Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 31, 2009

Schematic model of a wave disk engine, showing combustion and shockwaves within the channels. Source: MSU. Click to enlarge. Researchers from Michigan State University have been awarded $2.5 million from the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program ( earlier post ) to complete its prototype development of a new gasoline-fueled wave disc engine and electricity generator that promises to be five times more efficient than traditional auto engines in electricity production, 20% lighter, and 30% cheaper

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Creative Greenius

OCTOBER 24, 2009

Huge thanks to Ryan Christensen and his USC film school students who produced this video and got it uploaded so quickly. Check out some photos Mrs. Greenius took at the event by clicking HERE. And here’s a link to some great shots Greenpeace has put up too – like this one. Tags: environment 350.org Los Angeles Manhattan Beach South Bay 350 Climate Action Group.

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Los Angeles Climate Environment 249

Revenge of the Electric Car

OCTOBER 28, 2009

Bob Stempel and Stan Ovshinsky. Stan Ovshinsky — one of the stars of ‘Who Killed the Electric Car ?’ – is out of retirement and working with former business partner (and ex-GM head) Bob Stempel to develop solar panels. More details in the Detroit Free Press article: Panels may brighten job market. by Carol Cain. In another bit of coincidence, Stempel headed GM’s EV1 electric car program in the early 1990s.

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Plugs and Cars

OCTOBER 11, 2009

Tom McGhie, Financial Mail reports: The political battle for the electric car vote stepped up a gear last week when the Conservative Party pledged that owners of battery-powered cars would be guaranteed an overnight charging point. Source: thisismoney.co.

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Green Car Reports

OCTOBER 26, 2009

Honda has the highest average fleet mileage of any volume carmaker selling in the U.S. market today. And it's had that distinction for many years. But in the face of the car-market meltdown, oil prices that have risen from $30 to $80 a barrel within months, and growing global environmental concerns, rules, and regulations, Honda has.

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All Cars Electric

OCTOBER 24, 2009

Here's a frightening scene from the streets of Denmark submitted to Autopia by reader, Lars H. A Tesla Roadster was involved in a three-way crash with a Volkswagen Touareg and a Toyota Prius earlier this week. Apparently the Roadster was stopped behind the Touareg when the Prius rear-ended the Roadster, pushing it under the SUV.

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Creative Greenius

OCTOBER 29, 2009

From our friends at GreenObservers.org who out hustled and outproduced every TV news station in the L.A. market. Tags: Environmental Politics Ocean Saving Energy Sustainability Yes We Can! campaign citizen volunteer climate change environment politics renewable energy sea-level rise 350.org Greenpeace South Bay Los Angeles 350 Climate Action Group GreenObservers.org.

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Los Angeles Climate Change Climate Environment 191

Green Cars News

OCTOBER 2, 2009

A leading supplier of renewable-energy heating products is encouraging its drivers to choose Toyota Prius hybrid cars to help reflect the environmentally friendly nature of its business. Hoval Ltd has been impressed by the four Prius 1.5-litre cars it has been running in recent years as part of its 30-strong, multi-badge, user-chooser fleet. The Toyotas are driven by regional sales engineers.

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Plugs and Cars

OCTOBER 5, 2009

Toyota is knocking plug-in cars at CARB and in the press and touting impossible to deliver near-term hydrogen fuel cell commercialization. But it may have a Plan B. "Toyota Motor Corp is considering working with affiliate Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd to develop its electric vehicles," according to Mainichi newspaper as reported by Reuters. Fuji Heavy makes Subaru, which began limited sales of the Plug-in Stella in Japan in June.

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Green Car Reports

OCTOBER 16, 2009

By voting 80 to 17 to approve a compromise bill allocating $33.5 billion to fund energy and water projects, the U.S. Senate yesterday also redefined what qualifies as an "automobile". Once President Barack Obama signs the measure, a vehicle with only three wheels can--for the purpose of allocating Department of Energy funds for its Advanced.

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Aptera Obama Three Wheeled Automobile 89

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All Cars Electric

OCTOBER 14, 2009

The U.S Secretary of Energy is widely known for his straightforward comments. Many of which make headlines from time to time. Recent comments from Chu included asserting that electric vehicles are inevitable and even wildly stating that all cars should be E85 capable. Additional ramblings have centered around the importance of hydrogen.

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Energy Electric Cars Cars Hydrogen 63

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 15, 2009

In a speech at the Naval Energy Forum, US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus set out five energy targets for the department to meet over the course of the next decade, including the overall goal of half of the total energy consumption for ships, aircraft, tanks, vehicles, and shore installations coming from alternative sources by 2020. Another of the five goals is for the Department of the Navy to reduce petroleum use in its 50,000 strong commercial fleet by half by 2015.

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2020 Afghanistan Energy Mariner 308

Creative Greenius

OCTOBER 22, 2009

Bill McKibben says: October 22, 2009 at 8:48 am. “Can I just say–Joe’s amazing work is a prime example of what’s going on in every corner of the world. Not everyone is as sophisticated, but in 171 nations and across (currently) 4,400 events people are coming together around a scientific data point. We’re driving the debate, for once, and I wish you could all be in our temporary HQ in NYC just to watch the pictures pour in from every direction.

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Climate Change Climate 2009 Environment 191

Green Cars News

OCTOBER 26, 2009

When most people think of US Army vehicles, they naturally picture gas guzzling tanks or far from fuel efficient patrol vehicles. However, that may be about to change. Bright Automotive Inc has launched eSolutions in an effort to accelerate worldwide electrification and overall platform efficiency and at the heart of the new programme is a newly announced contract from the US Army TACOM to conduct a demonstration project on a low-cost plug-in hybrid electric solution for non-tactical military ve

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Bright Automotive Future IDEA Plug-in 50

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Revenge of the Electric Car

OCTOBER 26, 2009

Chris gives his views on the EV revolution — and our new film — to The Daily Beast. For full interview, follow this link. What can we expect to see in Revenge of the Electric Car? We’re tracking the fortunes of GM with the Volt and Tesla, initially with their Roadster and now the Model S, and the electric Smart Car. And then we’re tracking a whole group of other manufacturers and related stories like Better Place in Israel and what the Chinese are up to.

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Volt Chinese GM 140

Green Car Reports

OCTOBER 23, 2009

The Ford Escape compact sport utility, including its hybrid model, is now long in the tooth or beyond. It was first introduced as a 2001 model, and has been restyled twice. It still sells well, though, and Ford continues to update the hybrid model. Nonetheless, it's overdue for replacement. Now, word has leaked out that Ford will.

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All Cars Electric

OCTOBER 2, 2009

German firm Ingenieurgesellschaft Auto und Verkehr (IAV) is working on technology to fit roads with embedded induction-loops that will remotely "refuel" electric cars while they are driving or parked, without the need for connectors or cords. The technology is similar to that being developed by researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of.

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Charging Vehicles Auto Electric Cars 62

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 1, 2009

The US Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) recently awarded Lockheed Martin an $8.12 million contract to further develop Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology, which the leverages ocean’s natural thermal gradient between warmer water at the ocean’s surface and colder water below to produce renewable and reliable power. In geographical areas with warm surface water and cold deep water, the temperature difference can be leveraged to drive a steam cycle that turns a turbine an

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Creative Greenius

OCTOBER 23, 2009

Tags: environment 350.org International Climate Action Day Manhattan Beach Pier South Bay 350 Climate Action Group.

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Green Cars News

OCTOBER 27, 2009

Add Australia to the list of countries keen to be at the forefront of plug-in hybrid technology. The country’s CSIRO and Victorian energy distributor SP AusNet have begun a three-month road trial of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles with staff from SP AusNet to use the vehicles for their daily drive to work and for leisure purposes. Engineers from CSIRO modified Toyota Prius vehicles, removing the OEM battery pack and instead installing a larger 6kWh, 30Ah NiMH battery pack with five times the ca

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Australia Plug-in Plug Hybrid 49

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 22, 2009

An autonomous road train as envisioned by SARTRE. Click to enlarge. The new EU project SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) project will develop and test technology for vehicles that can drive themselves in long road trains on motorways. This technology has the potential to improve traffic flow and journey times, offer greater comfort to drivers, reduce accidents, and improve fuel consumption and hence lower CO 2 emissions.

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Fuel Volvo Sweden Spain 304

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 26, 2009

Rendering of the Gen 2 series plug-in hybrid powertrain under development. Source: ALTe. Click to enlarge. A Bloomfield, Michigan startup is developing light- and medium-duty series plug-in hybrid electric vehicle powertrain systems—initially as conversions, but ultimately extending to an OEM basis. ALTe, LLC has initially targeted fleet applications—specifically, the New York Ford Crown Victoria taxi fleet—as the passenger car market does not drive enough miles per year to del

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Conversion Plug-in Plug Hybrid 301

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 9, 2009

BME’s AGATE process. Click to enlarge. Blue Marble Energy Corp.(BME), a company using unique bacterial consortia to produce specialty biochemicals from the anaerobic fermentation of a range of biomass feedstocks, and Bionavitas, an algae producer, formed a partnership in which Blue Marble Energy will produce high-margin biochemicals from microalgae supplied by Bionavitas.

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Industrial Industry San Diego Energy 278

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 22, 2009

The Nissan LEAF all-electric car will make its North American debut in Los Angeles on 13 Nov. The Los Angeles showing will be the first time people in the United States will be able to see the five-passenger, five-door, gasoline-free car, which is embarking on a nationwide tour. The Nissan LEAF Zero Emission Tour will make stops in 22 cities, in 11 states, the District of Columbia, and Vancouver, Canada, offering the opportunity for interested drivers, media, civic partners, businesses and unive

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Los Angeles Nissan Las Vegas District of Columbia 270

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 30, 2009

The 100-year global warming potentials (GWPs) for methane, CO, and NO x (per Tg N) as given in the AR4 and in this study when including no aerosol response; the direct radiative effect of aerosol responses; and the direct+indirect radiative effects of aerosol responses. Source: Shindell at al. Click to enlarge. New research by a team at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York suggests that gas-aerosol interactions can amplify the global warming impact of some greenhouse g

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Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 27, 2009

Oxford Catalysts Group PLC, signed a definitive joint development agreement (JDA) with SGC Energia, SGPS, S.A. (SGCE) for the demonstration and commercialization of the Group’s Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology, primarily for Biomass-to-Liquids (BTL) and Waste-to-Liquids (WTL) applications. Oxford Catalysts has a platform catalyst technology that provides the increased activity in microchannel reactors. ( Earlier post.).

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Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 27, 2009

Relatively minor increases in ocean acidity brought about by high levels of carbon dioxide have significant detrimental effects on the growth, development, and survival of hard clams, bay scallops, and Eastern oysters, according to researchers at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. In one of the first studies looking at the effect of ocean acidification on shellfish, Stephanie Talmage, PhD candidate, and Professor Chris Gobler showed that the larval stages of thes

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Global Mariner Carbon 2009 260

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 25, 2009

Normalized well-to-wake GHG emissions for low-, baseline- and high-emission cases for jet fuel pathways under different land use change scenarios. From Hileman et al. Click to enlarge. A joint MIT/RAND study of the near-term commercial feasibility of alternative jet fuels has concluded that three types of alternative jet fuels may be available in commercial quantities over the next decade: Jet A derived from Canadian oil sands and Venezuelan Very Heavy Oils (VHO); Fischer-Tropsch (FT) jet fuel p

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Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 21, 2009

The Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE recently announced the selection of 43 teams—representing 18 states, 10 countries and 6 fuel types—to advance into the performance and safety testing phase of the $10-million prize purse competition. The 43 teams and their locations. Click to enlarge. Teams that have passed this most recent phase of judging proved to the competition’s automotive and technical experts that their vehicles will be available in time for formal vehicle challenges next spr

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Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 25, 2009

An analysis of sediment cores from an Arctic lake indicates that biological and chemical changes occurring there are unprecedented over the past 200,000 years and likely are the result of human-caused climate change, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder. A paper on the work was published online 19 October in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Climate Change Climate Universal Canada 239

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 29, 2009

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award up to $338 million in Recovery Act funding for the exploration and development of new geothermal fields and research into advanced geothermal technologies. These grants will support 123 projects in 39 states, with recipients including private industry, academic institutions, tribal entities, local governments, and DOE’s national laboratories.

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Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 21, 2009

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), USA will place ten Prius plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHV) with Xcel Energy’s SmartGridCity project in Boulder, Colorado. The vehicles will be the focus of an interdisciplinary research project coordinated by the University of Colorado at Boulder Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI), a new joint venture between the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 10, 2009

Natural gas will represent around half of Shell’s total production by 2012, said Shell CEO Peter Voser in a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC on 8 October. His talk was describing the energy company of the future. Within [the global energy] market, oil and gas are both indispensable and our core business. And within that segment, Shell is increasingly focusing on natural gas, the cleanest-burning fossil fuel.

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Gas-Electric 2012 Gas Companies 231

Green Car Congress

OCTOBER 4, 2009

A new gas turbine from Siemens, the largest ever built, has successfully completed testing at the E.ON power plant in Irsching, near Ingolstadt in Bavaria. In the process, it has posted a new record, running for more than 1,200 hours at full load. It also significantly exceeded its original rated output of 340 megawatts. The Siemens turbine. Click to enlarge.

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