Hydrogen power: Best sources for heavy duty vehicles is ‘local’

By Dr. Tim Sandle
SCIENCE EDITOR

DIGITAL JOURNAL

January 18, 2026

Trucks queue in Tijuana near the Mexico-US border. — © AFP Guillermo Arias

If trucks ran on hydrogen instead of fossil fuels, carbon dioxide emissions from heavy-duty road transport could be significantly reduced. At the same time, differences in how the gas is produced, distributed, and used significantly impacts its climate benefits.

New research from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden finds that locally produced green hydrogen is the best option for the climate – with the additional benefit of enabling all countries to become self-sufficient in energy and fuel, even in times of crisis and war.

Heavy duty vehicles

Heavy-duty road transport currently account for one fifth of global oil consumption and, in the EU, heavy-duty diesel trucks are the largest source of emissions of the transport-related greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. In the future, the need for road transport is expected to increase, and consequently also the sector’s demand for fossil fuels from oil.

Replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen in the heavy-duty vehicle sector is an essential part of strategies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. The Chalmers study, which has been published in iScience, provides a full overview of hydrogen’s potential as a fuel: from production and transport to choice of materials in truck manufacturing and the actual use of the fuel.

“Hydrogen does not produce carbon dioxide when used in fuel cells, but we need to make sure that we do not shift emissions from one part of the life cycle to another. Therefore, we built different scenarios of what future supply chains might look like in Sweden, and evaluated different technologies at each life cycle stage,” states lead author Jorge Enrique Velandia Vargas, who was a postdoctoral researcher at Chalmers when the study was conducted.

The main conclusion of the study is that running heavy-duty vehicles on hydrogen instead of diesel significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions. However, different methods of producing and handling hydrogen lead to significant differences in climate emissions, and the study provides important tools for navigating the options.

Heading towards this goal is a major target of the European Union (EU). The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) is part of the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ climate package, a legislative package that aims to reduce the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. This will contribute to achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

Questions about blue hydrogen

One of the clearest findings is that blue hydrogen (which is made from natural gas, and the carbon dioxide produced during the process is captured and stored instead of being released into the atmosphere) can have a higher climate impact than green hydrogen, which is produced from water and renewable electricity.

“In theory, the production of blue hydrogen is climate neutral, but in reality it is not. It is not possible to capture all CO2 after the conversion process, but 5 to 10 percent leaks out to the atmosphere. The supply chain including the manufacturing process also leaks methane, which has 30 times the greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide,” says Maria Grahn, Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanics and Maritime Sciences at Chalmers.

The researchers also point out that biomethane could replace natural gas in the same process. Biomethane is a renewable gas produced from organic waste such as manure or food waste. In theory, it can be used to produce hydrogen in a way that absorbs more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (through the photosynthesis of plants) than is emitted, i.e. hydrogen production with negative emissions. However, the process still requires carbon capture and storage infrastructure, and each step requires energy. According to the researchers, it may therefore be more efficient to use biomethane directly as a fuel in trucks, rather than first converting it into hydrogen.

Green hydrogen is the best option for the climate, according to the study. Water is used as the raw material, and the energy required to extract hydrogen from the water comes from renewable sources. Maria Grahn points out that, in addition to the fact that its production and use generate very low emissions of carbon dioxide, hydrogen is an energy carrier that can be produced anywhere in the world, regardless of the natural resources available.

“These days, we talk a lot about resilience, i.e. the ability of a community or country to cope in an uncertain world. Energy self-sufficiency is as important as reducing carbon emissions, which we in particular have seen in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. And hydrogen can be produced anywhere in the world using water and energy from the sun or wind,” explains Vargas.

A truck prepares to enter the United States at a border crossing in Blackpool, Canada, a country which has vowed to hit back if Washington goes ahead with 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports – Copyright AFP/File ANDREJ IVANOV

Local beats large-scale production

The study also shows that it is better for the climate to produce hydrogen close to refuelling stations than to build large central production facilities. If the gas is produced at the refuelling station itself, long-distance transport of hydrogen can be avoided. This would otherwise require a great deal of energy and cause emissions.

“Hydrogen is the lightest of all the elements and does not ‘like’ to be transported. In gaseous form it requires powerful compression and in liquid form extreme cooling. Both options involve energy losses, and with liquid hydrogen you also have to deal with the problem of evaporation during transport,” according to Vargas.

Overall, the researchers argue that the right conditions are needed for hydrogen to maximise its contribution to reducing emissions, and to avoid time and resources being wasted. The study was based on Swedish conditions, but the overarching results can be transferred to the rest of the world.

“The transport sector is changing rapidly and every decision made has long-term consequences. Therefore, it is desirable for decision-making to be supported by thorough evaluations and life cycle analyses. Our research, which is at a high system level, is very suitable for decision-makers to use as a basis for decisions,” observes Vargas.

Facts: Different paths to hydrogen

Green hydrogen: Produced by electrolysis when water is divided into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity. The electricity used must come from renewable sources such as solar, wind or hydroelectric power for the process to be labelled ‘green’. However, the production of green hydrogen demands precious metals such as iridium and platinum.

Blue hydrogen: Produced by natural gas reacting with water vapour at high temperatures; the carbon dioxide released is captured and stored underground. It is not possible to capture all carbon dioxide, and in some places the risk of methane leakage is high during the extraction and transport of natural gas.

Hydrogen from biomethane: By replacing natural gas with biomethane, it is technically possible to achieve negative carbon dioxide emissions. However, it is uncertain whether the volumes of biomethane required are available. A simpler alternative, although one that does not create negative emissions, may be to use biomethane directly as fuel in trucks.
Research paper

The study “Vehicle-oriented and Sweden-framed life cycle assessment: Hydrogen for long-haul trucks” has been published in the journal iScience.

 Cracking The Ammonia Code To Move Hydrogen Further

 January 19, 2026

Eurasia Review

By Diego Giuliani

Behind the scenes of Europe’s energy transition, researchers are reinventing how hydrogen can be stored and moved. Their compact ceramic reactor cracks ammonia, separates and compresses hydrogen in one go. A breakthrough that could make global transport cleaner, faster, and far more efficient in the race to net zero 

The countdown is advancing, and the delay already accumulated leaves no choice: to keep global temperature rise within the critical 1.5°C threshold, reaching net zero by 2050 is imperative. Yet energy efficiency, electrification, and renewables will not be enough. Together, they can only deliver around 70% of the emission reductions needed, warns the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Hydrogen must therefore play its part in the decarbonisation effort—especially where other options remain immature or prohibitively expensive. According to IRENA’s estimates, “it could contribute 10% of the mitigation needed to achieve the 1.5°C scenario and represent 12% of final energy demand.” As early as 2020, the European Commissioner for Climate and Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, acknowledged that “with the world moving ahead on the need to decarbonise and to commit to climate neutrality, the importance of hydrogen increases on almost a daily basis.” Yet, progress has been uneven. The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently revised downward its 2030 forecast for low-emission hydrogen production by almost 25%, citing project cancellations, rising costs, and policy uncertainty. 

The transport challenge 

“Although hydrogen is a very potent energy carrier, storing and transporting it remains challenging and expensive,” states Farid Akhtar, professor of Engineering Materials at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden, who specialises in materials design for energy and environmental applications. Global hydrogen transport infrastructure remains minimal, with few dedicated pipelines, terminals, or storage facilities—and the element’s chemical properties add further complexity.

“Hydrogen is the smallest molecule. Storing and transporting it are challenging because of its low volumetric energy density: you typically use very high pressures (≈350–700 bar) or very low temperatures (~20 K). It also raises safety and leakage concerns, as hydrogen permeates many materials and has a wide flammability range and low ignition energy,” he explains. For this reason, one of the most promising approaches—especially for long-distance transport—is to convert hydrogen into so-called carriers, such as ammonia. “Ammonia is liquid at ambient temperature and pressure, and therefore easy to transport,” says Selene Hernández Morejudo, Research Manager at CoorsTek Membrane Sciences AS in Oslo, Norway. “The infrastructure already exists, because ammonia is produced in large quantities and shipped worldwide.”

Akhtar agrees, noting he has been repeating this argument for a decade: “Storage and transport of ammonia are generally less energy-intensive than for hydrogen, and the supporting infrastructure, safety regulations, and certified transport systems are already well established. What we need to do is convert hydrogen into ammonia, move it where it’s needed, and then either use it directly or recover the hydrogen by splitting the ammonia.” 

Cracking the ammonia code 

Crucial in this conversion process is what experts call ammonia cracking. “As the word suggests, ammonia cracking basically means breaking the ammonia molecule, which is made of one nitrogen atom and three hydrogen atoms,” explains Blaž Likozar, head of the Department of Catalysis and Chemical Reaction Engineering at the Slovenian National Institute of Chemistry. “When you crack it, you get a mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen in a 1:3 ratio.” However, the process is endothermic, meaning it requires heat to proceed. “It’s relatively energy-intensive,” says Likozar, and depending on the final application of the hydrogen, it often needs to be followed by additional stages like purification, separation, and compression. “These take place in separate unit operations, each of which entails energy losses, requires energy input, and adds to operational costs. The purer and more compressed the hydrogen you want, the more energy it will cost you,” he adds. 

Four steps in one: the SINGLE reactor 

Integrating these four steps into a single process is precisely the goal of a European initiative coordinated by Morejudo. “In the process we developed within the SINGLE project, we can carry out all four steps in a single reactor: we supply the heat, convert the ammonia, separate the hydrogen, and compress it,” she explains. “When these processes are split across different reactors, you lose energy at every stage. But by combining them into one, we can significantly reduce those losses and achieve an energy efficiency of around 90%.” 

CoorsTek Membrane Sciences, which specialises in active ceramic membranes for energy conversion, developed the core component of this innovation: a proton ceramic electrochemical reactor. The processes inside it are complex, but its name reveals its essence. “Its key advantage,” says Morejudo, “is that it performs the entire process in one place. The inner part contains nickel—a very good catalyst for cracking ammonia into hydrogen and nitrogen. Then, on the membrane surface, separation occurs: only hydrogen can pass through, effectively isolating it from the nitrogen.” 

Towards industrial scale 

From early 2026, this technology will be tested at a demonstration plant in Valencia, Spain, designed to produce 10 kilograms of hydrogen per day. Once validated, however, the system could easily be scaled up. “We designed our reactor as a modular system,” says Morejudo. “It’s made of what we call stacks, which can be assembled in virtually unlimited numbers. We want to demonstrate that it’s a flexible technology, adaptable to much larger scales for producing substantial amounts of hydrogen.”

The stakes are high. As more countries adopt national hydrogen strategies, and as many emerging and developing economies tap into their abundant low-cost renewable energy resources, the foundations are being laid for competitive global hydrogen markets. Still, warns IRENA, to meet our climate goals, global production of green hydrogen and its derivatives must reach 523 million tonnes per year by 2050. “We don’t yet know how we’ll ultimately produce and transport our hydrogen, or which technologies will dominate,” admits Likozar. “But if Europe were to establish a clear, consolidated strategy for producing hydrogen from ammonia, then cracking would certainly become a crucial piece of the green transition puzzle.” 

Opinion: ChatGPT Health in Australia causes worries about AI advice and lack of regulation


By Paul Wallis
EDITOR AT LARGE

DIGITAL JOURNAL

January 16, 2026

A Bernstein Research analyst says Open AI CEO Sam Altman has the power to crash the global economy or take everyone 'to the promised land' as the startup behind ChatGPT races to build artificial intelligence infrastructure costing billions of dollars - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP JUSTIN SULLIVAN

There are many points of access to ChatGPT Health with a single search. It’s a chat service that provides a range of services related to medical issues for consumers.

The recent launch of ChatGPT Health is “just” as a general information service, but the frames of reference are huge. It’s an interface for general information, which can be and has been construed as advice.

This Guardian article about ChatGPT Health spells out in clear and alarming terms what can go wrong and what has gone wrong, notably a case of someone taking sodium bromide instead of table salt.

To explain this problem a bit more succinctly:

AI draws on available data to process requests. The available data for sodium bromide is minimal and appalling. Even the manufacturers seem to have only so much information to work with.

This is what the AI would see:

General search data. It’s OK for a casual overview, but hardly at a diagnostic level. It does include safety and toxicity information.

Product information, such as it is. Note the many “No data available” entries on this info sheet.

So this guy takes sodium bromide, starts hallucinating, and winds up inthe hospital. Ironically, the toxicity information in the basic search includes hallucinations.

You can see how this works. How this guy got the idea that sodium bromide was a substitute for table salt is anyone’s guess. Maybe the fact that they both include sodium?

Now the major issue.

To coin an expression, this is “AI overreach”.

In the consumer’s case, he far overreached his own knowledge base. This kind of information simply doesn’t, can’t, and won’t translate into a quick fix for table salt or anything else.

In ChatGPT Health’s case, it’s a huge overreach. It’s one thing to simply recite factual information. To transpose that level of information into any sort of medical advice is out of the question.

One of the reasons online health has taken off is because it’s supposed to be basically the same service you’d get from a GP. It’s quick, it’s efficient, it saves time and money for both parties, and nobody has to risk their lives in traffic to treat a head cold.

AI health services like this are inevitably well out of their depth in these basic functions. They’re not subject to the same level of two-party scrutiny, either.

A GP and a patient could just both look at the same AI information and decide whether they believe it or trust it.

Sodium bromide certainly wouldn’t have passed this very basic level of scrutiny. A swimming pool disinfectant agent as table salt? Maybe not?

Regulation

Regulation could be easier than it looks, though. Under Australian law, a medical company cannot provide medical services. It’s also not a legal person. These are very important distinctions.

So how could an AI provide the same or similar services? AI isn’t a legal person, either. This could well extend to any form of medical advice.

As a therapeutic asset, AI could be regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. It could only operate under general therapeutic regulations, with any number of safeguards built in. Note that the reasonable interpretation of “therapy” can easily include advisory services.

Why regulate?

Because otherwise any dangerous pseudo-medical product can enter the food chain. Because there are serious risks of major damage. Look how much fun America has with its meds, regulated or otherwise. It’s too high a risk.

Never mind “buyer beware”. Why should the buyer of anything have to beware of anything at all? What’s wrong with an obligation to market safe products?

A warning sticker saying “this product could exterminate your entire family” may be noble and uplifting and tell you what nice guys the manufacturers are, but why do you need it? Does “may contain plutonium” tell you enough?

In the case of sodium bromide, it’s a fair assumption that nobody seriously considered that it was a substitute for table salt. You shouldn’t need to be told that, but here’s a documented case of exactly that.

AI is destined to be a critical part of medicine. It needs to be safe.

Opinion: AI in advertising, or the absolute last thing you need is scripted sales spiel


By Paul Wallis
EDITOR AT LARGE

DIGITAL JOURNAL

January 14, 2026

Huge investment announcements by ChatGPT-maker OpenAI this week boosted tech optimism but there are worries that the AI-fuelled rally may have run too far - Copyright AFP SEBASTIEN BOZON

It seems that life does go on, despite the news. Life now includes helpful AI agents to help you shop. Stop cheering.

Those of us blessed with AI in its role as yet another dogmatic, time-consuming, verbose commercial procedure aren’t cheering. Particularly those of us who’ve done mountains of advertising copy and sales materials.

Consider the process. You search for something you want to buy, and you get the usual formatted search, AI overview, and a sales pitch. Paid placements are quite bad enough. The whole search gets buried under the paid placements. Now add AI.

The current AI sector theory is that AI will be “persuasive”. Nice to know anyone’s that naïve, isn’t it?

No, it isn’t.

Say you want to buy a toaster. Legends say that back in the day your family used to own a toaster.

With the insanity of middle age, you and your ego decide that you will again aspire to such lofty social goals. You mad impetuous statistic, you.

So, despite the shudders from your family, total strangers, and a few squirrels, you search for a toaster.

Now, grudgingly consider the fact that there could be nothing easier than looking up info about your searches from data brokers to your search.

It’s a lot worse than that, and your consumer mudslide starts way up the market food chain.

You get all your past searches because it’s a search engine function to remember searches anyway. Yes, the AI can access that data. You hit Shopping and go to a site.

You also get AI business strategy, market planning, etc. It looks very like More Things You Can Do With Your Expensive New Toy For Businesses. This includes marketing, branding, and market positioning. You haven’t even clicked on a product yet.

All of this is based on one search.

The toasters arise from the products page. Some of them don’t even look like toasters. They look like someone’s trying to build a new alien civilization and couldn’t be bothered to tell you.

At this point you don’t need AI. You need a therapist up there in the tree with you.

But you get the AI. To quote from The Conversation link above:

A more recent meta-analysis of eight studies similarly concluded there was “no significant overall difference in persuasive performance between (large language models) and humans.”

This just means that the AI can process you to death or a sale, whichever comes first. You probably won’t get that invaluable condescension and implication that you’re unworthy of a toaster, though.

The usual “Behold! It casts its eyes upon our products, the wretch! Send a vassal to sneer it into submission!” is unlikely. You’d only get the impression that you should be a better person before daring to buy a toaster.

The AI will just obligingly tell you everything it wants you to know. Scripted spiel with a dialog box. Never mind what you want to know. It won’t understand your whimpers.

Nevertheless, you and your family will get an heirloom $19.99 toaster, eventually.

What does this have to do with advertising, you enquire wistfully from your burrow?

Nothing. Nothing at all. Do you see any real business value? The real sales pitch and trigger for everything is your search enquiry. You’ve already sold a toaster to yourself. The AI has simply reinforced your fears.

Successful salespeople don’t waste your time or theirs with superfluous garbage. In this case, they know that you want a toaster, but they also know that you may want to sing, dance, and frolic in the fields again. So, they keep the verbosity functional.

My suggestion from years of advertising work and statutory-level consumer protection work:

You need advertising in AI like you need a third armpit.

Opinion: Is open source AI the only trustworthy long-term way to develop AI?

By Paul Wallis
EDITOR AT LARGE

DIGITAL JOURNAL

January 5, 2026

While OpenAI does not expect to be profitable before 2029, the startup's valuation keeps climbing in funding rounds baffling some financial analysts

 - Copyright AFP Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

Unlike just about every new class of technology in history, AI has a unique ability to be universally despised. The ridiculous investment racket, combined with the actual performance and delivery of the product, makes it easy.

In coding terms, AI often looks more like slapstick comedy. The AI Keystone Codes go well with the Keystone Cops.

Inept, unreliable, farcical, and hallucinating software is nobody’s idea of a credible standard of performance. Certainly not business performance. One lousy prompt or a few random otherwise unemployable idiots can produce a MechaHitler.

This is your idea of a few trillion dollars’ worth of good investment? Ownership of this extremely expensive bad case of poultry diarrhea could be legal suicide in one process.

It’s called AI slop simply because it is sloppy.

Imagine this dialogue with an AI agent:

“What’s our current electricity load on the grid?” you ask hopefully.

“Oh, I dunno. How about a meaningless rabid political rant instead?” it replies with a simpering and generally inexcusable New York accent.

Great stuff.

No, it damn well isn’t.

Criticisms of turgid AI videos, endless repetitions of the same information, and the content curation of a dunghill are all perfectly valid and correct.

There’s no actual value in any of this garbage.

Now, let’s get a little less superficial.

This generation of ultra-smug AI isn’t and can’t be the whole story, thank god. Even allowing for the Rectal Rhapsodies of AI spruikers, it’s an interim stage before high-functioning AI can evolve.

This is where the heavy-duty professional criticism necessarily kicks in. it’s interesting to note that in the IT sector, where the real high-tech guys reproduce by fission, none of the AI BS flies at all.

These are the guys who evangelized the internet and every single electronic component since the Commodore 64 like proud parents. They know how derivative current AI is, glued on to much older software like writing and music software that is often decades older.

For the first time ever, the Ultra-Geeks and consumers are on the same page, if for some similar and some different reasons.

They agree that:

Big Tech is all about money and not about performance.

Corporate agendas are driving development for purely financial reasons.

Added ornaments like rumoured new hardware requirements for Windows 12 and everything else, and similar bric-a-brac are more obstacles than assets.

All of this is being done at a great distance from consumer needs, and the consumers don’t like it.

Why not put this externally sorta-maybe required but not consumer-essential junk on the Cloud, where it belongs?

This unsightly mess brings us elegantly if verbosely to the issue of open source AI development.

Open source development is a comparatively complex idea, but it’s essentially free. Open source has generated some of the most useful software ever developed.

The big issue for AI is that open source is also transparent. It can’t really be a corporate toy. There are overlaps, sure, but that’s inevitable. The intellectual property game, however, is very different.

Real development happens in people’s heads.

Some poor soul, floundering through cumbersome protocols and obscure IT idiocies will notice that there are workarounds. Anyone who’s ever done coding will tell you that workarounds are the main reasons that anything works at all. That’s pretty right.

Now, a bit of logic:

If corporate agendas distort efficient development, or more likely sidetrack it, open source is the way around those agendas.

Pure research, the only real gold standard for real tech breakthroughs, is unrestricted in the open source environment.

Talent isn’t and can’t be confined to a stingy 5-minute input in some useless meeting.

Open source is peer-reviewed and highly visible by definition. Its trustworthiness is based on actual performance, not some damn PR exercise.

Open source will finally free AI development. It’s that simple.

________________________________________________________

Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.

______________________________________________________________

Talk to me, Alexa: How conversational commerce is reshaping digital strategy

By Dr. Tim Sandle
SCIENCE EDITOR

DIGITAL JOURNAL
January 7, 2026

Voice assistant. Image by Tim Sandle.

Voice assistants are changing the way consumers search, discover, and buy products online. From asking questions aloud to completing purchases, conversational commerce is partly shifting its digital strategy beyond screens.

Consequently, some brands need to adapt to this new voice-driven landscape, optimising content, structuring product data, and integrating AI chat to stay visible and relevant in this emerging channel.

In 2024, the number of active voice assistants surpassed 8.4 billion globally, more than the number of people on Earth. It is estimated that voice commands drive over $3.3 billion in consumer spending, and the channel is expected to reach $45 billion by 2028.

Up to 43% of voice-enabled device owners use their device to shop, with 51% using it to research products, 22% making purchases directly, and 17% reordering items.

As voice assistants and AI chat tools become household staples, the way consumers search, discover, and buy products is evolving.

According toLouis Riat-Bonello from Optisearch, conversational commerce is transforming digital marketing, requiring brands to rethink how they appear in search, engage audiences, and drive conversions. Riat-Bonello explains more to Digital Journal.

Why Conversational Commerce Is Gaining Momentum

Voice assistants and conversational commerce refer to the use of spoken commands or chat-based interfaces to search for information, discover products, and complete purchases. Instead of typing queries or browsing traditional websites, consumers interact with AI-powered assistants, smart speakers, or on-site chat tools that guide them through the buying journey.

Monthly, Riat-Bonello says, 11.5% of smart speaker owners make purchases, equal to nearly 5.5 million US adults. 52% of owners are interested in deals and promotions, while 38% find voice ads less invasive and 39% find them more tempting than traditional ads. These behaviours show a clear opportunity for brands to reach audiences in ways traditional channels cannot.

From a marketing and commercial perspective, conversational commerce is gaining traction. Riat-Bonello says it is for the following reasons:Ease and convenience: Voice and chat remove friction by allowing users to search or shop hands-free, making it ideal for multitasking and on-the-go moments
Faster decision-making: Conversational interfaces often deliver direct answers or product recommendations, reducing the steps between intent and action
Growing consumer comfort with AI: As voice assistants and chatbots become more accurate, users increasingly trust them for everyday tasks, including shopping
Strong local and high-intent use cases: Voice searches are frequently local or transactional, creating opportunities for brands to capture customers ready to act
Seamless integration with daily life: Smart speakers, mobile assistants, and embedded chat tools make conversational commerce a natural extension of how people already use technology.

According to Riat-Bonello: “Voice search and conversational tools are changing how brands are found and how people shop online. When someone speaks to their assistant, they want a fast, accurate answer. That means businesses need to optimise content for natural, full-sentence queries, ensure product data is structured and reliable, and use AI-driven chat to guide customers to the right products.”

This is leading to adaptation. Riat-Bonello cites: “Smart brands are thinking beyond screens. Every voice query is a potential conversion, and every interaction shapes how consumers perceive your business. Voice shopping is not just a trend. It is becoming a core part of the customer journey, and businesses that adapt early will gain a real advantage.”

How Brands Can Optimise for Voice Commerce

Voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant do not “browse” results. They aim to return one correct answer, not a list. For those seeking to market products using voice assistants, Riat-Bonello sees the best way to “appeal” to voice assistants is to:Ensure product and business data is fully structured using schema markup, including pricing, availability, reviews, and location details
Maintain consistent listings across Google Business Profile, Apple Maps, Amazon, and other trusted data sources used by voice assistants
Optimise content for natural, spoken queries by targeting full-sentence questions and intent-driven searches rather than short keywords
Build authoritative FAQ and support content that directly answers common “how,” “where,” and “best” queries users ask aloud
Strengthen local SEO signals, as many voice searches are location-based and action-oriented
Focus on reviews, ratings, and fulfilment reliability, which voice assistants use as confidence signals when selecting recommendations
Integrate AI-powered chat on websites to mirror conversational behaviour and guide users toward products or actions

Riat-Bonello adds that things should not simply stop here, since development is always necessary. He recommends regularly auditing product feeds, structured data, and listings to ensure accuracy as platforms and voice algorithms evolve.

 

Nuclear power projected to reach 22% in China by 2060, catalyzed by coal-to-nuclear conversion

Higher Education Press

FacebookXLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Electricity generation mix evolution of three scenarios. 

view more 

Credit: Daiwei Li, Hongyu Zhang, et al.

Amid efforts to mitigate climate change, decarbonizing the power system has become a top priority. While the transition to non-fossil energy sources is accelerating in China, key challenges persist regarding the premature retirement of coal-fired power plants: the risks of asset stranding, the ongoing need for dispatchable firm power sources to ensure grid stability, and the need for a just transition in local employment and economic development. A recent study published in Engineering by Daiwei Li, Xiliang Zhang, and their colleagues from Tsinghua University offers a systematic evaluation of a promising solution: coal-to-nuclear (C2N) conversion, i.e. repowering the to-be-retired coal-fired power plants with nuclear power, particularly small modular reactors (SMRs).

 

To conduct the analysis, the research team improved a power system capacity expansion and operation model of China with provincial-level spatial resolution. By expanding its nuclear technology classification and incorporating specific constraints of C2N conversion, the team comprehensively assesses the technical and economic viability of this technology pathway in advancing China’s power system decarbonization goals.

 

The study suggests that, under China’s carbon peaking and neutrality goals, with the opening up of inland nuclear development, it could see substantial increase in the development of nuclear power—reaching 422 GW in installed capacity and accounting for 18% of China’s total electricity supply by 2060. The team further designed three scenarios to quantify how C2N development would impact nuclear  installed capacity, their regional distribution, and total power system costs.

 

Scenario analysis results demonstrate that C2N conversion will unlock additional nuclear growth in China: repowering eligible retired coal power plants will expand nuclear sites and increase nuclear power capacity by 13%–23%, raising its share in China’s total electricity supply by 2–4 percentage points in 2060, reaching as high as 22%. This expansion is achieved without compromising China’s power system stability—maintaining a well-rounded mix dominated by non-fossil sources while renewable power curtailment rates kept below 7%. Notably, C2N conversion is particularly effective in facilitating SMR deployment in northwestern provinces with large coal power legacies. While supplemental to conventional greenfield nuclear sites, C2N enables nuclear power to be deployed across 28 provincial regions by 2060.

 

From an economic perspective, C2N conversion proves to be cost-effective. Between 2030 and 2060, the two C2N development scenarios will deliver cumulative cost savings of 0.22%–0.69% (0.44–1.39 trillion CNY) for the entire power system compared to the scenario without C2N. These savings stem from multiple factors: reduced investment in new nuclear development by leveraging existing coal plant sites and facilities, and optimized system operation where flexible SMRs installed via C2N displace unnecessary fossil-fuel-based generation, lowering overall operational costs.

 

Beyond the technical and economic insights, the study offers a few policy recommendations to support C2N development: prioritizing the protection of greenfield nuclear sites; promoting C2N pilot projects with supportive policies; expanding manufacturing capacity for key nuclear components; and supporting advanced nuclear technology R&D to lower costs and enhance operational flexibility. The implementation of these measures will well facilitate China’s power system transition.

 

This systematic analysis provides valuable guidance for policymakers and industry stakeholders committed to advancing power system decarbonization. By allowing for C2N conversion with diverse nuclear technologies, China and other countries facing similar coal transition challenges can mitigate asset stranding risks associated with traditional fossil fuel infrastructure while building a more cost-effective and low-carbon energy system.

 

The paper “Role of Coal-to-Nuclear Conversion in China’s Electricity System Decarbonization” is authored by Daiwei Li, Hongyu Zhang, Ying Zhou, Sheng Zhou, Siyue Guo, Junling Huang, and Xiliang Zhang, receiving supports by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72140005 and 72374122) and the China Carbon Neutrality Initiative of Tsinghua University. Full text of the open access paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2025.11.025. For more information about Engineering, visit the website at https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/engineering.

---

Journal

Engineering

DOI

10.1016/j.eng.2025.11.025 

Article Title

Role of Coal-to-Nuclear Conversion in China’s Electricity System Decarbonization

 

ABB Chosen to Supply Technology for BC Ferries’ New Major Vessels

ABB’s integrated power, propulsion and control solution has been chosen for BC Ferries’ four new hybrid-electric major vessels. The New Major Vessels have been designed to minimize emissions and underwater radiated noise (URN), with the goal of contributi

Published Jan 13, 2026 6:19 PM by The Maritime Executive

[By: ABB]

ABB will supply a complete package of power, propulsion and control technology for four new double-ended passenger and car ferries operated by British Columbia Ferry Services (BC Ferries). One of the largest ferry operators in the world, BC Ferries provides year-round vehicle and passenger service on 25 routes to 47 terminals, carrying approximately 9.7 million vehicles and 22.7 million passengers annually. Demand on the ferry system is expected to increase as the province’s population is forecast to grow 44 percent by 2046.

The hybrid-electric ferries, which will replace four end-of-life vessels, are part of the BC Ferries’ New Major Vesselsprogram, aimed at delivering safe, environmentally sustainable and reliable operations in and around the Strait of Georgia, the body of water separating Vancouver Island from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. The order was booked in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Scheduled for delivery beginning in 2029 from China Merchants Industry Weihai (CMI Weihai) Shipyard, the vessels will be equipped with ABB’s gearless, steerable Azipod® electric propulsion.The system offers proven reliability thanks to significantly fewer moving parts than mechanical thrusters, while the special propeller design helps reduce underwater radiated noise (URN). This helps safeguard at-risk species, such as the Southern Resident killer whale, and preserve one of the world’s most biologically rich marine ecosystems3.

ABB’s Onboard DC Grid™ power distribution system will serve as the backbone for efficient energy flow, minimizing conversion losses and enabling higher overall system efficiency and lower emissions than comparable propulsion arrangements.

Each ferry will be equipped to accommodate up to 70 megawatt-hours (MWh) of battery energy storage. This enables efficient hybrid operations today and supports a future shift to fully electric, zero-emission service. The hybrid configuration uses biofuel or renewable diesel and continuously balances energy between generators and batteries. Each vessel can also connect to a high-capacity shore charging system rated above 60 megawatts (MW) for full electric operation. This system is more than 100 times more powerful than the fastest public electric vehicle charging stations in North America, which typically deliver up to 500 kilowatts (kW) per plug. This high-capacity charging supports fast turnaround in port and enables the transition to zero-emission operations.

ABB’s digital solutions will give crews a clear overview of ship operations and support safe, efficient journeys. These digital technologies are intended to help BC Ferries deliver an improved travel experience for passengers while reducing environmental impact.

“BC Ferries’ New Major Vessels represent the largest capital investment in our history and are essential to renewing our fleet, increasing capacity on our busiest routes, and strengthening system resilience,” said Nicolas Jimenez, President & CEO, BC Ferries. “Their design reflects what our customers value most: comfort, accessibility and environmental stewardship. With diesel-battery hybrid technology that can operate on bio and renewable diesel today and transition to full electrification as infrastructure evolves, these ships are a critical part of building a cleaner, quieter, and more reliable ferry system for the future."

“We proudly support BC Ferries’ goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their operations, striving to meet British Columbia’s 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for the transportation sector4 by at least 27 percent by 2030, from 2008 levels, in support of a cleaner future for British Columbia, and its ambitions to transition to all-electric operation,” said Rune Braastad, President, ABB’s Marine & Ports division. “ABB’s deep roots in Canada make it possible to support generational infrastructure projects like the New Major Vessels.”

“Winning the contract to deliver such a wide scope of solutions is highly significant for ABB’s marine business in North America,” said Timo Vesala, Head of Sales, Marine Systems, Americas, ABB’s Marine & Ports division. “As someone who lives and works in Vancouver, I recognize the importance of this initiative for British Columbia – not only in providing consistently reliable and resilient ferry services, but also in helping local communities experience cleaner air and quieter waterways.”

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.