DAIMLER ELECTRIC TRUCKS

Daimler Trucks North America invited us out for a test drive of all of Daimler’s electric truck portfolio — the Freightliner eCascadia and eM2, the Jouley electric school bus, and a walk-in delivery van on the MT50e platform by Freightliner custom chassis.

Coming away from the experience, we’re more excited than ever about the electric future for these fleet offerings.

The spectrum of vehicles we saw could see a wide variety of usage in delivery applications, spanning the whole gamut of medium- and heavy-duty shipping. The only thing missing, so far, is long-haul trucking, but we even heard some of their future plans that could support that application.

Our test drives were just in circles around a parking lot, though a relatively bumpy one at that. We got a short look at the acceleration, braking, pedal response, ride smoothness, noise, and general user interface for the four vehicles - link

STIG

On Saturday 22nd May we noticed that our cat appeared to have slightly laboured breathing.

This Saturday just gone, whilst he was giving me a good wash I thought just to be on the safe side, I'd make an appointment for him at the vets who fortunately were able to see him on the day.

The vet listened to his breathing and recommended putting him on oxygen. Four and a half hours later we were £741.06 worse off and he was dead.

WASTE TO ENERGY

Waste-to-energy facilities offer significant environmental protection, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and play an important complementary role in recycling efforts, according to a new City College of New York report that reviewed the most up-to-date scientific studies of the industry.

The report, "The Scientific Truth about Waste-to-Energy" by CCNY professor and chemical engineer Dr. Marco J. Castaldi, calls upon dozens of independent scientific reviews to offer a comprehensive assessment of waste-to-energy's influence on environmental sustainability and public health.

"In recent years, it has become evident that local policy makers struggling to manage daunting waste management challenges are doing so with outdated or erroneous information," Castaldi said.

"This report is an effort to provide officials with a single source of reliable information that draws its conclusions from a wide range of research and has undergone rigorous vetting by subject matter experts from diverse backgrounds and organizations. My hope is that, moving forward, officials will be well positioned to make policy decisions based on established facts rather than unsubstantiated claims." link - related news:- link - more like this - link

CIGARETTE END RECYCLING

Wouldn’t it be great if you could type into Google ‘cigarette butt recycling’ and a company popped up that did just that?

A company that actually reprocesses millions of cigarettes butts every week of every year who is totally transparent showing videos of the process being done, not one butt in a lab but on an industrial scale – cradle to grave – from butt to bench?

I wonder if such a company really (really) exists?

One that will tell you where they do it? – an actual address of an actual facility – a plant doing it on an industrial scale every day of every week.

One that will show you how they do it? - one that details the chemicals required to clean the cellulose acetate and how the spent chemicals are treated?

One that tells you how often they do it and how many tonnes of cigarette butts they recycle every week into new products?

If they were processing so many millions of butts then they’d have pictures of thousands of benches and pallets coming off large scale industrial lines wouldn’t they?

Didn’t think so?

SOLAR COSTS - GOING UP

A key selling point that made solar energy the fastest-growing power source in the world—rapidly decreasing costs—has hit a speed bump.

Solar module prices have risen 18% since the start of the year after falling by 90% over the previous decade.

The reversal, fueled by a quadrupling in the cost of the key raw material polysilicon, threatens to delay projects and slow uptake of solar power just as several major governments are finally throwing their weight behind it in an effort to slow climate change - link - link picture

TOYOTA HYDROGEN COROLLA

Toyota has said it wants to use motorsport to promote hydrogen as a viable alternative to electric cars following a successful debut for its hydrogen-powered Corolla Sport in last weekend's Fuji 24 Hours.

The Rookie Racing-entered Corolla, which burns compressed hydrogen in its turbocharged 1.6-litre inline three-cylinder engine, completed a total of 358 laps in the Super Taikyu blue riband race at an average speed of 67.963km/h - less than half of the laps of the race-winning Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.

Toyota FIA World Endurance Championship star Kamui Kobayashi and Toyota president Akio Toyoda, an occasional racer under the name 'Morizo', were among the six drivers sharing duties at the wheel of the ST-Q class entry, along with SUPER GT racers Hiroaki Ishiura, Takuto Iguchi and Takamitsu Matsui, and Super Taikyu specialist Masahiro Sasaki - link

BALTIC EAGLE - VESTAS

Iberdrola and Vestas have signed turbine supply and maintenance contracts for the 476MW Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm off Germany.

The contract, which firms up an earlier preferred supplier agreement, is for the supply of 50 V174-9.5MW units for the project being developed off the island of Rugen, in German waters of the Baltic Sea.

Both parties have also signed a contract for service and maintenance of the new turbines. Turbine installation is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2024.

Baltic Eagle, located 75km off the coast, will be connected to Lubmin substation through two new high voltage cables to be laid by 50Hertz.

Together with Wikinger, it will give rise to the largest offshore wind complex in the Baltic Sea, with over 826MW joint installed capacity and €2.5bn total investment - link

DRAX ENDS COMMERCIAL POWER GENERATION FROM COAL

On the 5th of March Drax announced that it had ceased commercial power generation from coal[1]after 47 years at the UK’s largest power station. 

This leaves just two coal power stations operating in Britain, as 85% of the country’s coal fleet have retired over the last ten years.

Meanwhile, biomass power stations reached new records, generating 3.81 GW on 27th of March. Biomass output is likely to grow further, as a new biomass-powered combined heat and power unit at Teesside is expected to come online later this year.
Global leadership

Currently, biomass supplies 2% of the world’s electricity, though this share is higher in Europe, having grown five-fold since 2000 to hit 6% in 2020.[2] One explanation for this comes from countries such as Denmark and Sweden, which have extensive municipal electricity and combined heat and power production.

Another reason is the UK. Our share of electricity generation from biomass has tripled over the past decade, hitting an all-time high of 11% in 2020[2]. This means the UK has the highest share of electricity production from biomass of any large country (ones with over 100 TWh/year electricity demand).

The UK pioneered large-scale use of biomass for electricity generation, contributing to its world-leading success in decarbonising electricity over the last decade. This position means the UK has also played a major part in developing the science-led sustainability criteria that govern the use of biomass - link - more like this (Sweden) - link

DAIMLER TRUCKS ZERO EMISSIONS BY 2036

Carmakers have been promising to scrap the internal combustion engine, and now it’s the truckmakers’ turn. But the makers of giant 18-wheelers are taking a different route.

Daimler, the world’s largest maker of heavy trucks, whose Freightliners are a familiar sight on American interstates, said last week that it would convert to zero-emission vehicles within 15 years at the latest, providing another example of how the shift to electric power is reshaping vehicle manufacturing with significant implications for the climate, economic growth and jobs.

The journey away from fossil fuels will play out differently and take longer in the trucking industry than it will for passenger cars. For one thing, zero emission long-haul trucks are not yet available in large numbers - link

FLAWLESS

VIETNAM ADDS 9.3 GW FROM ROOFTOP SOLAR

Once again Vietnam has set another local record in its solar sector. This time it is for rooftop solar installation. At the end of 2020, the country’s rooftop solar installations added 9.3 gigawatts (GW) to its national grid. 

Vietnam outdid itself with a new record by creating an eight-fold increase in rooftop solar by the end of December 2020 from only 378 megawatts (MW) in 2019. What is more jaw-dropping is that 6 GW out of the 9.3 GW was built in the last month of 2020; when the solar rooftop feed-in-tariff from the government was about to expire.

Vietnam raised the bar even higher after its first unexpected solar boom in 2019 when the country racked 4.5 GW worth of installations in less than two years after the feed-in-tariff was launched. The recent achievement has effectively made Vietnam the world’s third-largest solar market in 2020 - link

QUEEN VISITS HMS HYPERSONIC MISSILE TARGET

The Queen has been welcomed on board HMS Queen Elizabeth following the Mollusc formerly known as Prince's bombshell claims about the royal family.

The £3 billion outdated floating missile target, with two Spitfires and a Sopwith Pup on board, will depart later on Saturday for Asia accompanied by six Royal Navy ships, a dinghy, 14 naval pedalos and three Royal Marines.

The Queen was greeted by the ship’s commanding officer Captain Angus Essenhigh, and Commodore Stephen Moorhouse, commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG), as she arrived by zip wire on board the aircraft carrier at Portsmouth Naval Base - link - more like this (UK Aircraft Carrier) - link

BIFFA SUCKS UP VIRIDOR COLLECTION DIVISION

 Biffa PLC (LON:BIFF) has agreed to buy the waste collections business and some recycling assets from Viridor Waste Management Ltd for £126mln.

This acquisition expands its collections business and recycling capabilities, said Biffa in a statement, while "solidifying its leading position in UK sustainable waste management".

These Viridor divisions, part of a wider waste management business bought by private equity firm KKR from Pennon Group for £4.2bn last year, generated revenues of £85mln in 2020 stemming mostly from bin collections for local councils with a further £39mln from waste recycling and treatment facilities.

Biffa said it believes it can increase route density in line with its plan to boost collection efficiency from 2019 by a further 20% by 2030.

The waste group is targeting savings of at least £10mln and improved efficiencies to help drive margin enhancement across the Viridor Collections operations, said the statement - link - more like this - link

WAVE HUB - A CORNISH SUCCESS STORY - NOT REALLY

A £42m wave energy facility launched 11 years ago is to be sold to an offshore wind farm company.

Wave Hub, an undersea "socket" located off Hayle in Cornwall, is meant to transfer electricity from wave energy producers to the National Grid.

So far no firms have used the facility for that purpose.

Owner Cornwall Council said it would be sold for an undisclosed sum to Swedish firm Hexicon in a deal expected to be completed at the end of May.

Wave Hub, forecast to be a "world class facility", was financed by the South West of England Regional Development Agency (£12.5m), the European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme (£20m) and the UK government (£9.5m).

The site, 10 miles (16km) north of St Ives and Carbis Bay, is linked to the mainland via an undersea cable, but no power has been transferred through it - link

SIEMENS GAMESA TO EXPAND HULL FACTORY

Siemens Gamesa's plans to expand its blade factory at Hull in eastern England could generate as many as 200 new jobs at the facility, according to the UK Treasury.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak visited the factory on 14 May to discuss how green jobs will drive the UK’s future economy and recovery from the pandemic.

Treasury said Siemens Gamesa's plans to double the size of the site in Hull would create 200 further green jobs.

Siemens Gamesa had not responded for a request for comment at press time on the number of jobs to be created by the proposed expansion at Hull.

Sunak met apprentices and operatives manufacturing turbines, before viewing the first blade due to be sent off to Hornsea 2 this week off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea.

He said: “The UK is the largest producer of offshore wind energy in the world, and we are putting the Humber at the heart of our green recovery - link

SHELL - WORLD'S LARGEST POWER COMPANY

Back in 2019, Shell caused a buzz when it set out its stall to become “the world’s largest power company” by the early 2030s, in comments variously attributed to CEO Ben van Beurden and other senior executives at the Anglo-Dutch oil supermajor.

It wasn’t clear then exactly how that ambition would be measured by Shell. Now it is clear it is certainly not going to be by a ‘show me the gigawatts’ contest with transitioning fossil peers such as BP and Total, which are piling on renewable energy assets so fast it is hard to keep up – but have also faced stiff questions over the returns they can make in sectors such as offshore wind - link

BMW HYDROGEN PLANS

German carmaker BMW (BMWG.DE) plans to unveil a limited series hydrogen fuel cell model SUV in 2022 as the company continues to research zero-emission alternatives to battery-electric cars, the company's top executive said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the carmaker's annual shareholder meeting, Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse said the company plans a small production run of a hydrogen fuel-cell powered x5 SUV next year.

Most of the auto industry is focusing its efforts on developing battery-electric cars to meet tightening emission standards in Europe and China.

But BMW is one of a small number of carmakers that currently sees possibilities for the mass adoption of hydrogen fuel cells, which emit only water, and has said it is keeping its options open for the future - link

BOSCH HYDROGEN

Since 2020, the Bosch Group has been climate-neutral with its over 400 locations worldwide. Now, it’s diving deep into hydrogen fuel cells.

Dr. Volkmar Denner, Bosch CEO, stated proudly: Bosch is already hydrogen-ready.

Dr. Denner is pleased with the company’s commitment to invest €1 billion ($1.2 billion) over the next three years into fuel cell technology. 

This sub-sector is rapidly emerging in the EU hydrogen market. He reaffirmed the company’s commitment to spend that much money in an announcement, adding it will happen from 2021 to 2024. It will also invest €600 million in the mobility sector in the same period - link

BRAMBLE ENERGY FUEL CELL

If a better new world of net-zero carbon emissions does happen, hydrogen fuel cell pioneer Bramble Energy is on track to be among the first due for a credit.

Transport, lighting and powering appliances are all being reinvented with the British engineer's clean technology, a breakthrough that crucially enables fast, affordable, mass volume production.

The energy supplied by the hydrogen fuel cells lasts weeks longer than batteries, servicing time is slashed and refuelling takes seconds.

The SDs are being rolled out over summer, followed by a stationary power innovation, a 1kW replacement for diesel generators.

Decarbonising transport offers the biggest wins and challenges however, one of Bramble’s moves into this market involves its higher power range extenders that improve battery charging and running times for electric vehicles. These can be retro-fitted and can also add a clean boost to smaller petrol engines - link

ISRAEL POUNDS GAZA

Israeli ground troops, backed by aerial support, are massing on the edge of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, sweeping aside international appeals for de-escalation.

The move came after four days of aerial bombardment failed to quell heavy militant rocket fire on Israeli communities from the Palestinian enclave.

As of 9am Jerusalem time:

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the death toll has risen to 109 Palestinians, including:- 

• 28 children
• 15 women

620 have been wounded mostly as a result of air strikes - link

SUPER POLLUTANTS

Emissions such as methane, black carbon, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases are often called “super- pollutants” because they are much more potent at warming the planet than carbon dioxide. 

While these substances remain in the atmosphere for far shorter periods of time, their warming potential is hundreds and even thousands of times greater.

This ongoing series examines these potent climate pollutants and shines a light on their biggest sources. They include a chemical plant in Florida and a group of 11 similar plants in China that emit large quantities of nitrous oxide, despite the availability of affordable abatement technologies.

Our longstanding news coverage of climate super-pollutants can be found here. Link

BRITAIN AT WAR WITH FRANCE

BREXIT is going so amazingly well that within a mere five months we are now at war with France. 

The UK’s exit from EU rules took place only 19 weeks ago and already the country has seen rioting in Northern Ireland, threats to cut off vaccine supplies and now has sent two gunboats to Jersey for an armed conflict with our nearest neighbour.

Leading Brexiter Michael Gove said: “See? We told you we’d get Brexit done.

“With luck this little brouhaha in the Channel will escalate and we’ll soon be at war with France, the source of up to 40 per cent of the vital imports this country so desperately needs.

“With the rest of the EU blockading us in solidarity, we’ll turn to America only to remember that Trump’s gone, Biden’s Irish, and US troops are being deployed to Dublin in a classic pincer movement - link

POTUS APPROVES VINEYARD PROJECT

United States President Joe Biden’s administration announced final federal approval for an ambitious, first of its kind offshore wind energy project on Tuesday that would create enough electricity to power 400,000 homes.

The 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind project, south of Martha’s Vineyard near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, would be the first utility-scale wind power development in federal waters. 

The nearly $3bn project is a critical part of the Biden administration’s plan to develop renewable energy in the US - link

O2 EN ROUTE TO EMEC

Orbital Marine Power is about to take tidal energy to the next level.

The company successfully launched a tidal turbine that will soon become one of the world's most powerful tidal energy sources.

Once commissioned and linked to the European Marine Energy Centre in the Orkney Islands in Scotland, it will have the ability to produce enough electricity to power 2,000 U.K. households, and offset 2,200 tonnes of CO2 production annually, reports electrek.

What is it? Orbital's new turbine is called the O2. Traveling on a submersible barge, the O2 is currently en route to the European Marine Energy Centre off the Scottish coast. The 239-foot superstructure builds on Orbital's previous generation turbine by joining two turbines, each with massive 32-foot-long rotors.

Due to Scotland's semi-diurnal tide, the O2 will likely see strong currents four times a day. But the currents will shift direction each cycle, with two flood currents and two ebb currents every 24 hours.

The blades of this new turbine can spin a complete 360 degrees — enabling the O2 to produce power when the tidal current is flowing in any direction - link - more like this - link

NIO OPT FOR BATTERY SWAPPING

Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio is betting that battery swapping will play a critical role in its challenge to Tesla in the world’s biggest car market, even after its US rival shunned the expensive technology.

Battery swapping allows drivers to rapidly exchange their depleted battery for a fully charged one at specially-equipped service stations. In April, New York-listed Nio partnered with state-run oil group Sinopec as part of plans to more than double its network of such stations across China to 500 this year.

Nio also plans to open battery-swapping stations in Norway this year as part of its expansion into Europe - link

GERMAN AVIATION - GREENER FROM 2030

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has agreed with the aviation industry and regional authorities on a roadmap for the development and use of "green" aviation fuel, a government paper seen by Reuters on Thursday showed.

The aim is to ensure at least 200,000 tonnes of the synthetic fuel is used per year from 2030, equivalent to about one third of the current fuel requirements of air traffic within Germany.

The idea is to produce synthetic "Power to Liquid" (PtL), whereby kerosene is generated using renewable energies, hydrogen and CO2.

The transport and environment ministries will work on ways to ramp up fuel production on an industrial scale.

A binding minimum quota on the fuel and a purchase obligation are designed to guarantee that demand is created despite higher costs.

The plan is due to be signed on Friday by government and industry representatives and fuel manufacturers - link

17.6 GW - 48% OF GRID ELECTRICTY DEMAND

Britain's wind farms set a new clean energy record on Monday, generating almost half of the electricity system, thanks to the blustery bank holiday weather.

More than 17.6 gigawatts (GW) of electricity was generated by offshore and onshore wind turbines for the first time in the middle of the afternoon (3.30pm) - enough to power 3.5 million kettles, according to the Guardian.

That represented nearly half (48.5%) of the electricity grid in England, Scotland and Wales, according to data from operator National Grid ESO, and beat the previous record of 17.5GW set on 13 February - link

VIRITECH APRICALE

A British startup known as Viritech and based in MIRA Technology Park is aiming to become the “world’s leading developer of hydrogen technology,” and it all starts with the development of the Apricale – a hydrogen-powered hypercar that promises 1,100 horsepower.

The car itself will be sold in limited numbers for a price of around £1.5 million before taxes, but that’s not the whole story - link

OCEAN PLASTIC

80% of the world’s ocean plastics enter the ocean via rivers and coastlines. The other 20% come from marine sources such as fishing nets, ropes, and fleets. 

To tackle plastic pollution we need to know where these plastics are coming from. Previous studies suggested that a very small number of rivers were responsible for the vast majority of ocean plastics: 60% to 90% of plastics came from only ten rivers. 

Higher-resolution mapping and consideration for factors such as climate, terrain, land use, and distance to the ocean suggests that many smaller rivers play a bigger role than we thought. It takes 1,600 of the biggest emitting rivers to account for 80% of plastic inputs to the ocean.

It is estimated that 81% of ocean plastics come from Asian rivers. The Philippines alone contribute around one-third of the global total. Since the number of contributing rivers is much higher than previously thought, we will need global efforts to improve waste management and plastic collection rather than targeting only a few of the largest rivers - link