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Conventional industrial 11 kW induction motor (left) and Hitachi’s new 11kW motor (right). Source: Hitachi. Click to enlarge. Hitachi has developed a high-efficiency 11 kW permanent magnet synchronous motor without using rare earth (neodymium, dysprosium) materials; the work follows on its 2008 announcement of a prototype 150 W motor that used cores made of amorphous metal coupled with ferrite magnet rotors. ( Earlier post.).
Sunday, Sept. 9 2012 at The Pavilions in Toronto. "Fall 2012 marks the fourth EV Fest, a show devoted to showing OEM and Personally converted Electric Vehicles, Hybrids, Plug-in Hybrids, eBikes, Electric Scooters, Trikes, EV components and supplies.
When peat swamps are drained for agriculture, the peat begins to decompose, and is an enormous source of carbon emissions. Based on visual interpretation of high-resolution (30 m) satellite images, a new study in the journal Global Change Biology: Bioenergy determined that industrial plantations covered over 3.1 Mha (20%) of the peatlands of Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo in 2010, surpassing the area of Belgium and causing an annual carbon emission from peat decomposition of 230–310 Mt
Stewart K. Griffiths from Sandia National Laboratories reports in a paper accepted for publication in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology that the likely total discharge from the BP Macondo Prospect well (MC252) during the Deepwater Horizon accident was in the range of 4.9 to 5.8 million barrels. Minimum and maximum credible values of this discharge are 4.6 and 6.2 million barrels.
Performance of supercharged Mustang with and without NuVinci CVP; variable ratio vs. 1:1. Source: Fallbrook. Click to enlarge. Fallbrook Technologies Inc. is developing a variable speed supercharger utilizing its NuVinci continuously variable planetary (CVP) technology. ( Earlier post.) Fallbrook has targeted and is soliciting select automotive OEMs for such a variable speed automotive supercharger.
Comparison of ISFC (@42.9 MJ/kg) (4000 RPM) between 250cc Pinnacle and 200cc poppet valve engine. Source: Pinnacle. Click to enlarge. Pinnacle Engines, the developer of a high compression ratio, four-stroke, spark-ignited (SI), opposed-piston, sleeve-valve architecture engine ( earlier post ) reports that the most basic configuration of its engine has shown improvements in indicated specific fuel consumption (ISFC) of between 30-60% at light load and 12-30% at medium-load compared to a comparabl
BMW i8 Concept Spyder. Click to enlarge. Following on the presentation of the BMW i3 Concept and BMW i8 Concept coupé at the Frankfurt show in 2011 ( earlier post ), the BMW Group has introduced a third i Model: the BMW i8 Concept Spyder. Like the i8 coupé concept, the BMW i8 Concept Spyder with eDrive is a plug-in hybrid. The 96 kW (131 hp) electric motor on the front axle works in tandem with a TwinPower Turbo three-cylinder gasoline engine sending 164 kW (223 hp) through the rear wheels.
BMW i8 Concept Spyder. Click to enlarge. Following on the presentation of the BMW i3 Concept and BMW i8 Concept coupé at the Frankfurt show in 2011 ( earlier post ), the BMW Group has introduced a third i Model: the BMW i8 Concept Spyder. Like the i8 coupé concept, the BMW i8 Concept Spyder with eDrive is a plug-in hybrid. The 96 kW (131 hp) electric motor on the front axle works in tandem with a TwinPower Turbo three-cylinder gasoline engine sending 164 kW (223 hp) through the rear wheels.
Using higher volume blends of ethanol to leverage the alcohol’s inherent high octane rating to produce ethanol-gasoline blends with higher octane numbers could yield “substantial societal benefits”, according to a team of researchers from Ford Motor Company. Currently, ethanol is blended into a gasoline blendstock formulated with lower octane rating such that the net octane rating of the resulting final blend is unchanged from historical levels.
Domains and topical areas for the standardization roadmap for electric vehicles. Source: ANSI. Click to enlarge. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) released the Standardization Roadmap for Electric Vehicles – Version 1.0 , developed by the Institute’s Electric Vehicles Standards Panel (EVSP). ( Earlier post.) The Standardization Roadmap assesses the standards, codes, and regulations, as well as conformance and training programs, needed to facilitate the safe, mass deployment of ele
SAE’s 2012 High Efficiency IC Engine Symposium in Detroit—the second as an immediate precursor to the SAE World Congress—opened on Sunday with a consideration of several alternative engine designs: opposed piston 2-stroke (Achates Power); variable compression ratio (MCE-5); split cycle (Scuderi); and advanced rotary (Liquid Piston). Dr. David Foster, the Phil and Jean Myers of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, a Principal Investigator at UW Madison’s En
GM expects that the North American introduction of a 2.0L turbodiesel engine on Cruze—one of the top-selling gasoline-powered cars in the US in 2011 and General Motors’ best-selling model globally—will establish Chevrolet as the only domestic automaker offering an American-manufactured diesel-powered compact car with a European-American developed engine. ( Earlier post. ).
The biorefinery collective encompasses multiple pyrolyzer collectives. Credit: ACS, Manganaro and Lawal. Click to enlarge. Given a sufficiently large production scale, liquid fuels such as diesel produced from crop residue could be economically competitive with petroleum-derived fuels at current price levels, suggests a new study by a team from the Stevens Institute of Technology.
Conventional thermal decomposition production of lime (left) versus STEP direct solar conversion of calcium carbonate to calcium oxide (right). Click to enlarge. A team at George Washington University has demonstrated a new solar process that can produce lime (CaO) for cement without any emission of carbon dioxide, and at lower projected cost than the existing cement industry process.
Prius sales March 2011 v. March 2012. Data: TMS. Click to enlarge. In March 2012, Toyota posted a new one-month record for Prius sales of 28,711 units, up 54.3% by volume from last March. Of those, the third-generation Prius liftback accounted for 18,008 units (62.7%); the Prius v accounted for 4,937 units (17.2%); the Prius c, 4,875 units (17.0%); and the Prius PHV (plug-in hybrid), 891 units (3.1%).
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that between 1980 and 2010, global consumption of dry natural gas rose from 53 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) to 113 Tcf. Although consumption in North America saw the slowest regional growth in percentage terms (29%) from 1980 to 2010, the region accounted for more than 25% of the world’s natural gas consumption during all years in the period.
Roland Berger forecasts for LiB market size by vehicle class (left) and region (right). High and low growth scenarios are shown. Source: Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. Click to enlarge. Roland Berger Strategy Consultants has updated its global Li-ion automotive battery study ( earlier post ). In light of recently presented or announced vehicle models with electric, hybrid or plug-in-hybrid drives (xEV), Roland Berger experts expect the global LiB market to grow from US$1.5 billion to US$9-1
The Ford Focus Electric. Click to enlarge. Ford has begun the consumer roll-out of the Focus Electric, the battery-electric version of its new Focus; production of the vehicles began in December 2011 at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant. ( Earlier post.) The Focus Electric is Ford’s first electric drive light-duty passenger vehicle resulting from its strategy to electrify its entire high-volume platforms, rather than one-off specialty models.
Asahi Shimbun. Toshiba Corp. will retrofit small buses owned by Tokyo’s Minato Ward with its SciB lithium-ion cells and electric motors to produce fast-charge battery-electric buses. Toshiba is planing on a 5-minute recharge with the battery state of charge at 50%. To keep the battery level above 50 percent, the buses will return to a garage for a recharge after traveling roughly a modest 12 kilometers (7.5 miles).
Characterization of N. gaditana lipid content. (a) Lipid droplets (green) in cells during logarithmic growth. (b) Lipid droplets in cells. during stationary phase. (c) GC-FID chromatogram showing a typical N. gaditana fatty acid profile. Source: Radakovits et al., Supplementary material. Click to enlarge. With the goal of transforming a natively robust and oleaginous alga into an improved model system for biofuel production, researchers led by a team from the Colorado School of Mines have sequen
Unitary HPAC System. Source: Delphi. Click to enlarge. Delphi Automotive is developing an advanced HVAC (heating, ventilating, air conditioning) system that significantly increases efficiency and reduces emissions while keeping passengers comfortable. Delphi engineers presented a paper on the new Unitary Heat Pump Air Conditioner (HPAC) at SAE 2012 World Congress in Detroit.
Westinghouse Electric Company and utility Ameren Missouri have entered into an agreement to respond collaboratively to the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for developing and licensing the Westinghouse Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Under the terms of the agreement, Ameren Missouri will become part of and. co-chair a Westinghouse-led Utility Participation Group (UPG) made up of Missouri utilities, non-Missouri utilities and industrial firms interested
Cutaway of the new CVT for mid-size vehicles. Click to enlarge. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has developed a new continuously variable transmission (CVT) for mid-size vehicles that significantly enhances both driving performance and fuel economy. The new CVT is the latest addition to the Earth Dreams Technology ( earlier post ) series of next-generation technologies for automobiles.
Technology warming potential (TWP) for three sets of natural gas fuel-switching scenarios. (A) CNG light-duty cars vs. gasoline cars; (B) CNG heavy-duty vehicles vs. diesel vehicles; and (C) combined-cycle natural gas plants vs. supercritical coal plants using low-CH 4 coal. A TWP >1 means that the cumulative radiative forcing from choosing natural gas today is higher than a current fuel option after t yr.
Korea Herald. Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Magna E-Car Systems are forming a $200-million automotive Li-ion battery joint venture. HHI will take a 40% stake, with Magna taking the remainder. Magna E-Car, a partnership between Magna International and the Stronach Group, is a global supplier of components and systems for hybrid and electric vehicles.
The cycling performance of the NiO 3 nm -NCNT, the NiO 10 nm -NCNT, NCNT, and NiO alone. The current densities of those samples were 200, 200, 80, 200 mA/g, respectively. Credit: ACS, Shin et al. Click to enlarge. Researchers in S. Korean have developed nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes for high-capacity lithium-ion energy storage systems, such as a lithium-ion capacitor.
The California Energy Commission approved funding of $2,604,000 to help bring more buses and trucks powered by natural gas to the state’s highways. The awards are expected to support the purchase of more than 125 new natural gas vehicles; funding comes from the Commission’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program. The Energy Commission previously awarded approximately $29 million to help buyers afford new, alternative-fueled passenger vehicles, buses, and trucks.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) launched the Large Scale Combined Heat and Power (CHP)/Fuel Cell Program. This competitive grant program was created to support CHP and standalone fuel cell projects serving commercial, institutional and industrial customers in New Jersey. The amount available for grant funding under the initial. solicitation is $20 million.
Land management trade-off: maximizing productivity vs. carbon stocks. NPP= net primary production. Schulze et al. Click to enlarge. Large-scale bioenergy production from forest biomass is unsustainable and will increase greenhouse gas emissions, according to a group of international researchers in an invited analysis in the journal Global Change Biology/Bioenergy.
The White House today released a national Bioeconomy Blueprint , a comprehensive approach to harnessing innovations in biological research to address national challenges in health, food, energy, and the environment. In coordination with the Blueprint’s release, Federal officials also announced a number of new commitments to help achieve the Blueprint’s goals.
The ratio between the spot prices of crude oil and natural gas has been generally increasing since January 2009, but it has climbed rapidly in recent months, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The crude oil-to-natural gas spot price ratio has implications for production and consumption. Crude oil to natural gas price ratio.
The A6 L e-tron PHEV concept. Click to enlarge. Audi is presenting the Audi A6 L e-tron concept at Auto China 2012 in Beijing. The plug-in hybrid has an all-electric driving range of 80 km (50 miles), and was specifically designed for the China market. Audi says that with its first e-tron technology study in the luxury class, it is showing what a locally produced New Energy Vehicle from Audi might look like.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the 17 th annual US greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. The final report shows overall emissions in 2010 increased by 3.2% from the previous year. EPA attributes the trend to an increase in energy consumption across all economic sectors, due to increasing energy demand associated with an expanding economy, and increased demand for electricity for air conditioning due to warmer summer weather during 2010.
Superbrightleds.com —which says it is the leading online retailer of LED lights and accessories—is offering a range of 12V automotive LED bulbs designed to replace conventional incandescent bulbs in applications such as tail, brake and turn lights, as well as interior lights (no head lamps at this point). A sample of LED brake and turn bulbs.
Key policy-relevant scientific uncertainties related to BC. Source: EPA. Click to enlarge. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has submitted its final Report to Congress on Black Carbon , in response to an October 2009 request from Congress to advance efforts to understand the role of black carbon (BC) in climate change. The EPA report concluded that, despite some remaining uncertainties about BC that require further research (such as the sign—i.e., positive or negative—and
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