Toyota And Hino USA Developing Futuristic Hydrogen-Powered Semi-Truck

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Semi-trucks: they’re loud, slow and an absolute pollution nightmare. Well, maybe not for much longer, now that Toyota has unveiled its plans for a new hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric semi-truck.

The world’s largest car manufacturer announced on Monday that it is partnering with Hino USA to develop a new sustainable semi-truck specifically for the North American market.

The truck is officially called the ‘Class 8 fuel-cell electric truck’, and will be based on the existing Hino XL series and powered by Toyota’s own fuel-cell technology. The project is still in the design phase, but the company hopes to have a demonstration version of the vehicle ready to unveil to audiences early next year.

U-Haul Purchases First Million Gallons of Renewable Propane

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U-Haul has unveiled its latest green initiative, with the purchase of its first million gallons of renewable propane, which is available to customers at U-Haul autogas facilities across Southern California.

U-Haul, the largest retailer of propane in the U.S., teamed with Suburban Propane Partners, a nationwide distributor of propane, fuel oil and related products and services, to supply the ecofriendly fuel. U-Haul plans for this product offering to be ongoing as it continues to pursue sustainable solutions.

How the Largest U.S. Cities Are Embracing Electric Vehicles

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The electric vehicle (EV) market continues its upward trend and greater adoption globally with approximately 2.2 million sold in 2019. With China in the lead followed by Europe, which is set to potentially surpass the former in 2020, the United States stayed steady in third place with 320,000 sales. To better understand its place in the market, a new briefing by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) breaks down various factors associated with U.S. adoption of EVs based on the 50 most populous cities, which accounted for 80 percent of U.S. sales.

While the environmental benefits may be enough for some consumers to make the switch, numerous factors play into that. High price tags, model availability, range charging, infrastructure needs and the roads themselves, among other perhaps more personal factors, have influenced some resistance to mass adoption. In many areas, promotional activities and government policies are helping to address those barriers.

Corn Farmers Take Covid In Stride: ‘Ethanol Isn’t Going Away’

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Each time Paul Jeschke’s phone buzzed, the news got worse.

Like other farmers in this part of north-central Illinois, Jeschke regularly receives text messages on his phone that alert him to the latest selling prices of corn, one of his two main crops alongside soybeans, at a local rail market that ships corn off to markets in the Southeast. And on this day, in the heat of COVID-19 shutdowns in late March, his phone never stopped buzzing with news of falling prices.

The reason: 45 miles away, suffering from poor road fuel demand, a plant that turns corn into ethanol had shut down. Now farmers who typically sold corn to the ethanol plant were redirecting their corn to the rail market instead. Inundated with offers, the rail market could get away with buying corn at far lower prices than typical. “It was just a huge, huge drop,” said Jeschke, who farms several thousand acres with his nephew and brother-in-law near Mazon, Illinois.

WPGA Hosts Nation’s First Renewable Propane Conference

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On November 4th, the Western Propane Gas Association (WPGA) will virtually host the Path to Renewable Propane conference, the first event of its kind in the U.S. that is uniquely focused on propane derived from sustainable sources. The event is aptly named, as WPGA sets forth on an ambitious path to achieve 100% renewable propane in California by 2030. This conference will tackle some of the challenges of how to achieve this sustainability target from multiple angles, including consumers, producers, retailers, and policymakers. The event will explore the opportunities for how various stakeholders can work together to develop the market for this burgeoning fuel.

For starters, attendees will learn what renewable propane is, the theoretical and practical ways it can be produced, and the carbon reduction impacts of the innovative fuel. The conference features speakers who have dedicated expertise with renewable propane and will share how some regions of the globe have made a large commercial production investment to benefit both the planet and the corporate bottom line. Attendees will also learn the current production volumes of renewable propane today and the future production outlook. A panel of retailers will share why they elected to sell renewable propane and their experience thus far from navigating the credit systems to the unexpected speedbumps others can avoid when marketing the fuel. The event will also feature one of the first school districts in the country to use the renewable fuel in their school bus fleet.

ISU researchers transform pennycress into a crop

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Though farmers consider pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) nothing more than a weed, Illinois State Professor of Genetics John Sedbrook is working to change their perspective—and the plant itself. Sedbrook and his student researchers in the School of Biological Sciences are genetically modifying pennycress as part of a multistate, multi-institutional effort funded by a five-year, $10 million USDA grant and a $13 million Department of Energy grant.

The researchers are attempting to transform the plant into a commercially grown cover crop that would be a boon to farmers and the environment. The harvested plant would be processed into biofuel, jet fuel, animal feed, and other products.

Piedmont Natural Gas Now Offering RNG at Nashville Fueling Station

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Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, says renewable natural gas (RNG) is now available at its compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in Nashville, Tenn.

RNG is pipeline-quality biomethane produced from biomass that is fully interchangeable with conventional natural gas and can be used in natural gas vehicles. By fueling with RNG at Piedmont’s Nashville station, fleets and organizations can further reduce their emissions footprint – helping decarbonize transportation in Tennessee.

Generating renewable hydrogen fuel from the sea

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The power of the sun, wind and sea may soon combine to produce clean-burning hydrogen fuel, according to a team of Penn State researchers. The team integrated water purification technology into a new proof-of-concept design for a sea water electrolyzer, which uses an electric current to split apart the hydrogen and oxygen in water molecules.

This new method for “sea water splitting” could make it easier to turn wind and solar energy into a storable and portable fuel, according to Bruce Logan, Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering and Evan Pugh University Professor.

“Hydrogen is a great fuel, but you have to make it,” Logan said. “The only sustainable way to do that is to use renewable energy and produce it from water. You also need to use water that people do not want to use for other things, and that would be sea water. So, the holy grail of producing hydrogen would be to combine the sea water and the wind and solar energy found in coastal and offshore environments.”

Shell inks deal with Neste to boost aviation biofuels supply

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Shell last week announced a deal with oil refining and biofuels manufacturer Neste, which the two companies claim will significantly increase the supply and availability of sustainable jet fuel for the aviation industry.

The agreement, which comes into effect from next month, brings together Neste’s expertise in the production and supply of so-called “renewable diesel” made from a range of raw materials — such as animal fats, vegetable oils, rapeseed oil and palm oil — with Shell’s aviation arm, which supplies jet fuel around the world.

Anna Mascolo, president of Shell Aviation, said the deal reflects the oil giant’s aim to “reduce the carbon intensity of the fuels we sell which includes selling more lower-carbon fuels like sustainable aviation fuel.”

“Today’s agreement with Neste will help Shell Aviation customers to lower their emissions and demonstrates the kind of progress we can deliver by working in collaboration with others,” Mascolo added.

Hyundai plans to introduce HD hydrogen truck to U.S. by 2022

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Hyundai Motor Co., which is currently testing heavy-duty fuel cell electric trucks (FCETs) in Switzerland, plans on commercializing the hydrogen-powered vehicles in the U.S. starting in 2022. A pilot program could begin in 2021 in California.

The first fleet customers are expected to have 3,000 to 5,000 trucks. That allows Hyundai to gradually build out the much-needed and virtually non-existent infrastructure. As of Sept. 1, 2020, there were 42 hydrogen stations open in California for light-duty FCEVs, according to the California Fuel Cell Partnership.

Hyundai shipped 10 of its XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks, “the world’s first mass-produced” FCET, according to the company, to Switzerland in July. Forty more should arrive by the end of the year. By 2025, Hyundai expects 1,600 XCIENTs on the road.