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President Biden calls on Congress, States for fuel tax holiday; increase in refinery capacity

Green Car Congress

President Biden called on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax for the next 90 days, through the busy summer driving season—18 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24 cents per gallon for diesel. That figure is down from 141 refineries in 2017, with 4 idle. State gas taxes average another 30 cents per gallon.

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California ARB approves XL Hybrids aftermarket hybrid conversions for Ford Transit vans and wagons

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XL Hybrids has received a California Air Resources Board Executive Order (CARB EO) allowing aftermarket conversions of gasoline-powered Ford Transit cargo vans and passenger wagons to be upgraded with the XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive System. XL Hybrids conversions for CARB-compliant GM vans and wagons also qualify for HVIP.

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UC Santa Barbara team develops catalytic molten metals for direct conversion of methane to hydrogen without forming CO2

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Bi 0.73 ) achieved 95% methane conversion at 1065°C in a 1.1-meter Under these conditions, the equilibrium conversion is 98%. When the temperature was reduced to 1040 °C, the CH 4 conversion decreased to 86%. Higher conversions, at higher temperatures, were not possible because of Mg evaporation. —Upham et al.

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China team develops efficient multifunctional catalyst for conversion of CO2 to gasoline-range hydrocarbons

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This catalyst exhibited 78% selectivity to C 5 -C 11 as well as low (4%) CH 4 at a CO 2 conversion of 22% under industrial relevant conditions. Moreover, the multifunctional catalyst exhibited a remarkable stability for 1,000 h on stream, showing potential to be a promising industrial catalyst for CO 2 conversion to liquid fuels.

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Sandia-led team demonstrates two efficient hybrid biochemical routes for lignin conversion to value-added chemicals

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A Sandia National Laboratories-led team has demonstrated two new routes to lignin conversion that combine the advantages of earlier methods while minimizing their drawbacks. Conversely, harsh chemicals can deconstruct lignin in hours or even minutes. Together, Singh reports, these chemicals have a combined market value of $255.7

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DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office updates 5-year program plan; commercially viable hydrocarbon biofuel technologies by 2017; <$3/GGE

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The Office’s high-level schedule aims for development of commercially viable renewable gasoline, diesel, and jet technologies by 2017 through R&D, and enables a trajectory toward long-term renewable fuels goals.

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Scientists develop method for direct conversion of methane to methanol or acetic acid under mild conditions

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Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory, Tufts University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have shown that mononuclear rhodium species, anchored on a zeolite or titanium dioxide support suspended in aqueous solution, can catalyze the direct conversion of methane to methanol and acetic acid using oxygen and carbon monoxide under mild conditions.