Automobiles
New Catalyst Lowers Cost of Making Cellulosic Ethanol by 30%
Just for grits and shiggles, let’s say that when celluline’s finally produced in commercial amounts it will cost consumers $3.00 per gallon. If the cost savings associated with this catalyst were passed on to consumers, that would mean the same celluline would cost $2.10 per gallon.
Professor Michikazu Hara says the carbon-based catalyst can be made cheaply, and works by breaking down cellulose and creating sugar when mixed with water and heated to 100° C. Using the current celluline production methods, this step in the process uses a large amount of energy, time and chemicals.
U.S. Could Cut Fuel Use 50% by 2035
A new report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Energy Initiative predicts that a 30-50% reduction in fuel consumption is possible in the US over the next 25-30 years. Initially, this will be achieved through improved gasoline and diesel engines and transmissions, gasoline hybrids and reductions in vehicle weight and drag. In the longer term, the study concludes that plug-in hybrids and, later, hydrogen fuel cells may begin to have a significant impact on fuel use and emissions.
The report, ‘On the Road in 2035: Reducing Transportation’s Petroleum Consumption and GHG Emissions,’ summarizes the results of an MIT research project that assessed the technology of vehicles and fuels that could be developed and commercialized during the next 25 years.
The research team assessed the effect of new vehicle and fuel technologies on the performance, cost and lifecycle emissions of individual vehicles. It then assessed the effects on the total on-the-road fleet of introducing these technologies using “plausible assumptions about how rapidly they could be developed, manufactured and sold to buyers to replace existing vehicles and fuels or to add to the existing fleet.”
Other key findings include:
Peugeot to Showcase RC Hybrid Concept at Paris Motor Show
Peugeot has announced plans to debut an all-new performance hybrid concept at the Paris motor show in October. According to the French manufacturer, the car, known for now as the RC Clubs, (but whose final name will be confirmed at the show), will be a four-door, four seat GT Coupe with “highly innovative hybrid architecture.”
Peugeot claim that the car boasts 313bhp, with combined CO2 emissions of 109g/km. If true, this would make the RC Clubs easily the most powerful model in production by the French outfit, yet also one of the greenest. Moreover, when running at low speeds, the RC will be powered solely by an electric motor, meaning zero emissions at source, much the same as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid.
EcoDriving: The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturerers Gift to the Masses (Opinion)
You look west to see a barren landscape, tumbleweed breezing lazily through the charred remains of a forest. The rust laden skeleton of what used to be a city echoes the promise of a future long gone. You are fighting out your days amidst gunfire and tribal warfare in armor composed of animal fur and long deserted hockey pads. Ironically water isn’t the most important liquid on the planet that spins where the Earth once spun. You begin to wash the grease smears off your face in a shallow pool…
…oh wait, am I jumping the gun here?
While our gas crises hasn’t quite reached ‘Mad Max’ proportions yet, things are close enough that the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers will make this September “Green Check-Up Month.” After countless years of making oversized and inefficient autos, Ford and Chevy are now going to tell us how to save gas.
Major Ethanol Producers’ Organization Endorses Obama
This marks the first endorsement by a major biofuels trade association in the 2008 US presidential campaign, and only the second time in the ACGA’s twenty-one year history that they have ever endorsed any presidential candidate.
The American Corn Growers Association represents 14,000 members in 35 states. Keith Bolin ACGA president and a corn and hog farmer in Obama’s home state of Illinois issued a simultaneously glowing endorsement of Obama and blistering critique of McCain.
The Biodiesel Trident - 170 mph - 60+mpg
Ok, so it isn’t flashy, just nice clean lines and a monster under the hood. It’s the new Trident Iceni, a two-seat sports car boasting a 6.61 litre V8 turbo diesel from GM that will launch you from 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds. The company, Trident Performance Vehicles based in the UK, says computer calculations suggest a top speed of 230 mph, and a range of approximately 1000 miles.
The car’s chassis is stainless steel throughout, forming what the company says is a complete safety cell around the occupants against front and side impact. Rollover protection is supplied by a central spine configuration that is said to have the highest torsional rigidity of any car tested. Trident guarantees the car for life against corrosion.
F-15 Flies on Alternative Jet Engine Fuel
Using a 50-50 mixture of JP-8 jet fuel and a natural gas-based synthetic fuel, an F-15 Strike Eagle flew high above Robins Air Force Base in Georgia this week. One of the pilots for the test, Maj. Dan Badia, is quoted as saying it was just another day at the office.
He said, “You could have had JP-8 in there and I wouldn’t have known the difference.”
The test flight involved engineers from the 830th Aircraft Sustainment Group, who maintain the 561st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, and pilots from the 339th Flight Test Certification office.
American Ingenuity Leads to Biodiesel Breakthrough
I’ll tell you what — even though I’m sometimes down on my country because of the pathetic state of our government — the thing that always makes my patriotism swell is the truly amazing and unexpected ingenuity that seems to spring forth from the American people.
And in this tale, American ingenuity doesn’t get much more classic. A student and his professor at a small college smack dab in the middle of the heartland that virtually nobody’s ever heard of, have figured out a way to make biodiesel quickly, cheaply, and efficiently from a very small package.
Japan to Offer Clean Automotive Incentives
Japan will look to introduce incentives for the fiscal year starting July 2009, for consumers looking to buy clean diesel cars, in an attempt to reduce the countries carbon dioxide emissions. Such an incentive will hopefully not only push consumers into buying cleaner cars, but hopefully push manufacturers into building them as well.
According to an official from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), further details will be clarified and confirmed over the rest of 2008, for a hopeful introduction in April of 09.
Biodiesel Alliance Requests Your Input on the Future of Biofuel Sustainability
The Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance (SBA) is a non-profit organization created to promote cradle-to-grave biodiesel practices for verifying that all points in the production and distribution chain are sustainable.
And now they want your input on what those sustainable practices and standards should be — they’ve released the first draft of their “Principles and Baseline Practices for Sustainability” (PDF) to the public under a 45-day comment and review period.
So, if you’ve ever questioned the wisdom of growing our own fuel, or you’ve wondered how biofuels can be considered sustainable at all given other seemingly cleaner options like solar, wind and geothermal, now’s your time to speak up.
100 MPG Competition Sparks Innovation
One of the biggest engineering challenges at the moment, specifically located in the automotive industry, is the race to build a car that can travel 100 miles on a gallon of fuel. It might sound like a farfetched goal, but the $10 million Progressive Automobile X Prize (AXP) competition taking place in 2010 is banking on their challenge sparking a mass of innovation.
From this competition may very well come a car that can travel a hundred miles on a gallon of petrol. Or, this competition might spark a new type of electric car, or any number of other designs.
Two universities are vying for the prize, being offered up by the same people who awarded $10 million Ansari X Prize to Mojave Aerospace Ventures in 2004 for the flight of SpaceShipOne. Cornell and Western Washington University are both actively competing in the mainstream auto class, a class that has 61 entries.
India Sets Aside 40% of Regional Wasteland for Jatropha Biodiesel Production
40% of recently set aside “wasteland” in India’s populous norther region will be put into Jatropha production in the next few years, according to sources within the country. That makes for an estimated 26,721 hectares (about 66,000 acres) of land that will be converted into biodiesel crop production.
GM Releases Teaser Pictures of Chevrolet Volt
In the world of hybrid and electric cars, the upcoming commercial release of the Chevrolet Volt must surely rank as the most widely (and wildly) anticipated event. Now GM has ramped up the expectation levels another notch by releasing two teaser pictures providing us with a sneak-peak of its much vaunted plug-in hybrid model.
The release of the pictures, showing parts of the front and rear ends, will be seen in the industry as a signal that GM is still very much on track for the forecast 2010 launch of this pioneering car.
Suzuki’s Cars Will Run On 100% Ethanol in US, Brazil by 2010
According to the Nikkei Business Daily (via Tradingmarkets.com), Japan’s Suzuki Motor Company will begin selling cars that run completely on 100% ethanol in the US and Brazil by 2010. The company will begin the transition by first offering an E25 sedan for sale in Brazil this coming March.
Currently the most ethanol that a flex-fuel car can run on in the US is E85 — which is an 85% ethanol/15% gasoline blend. Suzuki’s move would mark a huge development in ethanol-powered vehicles, and a huge shift for Suzuki, which hasn’t had any alternative fuel-specific offerings in its lineup to this point.
GM Determined to Think Big with Better Fuel Economy
As a basic principle of fuel economy, smaller cars get better gas mileage. Engineering trends keep pushing the limits of the term ‘compact’ car while somehow keeping the interiors large enough to carry people. Unfortunately, the Prius won’t suffice for all drivers, and rightfully so. There are people in the United States who require space shuttle sized SUV’s and Titantic trucks, and nothing is going to change that in the immediate future. America runs on progress, and progress cannot happen without construction and high a high towing capacity. The next generation of GM trucks is attempting to bridge the gap between brute force, and environmental friendliness.
Gasification: Ultra-Cheap Biofuel From Any Carbon Source
Under a new research directive at Ames National Laboratory, scientists are honing in on a way to perfect a process called gasification to create cheap ethanol from almost any carbon source without fermentation.
If they’re successful, crops, agricultural waste, lawn clippings, raked leaves, sewage sludge and garbage could all be turned into ethanol using the same efficient process, in the same facility, under one roof.
We’ve covered the process of gasification for ethanol production before, but this new research appears to be a huge step forward in making ethanol using gasification.
Report Claims Every New Car Will Be a Hybrid By 2020
A major new report has claimed that by 2020 all new cars sold will be hybrids of one form or another, and that battery technology will be commonplace in most cars.
The report, ‘Automotive 2020: Clarity Beyond the Chaos,’ (.pdf), written by IBM’s Institute for Business Value, is based on interviews with 125 anonymous car industry executives across 15 different countries.
The findings make it clear that the car industry is currently undergoing a period of radical and fundamental change. According to one respondent, an executive with a European car company, “In the next ten years, we will experience more change than in the 50 years before.”
Ford’s Greening Plan: Will It Be Successful?
Earlier this week, I wrote about my experience at Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. Specifically, I discussed the Ford Escape Hybrid. While I was in Dearborn, I also had the chance to check out some of the “green” materials that Ford is currently using/plans to use in their vehicles.
One of these materials is soy-based foam, which is present in the 2008 Mustang, the F-150, the Expedition, the Navigator, and the Focus. The foam is made by crushing soybeans to get oil, which is then turned into soy polyol. According to Ford, the foam reduces CO2 emissions by 5 million pounds annually. Soy proteins are also eventually going to be used in rubber parts.
Have Your Saturn Converted to an All-Electric Car
The company is currently taking orders for a limited run of 300 “signature series” Sky conversions. The Sky EV will be able to go from 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) in 5.7 seconds, will have a top speed of 90 mph (145 kph), and can go 150 miles (240 kilometers) before needing a recharge.
Ford’s Greening Plan: Will It Be Successful?
Last week, I had the chance to visit Ford’s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. I test drove a variety of vehicles while I was there, including the Ford Escape Hybrid. I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical of the SUV at first—after all, if you’re going to go the extra mile to drive a hybrid, why wouldn’t you buy a smaller car? But overall, I was impressed with the new Escape model.
According to Ford, the hybrid delivers 34 MPG in the city and 31 MPG on the highway—an improvement over last year’s model and an achievement that makes the Escape the most fuel-efficient SUV on the market. One Ford employee told me that he had heard of people getting up to 42 MPG, though that is obviously not the norm.
