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MOSCOW (MRC) -- In conjunction with
European Hydrogen Week, global power leader Cummins Inc. shared new research
revealing that more than half of the United Kingdom (UK) commuters would be
willing to travel to work on a train or bus powered by hydrogen to lower their
carbon footprint and reduce emissions and nearly half of commuters in Belgium
and Germany expressed the same view, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.
This
new data was obtained through a survey of 6,000 respondents in Belgium, Germany
and the United Kingdom in October 2020. "It is encouraging to see that citizens
and governments across Europe are prioritizing the climate and understand that
investment in hydrogen technologies is a path to improve the environment and
fuel economic recovery from the impact of COVID-19,” said Amy Adams, vice
president of Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Technologies at Cummins. “With both the EU
and the UK pledging to be carbon-neutral by 2050, there is, in short, real
appetite from policymakers and citizens to make a collective difference.
Hydrogen is a key part of Cummins’ portfolio of solutions to help our customers
succeed and as a path toward zero emissions."
The survey results
demonstrate positive attitudes towards clean technology alternatives for public
transport, with about 40% consumers in Belgium, Germany and the UK willing to
pay GBP1 or EUR1 more for their daily commute in order to lower their carbon
footprint.
48% of British citizens expressed that low-carbon
technologies are important for the UK’s economic recovery from COVID-19. In
addition, more than 40% of citizens in Belgium and Germany agreed that
low-carbon technologies are important for their country’s economic recovery
plans.
When asked about buying or renting a car powered by
hydrogen, over a quarter of respondents in Belgium and the UK reported concerns
with the upfront cost. Less than 20 percent of consumers in Germany, the UK and
Belgium were also deterred by the limited amount of hydrogen refuelers
available. Furthermore, one in five UK citizens believe that it will take 20-30
years for there to be more cars powered by hydrogen fuel on the road than
gas-powered cars, and nearly a quarter believe this will never happen. A third
of consumers in Germany and more than a quarter in Belgium
agreed.
Fortunately, European consumers are willing to switch to more
sustainable public transport – and this technology is available now. For
example, hydrogen trains are an effective solution for more sustainable rail
networks in Europe. With the right commercial technologies in place, consumers
can lower their carbon footprints without facing additional costs.
As MRC
informed
earlier, Chemical railcar traffic in North America continued to strengthen
during the week ended 21 November. Weekly volume totaled 44,843 carloads,
up 5.8% year-over-year (YOY) and up 0.6% sequentially, according to data
released on 25 November by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). On a
four-week basis, volume was up 2.4% from 2019 and down 0.8% from 2018 (chart).
By contrast, volume during the four weeks ending 14 November was up just 1.3%
from 2019 and down 4.3% from 2018.
As MRC informed
earlier, Russia's output of chemical products rose in September 2020 by 6.7%
year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased by 6.1%
year on year in the first nine months of 2020, according to Rosstat's data.
According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation,
polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the
January-September output. Last month's production of primary polymers decreased
to 852,000 tonnes from 888,000 tonnes in August due to shutdowns in Tomsk, Ufa
and Kazan. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 7,480,000 tonnes
over the stated period, up by 16.4% year on year.
According to
MRC's ScanPlast
report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the
first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high density polyethylene
(HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market
reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula:
production minus exports plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1
January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer. |
