Green Car Congress

AUGUST 29, 2009

Huber’s process rapidly pyrolizes biomass in the presence of a zeolite (ZSM-5) catalyst. Click to enlarge. The University of Massachusetts Amherst recently granted a biofuels startup company, Anellotech , exclusive global rights to the university’s catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) technology developed by chemical engineer and UMass Amherst faculty member George Huber for producing renewable biogasoline and other biohydrocarbon fuels. ( Earlier post.).

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Renewable Aspen Gasoline Massachusetts 348

Creative Greenius

AUGUST 17, 2009

The idyllic island kingdom of Tonga. My friend Elizabeth is from the South Pacific Island Kingdom of Tonga, an exotic locale long fixed in my memory with images of Polynesian paradise. Tonga has sadly been in the news lately after an inter-island ferry sank on August 5 drowning over 70 people. It’s a huge tragedy in such a small place and it has saddened all Tongans around the world.

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Tonga Climate Change San Francisco Climate 256

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 104

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 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 California Solar Environment 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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ZENN Miles 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 89

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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 5, 2009

President Obama announced 48 new advanced battery and electric drive projects that will receive $2.4 billion in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These projects, selected through a highly competitive process by the Department of Energy (DOE), are intended to accelerate the development of US manufacturing capacity for batteries and electric drive components as well as the deployment of electric drive vehicles.

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Grant Lithium Ion Obama St. Louis 317

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

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 23, 2009

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.

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Water Gasoline Oil-Sands Production 292

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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

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 30, 2009

The powertrain of the plug-in hybrid BMW Vision EfficientDynamics. Click to enlarge. BMW has provided more details on the concept car it will unveil at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show—a concept that Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, called a “ CO 2 champion ” that will demonstrate “ a whole new dimension of driving pleasure with regards to efficiency with performance ” during a press conference late in July. ( Earlier post.).

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All-Electric Plug-in Concept Plug 268

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 5, 2009

One of the projects receiving support in the massive $2.4-billion award for advanced battery and electric drive projects from the US Department of Energy (DOE) ( earlier post ) will result in the largest deployment of an electric vehicle and supporting charging infrastructure yet undertaken. Lead grant applicant Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (eTec), a subsidiary of ECOtality, received a $99.8 million award, which will be matched by regional project participants for a combined v

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Nissan San Diego PHEV Volt 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 Fuel 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 14, 2009

BMW of North America and the University of California at Davis (UC Davis) are partnering on a year-long field study to determine the viability of electric vehicles. MINI E customers, based primarily in Los Angeles with a few in the New York City-area, will participate in the study. Marking the first comprehensive study of its kind since the mid-1990s, the UC Davis-led research will focus on user interactions with the MINI E, and is expected to yield insights into real-life usage and perceptions

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Mini E Davis BMW Los Angeles 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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