Rio Tinto and Shougang Group, one of the world’s top 10 steel producers, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote research, design and implementation of low-carbon solutions for the steel value chain. The MoU’s focus areas include low-carbon sintering technology, blast furnace (BF) and basic oxygen furnace (BOF)... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) released draft guidance for a Clean Hydrogen Production Standard (CHPS), developed to meet the requirements of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Section 40315. The CHPS is not a regulatory standard, and DOE may not necessarily require future funded activities to achieve the standard. However,... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board today approved a statewide plan for attaining the federal health-based standard for ozone, typically experienced as smog. The 2022 State Implementation Plan Strategy identifies the state’s control strategy for meeting the federal 70 parts per billion, 8-hour ozone standard over the next 15 years. The... Read more →

Amtrak has pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the Amtrak Network by 2045. Amtrak plans to take the following actions: Achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across Amtrak’s network by 2045: Begin with efforts to increase energy efficiency, followed by the implementation of renewable fuels and energy. Reduce diesel... Read more →

Steelmaker SSAB has started a partnership in fossil-free steel applications with Oshkosh Corporation, a leading producer of mission-critical vehicles and essential equipment, including heavy-duty truck bodies, fire apparatus, access equipment and other specialty trucks. The first use of this fossil-free steel will be to prototype advanced, environmentally sustainable McNeilus refuse... Read more →

General Motors and Environmental Defense Fund announced a set of recommendations that seek to accelerate a zero-emissions, all-electric future for passenger vehicles in model year 2027 and beyond. The recommendations were jointly developed by GM and EDF to support the next tier of EPA clean car standards. GM and EDF... Read more →

thyssenkrupp Steel is supplying low-CO2 “bluemint” steel to its customer Accuride for the production of truck wheels. To improve the carbon footprint of the wheel for the customer Accuride, several parameters in flat steel production have been optimized with regard to sustainability. Compared with conventional steel, bluemint Steel used for... Read more →

Polestar is welcoming twelve new partners to the Polestar 0 project to develop a climate-neutral car. (Earlier post.) Each partner will focus on certain materials, components and processes involved in the production of cars. New partners, listed below, cover areas such as plastics, composites, chemicals and metals. The transport sector... Read more →

The Executive Board of thyssenkrupp AG has released the corresponding capital resources for the construction of the first direct reduction (DR) plant at its Duisburg site. The Supervisory Board of thyssenkrupp AG supports this decision. The major project remains subject to public funding. The plant, with a capacity of 2.5... Read more →

Mercedes‑Benz Vans, the Österreichische Post and MANN+HUMMEL have launched a pilot project to reduce fine dust pollution and to gain comprehensive insights into effectiveness, weather influences and durability in real-life operation. For this purpose, two eSprinter series production vehicles of the Österreichische Post were equipped with optimized fine dust filters... Read more →

DAMEN Naval and Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems have signed a contract to deliver 16 mtu diesel generator sets, for the four new F126 Frigates for the German Navy. Although DAMEN and Rolls-Royce, whose business unit Power Systems is based in Friedrichshafen, Germany, have a long-standing cooperation in shipbuilding, this... Read more →

JFE Steel Corporation, Itochu Corporation and Emirates Steel Arkan, the largest steel company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will conduct joint detailed feasibility studies on the establishment of a supply chain of ferrous raw material for green ironmaking with low-carbon emission at the project site in Abu Dhabi. Emirates... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently previewed the Heavy-Duty Inspection and Maintenance Program (HD I/M), which is due to begin phasing in on 1 Jan 2023 (earlier post), at an enforcement truck event held at the Port of Los Angeles. CARB used the event, where more than 1,200 trucks... Read more →

A new University of Michigan study finds that making the switch to all-electric mail-delivery vehicles would lead to far greater reductions in greenhouse gas emissions than previously estimated by the US Postal Service (USPS). (Earlier post.) In its analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle... Read more →

An anti-pollution helmet developed by a Delhi-based startup can help 2-wheeler riders breathe cleaner air. The helmet developed by Shellios Technolabs has a Bluetooth-enabled app that lets the rider know when the helmet requires cleaning. The helmet titled PUROS is integrated with air purifying accessories which include the patented innovations... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board approved the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) rule. The rule establishes a year-by-year roadmap so that by 2035 100% of new cars and light trucks sold in California will be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). The ACC program was first... Read more →

Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies Corporation (CJPT) is expelling Hino Motors, Ltd. (Hino) in light of Hino’s misconduct concerning certification testing. An on-site inspection conducted by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism found that Hino committed additional wrongdoings related to applications for engine emissions certification, in addition to the... Read more →

Large pieces of plastic can break down into nanosized particles that often find their way into the soil and water. Perhaps less well known is that they can also float in the air. It’s unclear how nanoplastics impact human health, but animal studies suggest they’re potentially harmful. As a step... Read more →

The world’s biggest cities and urban areas face some of the worst air quality on the planet, according to a new report published by HEI (Health Effects Institute). The report, Air Quality and Health in Cities, released by HEI’s State of Global Air Initiative, provides a comprehensive and detailed analysis... Read more →

The San Joaquin Valley Air District Governing Board unanimously voted to accept $12.9 million in additional California Air Resources Board (CARB) funding to replace heavy-duty trucks through the Valley Air District’s grant program. Reducing emissions from mobile sources is key to the San Joaquin Valley meeting federal ambient air quality... Read more →

In a recent simulation study reported in Porsche Engineering Magazine, Porsche Engineering examined the potential of hydrogen combustion engines. The result is a high-performance powertrain with emissions at the same level as ambient air. Current work on hydrogen combustion engines worldwide is predominantly being done for commercial vehicles with a... Read more →

The Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration announced $1.66 billion in grants to transit agencies, territories, and states across the US to invest in 150 bus fleets and facilities. More than 1,100 of those vehicles will use zero-emissions technology; this year’s funding will nearly double the number of no-emission transit... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is inviting small businesses to participate as Small Entity Representatives (SERs) for a Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panel. This Panel will focus on the agency’s development of a rule that proposes to set a new phase of greenhouse gas requirements for heavy-duty engines... Read more →

Researchers in the Transport Technologies Division of Saudi Aramco have used using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and advanced machine learning (ML) techniques to co-optimize the piston bowl and the injector design of a gasoline compression ignition (GCI) engine. The optimum ML design provided similar performance at mid-load but a 3.8%... Read more →

Starting August 9, 2022, applications will be accepted in California for replacement of eligible Class 8 trucks with zero-emission technology. Approximately $9 million is available on a first-come, first-served basis to eligible applicants throughout California from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust for Class 8 zero-emission freight and port drayage trucks,... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $32 million in funding (DE-FOA-0002616) toward the research and development of new monitoring, measurement, and mitigation technologies to help detect, quantify, and reduce methane emissions across oil and natural gas producing regions of the United States. The United States has more... Read more →

Using an inexpensive polymer called melamine, researchers from UC Berkeley, Texas A&M and Stanford have created a cheap, easy and energy-efficient way to capture carbon dioxide from smokestacks. The process for synthesizing the melamine material, published in an open-access paper in the journal Science Advances, could potentially be scaled down... Read more →

Canada-based Aurora Hydrogen, a company developing emission-free hydrogen production technology, has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Energy Innovation Capital. Participating investors include Williams, Shell Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures and the George Kaiser Family Foundation. This funding adds to additional funding by the Natural Sciences and Engineering... Read more →

FCA US LLC (FCA US), formerly Chrysler Group LLC, was sentenced in federal court in Detroit and ordered to pay a fine of $96,145,784 and a forfeiture money judgment of $203,572,892. The court also imposed a three-year term of organizational probation. FCA US had reached an agreement on the terms... Read more →

Steel produced by electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmakers in the US has a carbon intensity that is approximately 75% lower than traditional blast furnace steelmakers. This is the finding of an independent study of steelmakers worldwide conducted by CRU Group, a global business intelligence firm specializing in metals manufacturing. The... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $3 million in funding for 10 high-performance computing projects that will advance cutting-edge manufacturing and clean energy technologies. As part of the High-Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) initiative, the selected projects will leverage the expertise and computing capabilities of the U.S. National... Read more →

Airbus UpNext, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Airbus, has revealed a flight test program to study the contrails produced by a hydrogen combustion engine as part the Company’s ZEROe roadmap. The project, named “Blue Condor”, will launch two modified Arcus-J gliders, one equipped with a hydrogen combustion engine and one equipped... Read more →

ArcelorMittal and Tier 1 automotive supplier Gestamp have successfully trialed the use of low-carbon emissions steel for use in car parts that will ultimately be used in the production of vehicles in Spain and throughout Europe. The two companies have signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation on sustainability, specifically in... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) opened the second round of its Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project (CORE) today, providing point-of-sale discounts on off-road zero-emission equipment. The project is administered by CALSTART and has $125 million in funding available, more than double the amount allocated to the project when... Read more →

Volkswagen has enhanced its bestselling 1.5 TSI gasoline engine and is now introducing the latest generation, the TSI evo2, in the first models in Europe. The compact four-cylinder engine will initially be available with an output of 110 kW (150 PS), and further variants of the 1.5 TSI evo2 will... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has released the results of a multiyear study evaluating exhaust emissions from the use of California Reformulated Gasoline (CaRFG) that contains 15 volume percent ethanol (E15). The study was performed by a team from the University of California at Riverside (UCR) Bourns College of... Read more →

The EU is investing more than €1.8 billion in 17 large-scale innovative clean-tech projects with a third round of awards under the Innovation Fund. Grants will be disbursed from the Innovation Fund to help bring technologies to the market in energy-intensive industries, hydrogen, renewable energy, carbon capture and storage infrastructure,... Read more →

A team from the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) has devised a control strategy for 2.0L direct-injection hydrogen engines that delivers near-zero emissions with high power and high brake thermal efficiency. A paper on their work is published in the journal Fuel. Direct-injection (DI) hydrogen engines can generate high power... Read more →

The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for states and municipalities to track and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The new rule would: Establish a national framework for tracking state-by-state progress by adding a new GHG performance management measure to the... Read more →

A study by researchers in Australia and China has determined that global food-miles account for nearly 20% of total food-systems emissions; moving fruit and vegetables in refrigerated vehicles is particularly emissions-intensive. Their paper appears in the journal Nature Food. Food trade plays a key role in achieving global food security.... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) intends to issue a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) that will support DOE’s efforts to decarbonize the US industrial sector and move the US toward net-zero carbon emissions. The industrial sector currently accounts for one-third of domestic, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. DOE’s new FOA will... Read more →

The Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) has ruled in West Virginia v. EPA that the EPA lacks the authority to set emission standards for power plants so strict as to force a shift of power generation from fossil fuels. The opinion (6-3) applied the “major questions doctrine”, which requires... Read more →

NASA is seeking partners to develop technologies needed to shape a new generation of lower-emission, single-aisle airliners that passengers could see in airports in the 2030s. Through its new Announcement for Partnership Proposals, NASA intends to fund one or more awards to design, build, test, and fly a large-scale demonstrator... Read more →

The European Council has agreed to raise the targets for reducing CO2 emissions for new cars and new vans by 2030 to 55% compared to 1990 for cars and to 50% for vans. The Council also agreed to introduce a 100% CO2 emissions reduction target by 2035 for new cars... Read more →

A study by a team of researchers from the US, Germany and Canada has found that sustainable aviation jet fuels show up to a 70% reduction in particle mass emission compared to a fossil fuel. The study, which summarizes the results from a ground-based measurement activity conducted in January 2018... Read more →

The rapidly growing space industry may have a greater climate effect than the aviation industry and undo repair to the protective ozone layer if left unregulated, according to a new study led by UCL and published in the journal Earth’s Future as an open-access paper. The space industry is one... Read more →

ArcelorMittal published a concept for a low-carbon emissions steel standard to help incentivize the decarbonization of steelmaking globally and support the creation of market demand for physical steel products which would be classified as lower, and ultimately near-zero, carbon emissions steel. The creation of clear definitions for low-carbon emissions physical... Read more →

Finnish shipping company ESL Shipping will become the world’s first shipping company to start utilizing new low-emission Neste Marine 0.1 co-processed marine fuel (earlier post) in its vessels in Finland and Sweden. The ISCC PLUS certified marine fuel enables up to 80% reduced greenhouse gas emissions over the life cycle... Read more →

Alcoa Corporation announced a $51-million project to increase the production capacity at its Mosjøen smelter in Norway by 14,000 metric tons per year (mtpy). Alcoa’s Mosjøen location currently has a nameplate capacity of 200,000 mtpy, and the investment is expected to increase that capacity to 214,000 mtpy by the end... Read more →

A team at Chalmers University in Sweden has analyzed the results of the integration of a chemical looping gasification (CLG) process with a Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) process and found that this biomass-to-liquids process can produce FT crude with net-negative CO2 emissions. An open-access paper on the study appears in the... Read more →