Tag: Energy (Page 2 of 8)

Lufthansa and HCS Group sign Letter of Intent on production & supply of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Made in Germany

August 1, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

The Lufthansa Group (OTC: DLAKY) and the HCS Group have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to partner on the production and supply of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). From the beginning of 2026, the HCS Group could supply the Lufthansa Group with SAF produced in the so-called Alcohol-to-Jet (AtJ) technology. The SAF, made from biogenic residues from agriculture and forestry, will be produced at the HCS Group production site in Speyer, operated by Haltermann Carless. SAF is a key element for more sustainable flying and thus for decarbonization in aviation.

With its engagement in the HCS Group the Lufthansa Group could support SAF ‘Made in Germany’, compliant with Europe’s Renewable Energy Directive RED II. The production site is logistically favorably located near the Lufthansa Group’s Frankfurt hub. The HCS Group offers sustainable hydrocarbon solutions to its customers. With the planned initial production volume of 60,000 metric tons of SAF per year, the chemical company aims to become the first large-scale producer of biogenic SAF in Germany.

The LoI with the HCS Group underpins the Lufthansa Group’s goal of driving forward the market ramp-up and use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels as a core element of its sustainability strategy. Today, the Lufthansa Group is one of the five largest SAF customers worldwide and is investing up to USD 250 million in the procurement of SAF for the coming years. In addition, the Lufthansa Group is working on numerous projects worldwide to increase SAF availability and is continuously examining further options for long-term purchase agreements.

Akiem & Alstom sign new framework agreement for 100 Traxx locomotives

July 17, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

17 July 2023 – Alstom (OTC: ALSMY), global leader in smart and sustainable mobility, and Akiem European rolling stock leasing company have signed a framework contract for 100 Traxx Universal multi-system (MS3) locomotives. The firm part of the order includes 65 locomotives. The total amount of the framework agreement is up 500 million euros. Akiem confirms its leadership on the leasing European market and its ambition to contribute to the rail market’s accelerating activities, with major investment on corridors from France to 12 other European countries.

The Traxx Multi-system locomotives benefit from optimised energy consumption and can run both Freight and Passenger operations at a speed of up to 160 kilometres per hour. They will cover operations in 12 European countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia. As a unique feature for multi-system locomotives, a part of them will be delivered with the last mile feature enabling to access ports, terminals or industrial sites without the need of a shunting locomotive.

All locomotives will be equipped with the leading signalling system ATLAS, Alstom’s onboard solution for the European Train Control System (ETCS). This system comes with the broadest coverage of countries and lines, both in ETCS as well as for legacy system operation, and superior two-out-of-three architecture.

Final assembly is planned to take place at the Alstom site in Kassel, Germany. Deliveries of the units are scheduled to take place between 2025 and 2028.

CSX Corporation Declares Quarterly Dividend

July 13, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Jacksonville, Florida – July 12, 2023 – CSX Corporation (NASDAQ: CSX) announced that the Company’s Board of Directors approved a $0.11 per share quarterly dividend on the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on September 15, 2023, to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 31, 2023.

About CSX and its Disclosures

CSX, based in Jacksonville, Florida, is a premier transportation company. It provides rail, intermodal and rail-to-truck transload services and solutions to customers across a broad array of markets, including energy, industrial, construction, agricultural, and consumer products. For nearly 200 years, CSX has played a critical role in the nation’s economic expansion and industrial development. Its network connects every major metropolitan area in the eastern United States, where nearly two-thirds of the nation’s population resides. It also links more than 230 short-line railroads and more than 70 ocean, river and lake ports with major population centers and farming towns alike. More information about CSX Corporation and its subsidiaries is available at www.csx.com.

Hitachi and Alstom Win Order to Build and Maintain High Speed Two Trains in Britain

December 10, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Alstom (OTC: ALSMY) and Hitachi Rail have today confirmed that the Hitachi-Alstom High Speed (HAH-S) 50/50 joint venture has signed contracts with High Speed Two (HS2) to design, build, and maintain the next generation of very high speed trains for HS2 Phase 1 as part of the £1.97 billion contract, including an initial 12-year train maintenance contract.

The UK’s two leading train manufacturers will deliver Europe’s fastest operational train, capable of operating at maximum speeds of 225mph (360 km/h), significantly reducing journey times for passengers. The fleet will be 100% electric, and be one of the world’s most energy efficient very high speed trains due to the lower train mass per passenger, aerodynamic design, regenerative power and latest energy efficient traction technology.

In a major boost to grow and rebalance the economy, the HAH-S joint venture will manufacture the 54 trains at newly enhanced facilities in County Durham, Derby and Crewe. The award to the British-based firms will protect and create thousands of green jobs and add £157 million GVA to the UK economy for every year of the train building phase.

The new 200m-long, 8-car trains are set to run in Phase 1 of the project between London and Birmingham, and on the existing network, and will dramatically increase capacity and connectivity between towns and cities across the country including Stoke, Crewe, Manchester, Liverpool, Carlisle, Motherwell and Glasgow. They will have a major impact in reducing carbon emissions from transport by encouraging people away from fossil fuelled cars and planes, and onto rail.

Embraer Presents Energia Family, Four New Aircraft Concepts Using Renewable Energy

November 9, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) has announced a family of concept aircraft that it is exploring to help the industry achieve its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The details of the Energia family, the latest in the company’s Sustainability in Action initiative, were broadcast live via YouTube from Embraer’s manufacturing facility in São José dos Campos.

The company has partnered with an international consortium of engineering universities, aeronautical research institutes, and small and medium-sized enterprises to better understand energy harvesting, storage, thermal management and their applications for sustainable aircraft propulsionThe Energia Family is comprised of four concept aircraft of varying sizes that incorporate different propulsion technologies – electric, hydrogen fuel cell, dual fuel gas turbine, and hybrid-electric.

Energia Hybrid (E9-HE) – hybrid-electric propulsion • up to 90% CO2 emissions reduction • 9 seats • rear-mounted engines • technology readiness –2030

Energia Electric (E9-FE) – full electric propulsion • zero CO2 emissions • 9 seats • aft contra-rotating propeller • technology readiness – 2035

Energia H2 Fuel Cell (E19-H2FC) – hydrogen electric propulsion • zero CO2 emissions • 19 seats • rear-mounted electric engines • technology readiness – 2035

Energia H2 Gas Turbine (E50-H2GT) • hydrogen or SAF/JetA urbine propulsion • up to 100% CO2 emissions reduction • 35 to 50 seats • rear-mounted engines • technology readiness – 2040

Although the Energia airplanes are still on the drawing board, Embraer has already made advances in reducing emissions from its aircraft. It has tested drop-in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), mixes of sugarcane and camelina plant-derived fuel and fossil fuel, on its family of E-Jets. The company is targeting to have all Embraer aircraft SAF-compatible by 2030. Last August, Embraer flew its Electric Demonstrator, a single-engine EMB-203 Ipanema, 100% powered by electricity. A hydrogen fuel cell demonstrator is planned for 2025 and the company’s eVTOL, a fully electric, zero-emissions vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, is being developed to enter service in 2026.

Watch the video presentation below!

Rolls-Royce Announces Funding Secured for Small Modular Reactors

November 8, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR.L) announced today that following a successful equity raise, the Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) business has today been established, to bring forward and deliver at scale the next generation of low cost, low carbon nuclear power technology.

Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK Limited and Exelon Generation Limited will invest £195m across a period of around three years. The funding will enable the business to secure grant funding of £210 million from UK Research and Innovation funding, first announced by the UK Prime Minister in ‘The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’. Today’s announcement is another step towards the delivery of the Government’s net zero strategy and its 10-point plan.

The business, which will continue to seek further investment, will now proceed rapidly with a range of parallel delivery activities, including entry to the UK Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process and identifying sites for the factories which will manufacture the modules that enable on-site assembly of the power plants. Discussions will also continue with the UK Government on identifying the delivery models that will enable long-term investment in this vital, net-zero enabling technology. Rolls-Royce SMR is engaging with export customers across many continents who need this technology to meet their own net zero commitments.

Rolls-Royce SMR is using proven nuclear technology, coupled with a unique factory-made module manufacturing and on-site assembly system, to harness decades of British engineering, design and manufacturing knowhow. It brings together the best of UK industry to ensure a decarbonisation solution that will be available to the UK grid in the early 2030s. The potential for this to be a leading global export for the UK is unprecedented.

Nine-tenths of an individual Rolls-Royce SMR power plant will be built or assembled in factory conditions and around 80% could be delivered by a UK supply chain – a unique offering in energy infrastructure in the UK. Much of the venture’s investment is expected to be focused in the North of the UK, where there is significant existing nuclear expertise

A single Rolls-Royce SMR power station will occupy the footprint of two football pitches and power approximately one million homes. It can support both on-grid electricity and a range of off-grid clean energy solutions, enabling the decarbonisation of industrial processes and the production of clean fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and green hydrogen, to support the energy transition in the wider heat and transportation sectors.

Tesla Wants to Become an Electricity Retailer

August 30, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Story By RAKESH SHARMA

Last week, Tesla Energy Ventures, a new subsidiary of electric car maker Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA), filed an application to become a retail electricity provider in the state of Texas. According to reports, the company plans to sell electricity drawn from the grid to customers and from its battery storage products. Its grid transaction software may also enable customers for its solar panels to sell excess electricity back to the grid.

Click the link to read the full story! https://www.investopedia.com/tesla-tsla-wants-to-become-an-electricity-retailer-5199391?utm_campaign=quote-yahoo&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral

Alstom to Supply 19 Additional Metros for Line 11 of the Ile-de-France

July 11, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Alstom (OTC: ALSMY) will supply 19 five-car MP14 metros with driver’s cab for line 11 of the Île-de-France Mobilités network operated by RATP, for a total value of 132 million euro. This order, which is 100% funded by Île-de-France Mobilités, falls within the framework of the MP14 contract signed in March 2015 between RATP (mandated by Île-de-France Mobilités) and Alstom for the delivery of a maximum of 217 MP14 trains over 15 years, for a total amount of more than 2 billion euro. This contract is part of the Île-de-France Mobilités strategy for the modernisation of all rolling stock on the Île-de-France Mobilités network.

An initial tranche of the MP14 contract included 35 automated metros for line 14, consisting of eight cars each. A first conditional tranche for 20 additional automated metros, consisting of six cars each, was exercised in January 2017 for line 4. A second option of 20 additional five-car trains (with driver’s cabs) was exercised in February 2018 for line 11.

A state-of-the-art metro, MP14 offers an unprecedented level of comfort and safety thanks to its interior layout and seats with a design based on the theme of the alcove, creating both hospitality and privacy. Vast reception areas offer accessibility to all passengers, with dedicated areas and boomerang-shaped seats to improve the passenger flow and the capacity of the trains. MP14 also has LED lighting efficiently distributed throughout the entire metro to provide a sense of security while eliminating darkly shadowed areas. The supports and steadying points are compliant with safety standards and further increase comfort inside the train. Warm and cool ventilation helps to provide temperature balance, whatever the season. MP14 also provides comprehensive video protection and dynamic passenger information on board.

A special feature of the MP14 metros for line 11 is that the design of the driver’s cab incorporates feedback from previous generations of cabs. Their design features the latest developments in ergonomics and has been validated by RATP drivers and occupational physicians.

MP14 is designed to improve passenger comfort and experience as well as reconcile performance, energy savings and ease of maintenance to keep costs under control throughout its life cycle.

MP14’s 100% electrical braking system recuperates energy and re-injects it into the network as electricity, while limiting the emission of fine particles caused by the mechanical brakes. The system reduces the energy consumption of the metros, as well as air pollution, by up to 20%. MP14 is also 40% quieter than the metros currently in service on line 11, with a 95% recyclability rate.

About 20 automated metros for line 14, consisting of eight cars each, will be delivered by the end of 2021. The first six-car automated metros for line 4 are currently being tested. Production of the first five-car metros for line 11 began in the last quarter of 2020 and the first metro will begin validation tests on RATP tracks this summer.

Eight of Alstom’s sixteen sites in France are involved in this project:

Valenciennes, for the studies, integration, validation, and testing;
Le Creusot, for the bogies;
Ornans, for the engines;
Villeurbanne, for the on-board computerised systems;
Tarbes, for the traction;
Aix-en-Provence, for the safety IT;
Reichshoffen, for the collision studies, and
Saint-Ouen, for the design.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to Expand Metal 3D Printing Services

July 10, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machine Tool Co., Ltd., a group company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) based in Ritto, Shiga Prefecture, will offer expanded services in metal 3D　printing services commencing on July 15, including prototype production and contract production by metal 3D (three-dimensional) printers applying laser-based Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies. In addition to its previously offered Directed Energy Deposition (DED) type metal 3D printers for large-scale parts, the Company will newly add services using binder jetting (BJT) metal 3D printers for small-scale parts. The expanded service lineup will enable manufacture of a full range of metal parts, from small components of 1mm size to ultra-large-scale parts exceeding 1 meter.

The addition to MHI Machine Tool’s lineup is the DMP2500 metal 3D printer developed by Digital Metal, a group company of Hogänäs of Sweden. The DMP2500’s BJT technology not only enables extremely precise manufacturing but also is engineered especially for high-volume production. Currently, MHI Machine Tool has provided metal printing services applying unique DED technology of “LAMDA” AM systems; now, with the introduction of a different type of printer, the Company can respond to a broad range of metal 3D print needs and propose and provide the optimal manufacturing method and equipment for each parts.

MHI Machine Tool concluded a contract with Digital Metal in July 2020 on marketing its DMP2500 and other metal 3D printers in Japan. By adding these BJT type systems to its own sales lineup, MHI Machine Tool will be in a position to offer a broad portfolio of not only sales but also after-sales services.

While metal 3D printers are receiving attention for their innovative advances to production processes, they also present challenges relating to the difficulty of their production and quality assurance, etc. With the new expansion of services, MHI Machine Tool will focus on providing solutions relating to additive manufacturing, including provision of related expertise, to accelerate early adaptation to production parts.

Going forward, MHI Machine Tool will develop its metal printing services structure spanning from small-scale high-precision to ultra-large-scale items, enabling the Company to respond to a broad wide-range of prototype production needs and contract production. In these ways, MHI Machine Tool will encourage manufacturers to expand into manufacturing parts using metal 3D printers and contribute to the industrial supply chain as a whole.

Embraer Modular Airplane Concept Receives International Design Award

April 7, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Évora, Portugal, April 6, 2021 – The Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) FLEXCRAFT, a modular and remotely piloted aircraft concept, which allows quick reconfiguration of the cabin for multiple missions, won the International Design Awards (IDA) in the Transport Design category.

With the ability to land and take off on short lanes and use alternative energy sources, the concept seeks to foster ideas for transforming the future of air mobility, combining the human, technological, social and economic perspectives in a sustainable manner. IDA highlighted the passenger experience through the flexibility of fuselage design and new technologies.

The futuristic project was the result of a Portuguese consortium led by Sociedade de Engenharia e Transformação, SA (SET.SA) that brought together Embraer Portugal, Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Almadesign, Instituto de Ciência e Inovação em Engenharia Mecânica e Engenharia Industrial (INEGI), plus the support from Embraer SA (Brazil). The initiative was funded by the Portugal 2020 program, under the Operational Program Competitiveness and Internationalization through the European Regional Development Fund.

The scientific research aimed to raise the critical technologies of this concept in an integrated way, such as configuration, flexibility solutions and production and material processes. Through the FLEXCRAFT project, it was possible to evaluate the development of new production processes, eco-efficient technologies, and the integration of new materials, among other research fronts.

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