Honeywell Streamlines Renewable Diesel Production with Ecofining Tech

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Honeywell, an international licensor of processing technology and supplier of engineering services, catalysts and equipment for the global refining and gas processing industries, has introduced a single-stage UOP Ecofining technology offering for the production of renewable diesel fuel.

The company notes the new single-stage technology is a fast-to-market, low capital cost solution that is ideal for repurposing an underutilized hydrotreating or hydrocracking unit, producing higher yields of renewable diesel fuel than other single-stage technologies.

Baja 1000 Cybertruck Opponent Is No Buggy: It’s A Fuel Cell Pickup Truck

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The 2023 Baja 1000 challenge makes a lot more sense now.

Electric pickup truck fans, rejoice: you will soon have the option to buy one more vehicle. This is especially important for Nikola Badger‘s orphans, who thought they would eventually drive a pickup truck powered by hydrogen. That pickup truck is coming, and it challenged the Tesla Cybertruck even before it was revealed. Guys, meet the SCG 010 Zero.

This is the name of the vehicle Jim Glickenhaus plans to put on the 2023 Baja 1000 to beat the Tesla Cybertruck if Elon Musk accepts the challenge Glickenhaus proposed on December 30, 2020. At the time, he called that vehicle the Boot, which won the Baja 1000 in its class in 2019 and 2020.

700+ CNG Trucks Headline Amazon’s Emissions-Reduction Plans

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With a recent order, Amazon Inc. is adding hundreds of compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks to its fleet as it looks for ways to reduce emissions in its operations, according to a recent article from Reuters.

The article goes on to say that due to various degrees of economic and social lockdowns – and restrictions implemented in the wake of COVID-19 – the country’s delivery sector experienced a spike in activity. Last year’s truck volumes exceeded 2019 levels. As the trucking sector increasingly looks to lower emissions, more and more companies are turning to clean fuels to meet their climate goals. Reuters writes that a majority of the country’s freight is delivered with medium- and heavy-duty trucks, which account for 20% of the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Steps that can be taken now to get to zero emissions

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“Urgent action.” Those are the words Shell and Deloitte used to describe what it will take to get the world’s trucks and buses to produce net-zero emissions by 2050.  Their report, Decarbonizing Road Freight: Getting into Gear, offered 22 solutions that could be employed over the next decade to help address the factors — economic, technical, regulatory, and organizational — behind decarbonization.

Let’s put the problem in perspective. According to Huibert Vigeveno, Shell downstream director, road freight is currently responsible for around 9% of global CO2 emissions. And freight is expected to double by 2050 which will add to the existing problem. The 2015 Paris Agreement, which the U.S. just rejoined under President Biden’s leadership, requires road freight emissions to drop 60% by 2050 from their 2018 levels. That is a significant challenge.

GM commits to be carbon-neutral by 2040

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The largest U.S. automaker, General Motors, has pledged to become carbon-neutral by 2040, an ambitious plan with a deadline a decade sooner than many global automakers.

While GM previously had aimed to become a “zero-emissions automaker” by 2050, the news unveiled Thursday both ramps up and codifies the company’s plans. The commitment includes a strategy to “eliminate tailpipe emissions” from light-duty new vehicles by 2035.

The amped-up ambition shows how global automakers are increasingly setting more aggressive paths to transition away from fossil fuels, the resource that has been the key to powering their industry for a century. Most are embracing batteries as the next-generation fuel resource and prioritizing electrification as the key technology that will power vehicles of the future.

Study shows corn ethanol lowers GHG emissions by 46%

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A new study published by researchers from Environmental Health and Engineering Inc., Harvard University and Tufts University shows corn ethanol emits 46 percent fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than gasoline.

According to EH&E, conventional wisdom based on a prior analysis completed by the U.S. EPA estimated that corn ethanol achieved only a 20 percent GHG reduction. EH&E’s topical review of the latest science, however, shows that corn ethanol is less carbon intensive and more climate-favorable than previously thought.

Propane Autogas: The Year Behind and the Year Ahead

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As we say goodbye to 2020 and welcome in what will hopefully be a healthy and prosperous 2021, it’s giving us all time to reflect on the year behind and the new year ahead. While 2020 brought challenges many of us had never imagined, the resiliency of the automotive fuel industry shone through, including for propane autogas. That resiliency continues to act as a beacon for 2021.

In both the year behind and the year ahead, propane autogas has been, and will continue to be, the energy source for fleets looking to reduce their operating costs and lower their emissions without compromising on performance, reliability, or range.

Fortistar, NRSWA Partner on Methane-Converting RNG Facility

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Fortistar, a privately-owned investment firm that acquires companies and projects that address global environmental challenges, and the New River Solid Waste Association (NRSWA) in Raiford, Fla., have partnered to construct a facility that will capture and convert approximately 1,900 dekatherms per day of landfill methane to renewable natural gas (RNG).

“As an investment firm that’s focused on implementing more decarbonization solutions across the country, funding and supporting this renewable energy project in Florida was an easy decision,” says Mark Comora, president of Fortistar. “Creating fuel for transportation is a solution available today to significantly decrease human-related greenhouse gas emissions. NRSWA maintains an excellent reputation in waste management in Florida and we’re looking forward to working with them to capture greenhouse gases, displace diesel trucks and produce cleaner fuel for a more sustainable future.”

Hyundai, Daimler, Toyota Announce Hydrogen Fuel Cell Initiatives

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Hydrogen fuel cells have long been considered a dark horse zero-emissions fuel – one that held great potential, but with technical hurdles in its path toward implementation that would take decades to resolve.

But now, it appears that dark horse is coming up from behind as a viable fuel alternative for long-haul trucking applications. Just take as an example the headlines from Dec. 10 that three of the leading global car, truck and bus manufacturers are making major moves now to help set the stage for hydrogen-powered transportation.