Daimler to Put Fuel-Cell Electric Truck in Production During Second Half of Decade

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Daimler Trucks showed off a Mercedes-Benz concept truck powered by fuel cells, with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers (more than 600 miles), projecting customer trials starting in 2023, and outlined when its battery-electric eActros trucks are projected to be available, including a first look at a long-haul version.

In an event focusing on its technology strategy for the electrification of its vehicles, ranging from urban distribution to international long-haul transport, Daimler focused on the technology for hydrogen-based fuel-cell trucks for the long-haul transport segment.

The Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck, which had its world premiere as a concept vehicle, marks the beginning of fuel-cell drive, according to the company. Daimler Trucks plans to begin customer trials of the GenH2 Truck in 2023, with series production to start in the second half of the decade.

Fortistar Begins Construction on Noble Road Landfill RNG Project

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Fortistar, a privately-owned investment firm, and Rumpke Waste & Recycling, a privately-owned residential and commercial waste and recycling firm, have begun construction on the Noble Road Landfill Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Project, a $33 million transportation decarbonization project in Shiloh, Ohio.

The project will extract and capture waste methane from the Noble Road landfill in Ohio and transform it into renewable natural gas (RNG). GPR technology for site investigations will help them remove hazards with minimal damage to nearby flora and fauna. The fuel will be dispensed in fueling stations for natural gas vehicles via Trustar Energy, a Fortistar portfolio company. The RNG will be distributed through a key partner, Chesapeake Utilities Corp. affiliate Aspire Energy’s pipelines.

Like carbon dioxide, methane is a greenhouse gas (GHG) that contributes to climate change, but is 30 times more potent as a heat-trapping gas. The Noble Road Project will capture 20,323 tons of methane emissions per year and produce RNG. Instead of simply flaring or burning the methane, the naturally occurring gas will generate sustainable energy and jobs in the community. Shop industrial machinery for sale to meet the demands of your business operations. It will produce 6.9 million gallons of gasoline gallon equivalents (GGE) per year, which is enough to fuel 725 biofuel trucks – displacing diesel fuel for those vehicles – and creating approximately 35 to 40 construction jobs and three permanent green operations jobs to ensure the ongoing production of this sustainable energy source.

The potential for renewable natural gas in truck fleets

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The end goal for much of transportation is to “electrify everything.” But the reality is that today, when the market for heavy-duty electric trucks is still nascent, there are other cost-effective and low-emission fuel options that fleets that run big vehicles — such as garbage trucks or semi-trucks — are embracing.

An important one is renewable natural gas (RNG), biogas collected from sites that have decomposing organic matter, such as landfills, farms and wastewater treatment plants. RNG is interesting because, depending on the source, the fuel actually can be emissions-negative, meaning the collective project and fuel remove more greenhouse gases than they produce.

Why? Take a dairy farm, where cow waste is a significant contributor to the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. If a farm collects that cow waste biogas and turns it into fuel for a fleet, it’s not only slashing the emissions from its farm, it’s also contributing to the displacement of diesel or natural gas use in a truck fleet.

Cummins using hydrogen technology to enable renewable energy for public utilities

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Global technology and power solutions leader Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) will provide its 5-megawatt PEM electrolyzer to enable renewable energy for the Douglas County Public Utility District (Douglas County PUD) in Washington state. The Cummins electrolyzer will be dedicated to producing hydrogen from renewable energy and will be the largest, as well as first of its kind in use by a public utility, in the United States.

Expected to be operational in 2021, the new renewable hydrogen facility allows the Douglas County PUD to manufacture commercial hydrogen using electrolysis to harvest hydrogen from water from Wells Dam on the Columbia River. The PEM electrolyzer system, which stands for proton exchange membrane, takes the excess renewable energy and through a chemical reaction splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen acts as an energy carrier and the oxygen is released into the air. The hydrogen can then be stored in a gas or liquid state to be used in a multitude of applications, including fuel cell electric mobility. The electrolyzer is powered by clean hydroelectricity, so the production of hydrogen does not generate any carbon emissions.

Revived Iowa ethanol plant would make RNG to meet demand in California

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A German bioenergy company is preparing to produce corn ethanol and renewable natural gas at the site of a failed cellulosic ethanol plant in Nevada, Iowa.

Verbio Vereinigte BioEnergie AG is building an anaerobic digester on the site that will annually convert up to 100,000 tons of corn stover — a crop leftover consisting of everything but the kernel — into a renewable fuel that can be fed into the nation’s natural gas pipeline system. Verbio hopes to begin production by fall of 2021.

The biogas, known as RNG, is more expensive to produce than conventional natural gas, but producers can turn a profit by selling credits to refineries and fuel suppliers in California, where a state low-carbon fuel standard requires annual reductions in the carbon intensity of transportation fuels.

Early Adopters of Heavy-Duty EVs

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As more fleets look to medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles (EVs), they can benefit from the lessons learned by early adopters on the frontlines of EV deployments.

Over the last decade, OEMs and fleets have researched and tested electric technology, and in many scenarios, worked with utilities and funding agencies to deploy solutions that foster widespread adoption of EVs in commercial applications.

Working closely with industry leaders, Gladstein, Neandross & Associates (GNA) has been fortunate to be on the frontlines of many of these cutting-edge projects, helping to navigate the challenges and opportunities of electrification. Along the way, we identified valuable lessons that could prove to hasten progress and see quicker return on investment for those transitioning to electric.

USDA seeks input on ‘ready to go’ innovations to meet AIA goals

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The USDA announced on Sept. 10 it is seeking input on the most innovative technologies and practices that can be readily deployed across U.S. agriculture to meet the goals of the agency’s Agriculture Innovation Agenda.

The USDA unveiled the AIA in February. The initiative aims to increase agricultural production by 40 percent by 2050 while cutting the environmental footprint of U.S. agriculture by 50 percent.

One component of the AIA focuses on renewable energy, including ethanol, biodiesel and biomass. In February, the USDA said it aims to increase biofuel feedstock production and biofuel production efficiency and competitiveness to achieve market-driven blend rates of E15 in 2030 and E30 in 2050. The agency also aims to achieve market-driven demand for biofuel and biodiesel.

Clean Cities Showcases Idle Reducing Tech to Lower Emissions

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Reducing vehicle idling saves fuel and money and cuts harmful emissions. Small changes in idling time can lead to noticeable benefits, including fuel savings and a reduction in pollution and noise.

To highlight benefits and the technologies that enable them, Chicago Area Clean Cities is holding a webinar on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 10 AM. Commercial and government fleet managers, industry professionals and the public are invited to attend.

“Idle reduction is a real fuel saver, and it decreases tailpipe emissions,” said John Walton, chair, Chicago Area Clean Cities. “It also can save your fleet money. It is a hot topic, and we’re inviting fleet managers, government officials, and anyone who manages vehicles to join us. We will provide real-world examples of how to do it.”

Estes, Clean Energy Partner to Expand Natural Gas Vehicle Fleet

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Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a provider of natural gas fuel for transportation, says Estes Express Lines will add 50 new trucks fueled with Redeem renewable natural gas (RNG) to its fleet, bringing its total to 71.

Estes, a privately owned freight transportation carrier, is acquiring the Class 8 natural gas trucks equipped with the Cummins Westport ultra-clean ISX12N engine for its California fleet and is expected to use approximately 2.8 million gallons of RNG over the seven-year contract.

Clean Energy’s Redeem was the first commercially available RNG vehicle fuel, derived from capturing the biogenic methane produced by the decomposition of organic waste from dairies, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. Redeem reduces climate-harming greenhouse gas emissions by at least 70%, and even up to 300%, depending on the source of the RNG.

Estes purchased the trucks through Clean Energy’s Zero Now program, which brings the price of a natural gas truck at parity with a diesel truck while offering a guaranteed fuel discount for the duration of the agreement. For Estes, this represents a geographical expansion of its current 21 ultra-clean truck fleet currently operating out of Texas, and also fueled by Redeem.

“Switching to trucks fueled with ultra-low carbon fuel is vital to improving air quality and fighting climate change in the regions that we serve,” says Rob Estes, CEO of Estes Express Lines. “Clean Energy’s Zero Now program has enabled us to switch to cleaner fuel and engine technologies that make financial sense – so it’s a win on several levels.”

Breakthrough Electrocatalyst Turns Carbon Dioxide Into Ethanol

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A research team led by scientists from Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and Northern Illinois University has discovered a new electrocatalyst that can consistently convert carbon dioxide and water into ethanol with very high energy efficiency and low cost.

Because carbon dioxide is a stable molecule, transforming it into a different molecule is normally energy intensive and costly.

But the new process can electrochemically convert the carbon dioxide emitted from industrial processes—such as fossil fuel or alcohol fermentation plants—into a valuable commodity at reasonable cost. Ethanol is an ingredient in nearly all U.S. gasoline and is widely used as an intermediate product in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries.

“The process resulting from our catalyst would contribute to the circular carbon economy, which entails the reuse of carbon dioxide,” said Di-Jia Liu, senior chemist in Argonne’s Chemical Sciences and Engineering division and a UChicago CASE scientist in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago.

The findings were published recently in the journal Nature Energy.

The team’s catalyst consists of atomically dispersed copper on a carbon-powder support. By an electrochemical reaction, this catalyst breaks down carbon dioxide and water molecules and selectively reassembles the broken molecules into ethanol under an external electric field.