Green Car Congress

AUGUST 30, 2009

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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Transportation Fuel Renewable Gasoline-Electric 317

Creative Greenius

AUGUST 14, 2009

One of the groups I support and learn from is Environment California who have been great advocates of AB 811 and AB 920, the one-two punch for solar we absolutely need to drive solar sales at the rate demanded by today’s CO2 levels. Dan Jacobson is the Legislative Director of Environment California and he’s both progressive and effective – and someone I admire a great deal.

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Sacramento Solar California Environment 191

Electric Cars are for Girls

AUGUST 28, 2009

Ever thought of scrounging used forklift parts to build an electric car? In this interview, Darin Cosgrove talks about the successful marriage of a Geo Metro and a Baker Forklift.

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Parts Cheap Electric Cars Cars 182

Revenge of the Electric Car

AUGUST 13, 2009

We went to Detroit recently to see Bob Lutz. In these turbulent times, we wanted to know how the Vice Chair of GM was getting along. We found Bob smoking a cigar on his Segway. Which was definitely my favorite visual of the trip. Lutz lives in a spread that can best be described as “bucolic,” in a quietly lovely suburb outside of Detroit. This was not the land of the $7,500 homes we’d been reading about.

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Detroit Volt GM Neighborhood 164

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Green Car Reports

AUGUST 24, 2009

OK, kids, this is it. If you have a clunker and you want to trade it in and get a $3,500 or $4,500 rebate for a new vehicle under the Car Allowance Rebate Systems (CARS) program. STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING. Do it right now, today, and get to your dealer no later than 4 pm. Today. But call first , to make sure the dealer is still doing.

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Cash For Clunkers Dealers Cars Vehicles 103

Green Cars News

AUGUST 3, 2009

@ Doc__Brown We’re still waiting for the Flux Capacitor to become affordable. Great Scott! in reply to Doc__Brown #. Tags: Latest news Electric cars Green cars Hybrid cars.

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2009 Green Cars Affordable Green 88

Creative Greenius

AUGUST 5, 2009

I have seen the future and it is a new car electric car from Nissan. Nissan is about to drink GM’s milkshake with a breakthrough, affordable, next generation electric car that will be beat the Chevy Volt to market, cost half as much and work twice as well. Plus it looks ten times cooler. Check out the new Nissan Leaf on video: You’ve got to love the fact that Nissan had balls and the vision to bank their future on full on electric vehicles, leapfrogging their Japanese competition Ho

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Plug-in Plug Re-Charge Chrysler 191

Electric Cars are for Girls

AUGUST 28, 2009

Heard of the Miles electric car? From Miles Automotive, it's an electrified Daihatsu Kei car that will give Zenn a run for its money.

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Miles ZENN Electric Cars Cars 120

All Cars Electric

AUGUST 31, 2009

Let's imagine for a moment that Al Gore's wish is granted and we all gave up our fossil-fuel guzzling, carbon-dioxide spewing cars in favor of efficient, gas-electric hybrids , like the Toyota Prius. While endangered penguins celebrate the re-growth of the polar ice caps, and we all enjoy watching the executives at Exxon Mobil trade in.

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Al Gore Gore Prius Grant 57

Green Car Reports

AUGUST 21, 2009

Just two weeks ago, we reported that GM's first plug-in hybrid vehicle--originally meant to be a Saturn Vue before GM decided to sell Saturn to Pennske--would become a Buick crossover. My, how quickly things change in the new Internet world. As GM said Wednesday on its Fastlane blog, "not all the feedback was positive.".

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Saturn Buick GM VUE 84

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Green Cars News

AUGUST 3, 2009

@ Doc__Brown We’re still waiting for the Flux Capacitor to become affordable. Great Scott! in reply to Doc__Brown #. Tags: Latest news.

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2009 Affordable 88

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 18, 2009

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.

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Grid Plug-in Ford Plug 284

Creative Greenius

AUGUST 12, 2009

Here’s a few shots from yesterday first full day of the Plug-In 2009 conference in Long Beach, California. I’ll be back there today for more Greenius coverage to be published later this week. The Creative Greenius with the new Nissan Leaf flat lithium ion battery. They’ll be making Leafs in Tennessee and they will be making many more batteries than cars.

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Plug-in 2009 Plug Mini E 186

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 24, 2009

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).

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Chevrolet GM Paraguay Uruguay 280

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 7, 2009

Toyota’s Prius was the top-seller in Japan in July, with 27,712 units sold—almost quadruple the 7,058 units sold in July 2008, according to data from the Japan Automotive Dealers Association. This marks the third month in a row that Prius was the top-selling car in Japan. For the first seven months of the year, Prius sales in Japan total 79,122 units.

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Prius Japan Honda Insight Scrappage 273

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 22, 2009

Degradation as a function of (a) capacity (Ah) processed by cell or (b) energy (Wh) at different DoD. Different DoD did not have a large impact on capacity fade. Source: Peterson et al. (CEIC-09-02) Click to enlarge. A new draft working paper published by the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center concluded that a PHEV pack comprising lithium iron phosphate cells would incur little capacity loss from combining vehicle-to-grid (V2G) activities with regular driving.

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PHEV Li-ion Grid Lithium Ion 265

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 21, 2009

Reducing emissions of black carbon soot and ground-level ozone would quickly make a considerable dent in the climate change problem and would also contribute to public health and protect crop yields, according to an essay in the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs. The piece was co-authored by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego climate and atmospheric scientist V.

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Climate Change Ozone Climate Carbon 262

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 30, 2009

by Bill Cooke. The Saturn version of the two-mode plug-in hybrid at the Milford Proving Grounds. Click to enlarge. On 11 August, GM invited approximately 75 journalists and auto analysts to spend a day learning about the new GM. The day was split between a morning session at the GM tech center in Warren and an afternoon session at the GM proving grounds in Milford, MI.

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GM Buick Fuel Economy Economy 262

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2009

Better Place has received an award from the Japanese government to conduct a pilot project in Tokyo for the world’s first electric taxis with switchable batteries. Better Place will partner with Tokyo’s largest taxi operator, Nihon Kotsu, in the project commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry’s Natural Resources and Energy Agency.

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Taxi Universal Batteries Battery 259

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 14, 2009

The federal government’s Cash for Clunkers aims to stimulate the economy, provide relief for automobile manufacturers and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the. program is paying nearly 10 times the projected price of carbon credits per ton in the best-case scenario, according to an analysis of the implied cost of carbon dioxide reductions under the program by UC Davis transportation economist Christopher Knittel.

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Cash For Clunkers Carbon Davis Stimulus 259

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2009

Representation of damage from climate change avoided by adaptation, and damage not be adapted to (‘residual damage’) over the longer term. Source: “Assessing the costs.” In Click to enlarge. Scientists led by a former co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are warning warn that the UN negotiations aimed at tackling climate change are based on substantial underestimates of what it will cost to adapt to its impacts.

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Climate Change Climate Cost Of London 252

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2009

Terrabon’s pathway to renewable hydrocarbon fuel produces ketones, which are then processed using conventional refinery technology. Click to enlarge. Waste Management, Inc. has invested in waste-to-fuel company Terrabon, LLC. Terrabon is the developer of a carboxylic acid fermentation platform licensed from Texas A&M University for the conversion of biomass to fuel intermediates that can then be upgraded into industrial chemicals and renewable gasoline. ( Earlier post.).

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Waste Gasoline Renewable North America 249

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 29, 2009

Diversified Energy Corporation , an alternative and renewable energy technology development company with a portfolio of several technologies, recently received support for further projects developing its HydroMax/OmniGas molten-metals based gasification technology ( earlier post ) and its Centia renewable biohydrocarbon drop-in fuel technology ( earlier post ).

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Energy Coal Convert Concept 247

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 31, 2009

The first full month of sales in the US for the 2010 Ford Transit Connect light commercial van has topped 2,000 units, according to Ford. Vehicles are selling in fewer than 10 days of arriving on dealer lots, significantly quicker than industry norms. The Ford Transit Connect. Click to enlarge. Early Transit Connect buyers represent a cross section of the small business landscape, including laundries, caterers, door and lock companies, painters, electricians, restaurant suppliers, satellite dish

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Transit Connect Connect Connected Sale 247

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2009

The new Saab 9-5 will debut in Frankfurt. Click to enlarge. Saab provided initial information on its new 9-5 sedan, which will have its world debut at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September. The new sedan is slated to go on sale in 2010. The all-turbo powertrain line-up is the broadest ever offered by Saab, carrying forward Saab’s rightsizing engine strategy through the development of efficient four-cylinder turbo engines.

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Diesel Gasoline MPG 2000 247

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2009

Cash for Clunkers sales by manufacturer. Click to enlarge. The US Cash for Clunkers program (CARS) ended Tuesday night with 690,114 dealer transaction submitted worth $2,877.9 million. Eighty-four percent of consumers traded in trucks and 59% purchased passenger cars. The average fuel economy of the vehicles traded in was 15.8 mpg and the average fuel economy of vehicles purchased is 24.9 mpg: a 58% improvement.

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Cash For Clunkers Fuel Economy Jeep Honda 247

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 23, 2009

San Diego, California-based GreenHouse International is partnering with Karl Strauss Brewing Company to convert spent beer yeast into ethanol, using the E-Fuel MicroFueler, a portable ethanol micro-refinery fuel system targeted at consumers and businesses. ( Earlier post.). GreenHouse Energy, a division of GreenHouse, is the exclusive distributor of the E-Fuel MicroFueler in Southern California and Arizona.

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San Diego Waste Companies Sierra 246

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 29, 2009

Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) has awarded S$27.5 million (US$19 million) in research funding for 28 projects in four key areas of sustainable development: Carbon Capture and Utilization; BioEnergy and BioFuels; Sustainable Construction; and Sustainable Materials. The funding from A*STAR’s Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) will support research teams from A*STAR research institutes and local institutes of higher learning to develop solutions to man

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Singapore Grant Waste Cheap 240

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 25, 2009

GHG emissions for ATP shale (low and high cases) and conventional gasoline in grams of CO 2 e per MJ of final fuel delivered. Credit: ACS. Click to enlarge. Converting oil shale to gasoline via the Alberta Taciuk Processor (ATP)—an above-ground shale retort—results in fuel-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of ~130-150 g CO 2 equivalent/MJ of gasoline produced, according to a new analysis by Dr.

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Gasoline Oil Emissions Convert 239

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 20, 2009

Following May’s approval by the Italian parliament, the Swiss parliament will soon vote on a draft law to redraw some high-altitude sections of the frontier Alps border between Switzerland and Italy due to “radical changes” in snowfields and glaciers over the past century. Recession of the Morteratsch Glacier, Switzerland (just north of the Italian border) between 1985 and 2007.

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Switzerland Italy Austria 2007 239

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 19, 2009

GM is embracing the use of communications standards that operate with optional data transports to enable smart charging and integration with the emerging smart grid. EVSE=Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. PLC=Power Line Communications. Source: GM. Click to enlarge. While the ultimate vision of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) operating as smart nodes in the smart grid offers compelling benefits for both end users and utilities, achieving that vision will require coordinated development and a sta

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Grid Plug-in Standards Plug 239

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 17, 2009

Using a micro-hybrid system featuring carbon/carbon ultracapacitor units as energy storage can result in significant increases in fuel economy over a baseline conventional vehicle, according to a study by Dr. Andrew Burke at UC Davis. In a series of simulations of mid-size passenger cars using ultracapacitors in micro-hybrid, charge-sustaining hybrid, and plug-in hybrid powertrain designs, the micro-hybrids delivered improvements of about 40% on the FUDS (Federal Urban Driving Schedule) and ECE-

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Fuel Economy Davis Economy Hybrid 236

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 28, 2009

The Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL at the OMV hydrogen filling station at Stuttgart Airport. (The fuel price is €0.9/100g.) Click to enlarge. Mercedes-Benz is launching its first series-produced fuel cell car: the new B-Class F-CELL. ( Earlier post.) The electric-drive car has performance similar to a 2.0-liter gasoline car and is suited for everyday driving, Mercedes says.

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Mercedes Hydrogen Fuel Vehicles 236

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2009

Geographical distribution of Clean Cities Recovery Act awards. Click to enlarge. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 25 cost-share projects under the Clean Cities program that will be funded with nearly $300 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These projects put more than 9,000 alternative fuel and energy-efficient light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles on the road, and establish 542 refueling locations across the country.

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Alternative Fuels Clean Cleaning Grant 236