Technology Briefs - Jan. 4 - Jan. 9
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The Latest Headlines:
- Cummins Joins Calif. Partnership
- Brazil Pumps Up Its Ethanol Use, Journal Reports
- TMW Moves '06 User Group Meeting to Chicago
- IdleAire Completes Financing for Expansion Plan
- Brazil Pumps Up Its Ethanol Use, Journal Reports
Cummins Joins Calif. Partnership
Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. said it will participate in a public-private partnership led by the California South Coast Air Quality Management District to demonstrate advanced diesel engine emissions control systems meeting 2010 air standards.The project is focused on demonstrating very low emissions reduction for waste collection vehicles operating in urban areas, Cummins said Thursday.
"This highlights the confidence the SCAQMD and other agencies have in Cummins ability to meet very challenging technical requirements with commercially viable solutions as we look ahead to the [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s] EPA 2010 emissions standard,” said Christine Vujovich, Cummins’ vice president for marketing and environmental policy. Transport Topics
Brazil Pumps Up Its Ethanol Use, Journal Reports
Brazil is using large amounts of sugar-based ethanol fuel in cars and trucks as it attempts to reduce its dependence on foreign fuel imports, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.With current prices, the country, South America’s most populous, can make ethanol for about $1 a gallon, compared with about $1.50 for gasoline, the paper reported.
Ethanol now contributes about 20% of Brazil’s fuel market, the Journal said in a front-page story.
Brazil’s exports of ethanol may double to $1.3 billion by 2010, due largely to exports to Japan and Sweden, the paper said. Transport Topics
TMW Moves '06 User Group Meeting to Chicago
Fleet technology provider TMW Systems said Wednesday it has set its 20th annual user group meeting for Oct. 22-25 in Chicago.After hosting a record-breaking 725 attendees from about 230 trucking companies based in five different countries at its user group last year in Cleveland, TMW said it made the decision to move the event to a larger venue near O’Hare Airport in Chicago.
“Total attendance at our . . . conference has risen every year as more and more customers have realized the tremendous value that this event offers, and we’ve literally outgrown the facilities in Cleveland,” said Tom Weisz, the company’s chairman.
TMW said in September it had finalized an agreement to be purchased by Wachovia Capital Partners and Peppertree Capital Management. (Click here for previous coverage.)
IdleAire Completes Financing for Expansion Plan
IdleAire Technologies Corp. said Wednesday it sold $320 million of discount notes and warrants to fund the company’s growth in the next 15 months.Proceeds from the sale, announced by Chief Executive Officer Mike Crabtree, will fund the addition of IdleAire’s Advanced Truckstop Electrification, or ATE, system in more than 13,000 parking spaces in about 210 locations in up to 35 states.
The ATE technology allows drivers of long-haul trucks to turn their engines off instead of idling for extended periods to heat or cool the cab during daily required rest stops, or while waiting to load or unload.
The only retrofit required for any long-haul truck to use the system is a $10 window adapter, IdleAire said. Transport Topics
