All posts tagged: expand

EU invests €422m to expand alternative fuels infrastructure

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[ad_1] In a significant move towards greener transportation, the European Commission has selected 39 groundbreaking projects across the EU to expand alternative fuels infrastructure. These projects will receive a total investment of €422m through the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF), reinforcing the EU’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality. This substantial financial boost aims to accelerate the transition to cleaner and more sustainable transport options. Apostolos Tzitzikostas, EU Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, commented: “The 39 projects we are supporting today will accelerate the deployment of critical recharging and refuelling infrastructure needed for our expanding zero-emission fleets. “Together, they will add nearly 5,000 new charging points, including 626 mega-watt chargers, helping citizens choose zero-emission vehicles and contribute to a cleaner environment.” Key investments in clean transport solutions The selected projects will drive the deployment of essential infrastructure for alternative fuels. A significant portion of the funding will support the installation of 2,500 public electric recharging points for light-duty vehicles and 2,400 for heavy-duty vehicles along the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). Additionally, …

EVgo secures $1.25bn to expand fast EV charging across US

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[ad_1] In a significant boost to the nation’s electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a $1.25bn loan guarantee to EVgo Swift Borrower LLC. This major initiative aims to deploy around 7,500 high-powered fast EV charging stations at approximately 1,100 locations across the United States over the next five years. By enabling drivers to charge their vehicles quickly and conveniently, this technology is vital to addressing range anxiety and supporting widespread EV adoption. Revolutionising EV charging accessibility The first wave of deployments will feature state-of-the-art 350kW direct current (DC) fast chargers. These units can charge two vehicles simultaneously, offering an 80% battery recharge in just 20 minutes, depending on the EV model and battery conditions. Such advancements address a critical barrier to EV adoption: the lack of reliable and fast EV charging options. This initiative also incorporates dynamic power-sharing technology, which maximises charging efficiency by redistributing unused power between vehicles. The rollout will include advanced features like Autocharge+, simplifying the payment process by enabling users to plug in …

Cain International partners with Olympian Homes to expand PBSA platform with St James House redevelopment in Bristol

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[ad_1] Alternative asset manager Cain International which specialists in real estate investment solutions, has acquired St James House in Bristol which it will redevelop with Olympian Homes. The scheme, set to be the tallest in Bristol at 28 storeys, will provide 574 beds and bring Cain’s Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) equity platform to a total gross development value of approximately £800 million. This represents the delivery of 3,000 beds across the UK, following the development of five PBSA assets completed in 2023. Developed by Olympian Homes, St James House will comprise two towers: one featuring 442 beds, and the other offering 132 larger co-living units. The asset will include approximately 15,000 sqft of premium amenity space, including a cinema room, a fitness suite, study areas, a games room, and group dining facilities. The development is targeting BREEAM Excellent and WiredScore Platinum certifications. Completion is targeted for the 2028/29 academic year. RG Group have been appointed to deliver the scheme, further extending the relationship between Olympian & RG group. Located in the heart of Bristol, St …

UK’s Zapp EV plans to expand globally with an early start in India

UK’s Zapp EV plans to expand globally with an early start in India

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[ad_1] Zapp Electric Vehicles wants to turn its London-based electric two-wheeler brand into a global EV company. And India will be one of its launchpads, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. The company will launch its first product — an urban electric two-wheeler called the i300 — in the UK as early as next month, followed by Thailand. The company is now adding India into the mix, a massive market that will provide a true test to its international global expansion strategy, Zapp founder and CEO Swin Chatsuwan told TechCrunch in an interview. The Nasdaq-listed company advanced its plans for India after Chatsuwan noted the country’s potential. The world’s most populous country not only witnesses millions of two-wheeler sales annually, it’s also the second-biggest two-wheeler manufacturer worldwide after China. “We thought India would be phase two for us when we did our research a few years ago, but we made a decision earlier this year that it can’t wait,” Chatsuwan said. Zapp has named Indian electric two-wheeler maker Bounce Electric 1 as its contract manufacturer to produce …

Does the Universe expand by stretching or creating space?

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[ad_1] It’s been almost 100 years since humanity first reached a revolutionary conclusion about the nature of our Universe: space itself cannot and does not remain static, but rather evolves with the passage of time. One of the most unsettling predictions of Einstein’s general relativity is that any Universe — so long as it’s uniformly (or almost uniformly) filled with one or more species of matter, radiation, or energy — cannot remain the same over time. Instead, it must either expand or contract, something initially derived independently by three separate people: Alexander Friedmann (1922), Georges Lemaitre (1927), and Howard Robertson (1929), and was later generalized by Arthur Walker (1936). Right at around the same time, starting in 1923, observations began to show that the spirals and ellipticals in our sky were actually galaxies: “island universes” that were well outside of our own Milky Way. With new, more powerful measurements, we could determine that the farther away a galaxy was from us, the greater the arriving light in our instruments was redshifted, or observed at longer wavelengths, compared to the …

Panattoni snaps up 10 acres to expand Sittingbourne development

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[ad_1] Logistics property developer Panattoni has acquired a further 10 acres of land in Swale, Kent. The purchase will take Panattoni’s investment in the area to £170 million as it looks to create what will now be a 36-acre logistics park at Sittingbourne, targeting net zero carbon emissions. Work recently got under way on the speculative development to deliver the first phase of the park, comprising two units of 440,000 sq ft and 205,000 sq ft respectively. Completion of these units is expected in March 2025. The new land will enable the developer to prepare plans which could see up to a further 128,000 sq ft of commercial space developed at Panattoni Park Sittingbourne. These proposals, which would be subject to a planning application, could see construction start later this year and complete by the third quarter of 2025. Tony Watkins, head of development for the South East and London at Panattoni, said: “The acquisition of the additional 10 acres reflects the attractiveness of the location, with demand for high quality logistics facilities continuing to …

Geothermal industry looks to tap oil and gas workers to expand renewable energy

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[ad_1] BOISE, Idaho — A U.S. Department of Energy report this spring made a bold prediction. The nascent geothermal industry, it said, has a ready workforce of 300,000 engineers, hydrologists, drillers and power plant operators ready to tap right here in this country. All that’s needed are more early adopters like Tina Riley who are willing to move over from the oil and gas sector. After two decades as a geologist with ExxonMobil in Houston, she recently moved to Idaho to help run Boise’s geothermal utility. “Boise is really well known for geothermal and I wanted to become part of it,” Riley says. “I really wanted to be part of the energy transition.” Geothermal energy, which in its simplest form means tapping hot water locked in granite faults sometimes thousands of feet below the surface of the earth to create heat or electricity, is often dubbed an invisible technology. It’s long been seen as underutilized. But it’s also a hugely expensive renewable resource to extract compared to more conventional drilling. Nevertheless, the White House is …

China angles for Gaza mediation role to expand influence in Middle East | China

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[ad_1] Xi Jinping, sensing a diplomatic opening, is stepping up China’s intervention in the Middle East crisis, issuing a joint statement with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to urge Israel not to go ahead with an offensive in Rafah. The rare moment of Sino-European synergy is the latest effort by China to make its diplomatic mark in a region in which it has deep economic interests, but more shallow diplomatic moorings. Beijing’s primary initiative is to try to effect a reconciliation between the two main Palestinian factions, the secular Fatah and Islamist Hamas and it hosted talks between the two groups last week. Palestinian unity is seen by China, as it has by Gulf states too, as a precondition to a coherent plan for the administration of Gaza and the West Bank, on whatever terms the war ends. The head of the Hamas international relations office, Musa Abu Marzouk, said in an interview on Sunday that he expected Fatah and Hamas to return to Beijing for a second round of talks shortly. He also disclosed …

China’s COMAC to expand Shanghai C919 plane factory as orders grow

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[ad_1] BEIJING: China’s COMAC is expanding production facilities for its homegrown C919 jets in Shanghai, according to one of the project contractors, as the state-owned planemaker ramps up manufacturing to fulfil hundreds of new orders. China Aviation Planning and Design Institute (Group) Co. Ltd. (AVIC-CAPDI), a state-owned provider of aviation planning and construction services, said on its WeChat account at the end of April that the company had “recently won the bid for the second phase of the C919 large passenger aircraft batch production capacity construction project”. AVIC-APC said the project was in Pudong, Shanghai and had a total construction area of 330,000 sq m. COMAC is headquartered in Shanghai. “The completion of the project will meet the future batch production needs of the C919 large passenger aircraft, effectively improving its production efficiency and providing strong support for the commercial operation and market competition of domestically produced big aircraft,” it said. The second phase of the project, according to AVIC-CAPDI, mainly includes the construction of an assembly plant, parts warehouse and tarmac area. It was …

Rivian gets $827m incentives to expand Normal, Illinois factory for R2

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[ad_1] Rivian has secured $827 million worth of incentives from the state of Illinois to expand its main factory in Normal. Rivian’s Normal, Illinois plant is where it builds the R1S and R1T. The plant was purchased from Mitsubishi in 2017. But the plant is also set to produce the R2 SUV, a smaller upcoming EV which is set to release in the first half of 2026. Rivian had originally planned to build the R2 in a new plant in Georgia, but it delayed its plans for its Georgia location in order to bring forward production of the R2, saving $2.25 billion in the short term due to using an existing plant instead of having to build a whole new one. In response, Georgia wondered if Rivian was pulling out of the state, but Rivian recently reaffirmed its commitment to Georgia, just that it’s focusing on Illinois in the short term. In service of that goal, the company has just secured a development package from the State of Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity …