2009

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Study Finds that US Subsidies for Fossil Fuels Are Almost 2.5x Those for Renewables

Green Car Congress

US subsidies for fuels and renewable energy, 2002-2008. Nuclear was not included in the analysis. Source: Adeyeye et al. 2009. Click to enlarge. The vast majority of US federal subsidies for fossil fuels and renewable energy from 2002-2008 supported fossil energy sources that emit high levels of greenhouse gases when used as fuel, according to research released on Friday by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Renewable 338
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Outstanding Video of Today’s South Bay Los Angeles 350 Climate Action In Manhattan Beach

Creative Greenius

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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Chevy Volt gets a Chirpy Sound

Electric Cars are for Girls

Remember when blessed silence was a GOOD thing? Well, not anymore. Apparently, those treehugging Prius drivers have been inadvertently mowing down pedestrians in their path from Starbucks to Pilates, so GM is talking to the National Federation for the Blind about how they can add a level of noise pollution to electric cars. Apparently involves a non-birdly "automotive" chirping.

Volt 229
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The Power of Electric

Revenge of the Electric Car

Cast and Crew: Stefano, Alexandra, and Gary. When Google asked for submissions of a 90 second video on the benefits of plug in cars to show at a 2008 Washington DC Brookings-Google Electric Car conference, Alexandra Paul and Stefano Paris decided to rise to the challenge! With Stefano’s friend Gary Winterboer, they shot this video at a local gas station using Alexandra’s RAV4-EV and Stefano’s EVO.

Power 185
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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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GM's Second Electric Car After Chevy Volt To Be Cadillac Converj

Green Car Reports

General Motors will follow its 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car with a production version of the Cadillac Converj concept car revealed at this year's Detroit Auto Show. It's been an open question for a while now: What will be the next vehicle to use GM's Voltec series hybrid electric-car platform? The Opel/Vauxhall.

Cadillac 118
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Green Cars News

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Gordon wants more electric cars :: KTAR.com

Tony Karrer Delicious EVdriven

Tuesday April 21st, 2009 Top Talk Login | Sign Up KTAR LIVE Stream Stream TXT Twitter KTAR Rewards All Star Rewards Choose A Stream News Talk 92.3 620 Sports KTAR PodCenter Home News Sports Opinions Shows Photos Classifieds Ask KTAR Events Local US World Business Entertainment Traffic Weather Health Tech Odd Gordon wants more electric cars by Jim Cross/KTAR (April 20th, 2009 @ 7:04am) Policy >> Comments: 7 If Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon has his way, motorists will be able to "fill er up" jus

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Colorado State University Spinoff to Commercialize 3D Li-ion Battery Technology for Higher-Capacity, Longer-Life Cells

Green Car Congress

Examples of prospective 3-D architectures for charge-insertion batteries, as proposed by Long et al. (a) array of interdigitated cylindrical cathodes and anodes; (b) interdigitated plate array of cathodes and anodes; (c) rod array of cylindrical anodes coated with a thin layer of ion-conducting dielectric (electrolyte) with the remaining free volume filled with the cathode material (the Prieto Battery approach); (d) aperiodic “sponge” architectures.

Li-ion 319
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Perspective: US Needs to Transition to Hydrous Ethanol as the Primary Renewable Transportation Fuel

Green Car Congress

by Brian J. Donovan, CEO Renergie, Inc. [ This opinion piece originally appeared in the Field-to-Pump blog, published by Renergie, Inc. ]. Use of Hydrous Ethanol in Brazil. The oil price shocks of the 1970s led the Brazilian government to address the strain high prices were placing on its fragile economy. Brazil, the largest and most populous country in South America, was importing 80% of its oil and 40% of its foreign exchange was used to pay for that imported oil.

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Toyota Industries Corp. Develops Solar Charging Station for EVs and PHEVs

Green Car Congress

Toyota Industries’ solar charging station. Click to enlarge. Toyota Industries Corp (TIC) has developed a solar charging station for plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs) and electric vehicles (EVs). The municipal government of Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture plans to build 21 such stations at 11 locations such as the municipal office and branch offices. Full operation of the stations will begin in April, with 20 Prius Plug-In Hybrids.

Solar 316
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Faurecia and Accenture partner on products and services for connected and autonomous vehicles

Brief

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Michigan State University Receives $2.5M ARPA-E Award to Build Wave Disc Engine/Generator for Series Hybrid Applications

Green Car Congress

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

Michigan 316
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Toyota Aims to Reduce Fuel Cell Vehicle Cost to 1/10 of Current By Commercialization in 2015; Reduction to Another 1/10 With Scale

Green Car Congress

Toyota’s targeted cost reductions in fuel cell vehicles. Source: Toyota. Click to enlarge. In a news conference at the Japan National Press Club on Friday, Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda said that the company plans to begin mass production of electric vehicles in the US in 2012, followed by US production of fuel cell vehicles in 2015. Toyoda positioned EVs for short-distance travel and fuel cell cars for longer ranges.

2015 315
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Volkswagen and LichtBlick Partner on Home Combined Heat and Power Systems; LichtBlick Plans a SchwarmStrom for 2,000 MW of Decentralized Power

Green Car Congress

An EcoBlue CHP unit. Click to enlarge. Volkswagen and German energy supplier LichtBlick have formed an exclusive world-wide energy partnership. Volkswagen will produce the high-efficiency EcoBlue CHP (combined heat and power) plant, which is to be driven by natural gas engines from Volkswagen. LichtBlick will market the plants as “ZuhauseKraftwerke” (home power plants) and will use them in a new, decentralized intelligent power supply scheme: “SchwarmStrom” (current swarm).

Power 310
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Secretary of the Navy Sets Target for 50% of Total Energy Consumption from Alternative Sources by 2020; Role for Biofuels and EVs

Green Car Congress

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.

2020 308
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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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Volkswagen to Premiere New Generation of Polo, Golf and Passat BlueMotion Models; Consumption As Low As 3.3 L/100km (71.3 mpg US)

Green Car Congress

Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion, Polo BlueMotion and Golf BlueMotion. Click to enlarge. Volkswagen will introduce the new generation of the Polo BlueMotion, Golf BlueMotion and Passat BlueMotion at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt in two weeks. All three Volkswagens are the most fuel-efficient models in their respective size classes, according to VW; all three are celebrating world premieres as production versions at the IAA; and all three can be ordered later this fall.

MPG 307
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US Navy Awards Lockheed Martin $8 Million Contract to Advance Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Technology (OTEC)

Green Car Congress

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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EU SARTRE Project Targets Autonomous Road Trains; Enhanced Safety and Lower Fuel Consumption

Green Car Congress

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.

Fuel 304
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ALTe Developing Series Plug-in Hybrid Powertrains for Conversion and OEM Applications

Green Car Congress

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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DOE Launches $122M Energy Innovation Hub to Focus on Solar Fuels: Fuels from Sunlight

Green Car Congress

The US Department of Energy will invest up to $366 million to establish and operate three new Energy Innovation Hubs focused on accelerating research and development in three key energy areas, one of which is developing an effective solar energy to chemical fuel conversion system—i.e., “Fuels from Sunlight” Each Hub, to be funded at up to $122 million over five years, will bring together a multidisciplinary team of researchers in an effort to speed research and shorten the path

Solar 299
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Volkswagen Unveils New One-Liter Concept Car; Smallest Production-Intent Diesel Yet from Volkswagen Applied in A Full Hybrid Design

Green Car Congress

Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Volkswagen Brand Technical Development, in front of the Volkswagen Concept Car L1 in Frankfurt. Click to enlarge. Volkswagen unveiled the L1, its second-generation one-liter class concept car, at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The diesel-electric full-hybrid vehicle, weighing just 380 kilograms (838 lbs), offers an initial glimpse at how a future production version might appear.

Diesel 296
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Google Unveils Faster, Cheaper Mechanism To Track Worldwide Deforestation Online; Support for Land Use Change Measurement, Verification and Reporting

Green Car Congress

by Jack Rosebro. Progressive deforestation in Rondonia, Brazil as seen in. satellite imagery; from left, 1975, 1989, and 2001. Sources: USGS. Landsat images via Google Earth. Click to enlarge. Through its philanthropic arm, Google.org, Google introduced an online suite of beta software that leverages cloud computing to track worldwide land-use changes such as deforestation.

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Study Finds Water Use for Switchgrass Ethanol Production Approximately the Same as for Gasoline

Green Car Congress

Consumptive freshwater use for ethanol and petroleum gasoline production. Data: Wu, ANL/ESD/09-1. Click to enlarge. In the US, producing one gallon of ethanol from switchgrass consumes approximately the same net amount of water as does producing a gallon of gasoline from conventional crude or oil sands oil, according to a study by Argonne National Laboratory researchers presented at the 238 th national meeting of the American Chemical Society last week.

Water 292
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Researchers Develop Solid-State, Rechargeable Lithium-Air Battery; Potential to Exceed 1,000 Wh/kg

Green Car Congress

Sample UDRI solid-state, rechargeable lithium-air batteries, and Dr. Binod Kumar. Click to enlarge. Engineers at the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) have developed a solid-state, rechargeable lithium-air battery. When fully developed, the battery could exceed specific energies of 1,000 Wh/kg in practical applications, the researchers wrote in a paper published online 13 November in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society.

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Northern Lights Energy and Reva Electric Car Company Sign Agreement to Develop the Electric Vehicle Market in Iceland

Green Car Congress

The REVA NXR. Click to enlarge. Northern Lights Energy ( NLE ), the initiator of the 2012 charging infrastructure project and provider of infrastructure and services for electric vehicles (EV) based in Iceland, has signed an agreement with Reva Electric Car Company to jointly develop the electric vehicle market in Iceland. NLE will have exclusive distribution rights for the NXR, the new model premiered by Reva at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, and consequent follow-up models, such as the

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Ford Testing Intelligent System for Plug-in Vehicle to Grid Communication to Manage Charging

Green Car Congress

The Ford PHEV charge settings user interface. Click to enlarge. Ford Motor Company has developed an intelligent vehicle-to-grid communications and control system for its plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that communicates directly with the electric grid. The new technology, which builds on Ford technologies such as SYNC, SmartGauge with EcoGuide and Ford Work Solutions—allows the vehicle operator to program when to recharge the vehicle, for how long and at what utility rate.

Grid 284
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US and China Presidents Announce US-China Electric Vehicles Initiative, Six Other Measures to Strengthen Cooperation Between the Countries on Energy Issues

Green Car Congress

In Beijing, US President Barack Obama and China President Hu Jintao announced a package of seven measures to strengthen cooperation between the United States and China on clean energy, including: a Clean Energy Research Center; Electric Vehicles Initiative; Energy Efficiency Action Plan; Renewable Energy Partnership; 21 st Century Coal; Shale Gas Initiative; and Energy Cooperation Program.

China 281
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New Catalytic Pathway for the Reduction of CO2 to CO Under Mild Conditions

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The reaction for carbon dioxide splitting into carbon monoxide with aromatic aldehydes as oxygen acceptors. Credit: ACS, Gu and Zhang. Click to enlarge. A team of researchers in Singapore have developed a process for the catalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to carbon monoxide (CO) under mild conditions, using aromatic aldehydes as reductants and N-Heterocyclic Carbenes (NHCs) as organocatalysts.

CO2 281
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INEOS Bio Begins Advanced Waste-to-Ethanol Plant Feasibility Study

Green Car Congress

The INEOS Bio waste-to-ethanol process, originally developed by BRI. Click to enlarge. INEOS Bio, a subsidiary of INEOS, the world’s third-largest chemicals company, has started a feasibility study for a plant in the UK to convert locally generated biodegradable household and commercial wastes into carbon neutral road transport fuel and clean electricity, using the INEOS Bio technology process. ( Earlier post.).

Waste 281
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Argonne National Labs Ramping Up Lithium-Air Research and Development; Li-ion as EV Bridge Technology

Green Car Congress

A Li-air cell. Source: Argonne. Click to enlarge. Argonne National Laboratory, which has contributed heavily to the research and development of Li-ion battery technology, is now pursuing research into Lithium-air batteries. Li-air batteries use a catalytic air cathode that converts oxygen to lithium peroxide; an electrolyte; and a lithium anode. Li-air batteries will have a capacity for energy storage that is five to 10 times greater than that of Li-ion batteries, which Argonne is characterizing

Li-ion 281
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Study Concludes That Class 8 Truck Fuel Consumption Could Be Reduced By Up to 50% By 2017 Using Existing and Emerging Technologies; Current Payback Requirements Could Forestall Implementation

Green Car Congress

A new study released today by the Northeast States Center for a Clean Air Future (NESCCAF) and the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) found that fuel consumption of Class 8 trucks and the resultant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be reduced up to 50% with the adoption of current and developing technologies and new operational measures by 2017.

2017 281
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GM Shows Picture of New Chevrolet Agile for Mercosur Market

Green Car Congress

General Motors provided an image of the new Chevrolet Agile, a small car designed in Brazil and due to launch in that market in October. The 2010 Agile. Click to enlarge. The Agile is the first model of the Viva family; Project Viva represents a US$400 million investment by GM un Brazil and Argentina. The Agile is targeted for emerging markets such as Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay (Mercosur).

Chevrolet 280
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Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Leads Project on Hydrogen Production From Microalgae; 2.1M Funding for HydroMicPro

Green Car Congress

In cooperation with eight partners, scientists from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are working on the development of highly efficient methods for hydrogen production from microalgae. The “H 2 from microalgae: With cell- and reactor design towards economically feasible production” (HydroMicPro) project is being coordinated by Professor Clemens Posten from the KIT Institute of Engineering in the Life Sciences and involves several universities, research institutions and com

Hydrogen 278
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Study of Sustainable Value in Automobile Manufacturing Finds Mixed Performance for Most OEMs, BMW and Toyota as the Clear Leaders

Green Car Congress

Sustainable Value Margin—the ratio of Sustainable Value to sales—for each of the evaluated manufacturers. BMW and Toyota are consistent leaders in sustainable value. Click to enlarge. A survey of the sustainability performance of 17 of the world’s leading automakers has found a mixed pattern when it comes to the sustainability performance of most of the car manufacturers.

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Blue Marble Energy and Bionavitas Announce Partnership to Produce Industrial Biochemicals from Microalgae

Green Car Congress

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.