Transportation News

J.D. Power survey finds drastic changes to commuting habits had minimal effect on sentiment in US about BEVs & self-driving

Oct 28, 2020: Many vehicle owners in North America are driving fewer miles in the era of COVID-19, but their opinions of future mobility technology haven’t changed much since the first quarter of 2020, according to the J.D. Power 2020 Q3 Mobility Confidence Index Study fueled by SurveyMonkey. However, many automakers are investing...

CALSTART survey finds Tier-1 suppliers want stronger post-2026 fuel economy targets

Oct 28, 2020: The third installment of a CALSTART-commissioned survey of Tier-1 US automotive suppliers found that a majority (62%) of the suppliers responding to the survey disagreed with the Trump administration’s rollback of national fuel economy standards. Only 15% of respondents agreed with the rollback, and the rest were undecided. The same...

Daimler Trucks & Waymo enter strategic partnership to deploy SAE L4 autonomous trucks

Oct 28, 2020: Daimler Trucks and Waymo have signed a broad, global, strategic partnership to deploy autonomous SAE L4 technology. Their initial effort will combine Waymo’s automated driver technology with a unique version of Daimler’s Freightliner Cascadia to enable autonomous driving. The partnership is Daimler’s second in this area. In March 2019, Daimler...

Beep launching autonomous shuttle pilot in 2021 at Yellowstone National Park

Oct 28, 2020: Beep, a Florida-based autonomous Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) provider, will deploy the first autonomous shuttles at Yellowstone National Park with the National Parks Service (NPS) in May 2021. The pilot program will test multi-passenger, electric automated vehicle platforms to provide visitors a safe, innovative and eco-friendly transportation alternative while exploring Yellowstone. Beep...

Vegan hotel in Scotland wins National Geographic Award

Oct 27, 2020: Scotland's first vegan hotel opened in June 2019, and it's already winning awards. National Geographic just bestowed a "Good Egg" award on the Saorsa 1875 for its commitment to sustainability. The 11-room Victorian lodging features vegan dining, upcycled furniture, eco cleaning products and runs on renewable energy.

Japan aims to be carbon-neutral by 2050

Oct 27, 2020: Japan hopes to rely solely on renewable energy in the next 30 years.

Aleph Zero program plans to grow slaughter-free meat in space

Oct 27, 2020: Would you eat meat cultivated in space?

Modular Tree-House School concept connects kids with nature

Oct 27, 2020: Could this be the school of the future?

The Night Ministry building is a stunning showcase of adaptive reuse

Oct 27, 2020: The new headquarters for Chicago's The Night Ministry is a three-story adaptive reuse project that truly showcases what this building stands for: refuge and recovery.

Groundbreaking in Frankfurt for hydrogen refueling station for trains

Oct 27, 2020: Representatives from the State of Hesse, RMV (Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund), Alstom and Infraserv broke ground for a hydrogen filling station on the site of the Höchst industrial park in Frankfurt that will supply a fleet of 27 passenger fuel cell trains—currently, the world’s largest such. (from left): Dr. Joachim Kreysing, Managing Director...

Neste and ANA collaborate on first supply of Sustainable Aviation Fuel in Asia

Oct 27, 2020: Neste and All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest and a 5-Star airline, are entering a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supply agreement. ANA will become the first airline to use SAF on flights departing from Japan; the agreement also represents Neste’s first SAF supply to an Asian airline. Initial operations will...

SEAT rolls out its first mobility platform developed by SEAT:CODE

Oct 27, 2020: SEAT has created its first multimodal mobility platform as a service through its SEAT:CODE software development center. This platform is the first software product developed and marketed by the company in order to operate and manage vehicle fleets 100% digitally. SEAT MÓ has been the first operator to use this...

Daimler Buses using high fresh air content, fast exchange and filtration to counter COVID

Oct 27, 2020: In its fight against COVID-19 and for the protection of bus occupants, Daimler Buses is relying on a high fresh air content, a fast exchange of air and anti-viral high-performance particle filters in its vehicles. The effectiveness of these protective measures has been confirmed by a research report issued by...

Fisker establishing European HQ in Munich; Ocean SUV program advancing towards first gateway

Oct 27, 2020: Fisker Inc. has selected Munich as the location for its European headquarters. Munich offers convenient access to key European EV markets and close proximity to Magna’s Graz facility in Austria. Earlier this month, Fisker revealed details surrounding its new global HQ, which is to be located within Continental Park at...

ROUSH CleanTech enters EV market with Class 6 electric vehicles

Oct 27, 2020: ROUSH CleanTech, known for its advanced clean transportation solutions, is entering the electric truck market. ROUSH is providing Penske Truck Leasing with all-new Ford F-650 battery electric vehicles later this year for deployment across Southern California. Penske has been expanding its battery electric fleet for the past several years. We...

US per capita transportation sector energy consumption has been relatively flat since 1974

Oct 27, 2020: On a per capita basis, the transportation sector energy consumption in 2019 was 86 million Btu—a 54% increase from 1950 and about the same level as in 1974. The industrial sector, which had the highest energy consumption, decreased 7% from 1950 to 2019 and decreased 36% from its highest point...

Bay Area, Central Coast CCAs launch $65M in EV-charging infrastructure deployment programs to support California’s transportation shift

Oct 27, 2020: Four California Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) from the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast of California are funding—in total, with state financial contributions—$65 million in infrastructure to support the rising number of electric vehicles (EV) in the state. This funding will support thousands of new EV chargers. The four...

Affordable and sustainable fashion trends for fall

Oct 26, 2020: Here's how to dress comfortably, stylishly and sustainably this fall.

Climate change in the final presidential debate

Oct 26, 2020: In the final debate, Trump pushes fossil fuels while Biden promotes clean energy.

Impossible Foods is testing revolutionary plant-based milk

Oct 26, 2020: Impossible Foods changed the game for meatless burgers. Now, it's working to do the same for plant-based milk.

Hothouse installation grows tropical plants in the middle of London

Oct 26, 2020: London-based architecture practice Studio Weave has filled a greenhouse with tropical plants in London to highlight the reality of climate change.

Beautiful Washington bridge with lace-like metal walls shimmers at night

Oct 26, 2020: The newly completed bridge is now an iconic community asset that connects the elevated Grand Avenue Park with the city’s growing waterfront district.

Study finds significant link between PM2.5 pollution and neurological disorders in US

Oct 26, 2020: PM2.5 pollution was significantly associated with an increased risk of hospital admissions for several neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and other dementias, in a long-term study of more than 63 million older US adults, led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study, conducted...

Line 144 in Munich all-electric with 8 new Ebusco buses; first fully electric line

Oct 26, 2020: The Munich Traffic Association (MVG) has deployed 8 new Ebusco buses. From now on, line 144 will be driven entirely electrically with these buses—his is the first fully electric line in Munich. The second line is already on its way; line 100 will also run entirely electrically by the end...

Cambridge study finds globalized economy making water, energy and land insecurity worse

Oct 26, 2020: The first large-scale study of the risks that countries face from dependence on water, energy and land resources has found that globalization may be decreasing, rather than increasing, the security of global supply chains. Countries meet their needs for goods and services through domestic production and international trade. As a...

US biodiesel plant production capacity dropped 2% in 2020

Oct 26, 2020: The US Energy Information Administration released its annual US Biodiesel Plant Production Capacity report, containing data for all operating US biodiesel plants as of 1 January 2020. The data show a slight decrease in production capacity from 2,563 million gallons per year in 2019 to 2,514 million gallons per year...

Fairfax County & Dominion Energy launch Virginia’s first publicly funded autonomous electric shuttle pilot project

Oct 26, 2020: Fairfax County and Dominion Energy have launched passenger service on Relay—the first publicly funded autonomous electric shuttle and test of driverless technology in public transportation in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This pilot project is a public-private partnership between Fairfax County, Dominion Energy, EDENS (Mosaic District developer), Virginia Department of Rail...

Santos reports successful CO2 capture and storage injection trial in Moomba CCS project

Oct 26, 2020: Australia-based natural gas company Santos has successfully injected approximately 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide deep underground into depleted gas reservoirs as part of the final field trial for the Moomba Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project. Santos Managing Director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said the successful injection occurred earlier this...

Star Scientific selected as 2020 S&P Global Platts Global Energy Awards Finalist; industrial heat from H2 without combustion

Oct 26, 2020: Star Scientific has been named an Emerging Technology of the Year category finalist in the S&P Global Platts Global Energy Awards, an annual program recognizing innovation, leadership and exceptional performance in the energy sector. Star Scientific is developer of the Hydrogen Energy Release Optimizer (HERO). HERO uses a proprietary catalyst...

SmartSens launches SC133GS 1.3M pixel global shutter CMOS sensor for in-vehicle applications; DMS

Oct 26, 2020: SmartSens, a China-based high-performance CMOS image sensing (CIS) chip design company, launched its SC133GS CMOS 1.3M pixel CMOS sensor with global shutter and fan-out package to further enhance performance in automotive settings. The solution delivers superior signal-to-noise ratio, ultra-high sensitivity, and excellent dynamic range to address growing demand for intelligent...

Texas A&M researchers develop framework to identify health impacts of self-driving vehicles

Oct 25, 2020: Texas A&M University researchers have developed a conceptual model to identify systematically the potential health impacts of self-driving vehicles. They identified 32 transportation-related risk factors that affected health and concluded that 17 could negatively impact public health, while eight could have a positive impact. There were seven areas of uncertain...

Researchers develop thin-layer artificial biofilm technology for green ethylene production

Oct 25, 2020: Researchers at the University of Turku in Finland have developed a thin-layer artificial biofilm technology for sustainable and long-term ethylene photoproduction. In the process, described in an open-access paper in the RSC journal Green Chemistry, recombinant Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 cells holding ethylene forming enzyme (Efe) from Pseudomonas syringae are...

Linde and Shell team up to commercialize lower-carbon technology for ethylene: E-ODH

Oct 25, 2020: Linde GmbH and Shell announced an exclusive collaboration agreement on ethane-oxidative dehydrogenation (E-ODH) technology for ethylene production. The catalytic process is an alternative route to ethane steam cracking, offering the potential of economic advantages, acetic acid co-production and significantly lower overall carbon footprint through electrification of power input. Ethylene is...

Celanese expands UHMW-PE production to meet EV battery demand

Oct 24, 2020: Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, added a new GUR ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) production line at its Bishop, Texas manufacturing facility to support the significant growth in its high-value GUR engineered materials portfolio. GUR UHMW-PE microporous membranes have multiple applications as separators in lithium-ion batteries,...

Study: Americans working from home are using more power and paying higher bills

Oct 24, 2020: A new study finds that from April to July American households spent an extra $6 billion to power their homes after a 10% rise in residential electricity use during the pandemic. To reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19, roughly one-third of Americans are working from home. As a result of...

Solingen orders 16 more Solaris Trollino 12 electric trolleybuses

Oct 24, 2020: Solaris and Kiepe Electric are the winning bidders in a tender held by operator Stadtwerke Solingen GmbH (SWS) in Germany. Solaris will deliver 16 Trollino 12 electric trolleybuses. Including previous deliveries, a total of 36 Solaris Trollino trolleybuses will be deployed on the streets of Solingen. In line with the...

Montana Heritage Center renovation will celebrate the states history and geology

Oct 23, 2020: The project will focus on the local land, with expansions appearing to emerge from the earth to reference the Lewis Overthrust.

Burger King announces reusable container pilot program

Oct 23, 2020: Burger King and Loop are launching a reusable container scheme.

Companies in Japan launch edible single-use bags to save Nara deer

Oct 23, 2020: Local companies have developed an alternative to plastic bags that can be safely digested by deer.

Design experiment examines safety of food grown in urban vertical gardens

Oct 23, 2020: A team of experts are studying the interaction between the urban environment and horticulture.

Renewable energy to power 2024 Olympic aquatic center

Oct 23, 2020: The architectural team of VenhoevenCS and Ateliers 2/3/4/ have revealed plans for a timber aquatic center in Paris, which will use a smart energy system to provide 90% of needed energy from recovered or renewable energy sources for the 2024 Olympics. The complex will also include a vast pedestrian bridge connecting it to the existing Stade de France.

HHI, Hyundai Glovis, Liberian Registry and KR develop 20,000 m3 liquefied hydrogen carrier

Oct 23, 2020: Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Group, Hyundai Glovis, the Liberian Registry, the Korean Register and their partners have successfully developed the world’s first Large Size and commercially viable liquified hydrogen carrier. HHI Group’s Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) have received the necessary Approval in Principle...

Latest GHG Inventory shows California remains below 2020 emissions target; much steeper rate of GHG reductions required

Oct 23, 2020: California’s latest greenhouse gas data shows that while the state continues to stay below its 2020 target for emissions, there is much more work to do to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. The California Air Resources Board released GHG emissions data for 2018 showing that emissions remain below 1990 levels...

BMW Group & Daimler Mobility transfer moovel Group B2B / B2G business to Deutsche Bahn company Mobimeo; moovel to focus on B2C

Oct 23, 2020: The BMW Group and Daimler Mobility AG are transferring the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) business of their joint subsidiary moovel Group GmbH to Mobimeo GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn. At the same time, the two shareholders are focusing the moovel Group’s market presence on the existing offering...

RATP beginning tests of Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen bus in Paris

Oct 23, 2020: In 2019, during the UITP Global Public Transport Summit representatives of Solaris and RATP Group (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) signed a contract for lease and tests of the Urbino 12 hydrogen. Over the next few weeks, RATP will test the hydrogen-fueled bus on the streets of Paris. RATP will...

Pennsylvania scientists develop 100% leather waste fiber made from scraps

Oct 22, 2020: Sustainable Composites is turning leather scraps into a new product called Enspire Leather.

World's largest solar power plant to supply energy to Australia and Singapore

Oct 22, 2020: The world's largest solar power station is planned for Australia.

Arkansas schools save millions by adopting solar power

Oct 22, 2020: Schools in the U.S. are using solar energy to cut down on expensive electricity bills. With funds freed up, schools can then improve the quality of education. As a report by Generation180 shows, over 7,300 schools use the solar power approach to save on utility bills.

Middelkerke Casino blends into the surrounding Belgian sand dunes

Oct 22, 2020: A new, competition-winning hotel and casino will preserve the dune landscape while boosting the local economy of Middelkerke, Belgium.

Plant a unique indoor garden with this modular living wall kit from Horticus

Oct 22, 2020: Designed by Horticus, these modular living walls offer a stunning way to reconnect with nature by creating a vertical hanging garden indoors, no matter how small the space.