A new, broad measure of “energy transition investment”, compiled by BloombergNEF (BNEF), shows that the world committed a record $501.3 billion to decarbonization in 2020, beating the previous year by 9% despite the economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. BNEF’s analysis shows that companies, governments and households invested $303.5... Read more →

Alfa Laval, DTU Energy, Haldor Topsoe, Svitzer and the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping are entering into a joint project to accelerate the development of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology. Funded by a grant from Danish EUDP (Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program), the partners will... Read more →

Schlumberger New Energy, the CEA and partners announced the European Commission’s approval for the formation of Genvia, a clean hydrogen production technology venture. In a private-public partnership model, Genvia combines the expertise and experience of Schlumberger and the CEA with VINCI Construction, Vicat, and the investment vehicle of the French... Read more →

Denmark leads the way when it comes to putting zero-emission urban buses on the streets in Europe, with 78% of new vehicles being electric, according to the latest data from green NGO Transport & Environment. In Luxembourg and the Netherlands about two-thirds of new buses were zero-emissions. T&E said other... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group signed an investment contract with the government of Guangdong Province to establish an offshore fuel cell system production facility in Guangzhou, China. The investment advances the Group’s global hydrogen leadership and supports its push into China’s rapidly developing hydrogen industry. Construction is scheduled to begin next month... Read more →

Ricardo plc and AFC Energy plc, a leading provider of hydrogen power generation technologies, signed a collaboration agreement on the joint creation of hydrogen fuel cell product and service offerings, with an initial focus on marine, rail and stationary power generation. The collaboration will develop products and services that will... Read more →

After developing an innovative new process to extract scandium from the by-products generated during the production of titanium dioxide, Rio Tinto Fer et Titane (RTFT) announced that it will become North America’s first producer of high-quality scandium oxide with a new plant under construction at RTFT’s metallurgical complex in Sorel-Tracy,... Read more →

Blue World Technologies, developer and manufacturer of methanol fuel cells, is acquiring Danish Power Systems, a 25-year-old High Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (HTPEM) membrane electrode assembly (MEA) research and development company. The transaction follows Blue World’s August 2019 purchase of 15% of the shares in Danish Power Systems. (Earlier post.)... Read more →

The German Center for Rail Transport Research at the Federal Railway Office has tasked TÜV Rheinland InterTraffic with developing a standard for hydrogen applications in rail vehicles. TÜV Rheinland is one of the world’s leading testing and certification service providers, and has more than 21,400 employees and an annual turnover... Read more →

Via its subsidiary Pierburg GmbH of Neuss, Germany, the Rheinmetall Group plans to supply hydrogen recirculation blowers to Daimler Truck Fuel Cell GmbH & Co. KG, the company which bundles all of Daimler AG’s activities in the field of fuel cell technology. The deal represents sales volume in the two-digit... Read more →

Groupe Renault and Plug Power Inc. have signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) to launch a 50-50 joint-venture based in France by the end of the first half of 2021, targeting more than 30% share of the fuel cell-powered light commercial vehicle (LCV) market in Europe. Bringing complementary and competitive... Read more →

Bus manufacturer Solaris has joined the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance, an initiative led by the European Commission. The aim of the Alliance is to scale-up, by 2030, the production and deployment of hydrogen as a fuel produced by means of low-emission technologies and renewable energy sources. The European Clean Hydrogen... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems announced a purchase order from Arcola Energy, a UK-based leader in hydrogen and fuel cell integration specializing in zero-emission solutions for heavy-duty vehicles and transport applications, for Ballard FCmove-HD fuel cell modules to power a passenger train planned for demonstration during COP26, to be hosted by Glasgow... Read more →

Governor Gavin Newsom has submitted his 2021-22 State Budget proposal to the state Legislature. Among the many provisions, the Governor’s budget proposes $1.5 billion to achieve the state’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) goals by 2035 and 2045, including securitizing up to $1 billion to accelerate the pace and scale of the... Read more →

Israel-based Urban Aeronautics Ltd. reached an agreement to provide four CityHawk VTOL aircraft to Hatzolah Air for emergency medical service (EMS) applications. In addition, Hatzolah Air will become Urban Aeronautics’ official sales representative and distribution channel to other EMS and Rescue organizations worldwide. In August 2020, the two companies signed... Read more →

Plug Power Inc., a leading provider of hydrogen fuel cell and fueling solutions enabling e-mobility, and SK Group, one of the leading South Korean business groups, intend to form a strategic partnership to accelerate hydrogen as an alternative energy source in Asian markets. Through this partnership, Plug Power and SK... Read more →

Fuel Cell Enabling Technologies, Inc. (FCET), a start-up energy technology company that has developed a novel, low-cost solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system, announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NextGenPropulsion, LLC (NGP) indicating NGP’s intent to purchase FCET fuel cells for NGP light-rail trains and freight locomotives. In addition... Read more →

Airbus is conducting studies to determine how scalable a hydrogen fuel cell “pod” configuration, among others, could be to large commercial aircraft. The aviation industry has developed numerous configurations—twinjet, s-duct, winglets, contra-rotating propellers—over the last five decades that have enabled aircraft to fly higher, faster and longer. Now, Airbus engineers... Read more →

Scottish Enterprise, Transport Scotland and the Hydrogen Accelerator, based at the University of St Andrews, have appointed Arcola Energy and a consortium of industry leaders in hydrogen fuel cell integration, rail engineering and functional safety to deliver Scotland’s first hydrogen powered train. A key objective of the project is to... Read more →

The MAHEPA consortium announced that technology developed as part of the project has been successfully proven in flight on board the Hy4 fuel cell hybrid electric aircraft (earlier post). The sixth-generation of hydrogen propulsion has been completely revised from 2016 to 2020, according to aviation requirements. As part of the... Read more →

Fuel cells based on methanol oxidation have potential for the motor and technical industries. A group of researchers from Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), Austria, Turkey, Switzerland, and the UK has developed a new metallic glass that is 85% more efficient in oxidizing methanol than its platinum-based analogs. Moreover, because... Read more →

ABB and AFC Energy are partnering to create the next generation of high power sustainable electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions for grid-constrained locations. Utilizing ABB’s energy storage solution and DC EV fast chargers along with AFC Energy’s zero-emission, high-efficiency hydrogen fuel cell, the strategic collaboration will deliver a fully autonomous,... Read more →

The EU plans to extend its climate goal of reducing CO2 emission of new vehicles by 37.5% until 2030 to heavy-duty vehicles. In 2019, 409,801 commercial vehicles were registered in Germany, of these, 38,620 semitrailer trucks. So far, they have not been subject to any CO2 reduction requirements. Within the... Read more →

Methanol fuel cell developer and manufacturer Blue World Technologies (earlier post) has closed an investment round with an investment of more than €6 million. The company has also signed a leasing agreement on a new production building at the Port of Aalborg. Blue World Technologies’ methanol fuel cells are combined... Read more →

Aeristech, a developer of electric motor technology, is expanding into aerospace. Aeristech’s aerospace facility will enable the company to begin offering its expertise in market-leading power-dense electric motors and motor controllers to the aerospace sector, including for hydrogen fuel-cell compressors, which will make it possible to reduce aviation emissions. Aeristech’s... Read more →

ZeroAvia, an innovator in decarbonizing commercial aviation, secured £12.3 million (US$16.6 million) in UK Government funding through the ATI Program to deliver a breakthrough 19-seat hydrogen-electric powered aircraft that is market-ready by 2023: the HyFlyer II project. To accomplish this, ZeroAvia will collaborate with two partners, the European Marine Energy... Read more →

Canadian Pacific plans to develop North America’s first hydrogen-powered line-haul locomotive. CP’s Hydrogen Locomotive Program will retrofit a line-haul locomotive with hydrogen fuel cells and battery technology to drive the locomotive’s electric traction motors. Line-haul locomotives move freight and passenger cars between yards and terminals. These are high-powered units—total rated... Read more →

Toyota Caetano Portugal (TCAP), the joint venture of Toyota Motor Europe (TME) and Salvador Caetano, strengthened its strategic alliance with CaetanoBus and Finlog by becoming the direct shareholder of the two Portuguese companies. The enhanced strategic alliance with bus manufacturing and sales company CaetanoBus, and Finlog, a passenger car financial... Read more →

The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) released its latest Guidance Report, Making Sense of Heavy-Duty Hydrogen Fuel Cell Tractors. Almost every day there is a new announcement about hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks. Even with all the information, there are a lot of unanswered questions. We published this... Read more →

For 2021, Toyota has fully rebooted the Mirai, originally offered in 2016, as a premium rear-wheel drive sports-luxury fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) with striking design, cutting-edge technology, more engaging driving performance and a significantly longer EPA-estimated range rating. The 2021 Mirai is powered by the latest evolution of the... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems announced a purchase order from Van Hool, a leading bus OEM and Ballard partner headquartered in Belgium, for 10 fuel cell modules to power Van Hool A330 buses to be deployed in Emmen, the Netherlands, under the JIVE2 funding program. Van Hool A330 Fuel Cell Buses powered... Read more →

Daimler Truck AG, IVECO, OMV, Shell and the Volvo Group have committed to work together to help create the conditions for the mass-market roll-out of hydrogen trucks in Europe. The partners signed a collaboration agreement—H2Accelerate—under which the participants will work together to: Seek public support to fund early pre-commercial projects... Read more →

A multi-institutional research team led by materials scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has designed a highly active and durable catalyst that doesn’t rely on costly platinum group metals (PGM) to spur the necessary chemical reaction. The new catalyst contains cobalt interspersed with nitrogen and carbon. When compared to... Read more →

British Airways (BA) has teamed up with ZeroAvia, a leading innovator in decarbonizing commercial aviation (earlier post), in a project to explore how hydrogen-powered aircraft can play a leading role in the future of sustainable flying. The collaboration, which reflects the importance of sustainability at British Airways, will see ZeroAvia... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) introduced HTWO, a new brand to represent the group’s world-leading hydrogen fuel cell system. Building upon Hyundai’s 20-plus years of experience in hydrogen fuel cell technology, the brand will present hydrogen as a positive energy for humanity. HTWO stands for ‘H2’, the hydrogen molecule, while also... Read more →

Toyota’s next generation fuel cell electric technology is now powering a new set of Class 8 heavy-duty trucks. Using the same fuel cell system as the all-new 2021 Mirai sedan that goes on sale this month, the engineers at Toyota Motor North America Research and Development have developed a set... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $33 million in funding to support innovative hydrogen and fuel cell research & development (R&D), infrastructure supply chain development and validation, and cost analysis activities. (DE-FOA-0002446) This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) builds upon existing efforts funded by DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies... Read more →

Nuvera Fuel Cells, LLC, a provider of fuel cell power solutions for motive applications, has achieved certification of the Nuvera E-60 heavy-duty customer fuel cell system (earlier post) from the Shanghai Motor Vehicle Inspection Center (SMVIC). This certification provides third-party validation of the fuel cell engine’s performance and subsidy qualifications,... Read more →

Bosch plans to start full-scale production of distributed power stations based on solid oxide fuel-cell (SOFC) technology; hence its agreement to intensify its alliance with Ceres Power. Bosch is positioning itself clearly as a systems supplier for stationary fuel cells with its own value creation in the cell and stack... Read more →

To maximize the opportunities for hydrogen in Europe, Toyota Motor Europe (TME) has established a Fuel Cell Business Group to oversee its hydrogen activities across the region. Based in Brussels, the group will strengthen the business case for hydrogen and support its introduction into mobility and other fields, making it... Read more →

Plug Power Inc., a provider of hydrogen engines and fueling solutions, and Gaussin are collaborating to bring a commercial suite of ProGen-powered Gaussin transportation vehicles to market in 2021 as a solution to decarbonize the logistics ecosystem. Gaussin designs, assembles and sells products and services in the transport and logistics... Read more →

Researchers from London South Bank University (LSBU), School of the Built Environment and Architecture, are investigating the use of metal hydrides to absorb, release and store hydrogen for fuel cell buses. The LSBU project aims to deliver: Improved safety with hydrogen stored at lower pressures in smaller cylinders on buses... Read more →

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) has joined a wide-ranging corporate-academic partnership in a zero-emission initiative called the “Wind Hunter Project,” seeking new applications for hydrogen fuel and wind power. In addition to MOL, the participants include Ouchi Ocean Consultant, Inc.; the National Maritime Research Institute (NMRI) of National Institute of... Read more →

General Motors Co. announced it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Nikola Corporation for a global supply agreement to provide GM’s Hydrotec fuel cell system for Nikola’s Class 7/8 semi-trucks. The MoU replaces the previous agreement announced 8 September 2020. (Earlier post.) At that time, Nikola and GM... Read more →

Alstom will supply six hydrogen fuel cell trains, with the option for eight more, to FNM (Ferrovie Nord Milano), the main transport and mobility group in the Italian region of Lombardy, for a total amount of approximately €160 million. The first train delivery is expected within 36 months of the... Read more →

Operator Transdev has signed a contract with Solaris Bus & Coach to supply two hydrogen buses. The vehicles will roll out onto the streets of the Swedish city of Sandviken in autumn 2021. Solaris Urbino CNG (in yellow and red), operating X-Trafik Gävle—the hydrogen buses in Sandviken will have the... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company and INEOS signed a memorandum of understanding to explore new opportunities to accelerate the global hydrogen economy. Hyundai and INEOS will jointly investigate opportunities for the production and supply of hydrogen as well as the worldwide deployment of hydrogen applications and technologies. Both companies will initially seek... Read more →

For several years now, the Norway-based marine and maritime technology company Havyard Group has carried out research and development work on hydrogen propulsion for large vessels, for example through the Pilot E project, in order to develop a large-scale maritime hydrogen project. Havyard’s complete hydrogen system for ships will be... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) announced that the application period is now open for the “Zero-Emission Drayage Truck and Infrastructure Pilot Project.” (GFO-20-606) Eligible applicants to this competitive solicitation include local air districts, California-based public entities, and California-based non-profit organizations. The total funding... Read more →

Nuvera Fuel Cells, LLC, a provider of fuel cell power solutions for motive applications, announced the commercial availability of the Nuvera E-60 Fuel Cell Engine, the latest addition to the E-series family for vehicle electrification. With Nuvera’s latest high-performance fuel cell stacks at its core, the E-60 engine model enables... Read more →