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.
The Tyre Collective – winners of the James Dyson Awards 2020 – have designed a device to capture tyre particulate at source. According to the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs’ “Air Quality: Brake, Tyre and Road Surface Wear” report, tyre-wear accounts for nearly half of road transport particulate emissions. Furthermore, a reported half a million tonnes of tyre particles are produced annually in Europe alone, from vehicles accelerating, braking and cornering. As we move towards electric vehicles in the future, exhaust emissions will reduce but tyre particles will continue. The Tyre Collective estimate that tyre emissions may even increase, as electric vehicles become heavier due to the added battery weight. For both reasons, this year’s UK national James Dyson Award winners attempt to address this issue.
Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. has completed a significant upgrade of its emissions controls at its plant in Orange, Texas. As a result of these actions, the site complies with strengthened environmental standards which reduce the site’s emission permits for NOx and SO2 by 2,300 metric tons of air pollutant emissions per year.
Cabot Corporation is planning to invest US $90 million in upgrading its Ville Platte, Louisiana carbon black factory. According to various US news sources, the project will capture waste energy to create steam from an incineration process, remove impurities and generate electricity to power site operations. Cabot is expected to create 15 new jobs in addition to the existing workforce of 90 at the site as a result of the investment.
BM Catalysts
Enso
Wastefront
Continental
Comeap
Wrightbus
Michelin
The Tyre Collective
Cabot