AutoblogGreen

While most towns considering a switch to hybrid-electric buses are worried about reducing their fuel costs and improving air quality, in Vail, CO, the switch to hybrid electric diesel buses is most likely motivated equally as much by public relations. The first hybrid-electric bus went in to service last Wednesday, and the town plans to buy nine more over the next four years. This move goes hand in hand with Vail's recent decision to get all of its electricity from wind power. Clearly, Vail's tourism business has a lot to gain from a healthy environment. Tourist's awareness of the environment is also becoming a factor in deciding a travel destination, as was the case with April Jean-Baptist and her husband. Lets hope many more towns follow Vail's lead, for economical, environmental or public relations reasons.

[Source: Summit Daily News]

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is being urged to sell the 74 electric RAV4s to the public, instead of returning the leased vehicles to Toyota. The DWP officials don't necessarily see themselves as used car salesmen, but an offer of $1.85 million for all the electric vehicles might change their tone. No need to start typing numbers in your calculator, the offer boils down to $25,000 per car. All of this is clearly depending on whether Toyota is willing to part with the vehicles. While some companies have crushed their electric cars at the end of their lease, Toyota is not planning to destroy the electric RAV4s. When the leases end, the vehicles that are safe and economical to operate are being redeployed. Toyota has retired approximately 20 EVs to provide parts for the remaining cars.

[Source: LA Daily News]

Popular Mechanics is giving their readers the truth about hydrogen, describing what it thinks are the four major roadblocks to the hydrogen economy: production, storage, distribution and use. While a number of technologies are available to produce hydrogen, they each have their specific drawbacks.

To produce hydrogen without producing carbon emissions, electricity generated from renewable resources can be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The next generation of nuclear plants also promise to produce hydrogen without carbon emissions, but there are clearly other concerns when considering this option. When it comes to storing hydrogen, the different solutions either require significant amount of energy, or result in very large tanks or very heavy tanks. It sounds a lot like choosing between three evils. As for distribution, pipelines and local production sound like the solutions that are the most interesting.

While some see a hydrogen economy where everything is powered by the simplest element in the universe, the most promising use of hydrogen is in transportation. Whether hydrogen will be burned in internal combustion engines, or powering fuel cells, it might not be the silver bullet some people think it is, but it does have its place in a future where a whole array of energy alternatives will be available.

[Source: Popular Mechanics]

While this new offering from Arctic Cat has four wheels, it's technically not a car. However, it's worth mentioning here since it marks the first time a B20 biodiesel blend is being commercially promoted for use in a small diesel engine. The Arctic Cat ATV, powered by a twin-cylinder diesel engine, is targeted at farmers who are already using biodiesel for their tractors and other farm equipment. The engine used in this ATV came from Italian small-engine specialist Lombardini. The diesel ATV provides 30 percent better fuel mileage and low-end torque. Arctic Cat's main findings from rigorous testing with B20, simulating five years of customers use, were mainly that there was nothing very significant to report. No differences in engine or component wear were observed, and no degradation of the fuel system occurred. Let's hope more and more manufacturers will follow suit and certify their diesel engines for B20 use.

[Source: Biodiesel Magazine]

Wartsila and MAN Diesel, two world leading European marine engine manufacturers, have agreed to join forces in a research project, called Hercules-B, in order to maximize fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. The aim of the project is to reach engine efficiency of 60 percent or more for marine diesel engines. Just as a comparison, automotive gasoline engines operate at an efficiency of approximately 20 percent, while automotive diesel engines reach 30 percent or higher.

The majority of diesel engine emissions are currently produced by heavy-duty trucks, while commercial marine transport accounts for a smaller share. However, this balance will shift in the next ten years or so. On-road diesel engine emissions are heavily regulated, which will result in a significant decline. Marine-diesel engine emissions, on the other hand, will not see as significant of a decline, with U.S. DOT Federal Highway Administration projections showing commercial marine engines as the major source of diesel engine emissions by 2020. Wartsila and MAN want to address some of these issues with the four-year Hercules-B project. The targeted budget for the project is 60 million Euro.

[Source: Pressemeldinger Norway]

Researchers from UC Riverside and a small company announced a new process yesterday that allows them to create diesel from pretty much anything that contains carbon. The process can convert sewer sludge, wood, agricultural waste, plain old trash, and even plastic into a gas, and then turning the gas into high-quality diesel. While other gasification processes have been developed in the past, this process promises to be significantly more cost effective. The gasification is achieved by using hydrogen and steam at nearly 1,500 degrees to break apart the feed stock into a gas. Traditional gasification methods use oxygen instead of hydrogen and require large amounts of energy. The new process is also a lot faster, adding to the cost savings. While the process of gasification normally takes about an hour, the new process reduces this to about 6 minutes, a tenfold improvement. The current production cost is about $1 a gallon, but retail would be higher. A pilot plant will be built, and it will be able to convert 10 tons of waste per day into fuel. Getting rid of waste, and producing fuel at the same time sounds like a win-win situation to me.

[Source: San Bernardino County Sun]

Google.org, the philanthropic organization set up by the Google founders, was given seed money of about $1 billion with the mandate to tackle poverty, disease and global warming. The organization is unlike most charities, since it is a for-profit entity. This allows Google.org to form partnerships with venture capitalists and fund start-up companies. It also means the organization will pay taxes, something most charities are exempt from.

Since one of its goals is to tackle global warming, Google.org plans to develop an ultra-efficient plug-in hybrid car that runs on ethanol, electricity and gasoline, in collaboration with hybrid-engine scientists and automakers. They also plan for the purchase of a small fleet of cars with plans to convert them to achieve 100 miles per gallon or better mileage. Dr. Larry Brilliant, the executive director of Google.org, declined to comment on the car project specifically.

[Source: The New York Times, via KickingTires]

The Northern Illinois University police department's vehicle fleet has transformed itself over the last few years from a standard Crown Vic dominated fleet into a fuel sipping fleet consisting of Toyota Prius hybrids. The NIU police started testing hybrids in 2004, and now hybrids make up eighty percent of the total fleet of vehicles. This has saved 4,500 gallons of fuel for fiscal year 2005 alone. The officers using the hybrids seem to have really warmed up to using them as well. Officer Marc Roocaforte, a supporter of the Crown Victoria police car, warmed up to the Prius quickly, calling it "the perfect car for the job."

The Crown Victoria police cars average eight to ten miles per gallon, while the Prius replacement is getting forty miles per gallon, which is clearly leading to financial savings for the university. In 2005 alone, the switch to the Prius saved an estimated total of $15,828 in fuel costs. While the Prius can not keep up with the Crown Victoria as far as acceleration is concerned, this is not seen as a handicap for the model as high-speed chases are becoming a thing of the past.

[Source: NorthernStar Online]

Closely following a sighting of a Hydrogen-powered 7 series during testing, BMW officially announced the Hydrogen 7 today. The car is touted as the first hydrogen-drive luxury performance automobile for everyday use. The BMW Hydrogen 7 will be built in a limited series, and sold to select customers in the U.S. and overseas in 2007. The engine in the Hydrogen 7, a derivative of the 7 series 12 cylinder engine, is capable of running on gasoline or hydrogen, and produces 260 hp. The car will accelerate from 0 to 62.1 mpg in 9.5 seconds. The ability to run on both gasoline and hydrogen gives the Hydrogen 7 a range of more than 400 miles. The high tech hydrogen storage tank has a capacity of approximately 17.6 lb of liquid hydrogen, giving the Hydrogen 7 a cruising range in hydrogen mode upwards of 125 miles. The gasoline mode accounts for an additional 300 miles of cruising range. The driver is the one who decides which fuel to use, with a smooth transition between both operating modes, since the engine power and torque remain identical regardless of the fuel used.

[Source: BMW, full press release after the jump. Also, see more pictures of the Hydrogen 7 here]

Zipcar, the U.S. based car sharing company, has recently entered the Toronto market to give AutoShare, established in 1998, some competition. Torontoist provides us with an interesting article, discussing car sharing in general, and comparing the offerings of the two companies. Many Torontonians often are not aware of what a car sharing program offers, confusing it with either car pooling, or comparing it to car rental companies. That confusion has not stopped Zipcar from being successful in the Toronto market, however, as it has turned out to be the fastest market ever to attain 1000 members. While both companies initially started out by stressing the environmental aspect of their services, they are now somewhat down-playing it. Many of their customers are excited about driving around in interesting new cars on a regular basis, or having access to a car that is suited for the trip at hand. Use a Mini Cooper for a date, and reserve the pick-up truck for the trip to IKEA. So who came out on top? Each of the two companies has their pros and cons, which could make either one your top choice.

[Source: Torontoist]