Power Briefing recap: week of Oct. 7

With another week behind us, here’s what you might have missed in Power Briefing.

• When the U.S. Federal Reserve Board (the Fed) recently cut its policy interest rate, the 50-basis-points cut was seen as unusually large. ITR Economics discussed this and what it means for manufacturers this year and the next.
• San Bernardino, Calif., was recently ranked by lawn care company LawnStarter as the Dirtiest City in America. Air pollution is one reason for that designation. But the city will soon put into service a zero emission, hydrogen fuel cell-powered commuter train made by Switzerland’s Stadler.
• While selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is not a new approach to addressing diesel engine nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, some of the diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) required of the technology has been linked to engine failures in the heavy transport and lifting space.
• Canada’s Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) has been doing much research into hydrogen as an alternative fuel for commercial trucking in the country. At the recent AMTA Industry Innovations Expo, the group launched a new hydrogen fuel cell-powered Class 8 truck prototype designed and built with the help of multiple industry collaborators.

In other news, new leaders were named for the Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies JV, Republic Services ordered another 100 McNeilus electric refuse vehicles, and Himoinsa introduced a new gen-set lineup.

Power Briefing recap: week of Sept. 30 CANought collaboration, fuel cell-powered buses and another BESS on a construction site.

Power Briefing recap: week of Sept. 23 The first electric RT crane for North America, Briggs & Stratton batteries and an IMO meeting about Arctic pollution.