Sat.May 26, 2012 - Fri.Jun 01, 2012

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NOAA predicts a near-normal 2012 Atlantic and Eastern Pacific hurricane season, below-normal in Central Pacific

Green Car Congress

Conditions in the atmosphere and the ocean favor a near-normal hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin this season, NOAA forecasts. NOAA’s outlook for the Eastern Pacific basin is for a near-normal hurricane season and the Central Pacific basin is expected to have a below-normal season. For the entire six-month season, which begins 1 June, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center says there’s a 70% chance of 9 to 15 named storms (with top winds of 39 mph or higher), of which four to eight will strengthen

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Prices Drop For Used High-MPG Cars, June A Good Time To Buy

Green Car Reports

Like so many Americans, perhaps you've been thinking you really have to replace your old car this year. And maybe you're thinking your next car should get much better gas mileage, to protect against fluctuating gas prices. (They're down this month, but who knows for the future?) Well, looks like June might be a good time to get that high-MPG.

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Hybrid Electric Cars: The Real and the Fake

Electric Cars are for Girls

When you hear 'hybrid electric cars', all sorts of warm fuzzy green thoughts come bubbling up, right? Yeah, me too. But don't get fooled by fake ones!

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Motorway network to rapidly attract electric vehicles

Green Cars News

The rollout of a new network of motorway rapid charge points begins this week, which allow electric car owners to drive the length of the country without the need for long journey-stops for recharging. Over the next few months, a network of rapid chargers, which can refill a battery in 30 mins or less, will [.].

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How serious is Norway about climate change? So much that its streetlights self-dim

emissions global warming Norway climate change carbon dioxide youtube lighting

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MIT report finds China’s actions on climate change crucial; argues for global economy-wide greenhouse gas tax

Green Car Congress

A new report from the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change shows the importance of all major nations taking part in global efforts to reduce emissions—and in particular, finds China’s role to be crucial. The report—titled “The Role of China in Mitigating Climate Change” and published in the journal Energy Economics , compares the impact of a stringent emissions reduction policy with and without China’s participation.

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Toyota Prius Becomes World’s Third Best-Selling Car Line

Green Car Reports

Green is the new black. At least, when it comes to cars. For just over a decade, those who bought a Toyota Prius hybrid have had to entertain the possibility that the rest of the world would view them as tree-hugging, tofu-eating, hemp-wearing, middle-class hippies In April however, that changed forever as the Toyota Prius family became the.

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More Trending

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The electric car’s revenge arrives in the UK

Green Cars News

Revenge of the Electric Car, the sequel to the 2006 film Who Killed the Electric Car? finally arrives for its screen debut in the UK. On general release from July 20, 2012, there are a number of London previews planned, the first of which aired last Sunday (May 27). Directed by Chris Paine, the documentary [.].

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Washington State opens 10 new public charging stations on West Coast Electric Highway; Seattle to Canadian border

Green Car Congress

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), along with electric charging station partner AeroVironment opened 10 new public charging stations—seven along Interstate 5 and three along US Route 2 in northern Washington—that provide EV drivers the ability to travel from Seattle to the Canadian border. Eight of the 10 new charging stations in Washington feature AeroVironment’s DC fast chargers, which deliver a full charge for a nearly-depleted EV battery in less than 30 mi

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Beep Bloop Beep: Star Wars' R2D2, C3PO Sell Prius Plug-In (Video)

Green Car Reports

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. In fact, not that long ago, and right here on earth, a rebel alliance of green-minded folk were attracted to the force of hybrid vehicles. Using less fuel and producing less pollution, the oil empire has never been quite the same since. We're not sure the Death Star has quite been destroyed yet, but.

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Initial details on fiery crash involving BYD e6 that killed 3

Green Car Congress

China Auto Web. Three passengers in a BYD e6 taxicab, including the driver, were killed in an accident in Shenzhen on 26 May. BYD e6 in flames following crash. Click to enlarge. In its microblog on weibo.com, Shenzhen traffic police say the accident happened at about 3:08 in the early morning on Binhai Dadao (Beach Boulevard) near the city’s downtown.

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Faurecia and Accenture partner on products and services for connected and autonomous vehicles

Brief

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MHI to develop fuel cell triple combined cycle power generation system; expected to deliver power generation exceeding 70% (LHV) in larger applications

Green Car Congress

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) will begin developing basic technologies for a triple combined cycle power generation system integrating solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and a gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) power generation system. Conceptual drawing of the triple combined cycle power generation system configuration. Source: MHI. Click to enlarge.

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A123 Systems 8K filing says substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern; status of grants and incentives

Green Car Congress

In its most recent 8K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Li-ion battery maker A123 Systems said a number of circumstances have raised “ substantial doubt on [its] ability to continue as a going concern.”. On 26 March, A123 launched a field campaign estimated to cost US$51.6 million to replace battery modules and packs that may contain defective prismatic cells produced at A123’s Livonia, Michigan manufacturing facility.

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Hydrogenics wins order from E.ON for power-to-hydrogen-gas energy storage project in Germany

Green Car Congress

Electrolysis company Hydrogenics Corporation has received an order from E.ON for a “Power-to-Gas” project in Germany. The 2 MW energy storage facility, to be located in Falkenhagen in northeast Germany, will use surplus renewable energy sources to produce hydrogen for storage in the country’s existing natural gas pipeline network. Power-to-Gas is a novel way to store energy at utility scale, whereby surplus electrical grid power is converted into hydrogen gas.

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Fisker reports more than $100M in revenue Jan-Apr 2012; more than $1B in funding since 2007

Green Car Congress

The EVer (Electric Vehicle extended range) powertrain of the Fisker Karma. Click to enlarge. Fisker Automotive published its first business update, announcing that revenues had exceeded $100 million in the first four months of 2012. The company, which began deliveries of the Fisker Karma luxury four-door extended range electric sedan in December 2011, also said that it has delivered 1,000 vehicles to customers in the US and Europe.

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ExxonMobil announces 6th oil discovery offshore Guyana with Ranger-1; Guyana may move from non-producer to regional powerhouse

Oil

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Seattle City Council passes resolution opposing transportation of coal through Seattle for export, measures for mitigating impact

Green Car Congress

The Seattle City Council unanimously passed Resolution 31379 stating Seattle’s opposition to the transportation of coal through Seattle. In addition to emphasizing the negative impacts on the climate, the resolution outlines measures the City will take to mitigate the regional impacts from the significant increase in coal trains that would run through Seattle.

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Northrop Grumman, L-3 MAS to develop Polar Hawk drone for Canadian Arctic

Green Car Congress

Northrop Grumman Corporation and L-3 MAS will join forces on a variant of the Northrop Grumman-produced Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for Canada to maintain continuous surveillance of its Arctic territories. Rendering of Polar Hawk system. Click to enlarge. Dubbed “Polar Hawk,” the system will be designed to stay aloft for long periods of time in harsh weather conditions over vast expanses of the Earth‘s surface monitoring land, ice, littoral and

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Volt top-selling plug-in vehicle in US in May, followed by Prius PHV

Green Car Congress

The Chevrolet Volt was the top-selling plug-in vehicle from the top six automakers in May, posting 1,680 units, compared to 481 in May 2011. Year-to-date sales for the Volt have risen to 7,057 units, compared to 2,184 units for the same period last year. The Prius PHV plug-in hybrid followed, with 1,086 units sold, representing 5.1% of the 21,477 units of the full Prius family sold in May.

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Nikkei: Japan gov’t to ease rules for building hydrogen stations in June, offer subsidies

Green Car Congress

The Nikkei reports that the Japan government will ease regulations on the construction of hydrogen stations for fuel cell cars in June, in addition to offering subsidies to companies involved in a plan to set up 100 such sites throughout the country by 2015. The government will revise a ministerial ordinance in the High Pressure Gas Safety Act to facilitate the construction of hydrogen stations in residential areas and commercial districts.

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New materials could cut parasitic energy costs for CO2 capture by up to 30-40%

Green Car Congress

A computational analysis that screened hundreds of thousands of zeolite and zeolitic imidazolate framework structures has identified many different structures that have the potential to reduce the parasitic energy loss of carbon capture technologies for powerplant flue gas by as much as 30–40% compared with amine scrubbing. One of the main bottlenecks to deploying large-scale carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) in power plants is the energy required to separate the CO 2 from flue gas.

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Proton OnSite achieves hydrogen gas production at 5,000 psi without a compressor

Green Car Congress

Proton OnSite’s latest project with the US Department of Energy (DOE) has yielded a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer stack that can produce hydrogen gas at the pressure required to fuel a vehicle, without the need for a compressor. A high-differential pressure PEM stack can now safely generate hydrogen gas at 5,000 psi (344 bar) without the need for a compressor, while releasing the outgoing oxygen gas at atmospheric pressure.

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Lexus introduces 2013 ES 350 and first ES 300h hybrid

Green Car Congress

2013 Lexus ES 300h. Click to enlarge. Lexus has introduced the 2013 ES 350—the sixth generation of Lexus’ luxury sedan since its introduction more than 20 years ago—and the first hybrid version of the ES, the ES 300h. Lexus had unveiled the ES 350 and 300h earlier this year at the New York International Auto Show. ( Earlier post.). Featuring the Lexus Hybrid Drive with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder Atkinson cycle engine (2AR-FXE), the ES 300h is expected to earn EPA fuel economy ratings

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Nissan testing peak-shaving services from Leaf EV to building

Green Car Congress

Nikkei. Nissan Motor introduced a trial setup in which a Leaf electric vehicle provides power for a limited time to a building during periods of its peak power demand (peak shaving). The test entails supplying 4%, or 6 kW, of the peak summer power consumption of a municipal administrative center in the Oppama district of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

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SARTRE road train premieres on public roads; focus now shifts to fuel consumption

Green Car Congress

SARTRE public road test. Click to enlarge. Vehicle platoon tests in the SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) project—a joint venture between Ricardo UK Ltd, Applus+ Idiada, Tecnalia Research & Innovation, Institut für Kraftfahrzeuge Aachen (IKA), SP Technical Research Institute, Volvo Technology and Volvo Car Corporation—are making progress. ( Earlier post.).

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Nichicon introduces smallest and lightest 10 kW quick charger for EVs

Green Car Congress

Nichicon Corporation has introduced what it believes is the smallest and lightest quick charger for Electric Vehicles (EVs). This 10-kW-capacity model is certified for the CHAdeMO system and expands the company’s lineup by adding an EV quick charger that simplifies installation and lowers the user’s total costs. Output voltage is DC 50 V to 500 V (rapid recharging, CHAdeMO).

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Novozymes inaugurates $200M biofuels enzyme plant in US

Green Car Congress

Novozymes inaugurated its $200-million enzyme plant in Blair, Nebraska ( earlier post ), which will supply enzymes to some of the first advanced cellulosic biorefineries, as well as to the existing industry. In 2012-13, several advanced biofuel plants will open around the world, including Shengquan in China, Beta Renewables in Italy, GraalBio in Brazil and Fiberight in the United States.

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California Energy Commission awards more than $35M for green transportation in California

Green Car Congress

The California Energy Commission unanimously approved funding of $35,031,310 to projects that will accelerate the development of green fuels and technology in California. This set of awards supports a diversity of alternative fuel and vehicle types, including biodiesel production, natural gas vehicle technologies and incentives, hybrid and plug-in vehicles, and E85 fueling stations.

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Details on Nissan’s I3 1.2L supercharged direct-injection gasoline engine

Green Car Congress

In 2011, Nissan launched a version of the Micra city car equipped with a new supercharged gasoline direct-injection engine (HR12DDR). The 1.2-liter, inline three-cylinder Direct Injection Gasoline-Supercharger (DIG-S) engine, assisted with a stop-start system, produces 72 kW (97 hp) and 142 N·m (105 lb-ft), while CO 2 emissions are 95 g/km for the manual version (115 g/km for the CVT version). ( Earlier post.).

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Propane cabs for Pittsburgh

Green Car Congress

Yellow Cab of Pittsburgh, a division of the Pittsburgh Transportation Group (PTG), is introducing propane-powered taxi cabs to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl will be on hand at the cab drivers annual barbecue Wednesday at the PTG garage on Preble Avenue in Manchester to see the first group of an anticipated 55 cabs to undergo the conversion.

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Antimony/carbon nanocomposite anode for Na-ion battery shows high capacity and stability

Green Car Congress

Researchers at Wuhan University (China) have synthesized a Sb/C (antimony/carbon) nanocomposite for use as an anode material in a room-temperature sodium-ion (Na-ion) battery. A comparison of the cycling capacities of the metallic Sb and the Sb/C nanocomposite electrode at a current rate of 100 mA/g. Source: Yang et al. Click to enlarge. The Sb/C nanocomposite delivers a reversible 3 Na storage capacity of 610 mAh/g; a strong rate capability at a very high current of 2000 mA/g and a long-term cy

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Pike Research forecasts continued deployments of Intelligent Transportation Systems despite public sector cutbacks

Green Car Congress

Smart transport investment by sector, world markets: 2011-2017. Source: Pike Research. Click to enlarge. The widespread availability of high-speed networks, both fixed and wireless, along with the ability to embed intelligence in physical objects throughout the urban environment and the diffusion of mobile devices that can send and receive real-time vehicle or infrastructure information, is driving the adoption of smart transportation systems in cities across the developed world and in major eme

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Quantum and Dow Kokam deliver first Plug-In Hybrid Electric F-150

Green Car Congress

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. has delivered the first pilot version of its plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) F-150 pickup truck to Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), in association with Dow Kokam, the lithium-ion battery system supplier for the PHEV F-150. ( Earlier post.). FPL is an early adopter of both PHEVs and EVs (Electric Vehicle), and operates one of the largest green fleets of any investor-owned utility in the country.

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Petrobras: drilling in new deepwater pre-salt block indicates 700M barrels oil, 3T cubic meters gas

Green Car Congress

Petrobras announced the development of the exploration of block BM-C-33, south of the Campos basin. The drilling of the well 1-REPF-12D-RJS, where the discovery of a new hydrocarbon reservoir in the pre-salt layer was recently announced, indicated estimated recoverable volumes of more than 700 million barrels of oil and 3 trillion cubic meters of gas (equivalent to 545 million barrels) in the block BM-C-33.

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DOE to fund up to $12M in FY 2012 for work on innovative biosynthetic pathways for transformational improvements in biofuels production

Green Car Congress

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is soliciting ( DE-FOA-0000719 ) research projects for up approximately $12 million in awards in FY 2012 for work on biosynthetic pathways for advanced biofuels to demonstrate transformational, not incremental, improvements in yield and productivity. Synthetic biology technologies hold promise for addressing critical barriers in the biological and chemical production of important advanced biofuels and products, notes the DOE, including such barriers as product i

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DOE investing $120M over 5 years in Energy Innovation Hub for Critical Materials Research

Green Car Congress

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will invest $120 million over five years to launch a new Energy Innovation Hub, establishing a multidisciplinary and sustained effort to identify problems and develop solutions across the lifecycle of critical materials such as rare earth elements (REE) ( DE-FOA-0000687 ). The Critical Materials Hub builds on the Department’s Critical Materials Strategy report ( earlier post ), which addresses the use of rare earths and other critical materials in clean energy c

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