A new Era in EU Industrial Strategy

This article appeared in the March issue of PowerTALK News.

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The European Commission has released a document showing how they are going to support the European Industry in the challenging transformation required in the coming years. 

Emiliano Marzoli
Emiliano Marzoli

The strategy is made up of three pillars designed to give European companies the opportunity to grow and strengthen their position in the global market. The pillars focus on global competitiveness, “green” development, and development of digital infrastructures.

The green and digital transformations are critical to develop new skills and capabilities to retain Europe as an innovation leader.

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Cummins Agnostic ICE’s and Hydrogen Fuel Update

NORTH AMERICA REPORT
Chris Fisher
Chris Fisher

Cummins plans to introduce their agnostic ICE engine platforms with testing to begin in 2024 and series production to start in the 2026/2027 timeframe.  The engine platforms use a common base engine.  Below the head gasket the engines will mostly have similar components and above the head gasket the engine will have different components for different fuel types.  The new platforms will include the B6.7, X10 and the X15 engines.  The X10 will ultimately supersede the current L9 and X12 engine platforms.  

In North America, Cummins plans to introduce the agnostic engine platforms starting in 2026.  Diesel and natural gas will be the first fuel types introduced and hydrogen versions will soon follow.

SourcesFleetOwner  Cummins X Series Agnostic Engines  Cummins Agnostic Overview

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New Restrictions for Import of Right-Wheel Engines to Russia Launched

New restrictions for imports of right-wheel engines to Russia became effective July 1. Completely barred from import are machines of the M2 and M3 class – trucks, buses, LCVs and construction machines.

Maxim Sakov
Maxim Sakov

On top of this, the procedure of Custom’s clearance of right-wheel passenger cars became more complicated. The owner of such car should obtain technical certificate, confirming compliance of car design to the safety requirement.

According to the Federal Customs Service, the amount of payments will depend on ecological class, production date, engine volume and other parameters. This will include processing fee, custom’s tax and utilization fee.      Read The Article

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Show Report: 2022 NEW Environmental Exposition

FAR EAST: JAPAN REPORT

Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

Last month, I visited the three-day 2022 NEW Environmental Exposition, an exhibition of environment-related equipment in Tokyo. The show promoted the effective use of resources, new energy and energy reduction, and the utilization of CO2 emission reduction technologies

Source: Official Website

PSR Analysis: The exhibition featured many environment-related devices for waste treatment, demolition, bioplastics, water treatment and purification, heat utilization systems, recycling, and more.

Large equipment such as those that crush and efficiently separate debris mixed with earth, sand, and wood; metal recovery systems from seawater using special fibers, and equipment related to crushing wood, stone, and other materials were eye-catching in variety and size.

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Thoughts on Battery Change for New Energy Vehicle, using Big Data

Qin Fen
Qin Fen

The symposium of battery change mode for new energy vehicle was held June 15 in Xuzhou, Jiangsu.  Data from National Big Data Alliance of New Energy Vehicles suggests that over 3 million new energy vehicles were in the system in 2019 and 900,000 vehicles are running daily.  Data also suggest that new energy vehicle GVW range primarily falls under 4.5 tons.

Source: Sohu  Read The Article

PSR Analysis: Many numbers are in the article, some contradictory.  As one of the truck OEMs, XCMG does make some excellent points on the daily use of the battery-powered vehicle, using data collected from end-users, such as working hours, range anxiety and surprisingly, maintenance and downtime.

But I want to point out one potential issue that might travel under the radar: operating cost, more specifically, fuel cost.  For large fleet owners like JD.com Inc. or SF Express, fuel cost might be a key factor in choosing a battery-powered vehicle over ICE-powered vehicle for urban delivery.

There are energy companies already working with large industrial businesses to install wind or solar power onsite to address their electricity bill issue.  Once completed, giant companies like JD or SF Express will significantly cut down their operating expenses on fuel, in this case, electricity.

There is one game changer out there now.  How will ICE-powered light duty trucks compete with battery-powered vehicles, when the latter runs free of charge and free of emission?  What will happen to all the components suppliers for light duty trucks, especially urban delivery trucks?  PSR

Qin Fen Is Business Development Manager in China for Power Systems Research.

Magni, Bobcat Reach New Heights

Emiliano Marzoli
Emiliano Marzoli

Magni TH, an Italian manufacturer of material handling equipment, has signed an agreement with Bobcat to supply a range of rotating telehandlers (RTH) between 18 and 39 meters. 

The new machines will be produced in Italy, by Magni TH, with the Bobcat branding and stage V engines.  In order to achieve demand Magni has already developed a new facility, allowing the company to produce 3500 rotating telehandlers per year, once at full capacity.  This agreement will allow Magni to grow significantly according to their president and founder, Riccardo Magni.

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Case New Holland(CNH) To Halt Sales of Construction Machinery

CHINA REPORT
Jack Hao
Jack Hao

CNH Industrial Group says it is stopping the sales of construction machinery and equipment in the Chinese market after Dec. 31, 2022. This is another significant development by foreign brands in the Chinese market.

John Deere withdrew from the Chinese market after the original industrial structure was changed by the merger of the Chinese plant of Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. At the same time, Hitachi Construction Machinery also made changes to Hitachi Construction Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., which is responsible for sales and services in China, and set up a new sales and service company, “Hitachi Construction Machinery Sales (China) Co., Ltd.”, which began operating Nov. 1, 2022.

On Dec. 29, 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced that from Dec. 1, 2022, all off-road mobile machines below 560kw (including 560kw) produced, imported and sold and their diesel engines installed shall meet the requirements of the Chinese IV emission standard. The implementation time of Chinese IV emission of off-road mobile machinery above 560kw and its installed diesel engines has not been announced.

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Jacto Announces New Plant in Brazil

Jacto has announced a new 96,000 m2 plant that it will build by 2023 in Pompeia-SP – Brazil, the same location where most of its operations are already located. Fernando Gonçalves Neto, Jacto President, says the new and modern facility will sustain forecasted growth for several years.

Source: M&T Magazine     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: Jacto has been growing in importance with specialized products for high caliber agriculture in Brazil with sprayers, harvesters, and seeders. They have been launching new agricultural products with remarkable success and the growth outlook is positive. PSR

Fabio Ferraresi is Director of Business Development-South America for Power Systems Research

Cummins Jumps On New Energy Storage Iron Salt Formula

Cummins $24 million stake in the startup VoltStorage gives them a foot in the door with new iron redox flow technology. There is nothing wrong with lithium-ion energy storage but global demand for energy storage has nowhere to go but up, and so are lithium prices. While lithium is relatively abundant in the ground, but current supply is falling behind demand. At the same time, lithium extraction is messy and has significant environmental impact, causing local opposition to new mines and other facilities which could stall development. Aside from accessing a recyclable supply chain that can avoid conflict issues, flow battery fans note a long list of advantages over lithium-ion technology including lower cost, longer duration, and ease of scalability

Source: CleanTechnica Read The Article

PSR Analysis: Cummins has been making investments into EVs (such as the purchase of Brammo in 2017 and Meritor in 2022) for some time and this low cost, long duration, grid scale energy storage battery is part of their plan. This diversifies their portfolio of alternative power systems and helps them in the gid scale storage market. One of the major advantages for flow batteries is that they aren’t lithium-based and are therefore not subject to the same massive and sustained price increases that lithium material is seeing. PSR

Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Lead Analyst at Power Systems Research

New Hydrogen Colors to Watch in 2024

Hydrogen has the potential to be emissions free but only if we understand how the hydrogen is generated / manufactured or whether it occurs naturally. Several new terms have been used recently in the press, and this article explains them.

Gold hydrogen refers to naturally occurring deposits of the gas trapped underground in a way similar to how natural gas and oil deposits are found under the Earth’s surface. This type of H2 is different from White in that White now typically refers to the gas when it is above the surface, such as in the atmosphere, but Gold refers specifically to the gas found in underground deposits.

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