Daimler Trucks & Buses and battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) have entered a global battery cell modules supply agreement for electric trucks. CATL will supply lithium-ion battery cell modules for a wide range of Daimler Trucks & Buses’ global electric truck portfolio to be introduced in markets... Continue reading

Researchers at the University of Michigan have mapped the annual flow of steel in the US, with the goal of achieving a detailed understanding of the flow to target increased material efficiency and the development of the circular economy. The results of the material flow analysis (MFA), published in the... Continue reading

Wärtsilä has launched the 31SG pure gas engine for marine market applications. The 31SG is based on the successful Wärtsilä 31 product platform; the diesel version of the engine has been recognized by Guinness World Records as being the world’s most efficient 4-stroke diesel engine. The Wärtsilä 31SG is available... Continue reading

A University of Queensland (Australia)-led study has concluded that future demand for ethanol biofuel could potentially expand sugarcane farming land in Brazil by five million hectares by 2030. Our study has modelled scenarios forecasting future ethanol demand based on different trajectories for gross domestic product, population growth, fuel prices, blending... Continue reading

Ascend Performance Materials will launch several new long-chain polyamides and high-temperature polyamides at K 2019 in Düsseldorf in October. Vydyne XHT, a new portfolio of heat-stabilized polyamide 66 and copolymers, is capable of withstanding prolonged exposure to temperatures up to 230 ˚C. Using a combination of unique polymer chemistries and... Continue reading

During the IAEA General Conference in Vienna, France’s CEA, EDF, Naval Group and TechnicAtome unveiled “NUWARD”, their jointly developed small modular reactor (SMR) project, a pressurized water reactor (PWR)-based solution in the 300-400 MWe range. NUWARD will benefit from best-in-class French technologies from more than 50 years of experience in... Continue reading

Toyota is investing an additional $391 million at its San Antonio truck assembly plant. Once the new investment is complete, the plant’s total investment will exceed $3 billion. This is Toyota’s third investment at its San Antonio truck plant which assembles the full-size Tundra and mid-size Tacoma pickup trucks; the... Continue reading

Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser said Tuesday that the company’s production capacity, suspended earlier due to terror attacks on its plants at Abqaiq and Khurais (earlier post), would be fully restored by the end of September. Production at Khurais resumed 24 hours after the attack. Meanwhile, Nasser stated... Continue reading

Hyundai Motor Group (The Group) has developed a new center side airbag that works to separate the space between driver and passenger. The Group will introduce the technology in upcoming vehicles. This new, additional airbag expands into the space between driver and passenger seats to prevent head injuries of passengers... Continue reading

Lightning Systems, a global developer of zero-emission drivetrains, introduced “Lightning On Tap” charging solutions, a comprehensive offering of AC and DC fast charge charging stations. Lightning Systems’ lineup of new chargers includes both AC and DC fast charge options, ranging from affordable 7.2kW AC chargers to high-end 100kW DC fast... Continue reading

A new report by the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) finds that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from road transport in the UK rose by 6% from 1990 to 2017. The increase—albeit lower than the increase in road traffic—highlights the significant challenge in reducing emissions from road transport, the report... Continue reading

A team from the University of Cordoba in Spain and the University of Tehran in Iran has been searching for ways to increase hydrogen production by using microorganisms, specifically microalgae and bacteria. Researchers Neda Fakhimi, Alexandra Dubini and David González Ballester report being able to increase hydrogen production by combining... Continue reading

Researchers from Stanford University and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have engineered and demonstrated a solid-oxide electrochemical cell (SOC) with a porous ceria electrode that achieves stable and selective CO2 electrolysis beyond the thermodynamic carbon deposition threshold. A paper on the work is published in Nature Energy. ow electricity... Continue reading

The 2019-2020 California State Budget authorizes $3 million for two studies focused on the state’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), in consultation with the Energy Commission, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, the... Continue reading

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory are developing a deep learning framework—MaLTESE (Machine Learning Tool for Engine Simulations and Experiments)—to meet ever-increasing demands to deliver better engine performance, fuel economy and reduced emissions. The MaLTESE effort is a great example of how Argonne supercomputing resources enable researchers to combine large-scale simulations... Continue reading

Navigant Research forecasts that e-buses will make up nearly one-third of all buses on the road worldwide by 2030. The global medium- and heavy-duty bus market has been dominated by internal combustion engine vehicles. However, Navigant says, the adoption of electric buses (e-buses) will continue to rise as battery prices... Continue reading

Some key materials used for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries are lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and natural graphite, which come from more than 30 different countries. In 2017, Australia, Chile, and Argentina produced 91% of all lithium while the rest of the world supplied the remaining 9%. The Democratic Republic of Congo... Continue reading

Waterfront Shipping Company Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Methanex Corporation, and Marinvest/Skagerack Invest (Marinvest) announced the delivery of two second-generation methanol fueled vessels—M/T Mari Couva and M/T Mari Kokako—to the Waterfront Shipping fleet. The 49,000 dwt vessels are built with the second generation of MAN B&W ME-LGIM two stroke... Continue reading

The US Department of Energy (DOE), through its Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER), has launched a major initiative to develop bioenergy crops through genomics-based research. Danforth Center Principal Investigator, Andrea Eveland, Ph.D., will lead a multi-institutional project under this initiative to deepen the understanding of sorghum, a versatile... Continue reading

BASF and its partner BNP Brinkmann are supporting the the German Aerospace Center’s (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- and Raumfahrt/DLR) current research project “Next Generation Car” (NGC) with a tailormade, lightweight composite based on natural fiber. The goal of the DLR NGC project is to promote the development of quiet, low-emission... Continue reading

The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is vying to establish an international center to develop solid-state batteries which will be safer, cheaper, smaller and more efficient than lithium ion batteries. SDSMT hosted hundreds of industry representatives, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and fellow academics on 12-13 September in... Continue reading

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released its latest in-depth review of US energy policies, welcoming US leadership on innovation and highlighting the far-reaching impact of the country’s shale revolution. The shale boom has transformed the United States into the world’s top oil and gas producer and a leading exporter... Continue reading

by Michael Sivak. In this analysis I examined gender differences in travel patterns. The data came from ATUS—the American Time Use Survey. ATUS provides nationally representative estimates of the amount of time people spend doing various activities. It is an annual time-diary study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.... Continue reading

ExxonMobil has launched its Mobil EV offering—a full suite of fluids and greases designed to meet the evolving drivetrain requirements of battery electric vehicles. In combination, plug-in hybrids, battery electric and fuel cell vehicles are predicted to exceed 20% of the world’s light-duty fleet by 2040. Mobility is changing and... Continue reading

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced funding selectees for multiple domestic advanced nuclear technology projects. Three projects in three states will receive varying amounts for a total of approximately $15 million in funding. The projects are cost-shared and will allow industry-led teams, including participants from federal agencies, public and... Continue reading