One of the things you'll hear critics of renewable energy often say is that the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. But of course we know that isn't the case. If you go high enough from the earth's surface, the sun never stops shining and though no one has seen it, the wind is always blowing. We've talked about beaming the solar energy to earth before and we have even shown you this particular wind-powered energy producer before. At the time, some commented it would never fly but the maker of the Magenn Air Rotor System (MARS) has survived long enough to see it happen.
The blimp, technically called an aerostat, recently underwent its initial inflation trials at the facilities of premiere airship builder, TCOM, and was then taken to Virginia to be demonstrated for the CIA a customer. Magenn believes their balloon will be perfect for remote electricity generation at a competitive price and have plans to sail their device at four different locations in the next year.
In an interesting twist to the saga that is the development of the Phoenix Motorcars electric SUT & SUV program comes news that they are now partnering with a Canadian battery maker. In a press release from that company, Electrovaya says that they are now negotiating an arrangement with Phoenix and have already begun the work of integrating their proprietary Lithium Ion SuperPolymer® battery along with its intelligent battery management system ("iBMS").
Phoenix Motorcars President and CEO, Daniel J. Elliot is quoted by the release as saying, "We are pleased to have Electrovaya join forces with us, and we are excited to be working with their team and their advanced technologies. Electrovaya's innovative Lithium Ion SuperPolymer® battery technology stands apart from its peers as a platform, chemistry agnostic technology. Electrovaya's systems expertise and design experience provide what we need in terms of battery performance." Hmm. That strikes us as possibly being in conflict with a statement made by the CEO a couple months ago in a different press release which can still be found on the Phoenix Motorcars website. And we quote, "We wholeheartedly support Altairnano's technology and believe they provide the greatest product available on the market today." Altairnano being the company that has been trumpeted as the supplier of their battery of choice for some time now, we wonder if a similar fate has befallen them as has their original motor supplier, UQM. Or perhaps Phoenix plans on utilizing the power packs from both companies. We shall try to get the straight dope and let your enquiring minds know but in the mean time go ahead and read the available details in the press release after the break.
While the United States and the eastern half of our friendly neighbors up north are using corn as the primary feedstock for ethanol and Brazil has been concentrating on sugar cane, the left-half of Canada is considering wheat. The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association hopes that the creation of fuel from wheat will help Canada's wheat farming community make a bit more profit, as corn-based ethanol has done (for good or for bad) for other farmers. Many farmers in Canada only plan to use low-protein wheat or damaged crops which are not suitable as food for the fuel feedstock. Still, the food-or-fuel debate looms large, as some farmers are choosing to plant specific crops tailored to the production of ethanol. Husky Energy Inc. already operates a few ethanol plants in Canada and has plans for more. There are a few issues with using wheat, but nothing that is insurmountable.
The city of Monterrey, Mexico, will have its subway system, called Metrorrey, propelled with electricity obtained from biogas. Simeprode, the company that manages the city waste system, is finishing a 5.3 MW power plant that will produce electricity for the two subway lines. This plant will allow Monterrey not only to run its mass transit system with bioenergy but also to expand the subway networks in the near future. The remaining power will be used for public lightning. The technology was imported from Germany, and the total cost of the project was about $6.5 million.
Those who follow the automotive industry closely are surely familiar with Magna International, one of the largest auto parts suppliers in the world -- so large, in fact, that the company was actually in on the bidding to purchase Chrysler from Daimler last year. Now it seems that the global company is throwing its hat into the plug-in hybrid ring. Magna founder Frank Stronach says, "You don't have to be a great scientist to know that we're going to be out of oil sooner or later." The company is investing $30 million into the hybrid project, which reportedly involves gasoline, electric and natural gas powerplants. Magna's Austrian arm is leading the project.
Magna is no stranger to the assembly of cars, holding contracts for such revered marques as BMW and Mercedes Benz. We have few details on the actual vehicle being considered, though. All we know for sure is that its likely to play in a market not occupied by its customers. We look forward to finding the answers to such questions as whether or not the vehicle will be sold under the Magna name and what countries the vehicle is being designed for. We'll keep you posted.
According to FedEx, its hybrid delivery vehicles have saved approximately 83,000 gallons of fuel and eliminated 950 tons of greenhouse gas emissions while racking up an impressive 2 million miles overall. Because of this success, the global delivery giant will be adding 75 new hybrid vehicles to its fleet, making for a total of 172 hybrid vehicles. The hybrid trucks used by FedEx are said to improve fuel economy by 42 percent, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 30 percent and cut particulate pollution by 96 percent.
FedEx uses hybrid technology from Eaton, Isuzu, Iveco and Azure Dynamics with Ford engines and chassis. That's a lot of different systems for one company. Mitch Jackson, director of Environmental Affairs and Sustainability at FedEx, calls for "truck manufacturing industry to create its version of the Prius: clean, affordable and widely available for truck fleets."
FedEx also plans to test Class 6 vehicles using hybrid hydraulic technology from Parker Hannifin Corporation and replace some of their air fleet with more efficient Boeing 757 planes. All of these changes will result in less fuel consumption, helping FedEx's bottom line and, more importantly, reduce harmful emissions.
Last year, we showed you Canadian teen Ben Gulak's much-cooler interpretation of the Segway. Called the Uno, his 120 pound machine is capable of balancing itself and its rider using custom-programmed software and some gyros. When we last saw the contraption, it looked very much like the DIY machine that it is, but now the Uno appears in a much more finished state, complete with sporty bodywork in bright orange. There's also a website for the project, though not much is posted there as of yet.
The Uno was created as a possible response to the pollution that our internal combustion engines emit as we drive. On a 2006 trip to China, Ben says that "The smog was so thick, we never saw the sun." Though most of the hard work was done by Ben himself, a few experts stepped in to provide a bit of assistance, and the end-result is reportedly very easy to ride. We likey.
As we've reported before, Nissan is committed to the continuously variable transmission (CVT) for use in passenger cars due to the environmental improvements that the alternative transmission's enhanced efficiency allows. CVT transmissions are not locked into set gear ratios, instead they can offer any ratio which falls in between their minimum and maximum values as defined by multiple internal pulleys or planetary gearsets. In 2007, Nissan surpassed its stated goal of selling a million CVT transmission units in passenger cars by selling 1,088,000 in total, just less than thirty percent of its total global sales. In North America and Japan, though, the CVT represents almost half of Nissan's total transmission output.
Just how much good are Nissan's CVT's for the environment? Nissan's data suggests that a million cars equipped with CVT's is equal to the carbon reduction of 200,000 hybrids -- many of which use CVT transmissions as it is.
At the International Vienna Motor Symposium, which starts today, Volkswagen is announcing that its next-generation turbo diesel engine, BlueTDI - developed especially for the North American market - will initially be available in the U.S. version of the Jetta. The Jetta BlueTDI will come to North America sometime in the middle of this year, followed at some point by the Touareg BlueTDI.
BlueTDI is the cleaner version of the already pretty clean TDI engine that VW uses in its European diesels (starting with the Tiguan last year). TDI meets the Euro-5 standard and BlueTDI is ready for the stricter Bin 5, Level 2 standards that are in force in five U.S. states, including California. Not only does the BlueTDI engine have the low emissions, but VW's director of powertrain development, Dr. Ing. Jens Hadler, said in a statement that the Jetta BlueTDI can get up to 60 mpg in highway driving. Perhaps that'll ease the pain of the Golf TDI hybrid's failure to launch. The BlueTDI displaces 2.0 liters and generates 103 kW/140 PS with 320 Nm of torque. More details after the break.
Need hydrogen in Alberta, Canada? Air Products (along with its Air Products Canada Ltd. subsidiary) has announced the commercialization of a hydrogen plant this week. Air Products' new plant can make over 100 million standard-cubic-feet-per-day. The hydrogen is sold to a Petro-Canada refinery near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and to "other customers in the Alberta Heartlands industrial corridor" under long-term agreements.
While Air Products has some knowledge about fueling hydrogen vehicles (in South Carolina and plans for London) this hydrogen isn't intended for transportation use. Instead, it goes to the refinery to help process bitumen into a synthetic crude oil and then, with the hydrogen, into refined oil products like gasoline and diesel fuel (135,000 barrels a day at the Edmonton refinery). More details after the break.
Although The Great Race has been postponed due to the recall of travel permits through China, the show will go on. According to the official website, "Great Race Sports owners, executives and participants are dedicated to honoring the history of this illustrious race." We think that the race, assuming it does take place, could gather a great deal of attention the world over. We've been keeping an eye on the race with posts on the E85-powered 1967 Aston Martin DB6 that will take part and other ethanol participants. This bears watching.
Have you been wanting to celebrate National Bike Month in fine style this May but are lacking the necessary bicycle part of the equation? Fret no more because OHM Cycles has just announced their 2008 hybrid electric line-up of urban and sport bikes. Designed to help you get up those steep hills and ride farther, OHM harnesses lithium ion batteries from Moli Energy and a microprocessor-equipped brushless DC BionX motor with a command console that allows you to choose between four "power modes" and four "regenerative modes." You can get assistance going up inclines and get some charge back on the way down. Built on an aluminum frame, the weight is kept down to a manageable 48 to 53 pounds, depending on the model. Sounds pretty nifty to us. Prices aren't mentioned but if you contact any of these stores we are sure they'll fill you in. For other details check out the press release after the jump.
Although it's obvious that Fisker has a long-ways to go when it comes to moving their Karma PHEV sedan from its current conceptual stage to its hopeful production stage, Fisker has reportedly set up its first European importer: Fisker Italia. Currently, this means next to nothing, but Fisker execs say that they expect to export more than half of their cars if and when the Karma does actually go into production, so Italian fans of the sleek electric sedan can now start saving up their pennies for a hopeful debut in 2010.
Fisker continues pointing to the fourth-quarter of '09 for North American deliveries of the Karma and add that they have "received great interest from 44 North American markets in which it hopes to have retail representation." We'll just take that for what its worth and remain hopeful that Fisker is able to pull this off.
Neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) are about to get their status upgraded in British Columbia. Currently, NEVs are lumped with tractors in the slow-moving vehicle category which means, like tractors, they can drive on public roads with speed limits up to 50 KPH (31 MPH) as long as they have an "overhead amber light" and a large orange triangular sign displayed. Oh, and the four-way flashers must be blinking just for good measure.
New legislation this Spring will impact potential drivers of these vehicles (like the Zenn car pictured above) in two ways, according to an article in the Times Colonist. First they won't have to be decked out like tractors and second, they will be allowed on any road in the province with a speed limit of 40 KPH (25 MPH) and on some roads with a 50 KPH limit if it is in a municipality that will allow the higher limit. That may be good for electric-car friendly cities like Saanich but not so good in Victoria, where Mayor Alan Lowe believes that NEVs could impact traffic flow and might "cause even more greenhouse-gas emissions by putting on your brakes more often."
With all the attention being paid to alternative fuels, it is not surprising that Big Oil should launch a PR counteroffensive. The American Petroleum Institute (API), advertising itself as "the People of America's Oil and Natural Gas Industry," is running a new TV ad, Delivering America's Energy Security, which can be viewed at their website at energytomorrow.com. Their contention is that there is still so much oil under America that we can achieve energy independence without getting off oil for a long time. According to API, there are "112 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil beneath U.S. federal lands and coastal waters. That's enough oil to fuel 60 million cars for 60 years." Unfortunately, we already seem to have about 250,000,000 passenger vehicles in the U.S. And perhaps we don't have 60 years to reverse the effects of 100 years of gasoline-powered internal combustion.
One of the things you'll hear critics of renewable energy often say is that the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. But of course we know that isn't the case. If you go high enough from the earth's surface, the sun never stops shining and though no one has seen it, the wind is always blowing. We've talked about beaming the solar energy to earth before and we have even shown you this particular wind-powered energy producer before. At the time, some commented it would never fly but the maker of the Magenn Air Rotor System (MARS) has survived long enough to see it happen.
At the International Vienna Motor Symposium, which starts today, Volkswagen is announcing that its next-generation turbo diesel engine, BlueTDI - developed especially for the North American market - will initially be available in the U.S. version of the Jetta. The Jetta BlueTDI will come to North America sometime in the middle of this year, followed at some point by the 
With all the attention being paid to alternative fuels, it is not surprising that Big Oil should launch a PR counteroffensive. The 
