Tue.Jun 19, 2012

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Federal Mogul develops advanced aluminum piston for high-performance light-duty diesel engines

Green Car Congress

Federal-Mogul’s DuraBowl technology strengthens the crown of a piston, improving the aluminum’s strength where it is most needed. Click to enlarge. Federal-Mogul Corporation has. developed an aluminium piston that meets the higher strength and thermal performance. demands of very high-power diesel engines. BMW is the first to use the piston in its triple-turbo 3.0-liter diesel (N57D30S1) engine applied in the M550d xDrive, with a specific power output of 93 kW/liter (124 bhp/liter).

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2012 Nissan Leaf Limo Stretches Electric Car Reality

Green Car Reports

Last year we told you about a Missouri coachbuilder with the grand plan: turn a humble 2012 Nissan Leaf into a stretch limousine. Now, some ten months after we first brought you the story, we can bring you evidence that the Imperial Coach Builders of Springfield, MO made good its promise with what it claims is the world’s first electric.

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GM adds 100th landfill-free facility

Green Car Congress

GM recently added its 100 th landfill-free facility: a parts distribution center in Lansing, Mich. GM’s landfill-free roster includes more than half of its global manufacturing facilities. In its landfill-free efforts, GM first reduces waste and then focuses on recycling and reuse. In 2011, it recycled or reused 2.6 million metric tons at its facilities worldwide—equivalent to more than 38 million trash bags, or more than a month’s worth of trash for every resident in New York City.

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2012 Mercedes-Benz S 350 BlueTEC: One Week In 32-MPG Diesel Luxury Sedan

Green Car Reports

If your daily driving resembles a New York City cabbie's--lots of stop and go--you should get a hybrid for best fuel efficiency. But if it's closer to that of a traveling farm salesman--steady speeds on Interstate highways and wide-open state roads for hours--you'll likely be better off with a diesel. That's our conclusion after a remarkable.

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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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KLM flying Amsterdam to Rio with biojet blend

Green Car Congress

KLM is operating the longest biofuel flight undertaken yet as flight KL705 departs from Amsterdam with a Boeing 777-200 and flies to the Rio+20 sustainable development conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (about 9,500 km or 5,900 miles). The aircraft is partly flying on sustainable fuel made from used cooking oil, supplied by SkyNRG, the company KLM founded in 2009 with North Sea Group and Spring Associates.

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2012 Tesla Model S: 'Opportunity Console' Details Revealed

Green Car Reports

If you've ever climbed into a car and struggled to find a place to put that one item you like to carry around, then Tesla might have the solution for you. Tesla Motors has announced details of its 'Opportunity Console', a new concept for the console between the front seats that will allow owners to specify the cubby holes and compartments they.

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More Trending

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Audi's Hybrid Race Car Wins Famous Le Mans 24-Hour Endurance Race

Green Car Reports

Audi has taken a historic first victory for a hybrid vehicle at the Le Mans 24-Hour race, held at Circuit de la Sarthe in northern France. On the 80th running of the famous race, Audi took its 11th victory with the Audi R18 e-tron quattro, an all-wheel drive, hybrid race car showcasing the best of Audi's technology. Audi has previously taken.

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Hertz Italy Launches smart fortwo Electric Vehicle in Rome for Italo-NTV train customers

Green Car Congress

The Hertz Corporation in partnership with Italo-NTV, the first European private high-speed railway operator, will offer Italo customers the ability to rent smart fortwo electric drives from the Hertz locations at the Rome Tiburtina and Rome Ostiense train stations. These electric vehicles can be booked from €8 (US$10) per hour through the website [link] using the special Italo discount code, and will be powered at charging units provided by Enel, Italy’s largest electric utility.

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Battery Maker A123 Systems Says It’s Not The Next ‘Solyndra’

Green Car Reports

Despite unveiling what it says will be a revolutionary new vehicle battery last week, Massachusetts-based firm A123 Systems is fighting skepticism that it will become the “next Solyndra,” the California solar company that went bankrupt in August 2011 after receiving a $550 million loan guarantee from the U.S. government. “There.

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Hyundai Heavy begins exporting LNG engine

Green Car Congress

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world’s biggest shipbuilder and a leading marine engine manufacturer, has begun exporting the gas engine Hyundai HiMSEN H35/40GV after completing test runs. The new gas engine runs on liquefied natural gas rather than heavy crude oil and has a maximum power output of 13,000 bhp (9,694 kW). Test run of Hyundai Heavy’s Gas Engine HiMSEN H35/40GV.

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

Brief

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Think The 2012 Nissan Leaf Is Too Expensive? Australians Pay $52K

Green Car Reports

One of the most frequent criticisms we hear of electric and plug-in hybrid cars is that they’re just too expensive. Take the 2012 Nissan Leaf, for example. Before government and state incentives, a base-level Leaf SV will set you back $35,200. Live in the right area however, and incentives can dramatically lower that cost. Still expensive?

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Japan will begin test drilling for oil and gas off Niigata coast in 2013

Green Car Congress

Nikkei. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) will begin test drilling for oil and natural gas in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Niigata Prefecture in April 2013. METI hopes to discover Japan’s largest reserves of these resources—possibly the size of intermediate oil fields in the Middle East, according to METI. Commercialization could begin as early as 2023.

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2012 Honda Civic Vs 2012 Toyota Corolla: Compact Comparo

Green Car Reports

Other cars may steal the headlines, but the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla have spent plenty of time in the best-sellers lists. That's because each offers a wide range of talents to a wide range of individuals and families. They may lack the excitement of other models, but if you want a safe, comfortable, cheap-to-run four-door sedan, one or the.

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Scientists call for careful use of time scales, reference dates and statistical approaches in analyzing climate change trends to avoid distortion and hampering of response

Green Car Congress

Interpolated surfaces showing the change in mean annual temperature across Alaska for three different time series: 1949?2009, 1949?1976, and 1977?2009. Red colors represent a temperature increase, blue indicates a decrease, and beige indicates no change. Credit: ACS, Stevenson et al. Click to enlarge. Demonstrating that the use of different time scales, reference dates, and statistical approaches can generate highly disparate results in climate reports, scientists at the University of Alaska Anc

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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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Will Lower Summer Gas Prices Boost Car Travel For Vacations?

Green Car Reports

The numbers came in this morning, and gas prices took a sharp drop, with the national average now at just $3.50 per gallon. And they're expected to stay relatively flat through the summer, barring any surprises and geopolitical actions. That $3.50 average is s a drop of 7 cents in the last week alone, and sharply lower than in 2008, when the.

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GE and Sargas AS partner on gas-fired plants with carbon capture for enhanced oil recovery

Green Car Congress

GE has concluded a commercial alliance agreement with Norway-based Sargas AS to provide a gas turbine for one of the world’s first gas-fired plants with integrated carbon capture for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Overview of the Sargas system. Source: Sargas. Click to enlarge. The Sargas plant will combine a configuration of the existing LMS100 aero-derivative gas turbine package from GE with Sargas’ patented combustion and carbon-capture technology enabling low emissions power generation.

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2013: Smart ForTwo Iceshine Brings Exclusivity To Niche Market

Green Car Reports

How do you make a niche market car with low sales figures more attractive to buyers? By releasing a limited-edition, of course. Enter Smart, Mercedes-Benz’s microcar devision, and its plans to follow its summer-themed Smart ForTwo Sharpred Special Edition with a winter-themed special edition. Called the Smart ForTwo Iceshine Special Edition.

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BLM approves Gasco Uintah Basin gas project

Green Car Congress

The Bureau of Land Management approved a natural gas project by Gasco Energy in Utah’s Uintah Basin that would drill up to approximately 1,300 new wells over 15 years. The approved plan, which includes a number of measures to minimize impacts on sensitive areas, such as reduced surface disturbance and directional drilling, along with other environmental protections, will guide development of an area that could yield nearly three trillion cubic feet of gas over the next several decades.

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Electric cars versus conventional cars: which costs more?

Green Cars News

While electric cars are in their infancy and battery prices are high, their price tag tends to be much steeper than equivalent petrol and diesel cars. However, could they save you money over the vehicle’s lifetime? According to a report from the International Transport Forum (logo, pictured), the answer is “yes” and “no”: depending on [.].

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Yale team advances toward a one-pot oil extraction and transesterification process for algal biodiesel using a supercritical CO2 system

Green Car Congress

A team from Yale described advances toward achieving a single-step lipid extraction and transesterification process to produce algal biodiesel during the symposium “Biobased Feedstocks for Chemical and Fuel Production” at ACS’ 16 th annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference. Such a one-pot process would have a significant impact on the lifecycle impact of algal biodiesel production.

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Car clubs keep cutting transport emissions

Green Cars News

Car clubs are continuing to reduce car ownership levels and are helping to cut emissions and congestion-that’s the findings from the fifth annual survey of the nation’s car club members from the charity Carplus. Consistent with previous years, the latest report compiled by the environmental transport NGO promoting car clubs and car sharing, found that [.].

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Nissan holds jobs fair as LEAF heads to Sunderland

Green Cars News

Nissan is preparing for the production of four new vehicles-including its all-electric LEAF model- at its Sunderland plant by holding a Specialist Recruitment Day this weekend. Already the UK’s biggest car manufacturer by volume, the Nissan Sunderland plant is preparing for the for the busiest period in its 26-year history. As the plant prepares to [.].

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North East partnership to boost EV market

Green Cars News

The North East’s reputation as a leading region in the development of an electric vehicle economy gets a major boost today, in the announcement of a new partnership between four leading EV advocates. Zero Carbon Futures, Gateshead College, transport consultants TRL and sustainability experts tadea have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to launch the Zero [.].

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Honda’s relunctant green gain. The Green Piece.

Green Cars News

Tuesday 19 June, 2012. The Green Piece Column. Honda has launched a notable new Jazz that… few people are going to notice. The new Jazz 1.2 SE with Idle Stop is not the snappiest of names, and the claims made for it – 3g/km less CO2 than the alternative – are hardly headline-grabbing, but they [.].

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Electric vehicles ready to conquer Rome

Green Cars News

One of the world’s most beautiful capital cities will soon boast an even greener outlook as Rome, Italy, welcomes Smart Fortwo electric drive vehicles (pictured). The Hertz Corporation has teamed up with high-speed rail operator Italo-NTV to offer its customers the ability to rent the electric cars at its locations at both the Rome Ostiense [.].