fuel

Walmart has never been afraid to be bold when it comes to living up to its environmental sustainability pledge—even if it means moving away from the familiar. For material handlers, one of the most familiar things is a pallet truck. So when Walmart Canada decided to try fuel-cell-powered pallet trucks at its new perishable distribution center outside of Calgary, Alberta, the lift truck vendor involved in the project made it clear that the change would require a change in how operators interact with this equipment.

In San Francisco, the US FAA and Australia’s Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism have reached a Memorandum of Understanding to continue research and development of clean, sustainable alternative aviation fuels.

US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Australian Ambassador to the United States Kim Beazley signed the agreement at the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) Transport & Energy Ministers Ministerial Conference Summit meetings in San Francisco.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation have introduced national standards to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses. This national program is projected to reduce GHG emissions by nearly 250 million metric tons and save 500 million barrels of oil over the lives of the vehicles produced within the program’s first five years.

“In addition to cutting greenhouse gas pollution, greater fuel economy will shrink fuel costs for small businesses that depend on pick ups and heavy duty vehicles, shipping companies and cities and towns with fleets of these vehicles, says Lisa Jackson, EPA administrator.

Truckload carrier Swift Transportation has extended its contract for Fuel Management System (FMS) software and services from FuelQuest Inc. for an additional five years. Swift will also begin using FuelQuest's delivery and invoice reconciliation applications.

The FMS solution helps Swift maintain security of its fuel supply, leading to reduced retains and run-outs, and lowering fuel costs with a larger portfolio of suppliers.

Mitsubishi Fuso Trucks and Bus Corporation представил новый грузовик, позволяющий обеспечить существенную топливную экономию. Создатели решили все преимущества новинки обозначить в её названии. Super Great Fuel Efficient Truck сможет беречь до 10% топлива.

WalMart has created quite a stir in its vendor community as it moves forwards with plans to take over inbound transportation management for most vendor shipments to its distribution centers and stores.

Currently, nearly all vendor shipments to WalMart are managed by the vendor, in some cases as part of a "total delivered price," in other cases under a "Collect" arrangement where WalMart selects the carrier and pays for the freight, but the vendor works with the designated carrier to execute the shipment.

An Australian National University (ANU) team has successfully replicated one of the crucial steps in photosynthesis, opening the way for biological systems powered by sunlight, which could manufacture hydrogen as a fuel.

“Water is abundant and so is sunlight. It is an exciting prospect to use them to create hydrogen, and do it cheaply and safely,” said Dr Kastoori Hingorani, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis in the ANU Research School of Biology.

Hydrogen offers potential as a zero-carbon replacement for petroleum products, and is already used for launching space craft. However, until this work, the way that plants produce hydrogen by splitting water has been poorly understood.

The team created a protein which, when exposed to light, displays the electrical heartbeat that is the key to photosynthesis.

The system uses a naturally-occurring protein and does not need batteries or expensive metals, meaning it could be affordable in developing countries, Dr Hingorani said.

Захист довкілля безпосереднім чином пов'язаний із переходом автомобілебудівної галузі на виробництво екологічно чистих автомобілів. Провідні компанії вважають цей напрямок пріоритетним.

Автомобільна компанія Hino Motors, що входить до концерну Toyota, представила новий міський автобус Fuel Cell Bus, що працює на водневому паливі. Двигуном машини слугують тягові електромотори, які отримують струм від перетворення паливних елементів. Детальні технічні характеристики новинки розробники поки не розголошують. Стало відомо тільки те, що довжина автобуса 10,5 метра і він повністю низькопідлоговий. Пасажирські сидіння розташовані по бортах салону, як в метро, ??що збільшує накопичувальну площу та покращує комфорт пасажирів при їзді стоячи.