On that later. And well be getting the inside track on on a business thats been milking big profits around the globe, were going to be speaking to the boss of arla, one of the worlds Biggest Dairy Companies. Also, as volvo calls time on the internal Combustion Engine, are you ready to give up your gas guzzler . Get in touch, just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. Hello and welcome to Business Live. Today, the Eu Commission will decide whether or not to give the green light to General Motors for the 2. 5bn sale of its European Operations. Gm is hoping to off load vauxhall and opel to the psa group, thats the french company, which owns peugeot and citroen. Its easy to see why General Motors wants to sell their European Operation, which is dominated by opel, has lost about 9. 1 billion since 2009. If successful, the deal would make psa the continents second biggest car maker, after volkswagen, and ahead of french rival, renault. Opel employs 38,000 people across europe, and its feared the sale
BP completes industry-first autonomous vehicle trial at refinery
2/9/2021
BP has successfully completed an autonomous vehicle trial at its Lingen refinery in Germany, working with Oxbotica, a global leader in autonomous vehicle software. The trial was a world-first in the energy sector and the latest addition to the bp ventures technology portfolio.
During the trial the vehicle travelled over 180km fully autonomously, safely navigating the extensive and complex environment of the bp refinery, including busy junctions, narrow paths, railway crossings, and multiple terrains, during both day and night and in unpredictable weather conditions. Oxbotica was able to deploy its autonomy software platform and integrate with the existing infrastructure within two hours of arriving on site.
Oxbotica trials at Lingen Germany Picture BP/Oxbotica Following the success of the trial, BP aims to deploy its first autonomous vehicle for monitoring operations at the refinery by the end of the year. The self-driving vehicles will improve safety by increasing the monitoring for faulty equipment and security threats, making it more frequent and around the clock. The announcement follows BP’s recent $13m equity investment in Oxbotica. Ozgur Tohumcu, CEO at Oxbotica said: “As part of our first refinery trial in Lingen, we showcased how autonomy improves safety, reduces emissions and improves productivity.” Morag Watson, SVP digital science and engineering, at BP, said: “This relationship is an important example of how bp is leveraging automation and digital technology that we believe can improve safety, increase efficiency and decrease carbon emissions in support of our net zero ambition.
By the end of the year bp expects to deploy its first autonomous vehicle to monitor for irregular conditions, faulty equipment and security threats more frequently and around the clock.
“Lingen has 30km of roads,” said Morag Watson, bp’s SVP digital science and engineering. “Intelligent technology like this helps us make the incremental but equally critical improvements to our operations. I am looking forward to working with Oxbotica to explore how we can unlock the full potential of autonomy.”
The announcement follows bp’s recent $13m equity investment in Oxbotica, which gives the Oxfordshire-based company access to bp’s operations, retail sites and customer network.