Green Car Congress

AUGUST 2, 2010

A multi-Hubbert analysis of coal production by Tadeusz Patzek at The University of Texas at Austin and Gregory Croft at the University of California, Berkeley concludes that the global peak of coal production from existing coalfields will occur close to the year 2011. The HHV of global production is likely to peak in 2011 at 160 EJ/y, and the peak carbon emissions from coal burning will also peak in 2011 at 4.0 Gt C (15 Gt CO 2 ) per year, according to the study.

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Coal 2011 Global Emissions 357

Creative Greenius

AUGUST 5, 2010

I’ve got to admit I came to this column about short-range, slow-speed Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) with a negative bias. I’m a strong proponent of full speed electric vehicles and I’ve been growing increasingly excited about the new plug-in Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt coming to market later this year. So I just couldn’t get too worked up about the South Bay Cities Council of Government’s “LUV&# (Local Use Vehicle) test program of neighborhood electric

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Neighborhood Electric Cars Cars Volt 170

Green Car Reports

AUGUST 5, 2010

The 2011 Ford Escape Hybrid will likely be the last year for Ford's original hybrid vehicle, launched way back in October 2004. At the end of July, Ford had sold 98,500 Escape Hybrids, more than half its total sales of 139,700 hybrids of all types. But all good things must come to an end. For 2012, the Escape will be completely redesigned for the.

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Escape 2012 Ford Hybrid 116

All Cars Electric

AUGUST 6, 2010

Last October, Simon Hackett and Emilis Prelgauskas set a new distance record for a production battery-powered vehicle: a hugely impressive 313 miles in a 2008 Tesla Roadster. That's around 70 miles more than the EPA's rated range for the world's best -known EV. Unfortunately for them, not even a month later, the Japan EV Club (JEVC) beat that.

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Miles Range 2008 Japan 90

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 2, 2010

Stanford engineers have developed a process—photon-enhanced thermionic emission, PETE—that simultaneously uses the light and heat of the sun to generate electricity in a way that could make solar power production more than twice as efficient as existing methods. (a) Energy diagram of the PETE process. Photoexcitation increases the conduction-band population, leading to larger thermionic currents and enabling the device to harvest both photon and heat energy.

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Conversion Solar Energy Light 255

Creative Greenius

AUGUST 2, 2010

This is the first time I can write about any of what’s gone on at the Hermosa Beach Carbon Neutral City committee meetings, which I’ve actively participated in as a committee member since the first weekly meeting on a Friday night in April. Since then our ad hoc group has gotten together in a nondescript conference room to kick off our weekends with two-to-three hours of exciting reports, discussions, updates and brainstorming.

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Carbon Environment 170

All Cars Electric

AUGUST 4, 2010

However strongly you feel about torture testing in other situations, it's necessary when it comes to car safety. Without crash tests, cold- and hot-weather testing, and some pretty creative destruction, the cars of today would be a lot more perilous. For the 2011 Nissan Leaf electric car, the hurdle's even higher, given the newness of its EV.

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2011 Nissan Electric Cars Cars 82

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 5, 2010

The 2011 Ford Explorer is 85% recyclable. The new SUV leverages Ford’s use of bio foam and recycled fabric in its interior, as well as recycled steel in select exterior parts. Ford is reducing its use of virgin steel by an estimated 119 tons a year by making Explorer’s noise-dampening fender baffles from the steel left over from stamping out the door openings of F-150 body sides.

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2011 Ford F-150 Fuel Economy 252

Creative Greenius

AUGUST 1, 2010

I first saw this video produced by Dr. James Powell , the Executive Director of the National Physical Science Consortium on Joe Romm’s Climate Progress site last week. Do yourself a favor and take 10 minutes to watch and grok this simple and easy to understand climate change lesson. Memorize the information as if you were going to be tested in school on it.

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Climate Change Global Climate Environment 170

Green Car Reports

AUGUST 4, 2010

We've been watching it roll closer for years, and now it's all but here: A new era of electric cars. Just three or four months from now, the first highway-capable electric vehicles sold in volume by global automakers will appear in showrooms in California and other regions. By the end of 2011, they'll be followed by several more. This is our guide.

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Electric Cars Buy Cars Electric 104

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All Cars Electric

AUGUST 2, 2010

Sometimes it's hard to keep track of small electric-vehicle companies, most of whom are likely to vanish without a trace within a few years. But T3 Motion, an EV startup in Costa Mesa, California, has a gimmick: It uses an Apple iPad to provide driver and passengers with audio, video, games, and vehicle navigation. To help with sometimes finicky.

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Electric Cars California Electric Electrical 58

Green Car Congress

JULY 31, 2010

VärmlandsMetanol AB has selected Uhde, a ThyssenKrupp company, as technology supplier and engineering partner for a biomass-to-methanol plant in Hagfors, Sweden, with an annual production of 100,000 tonnes of fuel-grade methanol from forest-residue biomass. Investment for the plant will be about SEK 3 billion (US$416 million). The VärmlandsMetanol plant will be the first full-scale commercial biomass-to-methanol plant.

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Sweden Commercial Coal 2005 247

Green Cars News

AUGUST 4, 2010

It seems almost unthinkable that travelling by car could be deemed more harmful to the environment than travelling by plane – but a new study suggests that might just be the case. According to a study published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, driving a car increases global temperatures in the long run [.]. Tags: Global warming Green cars Green credentials Latest news car emissions plane emissions travelling by car versus travelling by plane.

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Cars Green Cars Global Green 56

Green Car Reports

AUGUST 4, 2010

We wrote about the 2011 Coda Sedan and Coda's EV cost calculator not too long ago, and described the cars as a "Chinese-built sedan" with a battery pack "containing Chinese-made lithium-ion cells." The Coda, we said would be "the first Chinese-manufactured passenger car sold in the U.S. when it arrives." Which prompted a note from Coda's Matt.

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Lithium Ion Chinese Cars 2011 97

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All Cars Electric

AUGUST 3, 2010

Just how long does it take to plug in an electric car? A few seconds, perhaps? And just how inconvenient is it? We plug in electrical devices every day in our homes without giving it a second thought. Most existing electric car owners even cite plugging their car in as being a bonus over having to stand at the gas station filling up. But while.

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Electric Cars Cars Plug-in Gas-Electric 50

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 6, 2010

Ener1 has signed up two new customers for its Li-ion batteries: Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Toro. Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea will receive Li-ion battery packs for electric buses; the packs are similar configurations as packs currently in operation in California with AC Transit. The HHI contract is immediate; packs will be in buses on the road this year.

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Li-ion Hyundai Supplies 2009 225

Green Cars News

AUGUST 5, 2010

The UK’s first sewage powered car has taken to the streets of Bristol this week, after the Greenfuel Company converted a Volkswagen Beetle to run on biogas. Wessex Water-owned company, GENco imported special equipment to treat gas generated at its sewage treatment works in Avonmouth to power the car. A collaboration between the water works [.]. Tags: Biofuels Bio-Bug biogas GENeco GreenFuel sewage Volkswagen Beetle.

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Power Powered Cars Water 55

Green Car Reports

AUGUST 3, 2010

Hybrids are, for the most part, great, both as a freestanding set of efficiency technologies and as a bridge toward pure electric vehicles. Diesels are also a solid near-term choice for greener, more energy-efficient travel. The combination of the two, therefore, could be even better than the sum of its parts, right? So far, (aside from rumors.

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Diesel Hybrid Parts Electric Vehicles 93

National Green Transportation

AUGUST 4, 2010

Last week on his radio program, Rush Limbaugh went on a fact-free rant about the Chevy Volt. It appears to be an attempt to tie grant and loan programs for clean vehicles into his fact-free narrative about the supposed evils being.

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Electric Cars Volt Grant Clean 49

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 5, 2010

Annual sales of TMC hybrids in Japan and globally. YTD figure is through 31 July 2010. Data: TMC. Click to enlarge. Cumulative sales in Japan of its Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) hybrid vehicles have topped the 1-million mark, while more than 2.68 million units have been sold globally as of 31 July 2010, according to the company. After peaking in 2007 at 347,500 units, annual sales of TMC hybrids outside of Japan have declined; in contrast, sales of TMC hybrids in Japan jumped up in 2009, and c

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Japan Toyota Sale Global 225

All Cars Electric

AUGUST 5, 2010

If you're studying the notion of going on the grid for your automotive "fuel," you're probably curious just how you'll integrate an electric car like the 2011 Nissan Leaf into your life. You think you'll be able to handle the estimated 100-mile range just fine--but what about longer trips? While General Motors is making much about its 2011.

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2011 Nissan General Motors Grid 47

Green Car Reports

AUGUST 6, 2010

For the Friday files, some cool new technology: How about a car that plugs in, but doesn't use that electricity to power the car? Nope, we're not talking about battery electric cars like the 2011 Nissan Leaf. Or range-extended EVs like the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. Or even conventional hybrids adapted to plug in, like the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In.

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Plug-in Plug Hybrid Prius 87

Green Cars News

AUGUST 3, 2010

Last week (see article) we looked at the commitments made by Japan, China and the USA to support an electric vehicle revolution after the Nikkei reported that Japan could be left behind its rivals (see article). However, Europe was not even mentioned by the business daily – so the question remains; is our own continent [.]. Tags: Green credentials The Green Piece Electric cars electric vehicles Europe grant subsidy UK.

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Europe Green Electric Vehicles Vehicles 50

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 5, 2010

Times of India. The Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has developed a four-cylinder engine at their power train engineering (PTE) laboratory that will support an 18% blend of hydrogen and compressed natural gas (HCNG). The HCNG engine will be on display at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. Tata Motors has evinced interest in the technology for use in its light commercial vehicles.The HCNG engine developed by ARAI reduces nitrogen dioxide along with other pollutants.

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India Hydrogen Engine Fuel Economy 225

All Cars Electric

AUGUST 4, 2010

Following the successful launch of Bosch's parallel full-hybrid technology (in models such as the Volkswagen Touareg and Porsche Cayenne S), the key international automotive supplier is also increasingly investing in the development of powertrain technologies for all-electric vehicles. With the target market being congested urban environments.

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Cayenne Porsche Environment International 47

Green Car Reports

AUGUST 3, 2010

Come November, California voters could have a major impact on the state's environment. The ballot will include Proposition 23, a measure that would suspend the Global Warming Solutions Act that passed in 2006 (otherwise known as Assembly Bill 32), which called for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels (about 25 percent) by 2020.

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Emissions 2006 Oil Green 85

Green Cars News

AUGUST 5, 2010

The San Francisco Bay Area has been boosted by a $5million investment to support the development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the area. Funding has been approved by the Bay Area Quality Management District Board of Directors with charging stations and home chargers considered part of the Air District’s Spare the Air programme which [.].

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San Francisco Electric Vehicles Charging Vehicles 50

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 4, 2010

Temperature change per transport work by mode for various years after the emissions: per passenger kilometer for passenger travel (left) and per ton-kilometer for freight transport (right). Global average values for the year 2000. Bars represent 1 SD. Credit: ACS, Borken-Kleefeld et al. Click to enlarge. A new study comparing both the absolute and normalized climate impacts of current passenger and freight transportation finds that driving a car increases global temperatures in the long run more

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Global Climate Change Climate 2000 225

All Cars Electric

AUGUST 6, 2010

Back in March we first reported that German auto giant Daimler was partnering with Chinese automaker and battery specialist BYD to further develop electric vehicle technology and help accelerate their production. While few actual details of the partnership were revealed at the signing, we now have reports claiming Mercedes-Benz will supply its.

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BYD Mercedes Chinese Supplies 46

Green Car Reports

AUGUST 4, 2010

With the demise of Saturn, GM was left with only one model featuring its mild hybrid system, the 2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid sedan, but sadly even that green vehicle was dropped from the automaker's lineup this year. GM is planning to bring back its mild hybrid models, however, and according to the automaker's executive director of hybrid and.

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GM Malibu Hybrid Saturn Hybrid 79

Green Cars News

AUGUST 2, 2010

There is nothing funny about running out of fuel, and that’s why two comedians heading to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival have selected to run a Citroen DS3. ‘Ecomedians’ Dan Adams and Christian Ancliff are taking part in a challenge to take the DS3 on a comedy tour of the UK before they arrive in Edinburgh [.]. Tags: Citroen Christian Ancliff Dan Adams Ecomedians Edinburgh Fringe. tour.

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Citroen Parts Fuel 49

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 4, 2010

Hyundai Motor America, currently the leading fuel economy auto manufacturer in the US according to EPA ratings, plans to achieve a corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) rating of at least 50 (mpg) by 2025 for its lineup of passenger cars and light duty trucks. Since becoming the fuel economy leader in the 2008 model year (average 30.9 mpg US), Hyundai Motor America’ market share is up more than 50%, the company noted.

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MPG Hyundai America Fuel Economy 223

All Cars Electric

AUGUST 4, 2010

Think of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and very little seems conventional about it. With a range of 40 miles per charge and a range-extending gasoline engine used to provide extra power when the battery pack is depleted, Chevrolet is keen to push the car's green credentials. Built at the Hamtramck plant in Michigan, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt will go on.

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Volt 2011 Chevrolet GM 46

Green Car Reports

AUGUST 3, 2010

General Motors announced today that it will invest in startup Bright Automotive, which hopes to start final production engineering of its Idea plug-in hybrid delivery van design later this year. GM Ventures, the automaker's venture investing arm, already provided funds to Bright this week; formal agreements are to be signed later this year. It.

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