by Alec Luhn (Floodlight) As the federal government pours billions into hydrogen production to lower greenhouse gas emissions, critics worry water shortages in the Southwest could worsen -- Armed with bright green shovels, executives from the Australian mining giant Fortescue broke ground in May on
lithium
Back TO HOMEThe Digest’s 2024 Multi-Slide Guide to EVs…How Much of a Threat to Biofuels?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In this presentation, Raymond James Sr VP Pavel robin returns to the ABLC stage to share his perspective on the threat to biofuels posed by electrification of the fleet — or is the threat that big
June 19, 2024 Read Full Article
Toyota Shows ‘An Engine Reborn’ with Green Fuel Despite Global Push for Battery Electric Cars
by Yuri Kageyama (Associated Press) “An engine reborn.” That’s how Japanese automaker Toyota introduced plans to cast a futuristic spin on the traditional internal combustion engine. During a three-hour presentation at a Tokyo hall Tuesday, the car manufacturer giant announced it would offer
May 29, 2024 Read Full Article
House Sets Vote on Bill to Block EPA Tailpipe Rules
by Mike Lee (E&E Daily) It's part of Republicans' efforts to block the Biden administration's plans to boost electric vehicles. -- The House will take up legislation this week to block the Biden administration’s clean car plan, which critics say would drive
December 04, 2023 Read Full Article
Oz Questions on Biofuels & Transmission: Smart Energy Council Presentation Q&A
by Michael Barnard (Clean Technica) Recently I had the opportunity to talk with a few hundred mostly Australian participants in a Smart Energy Council webinar. It was organized to exploit my unusual timezone alignment with Oz as I spend a few weeks
August 28, 2023 Read Full Article
EPA Is Ignoring the Glaring Problem with Dirty Electric Vehicles
by Benjamin Zycher (American Enterprise Institute/The Hill) The Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) has launched a new regulatory effort to force a massive transportation shift to electric vehicles (EVs) with its proposed “multi-pollutant emissions standards” for light- and medium-duty vehicles beginning with model
August 08, 2023 Read Full Article
The World in Energy
by Allen Schaeffer (Diesel Technology Forum) ... Biofuels production and consumption is growing. Globally biofuels production jumped 5.8% in 2022 with a 6.3% increase in the US. The country produced 38.1% of the total global production of biofuels with biodiesel accounting
August 02, 2023 Read Full Article
Ethanol Advocates: EPA Didn't Consider Other Fuels to Cut Tailpipe Emissions in Cars
by Rebecca Thiel (Indiana Public Media) Several industry groups and state attorneys general oppose the rule and said the EPA didn’t consider the role a number of other technologies could play — like hydrogen fuel cells, hybrids or cars that can
July 14, 2023 Read Full Article
Ag Policy Blog: When It Comes to Fuel, EVs Have All the Answers for Biofuel Critics
by Chris Clayton (DTN Progressive Farmer) ... Every now and then I also get to read shots at "flyover country" about ethanol or biofuels in general. That leads to a guest essay published June 6 in the New York Times, "The Climate
July 08, 2023 Read Full Article
Bipartisan Bill Would Lay Groundwork for U.S. Carbon Tariffs
by Emma Dumain (E&E Daily) Senators from both parties have signed on to legislation that would calculate the emissions intensity of industrial materials produced in the United States. It’s a necessary step, advocates say, toward a carbon border adjustment mechanism, or CBAM,
June 08, 2023 Read Full Article
Mining Critical to Renewable Energy Tied to Hundreds of Alleged Human Rights Abuses
by Katie Surma (Inside Climate News) A report released Wednesday faults the U.S. and other nations for providing incentives for the mining of rare metals like lithium and cobalt without enacting adequate labor and environmental safeguards. Over the past dozen years, hundreds
June 07, 2023 Read Full Article
I Love Electric Vehicles – and Was an Early Adopter. But Increasingly I Feel Duped
by Rowan Atkinson (The Guardian) ... Electric vehicles may be a bit soulless, but they’re wonderful mechanisms: fast, quiet and, until recently, very cheap to run. But increasingly, I feel a little duped. When you start to drill into the
June 05, 2023 Read Full Article
Can We Replace All Crude Oil within 20 Years with Cellulosic Liquid Hydrocarbons?
by Charles Forsberg and Bruce Dale (Biofuels Digest) In the United States, crude oil products provide 48% of the total energy to the final customer: residential, commercial, industrial and transportation. Replacement of crude oil products (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, chemical feed
May 30, 2023 Read Full Article
Toyota’s Top Scientist Reiterates that the World Lacks the Resources to Go All in on Electric Cars
by Nicholas Takahashi and Craig Trudell (Bloomberg/South China Morning Post) Toyota Motor’s top scientist warned that transitioning to electric vehicles too quickly could lead drivers to hold on to old gas guzzlers and called for hybrids to be given a
May 19, 2023 Read Full Article
US House Republicans Blast EPA Refusal to Appear at EV Hearing
by David Shepardson (Reuters) The Republican majority on a U.S. House of Representatives panel criticized two Environmental Protection Agency officials who declined to appear at a hearing Wednesday on a proposal by President Joe Biden's administration's to cut vehicle emissions and
May 17, 2023 Read Full Article
Australia to Invest $1.4 Bln to Scale up Renewable Hydrogen Industry
by Praveen Menon (NASDAQ/Reuters) Australia will invest A$2 billion ($1.4 billion) to scale up development of its renewable hydrogen industry, the government announced in its annual budget on Tuesday, as it looks to accelerate clean energy projects in the country. Funds will
May 12, 2023 Read Full Article
Banning Gas-Powered Cars Won't Save the Environment | Opinion
by Jon Miltimore (Foundation for Economic Education) In March, Maryland Governor Wes Moore unveiled a plan to ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles. He called the move "a major step in the state's acceleration to improve air quality and combat the
April 28, 2023 Read Full Article
How Truly ‘Green’ Are Electric Cars?
by Nick Landekic (Boston Globe) According to retired biotechnology CEO Nick Landekic, the uncomfortable reality is that EVs alone will not help the planet much if the electricity is coming from non-renewable primary sources -- ... The elephant in the room
April 25, 2023 Read Full Article
Higher Ethanol Blends Support Transition to Low-Carbon Future
by Tom Doran (AgriNews) With the “unrealistic belief” that electric vehicles will overtake gasoline vehicles in a few years, a researcher said ethanol can play a key parallel role in curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Brian West shared his support of utilizing
April 14, 2023 Read Full Article
Biden-Harris Administration Proposes Strongest-Ever Pollution Standards for Cars and Trucks to Accelerate Transition to a Clean-Transportation Future Hearing May 2-3, 2023; Public Comment DEADLINE TBD
(Environmental Protection Agency) Building on rapid advancements and investments in clean vehicle manufacturing, including investments in domestic manufacturing in the Inflation Reduction Act, EPA’s proposed standards would deliver on President Biden’s agenda to tackle the climate crisis Today, the U.S. Environmental
April 12, 2023 Read Full Article
The Changing Geopolitics of Critical Minerals and the Future of the Clean Energy Transition --- March 9, 2023 --- Washington, DC and ONLINE
The relationship between China and the US is commonly portrayed in terms of geostrategic competition, often leading to pessimistic accounts of international cooperation. This, in turn, glosses over important institutional innovations and joint efforts around shared concerns on climate change
February 16, 2023 Read Full Article
Electrifying Trucking Would Require a Major Chunk of the US Power Grid: ATRI
by Colin Campbell (Transport Dive) Shifting all vehicles to battery electric vehicles would demand more than 40% of the country’s electricity production, the American Transportation Research Institute said in a report. -- Electrifying long-haul truck runs alone on today’s roadways would
December 11, 2022 Read Full Article
Will Gov. Gavin Newsom's Electric Car Mandate Save the World or Stall on the Freeway?
by David H. Freedman (Newsweek) Shifting the world to zero-emissions all-electric vehicles would in theory eliminate about one-fifth of all carbon-dioxide emissions, the chief greenhouse gas behind climate change. But making the transition quickly is a tall order and creates
December 07, 2022 Read Full Article
Transport: You’ve Got to Change Your Habits, They Say
by Philippe Marchand (European Technology and Innovation Platform (ETIP)/Transport Energy Strategies) On the road to 2050, transport is not the easiest sector to decarbonize, or, more precisely, de-fossilize, but it must be done without further ado. ... Still, what if the “if”
December 02, 2022 Read Full Article
Can Electric Vehicle Targets Be Met?
(Visual Capitalist/Transport Energy Strategies) ... Why Is It Unlikely We Will Meet Targets? Even as pledges vow to increase the forecast share of EV adoption, we still need to consider headwinds that will slow down the EV rollout. Roadblock 1: Resource Constraints Sourcing critical raw materials will be
November 03, 2022 Read Full Article
How Much Mining Is Needed to Save the Planet?
by Jael Holzman (E&E News/Greenwire) With climate change pushing the U.S. toward more rapid adoption of new technologies, many Republicans and Democrats are in rare agreement on one key point: This country needs a lot more mines. But exactly how much new
October 14, 2022 Read Full Article
Potholes on the Road to Electric Cars
by Lamar Johnson (Politico) ... The Department of Labor plans to add lithium-ion batteries to a list of products whose components are known to be made using child or forced labor, write E&E News' Jael Holzman and David Iaconangelo. ... The department made the
October 07, 2022 Read Full Article
Renewable Diesel Projected to Turbo Charge Biofuel Growth
by Kenneth Scott Zuckerberg (CoBank) • By producing fuel using sources with lower carbon intensity compared to traditional petroleum based products, the U.S. biofuels sector is well-positioned to play a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The recently enacted
September 29, 2022 Read Full Article
Top 5: All EVs, All the Time in the EU??
by Tammy Klein (Transport Energy Strategies) ... • Plug-in Hybrids with E85: An IFPEN study has showed that they’re just as climate-friendly as EVs – but will the EU Commission, Parliament and Council listen as they enter the trilogue negotiations
September 22, 2022 Read Full Article
Biden Talks up Electric Vehicle Revolution – but Is America Ready to Give up Gas?
by Tom Perkins (The Guardian) ... At the press preview of the Detroit show, getting reads on the state of the US’s EV transition from analysts, officials, the president, and automakers is like administering a Rorschach test. Many praise automakers’ bold electrification goals,
September 19, 2022 Read Full Article
Visualizing All the Metals for Renewable Tech
by Nicholas LePen (Elements Visual Capitalist) Visualizing the Metals for Renewable Tech -- The energy transition will be mineral intensive and create massive demand for all the metals in renewable tech. Electricity from renewable technology grew at the fastest rate in
July 22, 2022 Read Full Article
"EVs Aren't the Only Answer": Toyota Scientist on the Future of Cars: Gill Pratt, CEO of the Toyota Research Institute, Fears Hype rather than Science Is Rushing Us into a Battery-Only Future
by Jim Holder (AutoCar) ... Today his (Gill Pratt's) job titles at Toyota include chief scientist, executive fellow for research and CEO of the Toyota Research Institute; his past includes stints as a robotics and computing lead for the US Defense
July 12, 2022 Read Full Article
A Third Way for Green Ammonia?: The Digest’s 2022 Multi-Slide Guide to NexantECA
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Who knew ammonia is used so much in the chemicals industry, supplying virtually all nitrogen, and that ammonia is so essential to maintaining world food output via fertilizers. But the chemical industry can’t become carbon
June 15, 2022 Read Full Article
Futurist: Battery-Electric Trucks Are a 'Fantasy'
by Josh Fisher (Fleet Owner) BEVs could have their day, but if the industry’s focus is on decarbonization, fuel cells are trucking’s future, according to a transportation futurist, who laid out the case for hydrogen. That's an argument also backed
June 09, 2022 Read Full Article
Ottawa Unveils $2.6B Carbon Capture Tax Credit for Energy Sector
by Amanda Stephenson (The Canadian Press/Carbon Capture Magazine) Ottawa is urging oil and gas companies to move quickly to take advantage of a major new tax credit for carbon capture and storage — a pricey technology that proponents say could play
May 06, 2022 Read Full Article
Presentation of Novel Membrane-Based Technology to Purify Bio-Oils and Biodiesel
(NEXT-ChemX Corporation/Globe Newswire) NEXT-ChemX Corporation’s (OTC: CHMX) Chief Scientist, Dr. Nikolai Kocherginsky and Chemical Engineer, Sumukh Metawala, made a presentation entitled “Membrane-Based Oil & Biodiesel Washing” during the 2022 American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) Annual Meeting, held May 1-4 in Atlanta, Georgia. The presentation was
May 05, 2022 Read Full Article
New ATRI Research Quantifies the Environmental Impacts of Zero-Emission Trucks
(American Transport Research Institute) The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) today released a new report that analyzes the environmental impacts of zero-emission trucks (ZET). This analysis, a 2021 top priority of ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee, utilized federal and industry-sourced data to
May 04, 2022 Read Full Article
Top 5: Transport Energy & the GHG Marginal Cost Abatement Curve
by Tammy Klein (Transport Energy Strategies) • Marginal Cost Abatement: EVs and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are no surprise, but how about pyrolysis with carbon capture? Biogas Moves Up the Priority List in the EU: The war in Ukraine
May 02, 2022 Read Full Article
The Environmental Price of Clean Energy Is Still Too High: Report
by Erin Marquis (Jalopnik) Calculating the cost of clean energy is a dirty job, but Ars Technica is here to do it -- ... This excellent deep dive published by Ars Technica Monday into what it really costs to go green is a stirring
May 02, 2022 Read Full Article
Rivian CEO Believes Battery Supply Chain Will Be the Next Disaster
by Jonathon Ramsey (AutoBlog) Will make the chip shortage look like 'a small appetizer' -- ... Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe has the worst news yet. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the EV honcho said "Semiconductors are a small appetizer to what
April 25, 2022 Read Full Article
Biden to Invoke Defense Production Act for Electric Vehicle Battery Materials
by Zack Budryk (The Hill) President Biden is set to invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) as early as this week to step up production of minerals used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries, a source familiar the plans confirmed to The Hill. Biden is set to
March 31, 2022 Read Full Article
The EV Grass Isn’t Always Greener
by Sara Counihan (NACS/Convenience.com/Convenience Matters podcast episode) In some regions, an EV emits more carbon than an internal combustion engine vehicle. -- ... John Eichberger leads the Fuels Institute, and the question he is often asked is why the push for EVs?
March 17, 2022 Read Full Article
JBEI’s Aviation Program: The Digest’s 2022 Multi-Slide Guide to Joint BioEnergy Institute
by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) 6 DOE National Labs and 6 Universities are partners with the Joint BioEnergy Institute to help transform the maximum amount of carbon available in bioenergy crops into biofuels and bioproducts. From the importance of jet
January 03, 2022 Read Full Article
Do We Want All of These Electric Car Mines? If EVs Are Supposed to Be a Social Good, How Do We Deal with Them Needing Mines Nobody Wants?
by Raphael Orlove (Jalopnik) ... 1st Gear: Here’s Another Fun ‘Wait Do We Actually Want These Lithium Mines’ Article -- Every day I feel like there’s a new article about lithium mining coming home. Just the other day, Bloomberg was wringing its
December 22, 2021 Read Full Article
KATI to Cut Its Carbon Footprint by Half at Keliber’s Drilling Site
(Cision/Keliber) Oy Kati Ab, a long-term drilling contractor of Keliber’s, has started to use biofuel in the drill rig at Keliber’s exploration site in Central Ostrobothnia. The measure will reduce the emissions caused by drilling by more than 50%. “Taking the environment into
December 15, 2021 Read Full Article
The Bright Future for the Internal Combustion Engine
by Bob Stanton (Government Fleet) ... To paraphrase Mark Twain, “The presumptions of the death of the ICE are greatly exaggerated.” The ICE will be with us for decades to come and may never disappear from our landscape. ... The information here
December 09, 2021 Read Full Article
The Race to Secure Clean Energy Materials
by Ben Gelman (Axios) Minerals used in power generation technologies ... One persistent theme in analyses of the transition to cleaner energy is the scramble to obtain supplies needed for renewables projects, electric vehicle batteries and other low-carbon tech. The big picture: "A typical
December 06, 2021 Read Full Article
The Oil Industry’s Bright Green Energy Future
by Mike Newman (Parhelion Underwriting) The Oil industry is under pressure on many fronts in the climate change era and faces an existential threat from alternative, renewable sources of energy – but the industry is also best-positioned to win the
September 01, 2021 Read Full Article
The Major Problems Blocking America’s Electric Car Future: The Electric Future Is Coming. But How Quickly Is Less Certain.
by Daniel Yergin (Politico) ... Targets may be motivating. But no matter how much money is spent, shifting such a vast industrial and consumer ecosystem that is so basic to the economy faces big challenges, with the result that the
August 31, 2021 Read Full Article
The Tough Calculus of Emissions and the Future of EVs
by Mark Mills (TechCrunch) From materials and batteries to manufacturing, calculating the real carbon cost of EVs is just getting started -- ... While an EV self-evidently emits nothing while driving, about 80% of its total lifetime emissions arise from
August 23, 2021 Read Full Article
Let's Prioritize American Renewable Fuels over Foreign Oil and Minerals
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association/The Hill) ... But what’s not easy to see is why the White House recently chose to respond to higher pump prices by pushing OPEC+ countries to increase oil production. It was a baffling move that raised
August 23, 2021 Read Full Article
Taliban Grabs Mineral Riches Coveted by Energy Developers
by James Marshall (E&E News) With the its takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban took control of a vast trove of metals and minerals vital to clean energy development. The mountainous, war-torn Middle Eastern country sits atop rare earths and other strategic metals
August 20, 2021 Read Full Article
Felix Leach and Kelly Senecal on Racing Toward Zero: The Untold Story of Driving Green
by Tammy Klein (Transport Energy Strategies) For this video podcast, I spoke with Dr. Felix Leach, Associate Professor of Engineering Science at Oxford University and Dr. Peter Kelly Senecal, Co-Owner and Vice President, Convergent Science on their just-released book, Racing Toward Zero: The
August 09, 2021 Read Full Article
Could Nature’s Own Fuel Save Us from Greenhouse Effect and Electric Grid Failure?
by Ellen Brown (LA Progressive) While biofuels are a less high-tech, cheaper and in many ways more effective solution to our dependence on petroleum, the United States and other countries are discussing similar plans to the EU’s and California is
August 02, 2021 Read Full Article
Auto Alliance Underlines Importance of High Octane Low Carbon Fuels
by Doug Durante (Clean Fuels Development Coalition/Governors' Biofuels Coalition) Commends Daschle HOLC Alliance Fight for National Higher Octane Gasoline Standard in SAFE-2 Rule -- The Clean Fuels Development Coalition (CFDC) called a recent letter from automakers in support of high octane
June 25, 2021 Read Full Article
Winning the Future: Analyzing the CLEAN Future Act and Its Implications for Biofuels
by Jenna Bloxom* (Advanced Biofuels USA) The May 5th, 2021 Congressional hearing of the CLEAN Future Act: Driving Decarbonization of the Transportation Sector was a veritable marathon of legislative discourse just shy of four hours long as both parties debated
May 18, 2021 Read Full Article
Barasso: Innovation, Not Regulation, Is the Best Way to Improve Our Country's Mobility
(Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources) Today (March 16, 2021), U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), delivered the following remarks at a full committee hearing on transportation technologies. ... “Too
April 06, 2021 Read Full Article
How Green Are Electric Vehicles? In Short: Very Green. But Plug-in Cars Still Have Environmental Effects.
by Hiroko Tabuchi and Brad Plumer (New York Times) Here’s a guide to the main issues and how they might be addressed. -- ... But a lot depends on how much coal is being burned to charge up those plug-in
April 05, 2021 Read Full Article
The Geopolitics of Critical Minerals Supply Chains
by Jane Nakano (Center for Strategic & International Studies) As clean energy technology becomes the latest frontier for geoeconomic rivalry, the security of supply chains for rare earths and critical minerals—essential materials for clean energy—has become a global strategic issue. The
March 17, 2021 Read Full Article
Electric Cars Are Coming. How Long until They Rule the Road?
by Brad Plumer, Nadja Popovich and Blacki Migliozzi (New York Times) These vehicles represent the 250 million cars, S.U.V.s, vans and pickup trucks on America’s roads today. The vast majority run on gasoline. Fewer than 1 percent are electric. Automakers are now shifting
March 15, 2021 Read Full Article
Portugal Sees Green Hydrogen Output by End-2022, $12 Billion in Investment Lined up
by Sergio Goncalves (Reuters) Portugal will start producing green hydrogen by the end of 2022 and already has private investment worth around 10 billion euros ($12 billion) lined up for eight projects that are expected to move forward, Environment Minister
February 26, 2021 Read Full Article
Auto Industry Peers into an Electric Future and Sees Bumps Ahead
by Steven Mufson (Washington Post) ... (T)he question is not, ‘Can we sell to the wealthy?’ It is, ‘Can we get the everyday household in mainstream America to buy an EV?’ and we’re still a long way away from that.” Meanwhile,
February 12, 2021 Read Full Article
Argentina Plans to Extend Biodiesel, Ethanol Blends
by Charles Newbery (S&P Global Platts) Requirement was to expire in May; Blends now at 10% in gasoline, 12% in diesel; Improvements planned for blend regime -- Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez said his administration is working on a bill to extend a mandatory
February 12, 2021 Read Full Article
Electric Cars Are Coming, and Fast. Is the Nation’s Grid Up to It?
by Brad Plumer (New York Times) GM’s decision this week to phase out gasoline vehicles is the latest in a major shift that will mean drastic new demands on electric utilities. Here are four things that will need to happen. ... Generate
February 01, 2021 Read Full Article
Where’s Your Lithium from? EU’s New Green Deal to Track Critical Materials
by Tammy Klein (Transport Energy Strategies) Renewable electricity generation and storage requires huge quantities of mined raw materials. In Europe, most of these elements are currently imported and unsustainably produced. So the European Commission has hatched a new plan for obtaining them
February 01, 2021 Read Full Article
Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association Files Lawsuit over Emission Standards
(KROXAM) On Wednesday, January 6, the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association (MADA) filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court alleging Minnesota lacks the authority under the Federal Clean Air Act to regulate motor vehicle emissions and is preempted under federal law from
January 08, 2021 Read Full Article
Five Reasons Why Internal Combustion Engines Are Here to Stay
by Robert Bryce (RealClearEnergy) Oil prices are down and bans on automobiles powered by internal combustion engines (ICE) are up – way up. But don’t be fooled; there is plenty of life left in the ICE. ... The first and most important
December 03, 2020 Read Full Article
Renewable Fuels Association on Gas-Generated Electricity
(Southeast AgNet Radio Network) ...Corn ethanol to electricity may be the ‘ticket,’ according to Renewable Fuels Association chief Geoff Cooper. ... “Ethanol is a great low-carbon molecule, and you can make electricity out of it just fine. And it is something our
November 30, 2020 Read Full Article
How Can Ethanol Fit into Lofty 2050 Emissions Goals?
by Dustin Hoffmann (Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network) ... The incoming Biden Administration is committed to a plan to have us get to a net-zero carbon emission status by the year 2050. However, opponents and skeptics say that while the idea
November 19, 2020 Read Full Article
How to Build a Green Hydrogen Economy for the US West
by Jeff St. John (GreenTechMedia) The Intermountain and ACES projects may be the start of a regionwide green hydrogen generation and transmission network. -- Out in Utah, a coal-fired power plant supplying electricity to Los Angeles is being outfitted with natural-gas-fired
November 19, 2020 Read Full Article
Commentary: Electrify A Lot … But Not Everything -- Decarbonization Will Require a Judicious Mix of Electrification, RNG, Hydrogen, and Other Emerging Solutions if We Want to Get to a Truly Sustainable Future.
by Matt Tomich and Joanna Underwood (BioCycle Magazine/Energy Vision) ... Some environmental advocates are looking to “electrify everything” to generate power and fuel our transportation systems, because electric motors are more efficient than combustion engines. But electrification is not a
November 18, 2020 Read Full Article
It's Electric
by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico's Morning Energy) IT'S ELECTRIC: A coalition of utilities, electric vehicle makers and mineral producers have formed a new association to push for 100 percent electric vehicle sales by 2030, Pro's Anthony Adragna reports this morning. The group, dubbed the Zero
November 17, 2020 Read Full Article
Promise and Peril: California’s EV-Only Policy
by Leticia Phillips (Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, UNICA /Ethanol Producer Magazine) Any EV solution should consider a combined approach of the available alternatives and technologies. It is important to remember that vehicles powered by ethanol are already among the best
October 30, 2020 Read Full Article
Biden Win Could Be Net Positive for Metals and Mining, Observers Say
by Jacob Holzman and Gaurang Dholakia (S&P Global Platts) ... As a result, observers have predicted that producers of battery and base metals such as lithium and nickel could benefit from a Biden victory. ... The benefits to metals producers from a
October 20, 2020 Read Full Article
Where’s Your Lithium from? EU’s New Green Deal to Track Critical Materials
by David Thorpe (Future Fuel Stratgies/The Fifth Estate) Renewable electricity generation and storage requires huge quantities of mined raw materials. In Europe, most of these elements are currently imported and unsustainably produced. So the European Commission has hatched a new plan for
October 15, 2020 Read Full Article
Tomorrow Arriving Today: 5 Technology Platforms to Watch for the 2020s that Are Materially Advancing Now, Despite COVID-19
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... New research shows sustainability has moved from a fringe preference into a core imperative across American life. According to a new survey from clean manufacturing leader Genomatica, 56% of Americans want brands and government to prioritize
August 11, 2020 Read Full Article
Lithium Ion Battery Waste Used in Biodiesel Production from Discarded Vegetable Oil
(Tech Xplore/American Institute of Physics) ... Brazilian researchers demonstrated a new chemical approach for producing biodiesel from domestic cooking oil waste by using hydroxide lithium mixed with either sodium hydroxides or potassium hydroxides as catalysts. Their work, published in the Journal of Renewable and
July 22, 2020 Read Full Article
The United States Mineral Supply Insecurity and Dependence on Rare Earth Elements
by Jamil Hijazi (The Payne Institute for Public Policy) Despite the trade war with China and the outbreak of the Coronavirus, the United States of America (U.S) faces the continuous problem of resource dependence and resource insecurity of its processed Rare
April 14, 2020 Read Full Article
The Lithium Triangle Initiative: South America's Lithium Triangle and the Future of the Green Economy --- January 23, 2020 --- Washington, DC
As the global community pursues sustainable economic development, lithium is playing an increasingly critical role. The metal is used for rechargeable batteries in electric vehicles and for the energy storage needed to expand renewable energy. As a result, global demand
January 13, 2020 Read Full Article
U.S. Department of Energy Launches Energy Storage Grand Challenge
(U.S. Department of Energy) Today, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette announced the launch of the Energy Storage Grand Challenge, a comprehensive program to accelerate the development, commercialization, and utilization of next-generation energy storage technologies and sustain American global leadership in energy
January 10, 2020 Read Full Article
California Has Big Clean Energy Ambitions, and Is Looking for Better Energy Storage to Realize Them DEADLINE February 4, 2020
by Kavya Balaraman (Utility Dive) The California Energy Commission (CEC) is putting up to $11 million on the table for developers of energy storage technologies other than lithium-ion batteries, according to a solicitation launched last month. The agency is looking for
January 09, 2020 Read Full Article
Australia, U.S., to Cooperate on Critical Minerals, Rare Earths
(U.S. News and World Report/Reuters) Australia and the United States will support projects to develop critical minerals and rare earths, an Australian government minister said on Wednesday (November 20, 2019), signaling deeper cooperation in a market dominated by Chinese supplies. Australian
December 09, 2019 Read Full Article
3-year Study Raises Doubts about EVs’ Future
by David Iaconangelo (E&E News/Governors' Biofuels Coalition) ... The future of transportation may be less electric and less shared than some think, and millennials won’t change that, according to a study published yesterday by the MIT Energy Initiative. The initiative’s engineers, economists
November 21, 2019 Read Full Article
IJER Editorial: The Future of the Internal Combustion Engine
by R D Reitz, H Ogawa, R Payri, T Fansler, S Kokjohn, Y Moriyoshi, AK Agarwal, D Arcoumanis, D Assanis, C Bae, K Boulouchos, M Canakci, S Curran, I Denbratt, M Gavaises, M Guenthner, C Hasse, Z Huang, T Ishiyama,
November 01, 2019 Read Full Article
How Lithium Could Be Calif.'s Next 'Gold Rush'
by David Ferris and David Iaconangelo (E&E News) ... EnergySource, based in San Diego, is making an expensive gamble that it can be the first to tap a vast reserve of lithium here that has frustrated engineers for decades. Lithium
October 31, 2019 Read Full Article
Who Willed the Electric Car? China, and Here’s Why
by Lauren Silva Laughlin (Wall Street Journal) Electric vehicles that derive their power from dirty energy aren’t necessarily better for the environment, but they are better for Beijing -- Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods recently took a shot
October 11, 2019 Read Full Article
Full Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Hearing on Minerals and Clean Energy Technologies
(Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources) Opening Statement Hearing to Examine the Minerals Needed for Clean Energy Senator Lisa Murkowski -- ... Minerals are the fundamental building blocks for any modern technology, whether they are light bulbs or computers
September 17, 2019 Read Full Article
DOE Announces $59 Million and 43 Projects to Accelerate Advanced Vehicle Technologies Research
(U.S. Department of Energy) U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes announced $59 million for 43 projects for new and innovative advanced vehicle technologies research. Funded through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, these projects
August 21, 2019 Read Full Article
Marco Rubio Introduces Bill to Combat China's Rare Earth Monopoly
by Megan Henney (Fox Business) Sen. Marco Rubio introduced legislation on Thursday intended to boost American competitiveness in processing critical rare-earth minerals after China signaled it could weaponize its dominance in the sector in the midst of the year-long trade war. The Florida Republican’s plan, named the RE-Coop 21st
July 12, 2019 Read Full Article
Arizona Fire Highlights Challenges for Energy Storage
by Jonathan J. Cooper (Associated Press) Arizona’s largest electric company installed massive batteries near neighborhoods with a large number of solar panels, hoping to capture some of the energy from the afternoon sun to use after dark. Arizona Public Service has been
June 24, 2019 Read Full Article
Mining Lithium for Electric Cars Is Hurting This Desert’s Local Environment
(Bloomberg/Washington Post) The Atacama Desert in northern Chile allowed humans and animals to survive for thousands of years in the world’s driest climate. That was before the mining started. Atacama has become one of the busiest mining districts on the planet, after
June 14, 2019 Read Full Article
Exclusive: Tesla Expects Global Shortage of Electric Vehicle Battery Minerals - Sources
by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters) Tesla Inc expects global shortages of nickel, copper and other electric-vehicle battery minerals down the road due to underinvestment in the mining sector, the company’s global supply manager for battery metals told an industry conference on Thursday, according
May 03, 2019 Read Full Article
New Study Underscores the Need to Make Rare Earth Metal Use More Sustainable
(Our Daily Planet) We don’t recycle these metals and their extraction is rife with human rights abuses. As Phys reported, a new study, commissioned and funded by the non-profit EarthWorks, “shows that as demand for minerals such as lithium and rare earths skyrockets, the already significant environmental
April 19, 2019 Read Full Article
Energy Department Announces Opening of Battery Recycling Center at Argonne National Lab
(U.S. Department of Energy) In celebration of National Battery Day on February 18th, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Daniel Simmons announced the opening of a Battery Recycling Center at Argonne National Laboratory. Aiming to reclaim and recycle
February 20, 2019 Read Full Article
Bank Of America: Oil Demand Growth To Hit Zero Within A Decade
by Nick Cunningham (OilPrice.com) By 2030, oil demand could hit a peak and then enter decline, according to a new report. For the next decade or so, oil demand should continue to grow, although at a slower and slower rate. According to
February 06, 2019 Read Full Article
With Rise of Electric Vehicles, a New Foreign Energy Dependence Looms
by James Osborne (Houston Chronicle) Forecasts say that electric vehicle sales are about to take off worldwide and increase demand for the raw materials that go into batteries. -- Energy Secretary Rick Perry earlier this month said he would put more federal
January 28, 2019 Read Full Article
Why Investors Ditched Sh2tr Biofuels Projects
by Ludger Kasumuni (The Citizen) Several investors have abandoned their $1 billion (Sh2.3 trillion) biofuels projects in Tanzania, according to a survey by BusinessWeek. Mtamba Biofuel Farm in Kisarawe, Coast Region. It has been estimated that between 2007 and 2008, the Southern
January 11, 2019 Read Full Article
How Renewable Energy Could Fuel Future Conflicts
by Madison Freeman and Morgan Bazilian (Georgetown Journal of International Affairs) Renewable energy technologies promise to help our world avert some of the worst impacts of climate change. However, some of the minerals and metals they require could contribute to conflict. In
October 12, 2018 Read Full Article
Move Aside Lithium – Vanadium Is The New Super-Metal
by James Burgess (OilPrice.com) ... That’s vanadium—Element 23. The answer to our issue of scale. “It’s no longer a technological maybe,” says Matt Rhoades, president and CEO of United Battery Metals, a Colorado vanadium explorer sitting on one of the few known sources of
October 11, 2018 Read Full Article
The Future of Electric Vehicles Lie in the Sourcing of Lithium and Cobalt for Batteries
by Vishnu Rajamanickam (Freight Waves) ... But unless the manufacturing process and the raw material sourcing is regulated and stabilized, it would be hard to sell EVs to the larger middle-class populace. This is because the on-road price of an electric vehicle is
August 06, 2018 Read Full Article
Ryan Zinke Moves to Protect Critical Minerals from Foreign Threats
by John Siciliano (Washington Examiner) Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is listing 35 minerals used in aircraft, cellphones, and other important technologies as "vital" to national security in a move to wean the U.S. off foreign suppliers. The list includes such valuable metals
May 18, 2018 Read Full Article
Metals Shortfall to Crimp Electric-Car Battery Supply, Moody’s Says
by Claudia Assis (Market Watch) A shortfall in supplies of metals such as cobalt, copper, lithium and nickel is likely to slow down the production of batteries for electric vehicles, Moody’s Investors Service said in a note. Demand for the metals used
May 03, 2018 Read Full Article
A New Lithium War Is About To Begin
by James Stafford (OilPrice.com) It’s the modern gold rush. Around the world, the most sought-after mineral isn’t a precious metal, nor is it oil and gas…it’s lithium. Lithium, or “white petroleum” as some call it, has become a crucial element in today’s high-tech economy. Demand
April 25, 2018 Read Full Article
Tariff Talk
by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico's Morning Energy) The Trump administration escalated trade-war tensions with China on Tuesday, publishing a proposed list of 1,300 Chinese imports that it will hit with retaliatory tariffs in response to China's intellectual property practices, Pro's Adam Behsudi
April 04, 2018 Read Full Article
Geothermal Could Profit from U.S. Executive Order to Support Lithium Mining
by Alexander Richter (Think GeoEnergy) An executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump to support mining activities for critical minerals, could present a boost to lithium mining activities in the U.S. and indirectly help some geothermal projects. As reported recently, U.S. President
March 15, 2018 Read Full Article
Swedish Study Calls for Smaller EV Batteries, Finds Tesla More Polluting than an 8-Year-Old Car
(AutoVista Group) Swedish researchers have argued that electric vehicle (EV) batteries should not be as large as possible, but as large as necessary. This is the conclusion of their study which found that in terms of equivalent CO2 emissions, a car
August 22, 2017 Read Full Article
Why Gasoline and Diesel Will Be Around for a Long Time to Come
by Norris McDonald (MSN.com/Wheels.ca) ... So, I’ve been reading about how Big Oil will react when everybody starts running out to buy electric cars. And how the end of internal-combustion will be just like the end of film for cameras — it
August 22, 2017 Read Full Article
It’s Hard to Keep Up With All That Lithium Demand
by Laura Millan Lombrana and Jonathan Gilbert (Bloomberg) As established players expand, some newcomers seen struggling; New mine teething problems tightening credit for projects -- ... Producers everywhere have struggled to keep up with demand as electric cars went from almost
August 22, 2017 Read Full Article
'We’ll Have to Become Electricity Traders' - Biofuels Market Reacts to UK Petrol Ban
by Vicky Ellis (ICIS) European biofuels market participants are wondering what their role will be in the future after the UK became the latest country to announce on Wednesday a ban on all conventional petrol and diesel car sales by 2040. The
August 02, 2017 Read Full Article
Could Clean Energy Spark A Mineral Boom?
(Energy Today/Oilprice.com) A new World Bank report released today (July 18, 2017) highlights the potential impacts that the expected continuing boom in low-carbon energy technologies will have on demand for many minerals and metals. Using wind, solar, and energy storage batteries as
July 31, 2017 Read Full Article
Cost of Elon Musk's Dream Much Higher Than He and Others Imagine
by Brian Rogers (America Rising Squared/Real Clear Energy) ... It’s what Greenpeace International co-founder Rex Weyler calls “The Tesla dream,” the false idea that Mr. Musk’s electric vehicles (EVs) are a true game-changing “clean energy” solution to global climate
June 09, 2017 Read Full Article
Tossed Aside in the 'White Gold' Rush: Indigenous People Are Left Poor as Tech World Takes Lithium from under Their Feet
Story by Todd C. Frankel and Peter Whoriskey; Photos and videos by Michael Robinson Chavez; Video editing by Jorge Ribas (The Washington Post) In the thin air of the salt flats here, nearly 13,000 feet above sea level, the indigenous Atacamas people
December 19, 2016 Read Full Article
The Cobalt Pipeline: Tracing the Path from Deadly Hand-Dug Mines in Congo to Consumers’ Phones and Laptops
by Todd C. Frankel (The Washington Post) ... This remote landscape in southern Africa lies at the heart of the world’s mad scramble for cheap cobalt, a mineral essential to the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power smartphones, laptops and electric
September 30, 2016 Read Full Article
Could A Lithium Shortage De-Rail The Electric Car Boom?
by James Stafford (OilPrice.com) ... Lithium is our new fuel, but like fossil fuels, the reserves we’re currently tapping into are finite—and that’s what investors can take to the bank. ... And yet, despite this skepticism, lithium demand is rising steadily and
August 25, 2016 Read Full Article
Tesla And Other Tech Giants Scramble For Lithium As Prices Double
by James Stafford (OilPrice.com) Demand for lithium—the hottest commodity on the planet and the only commodity to show positive price movement in 2015—is poised to continue on its upward trajectory, becoming the world’s new gasoline and earning the moniker of
April 14, 2016 Read Full Article
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