Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 30, 2013

'A team from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and General Motors, led by ORNL researcher Dr. Jun Qu, has developed a new group of ionic liquids as lubricant additives that could help improve the energy efficiency of cars and trucks. Prototype low-viscosity ionic liquid-additized engine oil demonstrated a 2% improved fuel economy compared to Mobil 1 5W-30 engine oil (3.93% over the 20W-30 baseline oil) in standard fuel efficiency engine dynamometer tests.

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Fuel Economy Oil Economy Engine 369

Green Car Reports

JANUARY 3, 2014

'In their third full year of sales, more plug-in electric cars were sold in the U.S. than ever before. The 2013 total of roughly 90,000 electric vehicles didn''t quite double the 2012 total of about 53,000, but with 16 different plug-in cars offered for sale as of this month, the numbers seem likely to grow again this year. And last year''s total was.

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2013 Plug-in Plug Sale 152

Green Cars News

JANUARY 3, 2014

'The UK government could become the first in the world to see its Cabinet make a wholesale switch to electric cars, the Evening Standard reports. According to the London paper, ministers are keen to lead by example by in adopting battery-powered models in replacement of traditional limousines. [.].

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Electric Cars London Cars Battery Powered 68

National Green Transportation

JANUARY 3, 2014

'At this years Consumer Electronics Show, held next in Las Vegas, Ford Motors has announced it will show off a solar powered Ford C-MAX Energi. The concept car is also a research platform that shows a way to.

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Las Vegas Solar Ford Energy 62

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Norway

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 2, 2014

'Ford’s C-MAX Solar Energi concept combines a rooftop solar panel with an off-board solar concentrator—essentially an inexpensive Fresnel lens canopy. The vehicle moves beneath the canopy during the day to maintain maximum concentrated solar irradiance. Click to enlarge. Ford Motor Company announced the C-MAX Solar Energi Concept, a sun-powered hybrid vehicle that can deliver the efficiency of a plug-in hybrid without depending on the electric grid for recharging.

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Solar Recharge Grid Plug-in 366

Green Car Reports

JANUARY 2, 2014

'Is it possible for electric cars to be too popular? Thanks to supportive government policies and relatively short average commuting distances, Norway has become the friendliest place in the world for plug-in cars. Now, there may be too many of them on the country''s roads. The country is starting to have more electric cars than it can handle.

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Norway Electric Cars Cars Electric 150

National Green Transportation

JANUARY 3, 2014

'At this years Consumer Electronics Show, held next in Las Vegas, Ford Motors has announced it will show off a solar powered Ford C-MAX Energi. The concept car is also a research platform that shows a way to.

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Las Vegas Solar Ford Energy 60

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 28, 2013

'Summary of the path to enable EVs to provide grid services. Source: CA ISO. Click to enlarge. The California Independent System Operator Corporation (ISO) has released a blueprint for integrating electric vehicles (EVs) into the grid: “ California Vehicle-Grid Integration Roadmap: Enabling Vehicle-based Grid Services ”. The VGI blueprint outlines three inter-dependent tracks to assess how consumer use of electric vehicles could benefit electric reliability, and to determine policies and technol

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Grid California Charging Market 319

Green Car Reports

JANUARY 2, 2014

'Solar power has proven itself better for static charging than it has for on-vehicle use, even if Australia''s Solar Challenge race has shown solar cars to be possible under certain, very specific conditions. The trouble is, electric cars draw too much power and take up too small an area for solar roofs to charge them as they drive along. There are.

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Solar Electric Cars Charging Concept 147

Green Cars News

DECEMBER 31, 2013

'The sale of electric car maker Fisker Automotive continues to grab headlines after the company''s creditors decided to oppose the sale of the company''s assets to Hybrid Tech Holdings LLC. Creditors want a competitive bidding process and filed a proposal in the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Dela[.].

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Fisker Sale Green Cars Green 56

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Connect

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 31, 2013

'Ethanol yield (g/L) for the Belgian and French field trials. Van Acker et al. Click to enlarge. The results of field trials with genetically modified poplar trees in Belgium and France shows that the wood of the modified poplar trees—down-regulated for cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR), an enzyme in the lignin biosynthetic pathway—improved saccharification yield—i.e., it can be more efficiently converted into sugars for producing bio-based products such as bio-plastics and bio-eth

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Belgium Conversion France Universal 268

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 30, 2013

'US production of biodiesel reached a high of 132 million gallons (500 million liters) in October 2013, according to the latest figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Biodiesel production during October 2013 was about 5 million gallons higher than production in September 2013. Click to enlarge. Biodiesel production from the Midwest region (Petroleum Administration for Defense District 2) was 67% of the US total.

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Production 2013 Oil Diesel 262

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 3, 2014

'In December, the Patrick Administration awarded grants and announced new investments in three programs to support alternative fuel vehicles and related infrastructure across Massachusetts, including the launch of an electric school bus pilot. The Clean Vehicle Project will further promote the adoption of electric vehicles in Massachusetts through publicly accessible charging stations and replace or convert more than 200 public and private fleet vehicles currently powered by gasoline and diesel

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Massachusetts Alternative Fuels Fuel Grant 261

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 30, 2013

'A recent report prepared by UC Davis researchers for the California Air Resources Board (ARB) found that compliance costs for the Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS) may increase rapidly in the future if there are large differences in marginal costs between traditional fossil fuels and alternative, low-carbon-intensity fuels; or if there are capacity or technological constraints to deploying alternative fuels, particularly those with low-carbon intensity.

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Davis Alternative Fuels Boston Consulting Group Price 261

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Guyana

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 3, 2014

'The United States Caribbean Sea Emission Control Area (ECA) (SO x came into effect , under MARPOL Annex VI, on 1 January 2014, bringing in stricter controls on emissions of sulfur oxide (SO x ), nitrogen oxide (NO x ) and particulate matter (PM) for ships trading in certain waters adjacent to the coasts of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands.

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United States Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Emissions 257

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 29, 2013

'Researchers from Texas A&M University’s Energy Institute and Saint-Gobain Proppants have begun a collaborative effort to better understand the behavior of proppants in hydraulic fracturing operations. The collaboration will initially involve research into the “down hole” performance of proppants in fractured wells. The collaboration will consist of two research projects: An exploration of geochemical interactions between formation fluids and minerals with fracturing fluid and proppants to bette

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Texas Energy Engine Industrial 257

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 3, 2014

'Hyundai’s next generation of products, starting with the all-new 2015 Genesis, will allow owners to connect with their vehicle using wearable devices. Hyundai’s cloud-based Blue Link platform makes features like remote start and service information quickly accessible through new devices like Google Glass and others. Hyundai suggests that wearable devices will help owners save time and add a new level of convenience by allowing remote interaction with the vehicle without the need to pull out the

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Google Hyundai 2015 Connect 252

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 3, 2014

'WTW energy demand and GHG emissions for EV and PHEV drivetrains for various electricity sources; gasoline ICE vehicle is solid square, hybrid the hollow square. Click to enlarge. A comprehensive analysis of well-to-wheel (WTW) primary energy demand and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the operation of conventional and alternative passenger vehicle drivetrains in Switzerland has concluded that alternative combustion fuels—not only alternative drivetrains such as PEVs or FCVs—play a

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Alternative Fuels Emissions Fuel Switzerland 252

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 2, 2014

'The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) is piloting a crowdsourced energy challenge , focused on ARPA-E’s PETRO (Plants Engineered To Replace Oil) program, which aims to increase the viability of biofuels by investing in research to double the energy-capture-per-unit area from that of corn ethanol. ( Earlier post.).

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Energy Waste Oil Fuel 240

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 1, 2014

'High-rate cycling performances of Fe 2 O 3 -graphene sheet-on-sheet composite. Kan and Wang. Click to enlarge. Researchers from Shanghai University have synthesized Fe 2 O 3 -graphene sheet-on-sheet sandwich-like nanocomposites that, when used as an anode for Li-ion battery, shows a high reversible capacity of 662.4 mAh g ?1 after 100 cycles at 1000 mA g ?

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Li-ion Batteries Battery Carbon 240

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 28, 2013

'Chart Ferox, a.s., a member of Chart Industries’ Distribution and Storage (D&S) segment in Europe, has been awarded a contract by Hybrid Port Energy Gmbh & Co. KG (HPE) to provide LNG fuel storage and processing equipment for the LNG-Hybrid Barge , which will operate in Hamburg’s HafenCity. The LNG-Hybrid Barge uses LNG to generate electricity from combined heat and power units and generators; electricity thus generated will be fed into the cruise ship’s power supply as needed.

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Czech Republic Hybrid Power Powered 239

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 3, 2014

'An article in the latest issue of IEA Energy: The Journal of the International Energy Agency reports that Estonia, which has the most developed oil shale industry in the world, is collaborating in pursuing wider use of oil shale in a cleaner, more sustainable manner. Different that shale oil—i.e., liquids produced from shale formation via techniques such as hydraulic fracturing—oil shale is a sedimentary rock containing up to 50% organic matter rich in hydrogen, known as kerogen.

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Estonia Oil Cleaner Jordan 236

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 31, 2013

'A study by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory earlier this year concluded that speed synchronization through connected vehicle technology can contribute to fuel economy improvement more than 4% for the conventional vehicle fleet and at least 7% for the hybrid electric fleet. The team introduced a simulation-based framework to explore the impact of speed synchronization on fuel economy improvement for fleets in traffic.

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Fuel Economy Economy Connect Connected 231

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 29, 2013

'Researchers at Tsinghua University have developed a high-power-density zinc-air fuel cell (ZAFC) stack using an inexpensive manganese dioxide (MnO 2 ) catalyst with potassium hydroxide (KOH) electrolyte. As reported in a paper in the Journal of Power Sources , they achieved peak power in a ZAFC stack as high as 435 mW cm -2. They also reported that the time required for voltages to reach steady state and for current step-up or step-down are in milliseconds, indicating that the ZAFC could be app

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Zinc Air Power Powered Fuel 231

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 3, 2014

'The US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a safety alert to notify the general public, emergency responders and shippers and carriers that recent derailments and resulting fires indicate that the type of crude oil being transported from the Bakken region may be more flammable than traditional heavy crude oil. Based upon preliminary inspections conducted after recent rail derailments in North Dakota, Alabama and Lac-Megantic, Québec involving Bakken crude oil,

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North Dakota Oil Alabama Transportation 225

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 2, 2014

'Researchers at the University of Mississippi are looking to imported fire ants (IFA) ( Solenopsis sp.) as a source for oleaginous microorganisms or enzymes supporting the digestion of raw sugars for the production of oil to be used as feedstock for biodiesel. In a paper in the journal Fuel , they note that the yield of ant oil is 16% dry weight and contains most of the fatty acids also found in other biomass resources.

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Oil South America Mississippi Exhaust 225

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 1, 2014

'A team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) reports on the effects of piston bowl geometry on the combustion and emission characteristics of a diesel engine fueled with biodiesel under medium load condition in a paper in the journal Fuel. The team investigated three different bowl geometries in its numerical study: Hemispherical Combustion Chamber (HCC), Shallow depth Combustion Chamber (SCC), and the baseline Omega Combustion Chamber (OCC).

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Singapore Diesel 2014 Engine 225

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 31, 2013

'Polypore International, Inc. and Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. have entered into a Settlement and License Agreement which ends all outstanding worldwide litigation between the two companies related to Polypore’s intellectual property rights on battery separator coating. Under the License Agreement, Sumitomo Chemical has licensed Polypore’s intellectual property related to coating separators for lithium-ion batteries.

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Lithium Ion Lead Acid Batteries Battery 225

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 30, 2013

'The Federal Aviation Administration has chosen six research and test site operators across the US for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) with the intent of delivering findings and operational experiences to help ensure the safe integration of UAS into the nation’s airspace. In selecting the six test site operators, FAA said it considered geography, climate, location of ground infrastructure, research needs, airspace use, safety, aviation experience and risk.

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North Dakota Virginia Alaska Climate 225

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 3, 2014

'Researchers at Fraunhofer IWU have developed a system for the direct transfer of parameters applied in a pilot production run of new automobiles to serial production. As a result, the serial production process could become faster and more flexible. Use of the new “try-out” system could reduce start-up times by up to 50%, sugests Marco Breitfeld, Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU in Chemnitz.

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Production Kits Parts Automobile 220

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 1, 2014

'BP said that 2013 had been its most successful year for new field exploration for almost a decade. During the year, BP participated in 15 completed wildcat exploration wells, resulting in 7 potentially commercial discoveries—a new field exploration success rate of more than 40%. In mid-December 2013, BP announced its discovery in the Gila prospect, its latest in the Paleogene in the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico.

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Angola Mexico Brazil 2013 220

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 30, 2013

'FuelCell Energy, Inc. reported the completion of the 14.9 megawatt (MW) Bridgeport fuel cell park and acceptance by Dominion, the project owner. The installation consists of five direct fuel cell power plants and an organic rankine cycle turbine for added output and further efficiency gains. The project was completed on schedule and power is being delivered to the electric grid under a 15-year energy purchase agreement with a Connecticut electric utility.

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Connecticut Energy Fuel Tax 220

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 31, 2013

'Researchers at the University of Calgary have developed Ni?W?Mo ultradisperse nanocatalysts for the in situ upgrading of Athabasca bitumen. A report on their work is published in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels. Current heavy oil and bitumen production processes are high-energy and water-intensive and, consequently, have significant environmental footprints because of the production of gaseous emissions such as CO 2 and generating huge amounts of produced water.

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Oil-Sands Oil Conversion Hydrogen 218

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 2, 2014

'BlueFire Renewables, Inc., a developers of a cellulosic waste facility in Fulton, Mississippi (earlier post) received notice on 23 December that the US Department of Energy (DOE) would no longer provide funding under the company’s DOE grant due to the company’s inability to comply with certain deadlines related to providing certain information to the DOE with respect to future financing arrangements for the Fulton Project. ( Earlier post.).

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Grant Renewable Mississippi Financing 210