The Brazilian government announced the creation of the “Program to Increase Productivity of the Road Fleet in the Country” (Renovar) when, on April 1, President Jair Bolsonaro signed Provisional Measure 112/2022 creating incentives for the replacement of old vehicles with newer ones.  

Compression system specialist Haskel International, a subsidiary of Ingersoll Rand, based in Sunderland, UK, has released a white paper stating the firm’s outlook towards hydrogen fuel and its role in decarbonising heavy goods vehicles. In the report, Haskel examines hydrogen infrastructure funding and global projects that are currently underway.

Air Liquide SAS, based in Paris, has received support from the French State, subject to a final validation by the European Commission, to launch its Normand’Hy large scale renewable hydrogen project. The electrolyser will have an initial 200MW capacity and will provide renewable hydrogen to the TotalEnergies Normandy refinery.

MAN, Knorr-Bremse, and Bosch are working together in a research and development project, called ATLAS-L4, with the aim of putting autonomous trucks on German motorways by the middle of the decade.

In March, the Brazilian Government in capitol city of Brasília, agreed the launch of a Methane Reduction Programme under an agreement called the Special Regime of Incentives for the Development of Infrastructure (REIDI) to encourage production and sustainable use of biomethane in Brazil.

The Governor of the State of São Paulo, João Doria, presented at the end of March the Pró-Veículo Verde (Pro Green Vehicle) programme for the production of hybrid vehicles or vehicles powered by clean energy in the state, the objective of which is to attract up to BRA20bn (USD4bn) of investments in the next three years.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has opened the application process for its Low or No Emission Program for buses. The scheme is offering USD1.1 billion in competitive grant funding. In addition, the government is offering USD372 million in funding under the Grants for Bus and Bus Facilities (BBF) Program.

Grammer AG, based in Ursensollen, Germany, is serving as the coordinator for the Adaptive Process Chains for Increasing Production Quality and Efficiency (AdaProQ) project initiated by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

Bridgestone Corporation, based in Tokyo, Japan, has launched a joint programme to develop chemical recycling technologies that utilise used tyres to achieve high-yield production of isoprene, a raw material used in synthetic rubber production.

Andy Palmer, CEO of Switch Mobility and Board Member of InoBat Auto, discusses the problems facing British manufacturing in an interview with Truck & Bus Builder

Businesses in the UK will be supported in buying vans (to 4.5t) and trucks (over 4.5t) with grants of up to GBP5,000 and GBP16,000 respectively.

The two companies plan to sell around 5,000 retrofitted trucks and buses in France by 2030, supported by over EUR1.5m raised earlier in the year by REV Mobilities.