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Looking to get in a hybrid for cheap? Used Toyota Prius 1.5 HSD 2004-2009 Review

Green Car Congress

People might be bored reading about the Prius but a review on four Priuses (2004, 2005, two 2006s) that my family owns that ran a total of 913k km (570k miles) should be interesting, right? I found a a 2004 with 247k km (154k miles) on the clock. Having enough electric charge to last a 5-15 minute in silence in a traffic jam.

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EPRI Analysis estimates costs of fully developing US smart grid could reach $476B; benefits up to $2T

Green Car Congress

Total Smart Grid costs. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has released a broad assessment of the costs and benefits to modernize the US electricity system and deploy the smart grid. The analysis updates EPRI’s 2004 EPRI assessment, which estimated the cost of implementing a smart grid at $165 billion.

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Perspective: US Needs to Transition to Hydrous Ethanol as the Primary Renewable Transportation Fuel

Green Car Congress

In 1975, General Ernesto Geisel, then-president of Brazil, ordered the country’s gasoline supply mixed with 10% ethanol. The level was raised to 25% over the next five years, which was intended to maintain a constant Brazilian gasoline supply for an ever-increasing demand.

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Energix Research Successfully Tests Micro GTL Process

Green Car Congress

Energix Research , a developer of gas-phase catalysis processes, technologies and systems, says it has successfully produced gas-to-liquids (GTL) products using its electrically activated nanocatalyst process. The direct cost of producing electricity with this generator will be less than US$0.10 in its systems.

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US DOE Issues Request for Information on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Market Development; Reports to Congress on Program

Green Car Congress

Hydrogen produced by water electrolysis has the potential to be a useful means of storing excess electricity generated using wind, solar, and other intermittent renewable energy. Biogas, including anaerobic digester gas, can be reformed to produce hydrogen and used in a fuel cell to produce significant amounts of electricity and heat.

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Study Concludes That Smaller Capacity PHEVs Would Be a “Robust” Option for Minimizing Fuel Consumption, Cost and GHG Emissions

Green Car Congress

A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University has analyzed the impact of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) battery pack size on fuel consumption, cost and greenhouse gas emissions over a range of charging frequencies (distance traveled between charges). But batteries are heavy and expensive.

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Plug-In Hybrids (or Plugin Hybrids)

Tony Karrer Delicious EVdriven

Its like having a second fuel tank that you always use first -- only you fill up at home, from a regular outlet, at an equivalent cost of under $1/gallon. But when you do, your car essentially becomes an electric vehicle with a gas-tank backup. Lifetime service costs are lower for a vehicle that is mainly electric.

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