities within blue and green hydrogen, waste plastic recycling, bio-refinery, eFuels, CCUS (carbon capture, utilization and storage) and other solutions to... Read more →

Marine engine designer and power system integrator WinGD and engine builder Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Engine Machinery Division (HHI-EMD) will strengthen their collaboration by partnering to develop environmentally sustainable two-stroke engine technology. Under a joint development agreement signed at the Kormarine 2021 exhibition in Busan last month, the two companies will... Read more →

New research led by Mohammad Masnadi, assistant professor of chemical and petroleum engineering at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, offers a closer look at the relationship between decreasing demand for oil and a resilient, varied oil market—and the carbon footprint associated with both. An open-access paper on... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing comprehensive new regulations to reduce methane emissions from the oil and natural gas industry—including, for the first time, reductions from existing sources nationwide. Source: EPA Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that traps about 30 times as much heat as carbon dioxide... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $71 million to 20 research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects with industry, academia, and non-profits including Clean Cities Coalitions for the creation of solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for on- and off-road vehicles and to accelerate the expansion of EV infrastructure... Read more →

The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has released a report it commissioned from Sonoma Technology, Inc. (STI) that estimates the cumulative avoided nitrogen oxides (NOx), fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and well-to-wheel carbon dioxide equivalent (WTW CO2e) emission reductions beginning in 2025 if 12 states plus the District of Columbia... Read more →

Daphne Technology, a Swiss startup that has developed multi-pollutant reduction technology—a “green converter”—targeting the maritime industry, has secured strategic investments from Shell Ventures, Trafigura, AET and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures. Daphne’s technology removes toxic and GHG emissions such as nitrogen oxides, methane and carbon dioxide from the combustion gas of... Read more →

Rio Tinto and steel producer BlueScope will work together to explore low-carbon steelmaking pathways using Pilbara iron ores, including the use of clean hydrogen to replace coking coal at BlueScope’s Port Kembla Steelworks. The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to research and design low-emissions processes for... 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 →

The Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) of seven of the world’s leading aerospace manufacturers have reaffirmed their commitment to achieving more sustainable aviation and to reaching industry-wide Air Transport Action Group targets in a joint statement. This statement updates a commitment made by a unified group of CTOs in June 2019... Read more →

The BMW Group is systematically pursuing its goal of significantly reducing CO2 emissions at their source in the supply chain. From 2025 on, the company plans to source steel produced with up to 95% less CO2 emissions and without requiring fossil resources such as coal. The BMW Group has now... Read more →