Scania says battery trucks will beat hydrogen fuel cells
With fossil-fuels evidently on the way out, there are divided opinions about which type of electric drive is best suited for trucks batteries or fuel cells. Despite the fact that Scania has invested in hydrogen fuel cell technologies it says that it considers the potential for fuel cells vehicles (FCVs) is "limited." Scania reckons that thanks to technology improvements (battery energy density, charging times) electric vehicles will "gradually overtake Scania’s industry-leading fossil and biofuel powered solutions in most transport applications". Scania cites that the main reason for this is that fuel life life-cycle energy efficiency is just a third of the battery electric vehicle. In Scania’s words, “the use of hydrogen for such applications will be limited since three times as much renewable electricity is needed to power a hydrogen truck compared to a battery electric truck. A great deal of energy is namely lost in the production, distribution, and conversion back to electricity.” Scania also says that FCVs are also more complex, require more maintenance and they cost more.
Lego amongst leaders in EU green consumption pledge
The European Commission has launched its Green Consumption Pledge initiative, inviting companies to accelerate their contribution to a green transition and build consumer trust in sustainable products. Colruyt Group, Decathlon, Lego Group, L'Oreal, and Renewd are the first companies participating in a pilot project. The companies are committing to five carbon pledges, including the calculation of their own CO2 footprints as well as that of their selected flagship products, and to increase the sale of sustainable products and services.
DNV GL sees the oil industry greening
DNV GL, an international certifier, headquartered in Norway, says that for the oil industry, decarbonization has gone from being peripheral, to being an immediate priority. According to a new study carried out by DNV GL the oil and gas industry is seeking to adapt to long-term development. Amongst the highlights of the report;
The Nordics seek greater granularity in climate data
In November 2020 the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Working Group on Climate and Air (NKL) arranged a digital workshop to get better granularity of local predictions of climate projections (downscaling), different user needs and the implications for climate adaptation. The aim of the workshop was to explore the user needs and enhance the science-policy interface with regard to climate modelling and climate adaptation in the Nordic countries. The participants concluded that Nordic co-operation on downscaling of climate models was essential, with a need for enhanced communication between producers of climate models and end users.
The Nordic countries are some of the most dynamic and successful economies in the world. They are also leaders in sustainability, from renewable energy, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and the hydrogen economy, circular economy business models and battery development, the Nordics are pioneers in policy design, technology development and consumer uptake. Mundus Nordic Green News is covering this transition for the international community. Every day we clip the stories of most relevance to international businesspeople and policy experts from the flow of news. We supplement these with our own opinion pieces and commentary, in English. Mundus was founded in 2012 to provide information and analysis to embassies accredited to Sweden. Today, we deliver news, analysis and media monitoring of the Nordic countries to the international community in the Nordics.