Battery-Electric Surge: ESS Scales Up in Maritime
Ask the right government department in any G7 state and you’ll find funding to put battery power for your vessel. Beyond funds, new battery makers and system integrators are ironing out safety issues, and a growing number of giga-sized cell factories offer hope that costs will fall for marine energy storage, as ESS choice grows. Efforts are also underway to recycle rare earth elements and to augment or greenify staggeringly high plant electricity inputs.
Borealis to Invest in Port of Antwerp
The Austrian petrochemical company Borealis has announced that it is to build a new production plant on its existing site in Kallo, in the Antwerp port area.According to a press release, the propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant will use the very latest technology in terms of sustainable production and energy efficiency. With this initiative the port of Antwerp confirms and reinforces its role as the largest…
Daimler Says Batteries have Edge Over Fuel Cells
Electric batteries have won a slight edge over hydrogen fuel cells in their quest for future dominance in the car industry, Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche told a German weekly. Daimler is cooperating with partners in both areas and Zetsche said it was still unclear which of the two competing technologies would be more successful in playing a leading role in the sector. "But one has to recognise: batteries have become more attractive in recent years.
VW Set for Easier Ride in Europe on Emissions Scandal
Volkswagen is unlikely to face U.S.-style fines in Europe over its emissions scandal because of a softer regulatory regime and its home country Germany's determination to protect its car industry, EU sources and legal experts say. The carmaker has been embroiled in crisis since last September, when it admitted it had cheated U.S. emissions tests using software known as "defeat devices". The U.S. Justice…
EU to Toughen Car Emission Tests after VW Scandal
The EU could introduce tougher car emissions tests in the wake of the Volkswagen rigging scandal, senior European officials said. The German carmaker named company veteran Matthias Mueller as its new chief executive on Friday in an attempt to get to grips with a crisis that its chairman described as "a moral and political disaster". The appointment came as Swiss authorities said they were suspending sales of Volkswagen diesel vehicles that could contain devices capable of cheating emissions tests…
Britain Calls for Truck CO2 Emissions Limits
Britain and three other countries have joined calls for mandatory European Union limits on the amount of CO2 pumped out by trucks, which account for 30 percent of road transport emissions but only a small fraction of vehicles on the road. The European Commission has introduced a limit of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometre (g/km) by 2021 for cars and vans, but emissions from heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) are unregulated. The United States by contrast in June proposed tighter standards on truck emissions.
Rosneft and AVTOVAZ Strengthen Strategic Cooperation
Rosneft President, Chairman of the Management Board Igor Sechin and AVTOVAZ President Bo Inge Andersson signed an Agreement of development of strategic cooperation, which significantly expands the scale of partnership between the companies. Among other things the document envisages the development, testing and introduction of lubricant materials and other Rosneft oil products required by AVTOVAZ businesses…
EU: End of Emissions Testing Loopholes
Nitrogen oxides a bigger issue than C02; vehicles would be tested on roads, not in laboratories. "Real-world" testing rules to be unveiled by year-end. EU regulators are preparing draft legislation that will require vehicle fuel use to be tested on roads rather than in laboratories, looking to close loopholes that allow car makers to exaggerate fuel-saving and emissions credentials. Already from Sept. 1, slightly tougher EU testing standards will be enforced, in line with a global push for accuracy.
