With an eye toward achieving its global decarbonization goals, Danfoss North America recently signed a power purchase agreement with CIG Capital, a U.S.-based project financing firm, to purchase about 75 MW of solar power from a solar farm in Texas, starting in 2025. The initial agreement term is 12 years, allowing Danfoss to fully replace…

According to research company BloombergNEF’s (BNEF) newly released 2022 Carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS) Market Outlook, the global capacity for carbon capture in 2030 is set to increase sixfold from today’s level, to 279 million tons of CO2 captured per year. Drastic growth in the market has led to a 44% increase in expected…

Nearly two thirds of all energy created globally for commercial, transportation, industrial, and residential use is lost to inefficiency and waste. For operations aiming to achieve carbon-neutral status (or just higher profitability through energy conservation) preventing the loss of energy is at once immediately possible and commendable. After all, Energy Information Administration analysis indicates that…

Saietta Group plc, specialists in high-tech advanced e-mobility propulsion, is intensifying an important overhaul operation to transform existing high polluting diesel-engine-powered buses and coaches into clean, sustainable, and zero-emission vehicles. Through its RetroMotion division, the company is working to offer fleet operators an economical and effective solution to ‘electrify’ existing buses and coaches. A real-world…

As concern continues to grow with the advancing effects of climate change, ABB is championing a proactive energy efficiency movement to educate U.S. industrial leaders about the challenges that contribute to energy wastage and environmental sustainability. By joining ABB in this endeavor, U.S. businesses have an opportunity to collectively reduce energy consumption, significantly slow the…

Biomimicry has long been a great shortcut for designers looking for strong, creative designs. The new igubal pillow block from igus is based on the design principles of a tree and provides an alternative to classic cast iron housings. Flattened radii ensure maximum resistance to mechanical stresses. The bionic shaped housings, made with high-performance materials…

Eckes-Granini is making its packaging portfolio even more environmentally friendly with the help of the KHS Group. Since May, its one-liter hohes C juice bottle has consisted entirely of recycled plastic (rPET). KHS’ Bottles & Shapes experts in Hamburg were responsible for optimization of the bottle. The new containers will continue to be produced on…

Freudenberg Sealing Technologies has expanded its material testing capabilities to include performance and compatibility evaluations of the rubber, elastomers and thermoplastics used to seal and safely maintain lithium-ion batteries. The company has installed sophisticated equipment and adopted new testing protocols in its Plymouth, Mich., Central Laboratory that will provide conclusive data on which materials optimally…

By providing seals for electrolyzers, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies is contributing to sustainable hydrogen production based on solar and wind power. The seals are designed for automated production, enabling a rapid buildup of high manufacturing capacities. The global production capacity for green hydrogen could increase to more than 250 gigawatts by 2030, according to a study…

Ordinary vapor-compression cooling is inefficient and un-green. Future-generations of air conditioning may instead use electrocaloric techniques with almost no moving parts. Leland Teschler • Executive Editor Here’s some bad news about our warming world, courtesy of the International Energy Agency: The use of air conditioners and electric fans already accounts for about a fifth of…

By Leslie Langnau Early in the 3D printing industry, there were efforts to take wood byproducts and use that material to make parts. These early efforts were interesting for the novelty. Today, however, there’s a more serious effort to turn wood into a usable 3D printable material. Desktop Metal launched Forust, a process to sustainably…

By Rick Meyerhoefer, Delta Computer Systems Roughly 3% of the world’s generated electricity is consumed in the mining process of breaking down rocks. In Canada alone, mines consume more than 150 petajoules annually. For perspective, 1 petajoule can power the city of Calgary for three weeks, so any significant drop in mining energy requirements could…

When it comes to sustainability, plastics have a bad reputation among many consumers. “The problem here lies less in the explicit use thereof, for plastic has a number of positive material properties. It’s not just unbreakable and flexible, for instance, but also effectively protects the packaged item from various damaging factors,” said Martin Thyssen, packaging…

DELO now offers a structural adhesive for batteries used in hybrid vehicles. Designed for high-volume series production, DELO-DUOPOX TC8686 is thermally conductive and flame-retardant. Already being used by an automotive supplier in the ramp-up phase of production, this new adhesive is suitable for low-voltage batteries found in mild hybrid and conventional hybrid vehicles, as well…

U.S.-based manufacturer Cascade Engineering has partnered with Israeli-clean-tech startup, UBQ Materials, to create automotive parts made by converting unsorted trash — everything from banana peels to diapers — into mixed plastics and paper. One of the first to trial UBQ as a substitute to traditional oil-based resins, the two companies partnered in an R&D relationship…

  Plastic is one of the most serious problems of the 21st century. This is not due to the raw materials or production processes, but to the fact that 32% of plastic packaging worldwide is not recovered (whether by landfill, incineration, or recycling). They end up uncontrolled in the environment. A complete decomposition of plastics…

Vehicle efficiency improvements are genrally accomplished by incrementally modifying components and control systems — often at a cost of millions of dollars. But now, a team led by Southwest Research Institute has applied connectivity and automation to achieve a 20% improvement in efficiency on a 2017 Toyota Prius Prime. Working with collaborators at the University…

The Freudenberg Group’s lithium-ion battery operation, XALT Energy, is supplying high-performance battery pouch cells to Commeo GmbH. Commeo, a German energy system specialist, is using the cells in stationary energy storage systems and a wide range of system applications that will provide an uninterruptible, flexible energy supply. Due to the growing private and industrial demands…

Eco-Corr Film ESD is a biodegradable, compostable static dissipative film technology that targets electronics, telecommunications, packaging, and electric car industries seeking environmentally friendly packaging solutions. In anticipation of new EU regulations penalizing sales of non-recyclable plastic packaging materials, EcoCortec is offering revolutionary, commercially compostable alternative to conventional polyethylene electrostatic dissipating (ESD) films. Eco-Corr Film ESD…

With the help of adhesive forces, geckos have been moving easily over smooth surfaces for millions of years. Now, Schunk is using this principle for developing various fields of handling applications with its new gripping technology, ADHESO. With this technology, components can be sensitively gripped, without leaving any residue or requiring additional energy. The possible…

Here’s a novel way to create more environmentally friendly manufacturing facilities across the world: remanufacturing robots. This practice, being instituted by manufacturer ABB, enables existing robot users to sell inactive or legacy robots with an attractive buy back service, rather than scrapping them or leaving them unused in a corner of the factory. Over the…

Leading industrial companies from the automotive, pharmaceutical and food industries have clear CO2 targets for their products. These require machine builders to make significant energy savings in new machine generations compared with previous machines. Festo’s energy efficiency module MSE6-C2M offers a smart solution for the compressed air system market. When it comes to condition monitoring…

Road-to-rig testing brings real-world emissions testing into a precision lab setting and is generally regarded as the future of vehicle development. JOSH ISRAEL | HORIBA AUTOMOTIVE TEST SYSTEMS In 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created Rover—a first-of-its-kind on-board mass emissions measurement system. In the 25 years since the creation of that first unit, the…

Each year, roughly one out of every 200 wind turbine blades fail. Those failures pose a twofold concern for turbine owners. First, when a blade fails, there’s unplanned downtime and potential insurance issues. Second, how can blade manufacturers and turbine owners and operators feel confident that the blades on their turbine are tested adequately? Researchers…

By: Sheldon Yourist, Senior Director of Global Design, Graham Packaging and Balaji Jayaseelan, Director of Sustainability and Regulatory Affairs, Graham Packaging In recent years, plastic has come under increased scrutiny due to low recyclability rates and the growing amount of plastic waste in the natural environment. While manufacturers are stepping up efforts to meet consumer…