Green Car Congress

AUGUST 30, 2015

A working paper by a team at the Energy Institute at Haas, University of California, Berkeley, has found that 60% of the $18 billion in US federal income clean energy tax credits issued between 2006 and 2012—e.g., for weatherizing homes, installing solar panels, and buying hybrid and electric vehicles—went to the top income quintile in the US (above $200,000 per year).

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Green Car Reports

AUGUST 31, 2015

With the 2016 Toyota Prius scheduled to make its global debut in Las Vegas on the evening of September 8, you had to figure that photos of the car would leak out at some point. And so they have. After years of spy shots of camouflaged Prius development mules, pre-production prototypes, and test vehicles, now we can see the actual lines of the 2016.

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Prius 2016 Las Vegas Toyota 131

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 4, 2015

The BMW Group Technology Office, together with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), have launched an 18-month pilot of the BMW i ChargeForward Program in the San Francisco Bay Area. The program is now issuing calls to participating BMW i3 drivers in the Bay Area to request the interruption of the charging of their EVs for one hour. Working with a group of nearly 100 BMW i3 drivers, selected from approximately 400 applicants, BMW i ChargeForward will demonstrate how intelligent management of

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BMW Grid Power Grid Mini E 280

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 15, 2015

NASA’s Game Changing Development (GCD) program has selected two proposals for Phase II awards targeted toward developing new energy storage technologies to replace the battery systems currently used by America’s space program. Addressing several high priority challenges, NASA is making significant investments to achieve safe and affordable deep space exploration.

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Maryland Energy Storage Lithium Sulfur Virginia 275

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 4, 2015

The Chevrolet Volt’s all-new second-generation Voltec extended-range electric propulsion system ( earlier post ) delivers 53 miles (85 km) of all-electric range, based on EPA testing. That is nearly a 40% improvement over the first-generation Volt, and a 6% boost over the projected 50-mile (80 km) AER estimated at the new Volt’s unveiling in January. ( Earlier post.).

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Volt Chevrolet EPA All-Electric 269

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 10, 2015

Advances in magnet technology have enabled researchers at MIT to propose a new design for a practical compact tokamak fusion reactor that might be realized in as little as a decade: the ARC (affordable, robust, compact) reactor. The stronger magnetic field makes it possible to produce the required magnetic confinement of the superhot plasma—the working material of a fusion reaction—but in a much smaller device than those previously envisioned.

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Fusion MIT Affordable Molten Salt 267

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 5, 2015

The UK’s Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) is leading a 3-year, £2.78-million (US$4.34-million) UK-based collaboration—SeaGas—to produce bio-methane from seaweed through anaerobic digestion (AD). The project launched in July 2015 and consists of six partners including The Crown Estate, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), Queen’s University Belfast and Newcastle University.

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Mariner Universal Waste 2014 256

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2015

UK-based ultracapacitor company Skeleton Technologies and France-based Adgero SARL are introducing an ultracapacitor-based Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) for truck trailers. The hybrid system is designed to reduce fuel consumption and associated emissions by up to 25%, and is optimized for intermodal road transport solutions. The Adgero Hybrid System consists of a bank of Skeleton high-power ultracapacitors working alongside an electrically-driven axle, which is mounted under the trailer.

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2016 Hybrid Congress CO2 253

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 13, 2015

by Dalan McEndree for Oilprice.com. In the last quarter of 2014, in the face of possible oversupply, Saudi Arabia abandoned its traditional role as the global oil market’s swing producer and therefore it role as unofficial guarantor of existing ($100+ per barrel) prices. In October, Saudi sources first prepared the market with statements that the country would be comfortable with oil prices as low as $80 per barrel for “a year or two.

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Saudi Arabia Oil Iraq Iran 250

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 9, 2015

A team from the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, University of Hawaii at Manoa is developing a new one-pot process to produce gasoline-grade (C 6 –C 18 ) hydrocarbon oil from polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)—an energy storage material formed from renewable feedstock in many bacterial species. In contrast to conventional biofuels derived from plant biomass, the resultant PHB oil has a high content of alkenes or aromatics, depending on the catalyst.

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Gasoline Hawaii Oil Polymer 250

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 21, 2015

According to a new lifecycle analysis by a team at Carnegie Mellon University, a battery electric vehicle (BEV) powered with natural gas-based electricity achieves around an average 40% lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction when compared to a conventional gasoline vehicle. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), either with a 30- or 60-km range, when powered by natural gas electricity, have the second lowest average emissions.

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Gasoline-Electric Gas-Electric Gasoline Gas 249

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 10, 2015

According to the 2014 Wind Technologies Market Report released today by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and its Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, total installed wind power capacity in the United States grew at a rate of 8% in 2014 and now stands at nearly 66 gigawatts (GW)—ranking second in the world (to China) and meeting 4.9% of end-use electricity demand in an average year.

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Wind 2014 Puerto Rico Price 247

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 20, 2015

Researchers in the BioMara (Sustainable Fuels from Marine Biomass) project, report identifying two strains of marine algae— Nannochloropis oceanica and Chlorella vulgaris , which have a dry-weight oil content of more than 50%. An open access paper on the screening for oleaginous marine algae is published in Nature’s Scientific Reports. In order to produce biofuels from micro-algae we will have to generate high yields, so we need to know which strains will produce the most oil.

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Mariner Oil Low Cost 2015 246

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 25, 2015

In a new report, “ Autonomous Vehicles ”, Navigant Research forecasts that 85 million autonomous-capable vehicles will be sold annually around the world by 2035. While the core technology continues to advance, vehicles that can autonomously accelerate, brake, and steer under limited conditions are coming to market in the 2016 model year. Many OEMs are now projecting the next level of functionality is coming by 2020, with full autonomy possibly as soon as 2025.

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Global Vehicles Fuel Economy 2016 244

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 14, 2015

In an analysis of hourly air pollution data (PM 2.5 ,PM 10 , SO 2 , NO 2 , O 3 and CO) from more than 1500 sites in China, Berkeley Earth has calculated that the observed air pollution contributes to ~1.6 million deaths/year in China [0.7–2.2 million deaths/year at 95% confidence]—roughly 17% of all deaths in China. The calculated mortality is somewhat higher than the 1.2 million deaths/year previously estimated from a Huai River study using Chinese air pollution measurements and mortality

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Pollution China Coal South Korea 244

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 8, 2015

Diversified energy technology company Holtec is partnering with the US subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation—Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc. (MEPPI)—to develop the instrumentation and control solution for Holtec’s small modular reactor SMR-160. MEPPI will perform the design engineering work effort for the SMR-160 digital instrumentation and control system (DCS) and Human System Interface (HSI), needed for SMR-160 operation.

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Mitsubishi Water Electrical Electric 243

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2015

Quartz today reported that Bosch has agreed to acquire Berkeley Lab solid-state Li-ion battery spinoff Seeo. Seeo’s cell design couples a solid lithium metal anode with a conventional porous lithium iron phosphate cathode and Seeo’s nanostructured solid polymer electrolyte (“DryLite”). The electrolyte is entirely solid-state with no flammable or volatile components.

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 23, 2015

US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates show that US driving topped 1.54 trillion miles in the first half of 2015, beating the previous record of 1.5 trillion miles, set in June 2007. This is more than double the amount driven during the same period in 1981, continuing a trend of America’s driving mileage doubling nearly every generation.

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 18, 2015

Panasonic is currently the runaway leader in the nascent battery market for electric vehicles, but LG Chem has the potential to overtake it in what will be a $30 billion market in 2020, according to a new report—“Watch the Throne: How LG Chem and Others Can Take Panasonic’s EV Battery Crown by 2020”—by Lux Research. Panasonic’s 39% share of the battery market for plug-in vehicles makes it the leading supplier, but its reliance on a single deal with EV leader Tesla leaves it vulnerabl

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Battery Batteries Li-ion Nissan 232

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 12, 2015

The Jeep Cherokee in Europe is adding a new 2.2-liter MultiJet II diesel engine, available with 185 hp (138 kW) and 200 hp (149 kW) outputs, and offering a significantly wider spread of torque from low rpm, greater power, improved performance and better fuel economy than the out-going two-liter 170 hp automatic engine. The new 2.2-liter Euro 6 compliant engine, appearing on an FCA model for the first time, joins the current 2.0L diesel 140 hp manual version in the Cherokee line-up.

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Jeep Diesel Europe MPG 232

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 4, 2015

3M and LG Chem have entered into a patent license agreement to further expand the use of nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries. Under the agreement, 3M grants LG Chem a license to US Patents 6,660,432 (Paulsen et al. ); 6,964,828 (Lu and Dahn); 7,078,128 (Lu and Dahn); 8,685,565 (Lu and Dahn); and 8,241,791 (Lu and Dahn) and all global equivalents including in Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China and Europe. 3M’s battery laboratory collaborated with Professor Jeff

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Li-ion Battery Batteries Taiwan 232

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 6, 2015

A consortium of 16 automobile manufacturers, automotive suppliers and public partners has launched the Ko-HAF (Kooperatives hochautomatisiertes Fahren, Cooperative Highly Automated Driving) project in Germany. Ko-HAF, which is targeting highly automated driving at higher speeds, has a total budget of €36.3 million (US$40 million) and is expected to run until November 2018.

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Germany Automobile Manufacturer Concept Audi 230

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2015

At Eurobike 2015, Samsung SDI unveiled a 500Wh e-bike Li-ion battery pack that can run for 100 km on a single battery charge. Samsung SDI is exhibiting six types of standardized battery packs that can either be built inside or installed on the outside for immediate use. The company will also display 12 types of battery packs that are currently being supplied to global manufacturing companies and the cells of various specifications.

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Li-ion Lithium Ion Battery Batteries 228

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 26, 2015

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award $10 million to eight incubator projects to develop innovative solutions for efficient and environmentally-friendly vehicle technologies that will help reduce petroleum use in the United States. Among the projects is a novel implementation of RCCI—Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition, usually investigated with two fuels ( earlier post )—using a single fuel with onboard fuel reformation.

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Lithium Sulfur Fuel Transportation Polymer 228

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 24, 2015

Over its 10-year lifespan, the Renewable Fuel Standard’s (RFS’) requirement to substitute biofuels for fossil fuels has displaced nearly 1.9 billion barrels of foreign oil and reduced US transportation-related carbon emissions by 589.33 million metric tons, according to a new analysis released by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). To develop its estimates, BIO utilized the GREET1.2013 model to compare carbon emissions from the mixture of US transportation fuels (both petroleum and bi

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Carbon Emissions 2005 Renewable 224

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 27, 2015

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new fuel cell catalyst using earth-abundant materials with performance that is comparable to platinum in laboratory tests. The nanofibrous non-precious metal catalyst (NPMC) is synthesized by electrospinning a polymer solution containing a mixture of ferrous organometallics and metal-organic frameworks and then is thermally activated.

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Fuel Polymer Carbon Water 223

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 1, 2015

The US Department of Energy (DOE) issued a funding opportunity announcement ( DE-FOA-0001313 ) to support the research, development, and demonstration of advanced nuclear reactor concepts. The announcement represents an early step in increasing investment in nuclear advanced reactor technologies, the DOE said. DOE will partner with industry to fund up to two awards of approximately $6.0 million each in FY 2015.

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2015 Concept 2016 Energy 223

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 7, 2015

Greenhouse gasses (GHG) emission savings due to final renewable energy consumption in electricity; cooling/heating; and transport sectors rose at a compound annual growth rate of 8.8% from 2009 to 2012, confirming renewables’ potential in climate change mitigation, according to a new report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s in-house science service.

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Renewable Transportation Emissions Climate Change 221

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 1, 2015

The Volkswagen Group nominated the first 44 suppliers who will be collaborating with the Group on a new common strategic level under the joint FAST initiative. Among the 44 is LG Electronics for the supply of high-voltage batteries. ( Earlier post.). Volkswagen Group Procurement is responding to the challenges currently facing the automotive industry by working together with its suppliers under the “Future Automotive Supply Tracks” initiative (or FAST for short) and will implement technical inno

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Battery Batteries 2016 Future 221

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 31, 2015

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC)’s revamped 2016 Outlander PHEV, due to go on sale in Europe in September, will make its European debut at the 66 th International Motor Show (IAA) in several weeks. MMC will also show the rally version of the Outlander PHEV that will compete in the Baja Portalegre 500 cross-country rally as well as a display outlining a Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) electricity supply system that will be available for the new Outlander PHEV.

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PHEV Mitsubishi 2016 Motors 220

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 24, 2015

President Obama announced more than $1 billion in Department of Energy (DOE) initiatives to advance clean energy technologies. As part of the President’s Clean Power Plan, DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) is making up to $1 billion dollars in loan guarantees available to support commercial-scale distributed energy projects. In addition, through the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E), DOE is awarding $24 million in funding for 11 high-performance solar power projects that could low

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Obama Renewable Energy Solar 220

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 19, 2015

Audi has released an exterior sketch of the 311-mile-range (500 km) Audi e-tron quattro concept it will unveil at the International Motor Show (IAA) 2015 in Frankfurt next month. ( Earlier post.) The sporty SUV study is based on the second-generation modular longitudinal platform (MLB), which provides considerable scope for the drive system and package.

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Audi Concept Miles Motors 220

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 7, 2015

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory have identified a new material to catalyze the conversion of CO 2 via hydrogenation to methanol (CH 3 OH): size-selected Cu 4 clusters—clusters of four copper atoms each, called tetramers—supported on Al 2 O 3 thin films. In a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society , the team measured catalytic activity under near-atmospheric reaction conditions with a low CO 2 partial pressure, and investigated the oxidation state o

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Green Car Congress

AUGUST 31, 2015

The global biofuels industry averaged 68% in utilization rate from 2005 to 2014, reached a high of 80.9% in 2007, dropped to a low of 56.9% in 2012, and climbed slightly back to 60.4% in 2014. Despite the still apparent softness in capacity utilization, and the on-going softness in fossil fuel prices, global biofuels capacity will continue to grow from 55.1 billion gallons per year (BGY) to 61.4 BGY in 2018, according to a forecast by Lux Research.

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