Stellantis has made a €50-million equity investment in lithium producer Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd. and extended the original binding lithium hydroxide offtake agreement (earlier post) to 2035. With the resultant 8% shareholding, Stellantis will become the second-largest shareholder in Vulcan. The equity investment will go towards Vulcan’s planned production expansion... Read more →

A group of leading German companies along with Australia’s Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) has released a green hydrogen roadmap, outlining a set of recommendations for government and industry, to meet the ambitious target of importing large amounts of green hydrogen from Australia to Germany. The Green Hydrogen Taskforce, created earlier... Read more →

Airbus and Linde, a leading global industrial gases and engineering company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work on the development of hydrogen infrastructure at airports worldwide. The agreement follows a cooperation agreement signed in Singapore in February and covers collaboration on global supply chains for hydrogen, from... Read more →

Airbus and Munich Airport International signed a Memorandum of Understanding at ILA Berlin Air Show to start marketing turnkey solutions to cities and regions interested in developing advanced air mobility (AAM) ecosystems globally. Airbus is developing CityAirbus NextGen, its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft (earlier post), along with... Read more →

The Qantas Group and Airbus recently announced they will invest up to US$200 million to accelerate the establishment of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry in Australia. Due to the lack of a local commercial-scale SAF industry, Australia is currently exporting millions of tonnes of feedstock such as canola and... 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 →

Shell and Dow have started up an experimental unit to heat ethylene steam cracker furnaces electrically at the Energy Transition Campus Amsterdam, The Netherlands. This represents a key milestone in the companies’ joint technology program to electrify steam cracking furnaces, bringing the companies one step closer to decarbonizing one of... Read more →

As of May 2022, surplus crude oil production capacity in non-OPEC countries decreased by 80% compared with 2021, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) new report Global Surplus Crude Oil Production Capacity. In 2021, 1.4 million barrels per day (b/d) of surplus production capacity was available in non-OPEC... Read more →

New-vehicle retail sales for June 2022 are expected to decline when compared with June 2021, according to a joint forecast from J.D. Power and LMC Automotive. Retail sales of new vehicles this month are expected to reach 965,300 units, a 18.2% decrease compared with June 2021 when adjusted for selling... Read more →

Imperial Oil Limited—Canada’s largest petroleum refiner, a major producer of crude oil, a key petrochemical producer and a leading fuels marketer—and E3 Lithium are collaborating to advance a direct-lithium-extraction pilot in Alberta, exploring the redevelopment of an historic oil field into a potential new leading source of lithium for Canada’s... Read more →

Umicore and Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd have agreed to develop jointly high-performance catholyte materials for solid-state batteries, combining their respective expertise in cathode active materials (CAM) and solid electrolytes, and aiming to provide the technological breakthrough to extend the driving range and thereby propel e-mobility. Catholytes combine cathode active materials... Read more →

Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (Toshiba ESS) has developed a prototype superconducting motor to meet the needs of the mobility sector. This superconducting motor, with a maximum output of 2 MW, can realize lightweight, high-output density and high-speed rotation, and can be made available for large mobility applications. Toshiba... Read more →

Among the projects being funded by the German Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND) is an effort by Horst Bendix to develop a high-altitude, on-shore wind turbine. The higher a wind turbine is installed, the more efficiently it will work, because the wind is much steadier and blows with greater force... Read more →

Energy company RWE and steel producer ArcelorMittal have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to develop, build and operate offshore wind farms and hydrogen facilities that will supply the renewable energy and green hydrogen required to produce low-emissions steel in Germany. The partnership centers on driving forward the... Read more →

Toshiba Energy Systems and Solutions Corporation (Toshiba ESS) is working with Echandia, a Swedish company engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of batteries and fuel cell systems for maritime applications, to a{explore} the possibility of jointly developing a market for ships that use pure hydrogen fuel cell systems in... Read more →

Ford in Europe has chosen its plant in Valencia, Spain, as the preferred site to assemble vehicles based on a next-generation electric vehicle architecture. Pending product approval, the Valencia plant could produce the electric and connected vehicles beginning later this decade. Ford is also moving forward with a $2-billion conversion... Read more →

Power-to-Liquids technologies are on their way to commercialization in scale. E-fuels offer a way to expand the carbon-neutral transport fuel pool beyond biomass-based renewable fuels to replace fossil fuels in existing internal combustion engines. The end product is a transportation fuel suited for aircraft, ships as well as heavy and... Read more →

BASF has worked with Shell to evaluate and de-risk BASF’s Puristar R0-20 and Sorbead Adsorption Technology for the use in green hydrogen production. The two technologies purify and dehydrate the product hydrogen stream from the water electrolysis process which can then be used for liquification and transportation, as an energy... Read more →

A new analysis by European environmental NGO Transport & Environment finds that Europe burns more than 17,000 tonnes of rapeseed and sunflower oil every day—the equivalent of 19 million 1-liter bottles. This has contributed to spiralling food price rises as well as empty supermarket shelves in the wake of Russia’s... Read more →

President Biden called on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax for the next 90 days, through the busy summer driving season—18 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24 cents per gallon for diesel. He also called on states to suspend their state gas taxes as well or to find... Read more →

BlackBerry Limited announced that Strategy Analytics, a leading independent research firm, has determined BlackBerry QNX software is now embedded in more than 215 million vehicles worldwide, an increase of 20 million from the year before. BlackBerry provides safety-certified embedded software for automotive OEMs and Tier 1s including BMW, Bosch, Continental,... Read more →

NXP Semiconductors N.V. announced two new processor families that extend the benefits of NXP’s S32 automotive platform with safe, high-performance real-time processing. The S32Z and S32E processor families help enable the automotive industry to accelerate the integration of diverse real-time applications for domain and zonal control, safety processing and vehicle... 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 →

Volvo Trucks has started to test its hydrogen fuel cell powered trucks. Volvo Trucks already offers battery electric trucks and trucks that run on renewable fuels, such as biogas. In the second half of this decade, a third CO2-neutral option will be added to its product portfolio: fuel cell electric... Read more →

A new study from Juniper Research forecasts that the number of hydrogen vehicles in service globally will exceed 1 million in 2027, from just over 60,000 in 2022—substantial growth of more than 1,500%—with the bulk of the deployed vehicles in China and the Far East. Juniper Research defines hydrogen vehicles... Read more →

Researchers at Texas A&M University and ExxonMobil are developing a method to reprocess petroleum coke—a byproduct of refining crude oil—into graphene, using a chemical process called electrochemical exfoliation. This open-access study was published in NPJ 2D Materials and Applications. Simplified schematic of refinery operations and products: there is a need... Read more →

Viritech, an engineering company developing hydrogen powertrain solutions, is partnering with Pininfarina on Apricale hydrogen hypercar. Pininfarina HAS re-interpreted the Apricale’s initial reference design to create a vision of the future of zero-emissions performance motoring. Viritech’s ambition is to be the leading developer of hydrogen powertrain solutions for the automotive,... Read more →

Newly created Basquevolt, the Basque solid-state battery initiative, will begin production of battery cells in 2027 with the aim of reaching 10GWh capacity. Basquevolt founding shareholders include the Basque Government, through the venture capital fund Ezten, Iberdrola, CIE Automotive, Enagás, EIT InnoEnergy and CIC energiGUNE. Basquevolt is supported by an... Read more →

Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have developed a process for fabricating polytriazole membranes with 10-nanometer-thin selective layers containing subnanometer channels. The membranes, with their ultrathin tunable selective layers, offer an innovative membrane development solution for energy-efficient crude oil fractionation. The membranes are also advantageous for... Read more →

Hyzon Motors, a US-based global supplier of hydrogen fuel cell trucks and buses, will acquire ORTEN Betriebs GmbH and subsidiaries, and ORTEN Electric Trucks GmbH, German manufacturers of innovative truck and trailer bodies for the beverage industry . The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter, 2022. The... Read more →

In its mission to support and secure an attractive and sustainable circular business model for batteries, Volvo Energy is investing approximately SEK 50 million (US$4.9 million) for a 10% stake in the UK-based second-life battery energy storage specialist Connected Energy. The investment came as part of a £15-million (US$18.4-million) round.... Read more →

Software République, an open innovation ecosystem for intelligent, secure and sustainable mobility launched one year ago by Atos, Dassault Systèmes, Orange, Renault Group, STMicroelectronics and Thales, has presented its first milestones. These include: Creation of a “GIE” (Groupement d’Intérêt Economique, or economic interest group) to develop Software République’s activity and... Read more →

Meta Materials Inc., a developer of high-performance functional materials and nanocomposites, signed a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets and intellectual property, including 67 issued and 22 pending patents, of Optodot Corporation for an aggregate of $48.5 million, comprising $3.5 million in cash and $45 million of... Read more →

The IEA June 2022 Oil Market Report (OMR) forecasts world oil demand to reach 101.6 mb/d in 2023, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. While higher prices and a weaker economic outlook are moderating consumption increases, a resurgent China will drive gains next year, with growth accelerating from 1.8 mb/d in 2022 to... Read more →

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that liquid fuels production in Brazil, Canada, and China will increase this year and next, contributing to growth in overall non-OPEC petroleum production. According to EIA’s June 2022 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), petroleum production in the combined non-OPEC countries, excluding the Unites States... Read more →

Blink Charging Co., a leading owner, operator, and provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment and services, will acquire SemaConnect, Inc., a leading provider of EV charging infrastructure solutions in North America, for $200 million subject to certain customary adjustments for working capital. The cash and common stock transaction will... Read more →

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that prices in US wholesale electricity markets this summer will significantly increase over last summer’s prices. The EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) forecasts that electricity prices in the Northeast regions (ISO New England, New York ISO, and PJM markets) will exceed $100 per... Read more →

Sony Group Corporation and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. signed a joint venture agreement to establish a new company to engage in the sale of high-value-added electric vehicles (EVs) and provide services for mobility. The announcement is the furtherance and result of discussion of a strategic alliance in the mobility field... 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 →

Albemarle Corporation, one of the largest lithium producers in the world and present in Chile for more than 40 years, inaugurated its third chemical conversion plant, La Negra III/IV, in Antofagasta, Chile, as one of the most modern chemical conversion plants in Latin America. With new technology, the plant is... Read more →

Op-ed by Brent Wilson, CEO of Galvanic Energy. The war over global dominance of the electric vehicle battery industry seems like it ended before it really got started. China is walking away as the winner and the US might as well wave the white flag because it may never catch... Read more →

Ireland’s National Transport Authority (NTA) has ordered 120 double-deck battery-electric buses from Bamford Bus Company (trading as Wrightbus). These 120 buses are part of a framework agreement which provides for the procurement of up to 800 zero-emission battery-electric buses over a period of five years. The buses—Streetdeck Electroliner BEVs—will be... Read more →

TotalEnergies has entered into an agreement with Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) to acquire a 25% interest in Adani New Industries Limited (ANIL). ANIL will be the exclusive platform of AEL and TotalEnergies for the production and commercialization of green hydrogen in India. ANIL will target a production of one million... Read more →

Rio Tinto has delivered first ore from the Gudai-Darri iron ore mine as the company brings online its first greenfield mine in the Pilbara, Western Australia, in more than a decade. Gudai-Darri will help underpin future production of the company’s flagship Pilbara Blend product. Pilbara Blend products are known for... Read more →

Korea-based SK innovation has invested $30 million in ammonia-based fuel cell startup Amogy (earlier post); the two also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on technical cooperation, and agreed to cooperate to develop ammonia-based fuel cell system technology and expand the market. Amogy, established in 2020, is focused on producing... Read more →

DARPA has selected multiple teams of university researchers for the Recycling at the Point of Disposal (RPOD) program. RPOD will evaluate the technical feasibility of recovering multiple low-volume fraction critical elements present in end-of-life electronics hardware (e-waste). The program seeks to develop small-footprint platforms with greatly reduced energy consumption and... Read more →

Canada Post has earmarked $1 billion to cut emissions and transform its fleet. With nearly 14,000 vehicles and Canada’s largest retail network of close to 6,000 post offices, Canada Post acknowledges its footprint is significant. The Corporation will transform its fleet to non-emitting transportation, with commitments to reach a 50%... Read more →

Chevron Corporation completed its previously announced acquisition of Renewable Energy Group (REG) following approval by REG stockholders. (Earlier post.) The new Chevron segment will be called Chevron Renewable Energy Group. We have brought together companies with complementary capabilities, assets, and customer relationships to make Chevron one of the leading renewable... Read more →

bp has agreed to sell its 50% interest in the Sunrise oil sands project in Alberta, Canada, to Calgary-based Cenovus Energy, the other owner of the Sunrise project. As part of the deal, bp is acquiring Cenovus’s interest in the Bay du Nord project in Eastern Canada, adding to its... Read more →

Nouryon has introduced HP92 microspheres, a new innovation in thermoplastic microsphere fillers in high-pressure manufacturing processes for the automotive industry. Lightweight materials are in high demand from automotive manufacturers to meet increasingly strict emission regulations and strong consumer interest in fuel-efficient vehicles that do not compromise on performance or passenger... Read more →