Sat.May 09, 2015 - Fri.May 15, 2015

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SAE World Congress panel highlights progress on H2 infrastructure and fuel cell vehicle commercialization

Green Car Congress

Although the SAE World Congress has been running panel sessions on fuel cell vehicle commercialization since 2005, this year was the first in which three participating automakers—Toyota, Hyundai and Honda—had fuel cell vehicles that customers can buy now or within a year. ( Earlier post.) Many other OEMs are also working on development of fuel cell vehicles as well.

Congress 287
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Used Toyota Hybrid Batteries Repurposed At Yellowstone National Park

Green Car Reports

Even after they're no longer suitable for their original purpose, the battery packs from hybrids and electric cars can still be useful. Battery energy-storage capacity diminishes over time, to the point where packs are no longer suitable for use in cars. But after their automotive service lives are finished, battery packs often still have enough.

Hybrid 131
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This Is Why You Don’t Take Money From Oil Companies For Your Schools

Creative Greenius

When Chevron, or Phillips 66, or ExxonMobil or E&B oil companies give schools and nonprofits funding money they do it for one reason only. To pay them to shut up. You can fool yourself if you want to, but you can’t fool your kids, because in the end they will know their school, or that nonprofit pretending to be teaching kids about the environment, sold them out.

Oil 284
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Volkswagen unveils Golf GTE Sport PHEV concept: 0-100 km/h in 4.3s and 118 mpg

Green Car Congress

Golf GTE Sport PHEV concept. Click to enlarge. Volkswagen used the annual Wörthersee festival in Austria as the venue to unveil the Golf GTE Sport concept plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Featuring a carbon fiber body and a three power unit, all-wheel drive system, the 295 kW (396 hp) Golf GTE Sport accelerates from 0 - 100 km/h in 4.3 seconds, has a top speed of up to 280 km/h (174 mph), yet offers fuel consumption of just 2.0 l/100 km/h (118 mpg) on the NEDC cycle for plug-in hybrid vehicles.

MPG 239
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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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Volvo Cars selects South Carolina for its first US plant

Green Car Congress

Volvo Cars has selected South Carolina as the location of its new $500-million factory in the US. The new facility will have initial annual production of around 100,000 cars and be located in Berkeley County, close to Charleston. The new plant will make latest generation Volvo models for sale in the United States and for export. Construction will begin in early autumn 2015, with the first vehicles expected to roll off the assembly line in 2018.

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Behind Audi’s new “rightsized” efficient EA888 Gen.3B family

Green Car Congress

Audi’s new “rightsized” 2.0L Gen.3B engine maintains the displacement of the 2.0L Gen.3 and delivers the power of the 1.8L TFSI with the fuel consumption of the 1.4L TFSI. Click to enlarge. Audi’s new higher-efficiency series-production 2.0 TFSI turbocharged gasoline direct injection engine introduced at the Vienna Motor Symposium last week is the first of the company’s EA888 Gen.3B family.

Audi 223

More Trending

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Audi power-dense 2.5L TFSI engine with electric biturbo delivers 591 hp from 2,480 cc; 48V subsystem for the turbo

Green Car Congress

At the Wörthersee festival, Audi is showcasing the Audi TT clubsport turbo technology concept equipped with a new 2.5 TFSI gasoline engine with an electric biturbo ( earlier post ) that delivers 441 kW (591 hp) and 650 N·m (479.4 lb-ft), with acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h (62.1 mph) in 3.6 seconds. Peak torque is available from 3,000 to 7,000 rpm.

Audi 209
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Canada targets cutting GHGs 30% below 2005 levels by 2030; new regulations for oil and gas, power, petrochemicals

Green Car Congress

Canada Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced that Canada plans to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. Canada formally submitted its target, referred to as an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Canada will continue to take cooperative action with its continental trading partners, particularly the United States, in integrated sectors of the economy, including energy and tr

2005 203
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DSD to reveal low cost 48V e-drive architecture concepts at CTI Symposium

Green Car Congress

Driveline engineering specialist Drive System Design (DSD) will introduce a new 48V e-drive systems concept for mild hybrid vehicles at the 9 th International CTI Symposium later this month. Dr. John Reeve, DSD UK Chief Engineer, will present a paper entitled “A study of compact architectures using multiple 48V e-drives to create a low cost 30–45 kW full hybrid system.”.

Low Cost 203
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Faradion demonstrates proof-of-concept sodium-ion electric bike

Green Car Congress

E-bike powered by Faradion prototype Na-ion battery pack. For the proof-of-concept, the cells were manufactured to be larger than necessary to avoid unnecessary costs and lengthy manufacturing processes at this early stage. Click to enlarge. British battery R&D company Faradion has demonstrated a proof-of-concept electric bike powered by sodium-ion batteries at the headquarters of Williams Advanced Engineering, which collaborated in the development of the bike.

Sodium 200
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Faurecia and Accenture partner on products and services for connected and autonomous vehicles

Brief

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First production of fuel-range liquid hydrocarbons from biological feedstock using the fermentative isobutene pathway

Green Car Congress

Global Bioenergies has successfully converted renewable resources first into gaseous isobutene via fermentation, which was then subsequently catalytically oligomerized into a mix of fuel-range liquid hydrocarbons, including iso-octane. In 2014, Global Bioenergies signed a collaboration agreement with Audi on the development of bio-isooctane—a high-performance drop-in biofuel for gasoline engines—derived from bio-isobutene. ( Earlier post.).

Fuel 200
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3 Duke Energy subsidiaries plead guilty to 9 criminal violations of Clean Water Act; $102M settlement

Green Car Congress

Three subsidiaries of North Carolina-based Duke Energy Corporation, the largest utility in the United States, pleaded guilty to nine criminal violations of the Clean Water Act at several of its North Carolina facilities and agreed to pay a $68-million criminal fine and spend $34-million on environmental projects and land conservation to benefit rivers and wetlands in North Carolina and Virginia.

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Li-ion electrode company BESSTECH receives $250K investment from Eastern New York Angels

Green Car Congress

BESSTECH LLC, an electrode design and engineering venture and a spin-off of SUNY Polytechnic Institute - Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (SUNY PI - CNSE), has received a $250,000-investment from the Eastern New York Angels (ENYA) to accelerate commercialization of its technology and further build its workforce in New York State. With the funding provided by ENYA, BESSTECH has now raised more than $1.3 million from public and private sources and is on track to reach its investment t

New York 197
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ConocoPhillips converting 30 trucks to LPG this year, 300 more over next 5

Green Car Congress

ConocoPhillips will convert 30 trucks to propane autogas this year and replace more than 300 more trucks over the next five years with vehicles powered by propane fuel technology. ConocoPhillips has been testing ROUSH CleanTech propane vehicles in the field since 2011, logging thousands of miles in northwest New Mexico and southwest Colorado. Each propane autogas truck emits about 67,000 fewer pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over its lifetime than a gasoline powered vehicle.

Convert 197
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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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BMW anticipates next-gen Power eDrive PHEV platform will support about 80% of daily driving in all-electric mode

Green Car Congress

At the Vienna Motor Symposium, Klaus Fröhlich, member of the Board of BMW AG, Development, outlined the direction the company is taking with its next-generation Power eDrive plug-in hybrid electric vehicle platform ( earlier post ). One of the principles of the development work, first discussed last November, is to maximize the amount of time the vehicle spends in electric mode.

BMW 197
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California ARB posts discussion document for developing Advanced Clean Transit (ACT) regulation

Green Car Congress

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has posted a discussion document. for upcoming workshops on the development of the Advanced Clean Transit (ACT) regulation. The proposed Advanced Clean Transit regulation will consider strategies to achieve additional criteria pollutant emissions reductions from transit fleets and to accelerate purchases of zero emission buses as part of an overall strategy to transform all heavy duty vehicles to zero emission or near zero emission vehicles to meet air qu

Clean 197
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ORNL team demonstrates first large-scale graphene composite fabrication

Green Car Congress

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have fabricated polymer composites containing 2-inch-by-2-inch sheets of graphene using chemical vapor deposition. The resulting composite structures have the potential to outperform the current state-of-the-art composite materials in both mechanical properties and electrical conductivities (>8 S/cm with only 0.13% volumetric graphene loading and 5 × 10 3 S/cm for pure graphene fibers) with estimated graphene contribu

Polymer 195
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GKN Aerospace leading £3.1M collaborative research to develop titanium powder for 3D printing of aerospace parts

Green Car Congress

GKN Aerospace will lead a three year, £3.1-million (US$4.9-million) collaborative research program to develop titanium powder specifically formulated and blended to meet the needs of additive manufacturing (AM) of aerospace components. The program, called TiPOW (Titanium Powder for net-shape component manufacture) will also commence work developing the techniques and equipment that will produce the powder consistently, in quantity and at a lower price than today’s material.

Parts 195
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Navigant forecasts sensor-enabled on-street smart parking spaces to exceed 1M by 2024

Green Car Congress

A new report from Navigant Research estimates that by 2024, there will be more than 1 million sensor-enabled on-street smart parking spaces globally. This forecast is somewhat more conservative than the one provided in Navigant’s 2013 Smart Parking Systems report, reflecting a slower-than-anticipated early adoption rate among cities, especially in North America.

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Study using real-world data finds low speed autonomous emergency braking leads to 38% reduction in rear-end crashes

Green Car Congress

A study by a team of researchers from Europe, Australia and New Zealand has found that Low Speed AEB (autonomous emergency braking) technology leads to a 38% reduction in real-world rear-end crashes. The study, published in the journal of Accident Analysis & Prevention , also found that there is no significant difference between urban and rural crash benefits.

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Report: Toyota and Mazda heading toward partnership on green technologies

Green Car Congress

The Nikkei reports that Toyota Motor and Mazda Motor are negotiating a partnership on eco-friendly technology. According to the report, Toyota will supply fuel cell and plug-in-hybrid technology, while Mazda will offer its Skyactiv technologies. The automakers will also consider cooperating in other areas, including procurement of commercial vehicles from the Toyota group and joint purchasing of parts, the report said.

Mazda 190
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Honda begins sales of SHUTTLE compact wagon and hybrid in Japan

Green Car Congress

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has begun sales of the all-new Honda SHUTTLE. compact wagon and hybrid at dealerships across Japan. The gasoline-powered version of SHUTTLE is equipped with a 1.5-liter direct-injection DOHC i-VTEC engine and CVT, while the hybrid version is equipped with the SPORT HYBRID i-DCD. The hybrid version realizes top-in-class level fuel economy of 34.0 km/liter (80 mpg US, 2.9 l/100 km) (JC08 mode).

Honda 183
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ZF completes acquisition of TRW Automotive

Green Car Congress

ZF Friedrichshafen AG, a global leader in driveline and chassis technology, and TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. have completed the transaction under which ZF has successfully acquired TRW. TRW will be incorporated into ZF as a new division called Active & Passive Safety Technology. The combined company operates under the name ZF Friedrichshafen AG. On 15 September 2014, ZF and TRW signed a Merger Agreement for the acquisition of TRW by ZF.

New York 183
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Intelligent Energy showcasing 100kW hydrogen fuel cell architecture at JSAE Automotive Engineering Exposition

Green Car Congress

Intelligent Energy will showcase its evaporatively-cooled 100kW automotive fuel cell architecture ( earlier post ) at the JSAE Automotive Engineering Exposition in Japan, 20-22 May. The company’s unique stack technology offers leading power densities of 3.5 kW/l (volumetric) and 3.0 kW/kg (gravimetric), while being engineered for low-cost, high-volume series production.

Hydrogen 183
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Partially fluorinated ether electrolyte co-solvent improves Li-S battery performance

Green Car Congress

A team at Central South University in China reports in a paper in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society that use of a partially fluorinated ether as an electrolyte co-solvent improves the performance of Li-sulfur batteries. The team used 1,1,2,2-Tetrafluoroethyl 2,2,2-Trifluoroethyl Ether (TFTFE) as electrolyte co-solvent. The ether, with partially fluorinated structure, reduces the conductivity of the electrolyte but increases the reversible capacity and coulombic efficiency of the cell, w

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GM investing $1B in Warren Technical Center

Green Car Congress

General Motors will invest $1 billion in its Warren Technical Center campus. The multiyear project, which is driving new construction on the campus, significant renovations of some existing facilities and expansion of some operations, begins this month with work continuing through 2018 at the National Historic Landmark site. Under current plans, the investment will create approximately 2,600 new GM salaried jobs in core areas such as product engineering, IT and design, all areas critical to supp

GM 183
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BP selects Technip for the Thunder Horse South Expansion project in the ultra-deep Gulf of Mexico

Green Car Congress

BP Exploration & Production Inc. awarded Technip a lump sum project for the design, engineering, fabrication, installation and pre-commissioning of the new production pipeline systems on the south side of the Thunder Horse production drilling quarters unit. At a water depth of approximately 1,900 meters (6,234 feet), the current field development is located in Mississippi Canyon Blocks 778 and 822, in the ultra-deepwater Gulf of Mexico environment.

Mexico 183
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Toyota and Mazda agree to build long-term partnership; environmental and advanced safety technologies

Green Car Congress

Toyota Motor Corporation and Mazda Motor Corporation entered an agreement to build a long-term partnership, leveraging the resources of each to complement and to enhance the other’s products and technologies. The two companies are now setting up a joint committee to evaluate how best to utilize each company’s respective strengths. The committee will encourage “broad and meaningful collaboration” across a range of fields, including environmental and advanced safety technologies.

Mazda 183
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Opinion: Saudi Arabia Continues To Turn Screws On US Shale

Green Car Congress

by James Stafford of Oilprice.com. Saudi Arabia continues to ratchet up production, taking market share away from US shale producers. According to OPEC's latest monthly oil report , Saudi Arabia boosted its oil output to 10.31 million barrels per day in April, a slight increase over the previous month’s total of 10.29 million barrels. That was enough for the de facto OPEC leader to claim its highest oil production level in more than three decades.

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Volvo Trucks introduces automatic all-wheel drive for improved driveability and fuel economy

Green Car Congress

Volvo Trucks is introducing automatic all wheel drive—a feature it calls Automatic Traction Control—on construction trucks. ATC activates the drive on the front axle automatically when in motion, if the truck risks getting stuck—i.e., when the rear wheels lose traction on slippery or soft ground. The driver enjoys improved maneuverability, and the owner benefits from lower fuel consumption and less wear and tear on the truck.

Volvo 183
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Back to the Arctic: BOEM conditionally approves Shell’s revised Chukchi Sea exploration plan

Green Car Congress

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) conditionally approved Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc.’s revised multi-year Exploration Plan (EP) for the Chukchi Sea. Shell’s revised EP proposes the drilling of up to six wells within the Burger Prospect, located in approximately 140 feet of water about 70 miles northwest of the village of Wainwright. Shell will conduct its operations using the drillship M/V Noble Discoverer and the semi-submersible drilling unit Transocean Polar Pioneer, with each ve

Alaska 183
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Proper carbon accounting for biofuels

Green Car Congress

In a post—“ When do biofuels really balance carbon? ”—on his blog Cars and Climate , Dr. John DeCicco at the University of Michigan Energy Institute emphasizes again the importance of a rigorous examination of the common “biofuels recycle carbon” argument. ( Earlier post.). Summarizing his earlier conclusions from an open access paper published in the journal Climactic Change , DeCicco first observes that: CO 2 is always flowing in and out of the atmosphere, whether or not products o

Carbon 183
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Mercedes-Benz Actros wins more than 90% of 1000 fuel-consumption comparison tests in Europe in the Fuel Duel

Green Car Congress

Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks have won more than 90% of 1000 Fuel Duels in Europe. The “Fuel Duel” fuel-consumption comparison test of Mercedes-Benz Trucks takes place in 22 countries in Europe, with 90 Actros trucks are on the road—predominantly tractor units of models 1842 LS and 1845 LS with Euro VI emission control technology. The fuel consumption advantage over competitors is about 10.5% on average.

Mercedes 183
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US-China team develops new class of catalyst superior to platinum for H2O splitting and H2 generation

Green Car Congress

Potential sweeps caused substantial activity degradation for the Pt catalyst, but nearly no activity change for the NiAu/Au catalyst. Credit: ACS, Lv et al. Click to enlarge. A team from Brown University, Wuhan University of Technology (China), Cal State University Northridge and Harbin Institute of Technology (China) has developed a new catalyst for a highly efficient hydrogen evolution reaction based on core/shell NiAu/Au nanoparticles (NPs).

China 183