Solicitors Slater and Gordon has announced that an out of court settlement has been reached in the Volkswagen NOx Emissions Group Litigation, whereby £193m will be made to the claimants by the Volkswagen Group, plus a separate contribution towards the Claimants’ legal costs and fees.
Motoring organisation RAC has moved to “set record straight” following controversial remarks from Environment Secretary George Eustice that electric vehicles (EV) may not be as green as people think. In order to do that the RAC, which wants to speed up EV take-up, commissioned battery electrochemist Dr Euan McTurk to address the suggestion that EVs produce more particulate from brake and tyre wear than their petrol and diesel counterparts.
New Government regulations coming into effect today (14 February 2022) mean that more environmentally-friendly heavy goods vehicles are now allowed on Britain’s roads. The new rules will allow haulage companies to choose vehicles with elongated cabs and aerodynamic features fitted on the back, which help reduce fuel consumption. A 2013 study estimated that these aerodynamic improvements to HGVs could result in fuel savings of 7 per cent to 15 per cent.
BM Catalysts, which makes catalytic converters, DPFs and front pipes reports that it has “further boosted its capacity to supply products throughout Europe in order to meet ongoing demand” The company is currently exporting to more than 35 countries worldwide.
UK tyre retreader Vaculug has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2030. The pledge means that greenhouse gases produced by Vaculug will be balanced by the amount removed from the atmosphere. The company says it recognises the importance of becoming a sustainable company and is committed to achieving net zero by changing the way it operates. The company notes that it is “the first tyre retreader” to make this pledge.
Enso aims to disrupt the market by combining sustainable, energy-efficient, high-mileage anti-particulate, electric vehicle-orientated tyres with a direct-to-customer, tyres-as-a-service business model. Following the news that an Enso tyre-equipped Renault Zoe set a new hypermiling record at least partly based on its tyres, Tyres & Accessories found out more about the company, its products and its financial position.
Mitford peer Lord Redesdale and Conservative Andrew Griffith MP, UK Net Zero Business Champion, will inaugurate the UK’s first fully electric ‘Carbon Battle Bus’ at Old Palace Yard in Westminster, London on Wednesday 9 June at 1pm. The event will launch the start of the ambitious Zero Carbon Tour, organised by sustainability certification Planet Mark, and set in motion a series of zero carbon initiatives, including UK businesses showcasing their sustainability journeys. The Tour culminates at COP26 in Glasgow in November.
On April 1, the subsidiary Lesjöfors Fjädrar in Mid-Sweden began the shift to biogas, which is a fossil-free energy source. The green transition will reduce the company’s carbon dioxide emissions by 70-90 per cent. Lesjöfors Fjädrar has previously used propane gas as the energy source, which is a fossil-based fuel. The plant is one of the Lesjöfors Group’s top consumers of gas. The biogas system estimates to reduce the company’s carbon dioxide emissions by 70-90 per cent (1,600-2,000 tonnes) on an annual basis, calculated “well to wheel”.
As a leading automotive supplier, Hella wants to further accelerate its own efforts against climate change and send a clear signal for climate protection. So, by 2025, all 38 Hella production sites worldwide are to manufacture in a CO2-neutral manner. Carbon neutrality is to be achieved in particular through further energy savings and the purchase of green electricity. At the same time, remaining and unavoidable emissions are to be offset by investments in high-quality certified climate protection projects. In addition, Hella aims to ensure a consistently climate-neutral supply chain by 2050 at the latest and to supply customers worldwide with CO2-neutral products.
Wastefront recently appointed Norwegian international accredited registrar and classification society DNV GL to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment for Wastefront’s proposed tyre to hydrocarbon plant in Sunderland. The Sunderland plant, which was announced last summer and which will be delivered in association with Devaltec LLC, is due to be completed in 2023. Now Wastefront’s Sunderland plant is roughly two years away from operation, the company has shared some of the primary base-case scenario findings from the report with Tyres & Accessories.
Continental AG is aiming to be completely carbon-neutral by 2050. One of the earliest landmarks in the plans sees Continental move to being carbon-neutral in some areas within two years. Specifically, from 2022 Continental will make its global business for emission-free cars, buses, trains and other vehicles carbon-neutral. The programme covers the company’s production processes as well as their upstream stages and recycling at the end of use. In this way, the technology company is helping the industry make emission-free mobility completely carbon-neutral.
An independent advisory committee to the UK Department of Health has found no compelling evidence that exposure to tyre and road wear particles poses a health risk at current UK concentrations. Based on a review of present scientific knowledge, the updated position statement recently published by the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) extends to all non-exhaust particles from road transport, including brake wear and road surface particulates.
Europe’s car makers are mostly on track to meet more stringent 2020-21 EU carbon emission targets, helped by a subsidy-fuelled boom in electric vehicle sales, pooled carbon-dioxide emissions credits and incremental gains in conventional engine technology. European credit ratings agency Scope Ratings says that the chances of any of original equipment manufacturers incurring heavy fines for missing the EU’s carbon-dioxide target of 95g/km for 2020-21 are low, even though not all OEMs will meet the regulatory threshold for average fleet emissions.
Twenty Wrightbus hydrogen double-decker buses have been ordered by Birmingham City Council as part of its Clean Air Hydrogen Bus Pilot. The buses will be added to the National Express West Midlands fleet and will operate from April 2021. The city already has 29 battery-electric double-decker buses in circulation and this order represents the council’s latest move to drive down emissions.
The ABB FIA Formula E Championship has become the first sport to have a net zero carbon footprint since inception, investing in internationally certified projects in all race markets to offset emissions from six seasons of electric racing. Formula E’s announcement was made during the launch of Climate Week NYC 2020 and featured on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 on 23rd September. Following the recommended approach set out by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Formula E has followed three key steps to achieve a net zero carbon footprint: effective measurement of carbon output, prioritising reducing its footprint and offsetting remaining unavoidable emissions.
Tookapic; Pixabay
BM Catalysts
Enso
Wastefront
Continental
Comeap
Wrightbus
Michelin