The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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A new study out of Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, presents a possible new and efficient way to recycle metals from spent electric vehicle batteries that uses an organic compound found naturally in plants – oxalate. Before the push for clean energy or renewable technologies, methods to recycle metal operated much like manufacturing metal, melting it. However, due to the carbon-intensive impacts of smelters or foundries, cleaner solutions to recycling have e...
Starting this year, Swedish mining group Boliden will begin incorporating heavy battery-electric trucks into its underground transport fleet, beginning with two vehicles from Volvo Trucks. Diesel engines are a major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions and hydrocarbons in underground mines – this poses a safety challenge that must be managed to ensure the health of below-ground miners. Diesel exhaust also increases the carbon footprint of mining companies seeking to r...
Mercedes-Benz says it will follow its supply chains all the way back to the mines, if that is what it takes to ensure that the lithium and cobalt going into its rapidly expanding line of electric vehicles is produced with high environmental and human rights standards. "Our aspiration is very clear – we want our products to contain only raw materials that have been mined and produced without human rights violations," said Renata Jungo Brüngger, a board member of both Me...
Rio Tino to supply low-carbon metals, Volvo offers low-emissions trucks Global mining giant Rio Tinto and European automaker Volvo Group have agreed to forge a partnership that will help both companies achieve their climate ambitions. "We look forward to partnering with Volvo to progress our contribution to a net-zero future, as we collaborate to deliver sustainable outcomes from the mine to the showroom floor," said Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm. Under a...
A liquid metal being explored for use in shapeshifting soft robots and enhancing carbon-capturing properties of platinum, gallium is proving to be the missing link to many questions materials scientists have been attempting to answer for years. Now, when the need for clean alternative energy is at its peak, University of California Santa Cruz researchers have found that gallium could unlock the doors to cheap hydrogen production. Researchers have tried to find efficient and...
Volvo Cars has become the first carmaker to sign up with the SteelZero initiative, a net-zero steel pledge, which commits the European automaker to stringent carbon dioxide-based steel sourcing requirements by 2030, with the final goal of purchasing all its steel from fossil-fuel-free sources by 2050. Steel production is a major source of CO2 emission for the automotive industry, averaging 33% of all production-related emissions for a new Volvo car in 2021. Globally, steel...
Swedish premium electric performance carmaker Polestar recently announced a new global partnership with Hertz Corp. to sell 65,000 electric vehicles to the global car rental company over the next five years, with availability to begin in spring 2022 in Europe and later in the year for North America and Australia. "We are excited to partner with Polestar and look forward to introducing their premium EV products into our retail and rideshare fleets," said Hertz CEO Stephen Scher...
Market and business research firm, IDTechEx, predicts that while battery electric vehicles (BEV) are paving the way for decarbonizing road transport, the hydrogen fuel cell will claim a leading role, an estimated US$160 billion role. In the latest report by UK-based tech speculator, "Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles 2022-2042," IDTechEx forecasts the market value of on-road fuel cell vehicles will grow to US$160 billion in 2042 at a compound annual growth rate of 23.9% over the...
Volvo Construction Equipment recently opened a lab to test and develop hydrogen fuel cell technology solutions in heavy construction machines and other applications, marking a significant advancement in Volvo Group's ambition to be fossil-free by 2040. As part of the company's commitment to the Science-Based Targets initiative – considered a necessary measure to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement – this investment will offer Volvo Group unique conditions to test and...
Quebec has put in motion a plan to establish itself as a leader in the global transition to a green economy – by both lowering the eastern Canadian province's carbon footprint through the adoption of renewable energy and electric vehicles, and being a source of responsibly mined minerals and metals that make these technologies possible. Provincial officials recently unveiled the Quebec Plan for the Development of Critical and Strategic Minerals 2020-2025, which provides the f...
Tesla Inc. has joined a growing effort to address artisanal cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo, not by boycotting this much maligned source of the lithium-ion battery metal but by investing in it. The iconic electric automaker has joined the Fair Cobalt Alliance, an organization with a vision of making the small but often dangerous cobalt mines in DRC a better place to work for men and women who have few other livelihood options. Artisanal mining in DRC has...
The envisioned green future where every North American is driving a battery-powered electric vehicle charged with renewable energy could be undermined by cobalt, a somewhat scarce and controversial metal that makes lithium-ion batteries better. "Cobalt is considered the highest material supply chain risk for electric vehicles in the short and medium term," the U.S. Department of Energy penned in an April report. This risk has automakers, lithium-ion battery manufacturers, and...
