Last night during the Oscar telecast, host Jon Stewart joked to the audience, "Whoever owns the Boeing 707 parked on La Brea Avenue, your landing lights are on." As actor/aviator John Travolta ran onstage and bolted through an exit, Stewart comforted the glitterati, telling them, "Don't worry, it's a hybrid."

Now, while John Travolta is a pilot and really does own a Boeing 707 (finished in classic Quantas livery, as seen here, parked at his home in a private "fly-in" community), the company does not make hybrid jets. Boeing is, however, exploring electric engine starts and, more recently, biofuel-powered jets with Virgin Atlantic. You can watch a video with Branson talking about the Virgin biofuel jet below the fold. For the second year in a row, NRDC also worked with Oscar to reduce the show's ecological footprint with energy coming from wind farms and biodiesel. The Independent Spirit Awards, however, drank Oscar's milk shake by using an even greener power source: Ed Begley Jr.

[Source: NRDC]

Last night on the Independent Spirit Awards, an award show for independent films, there was a joke about Ed Begley Jr. powering the entire show (lights, sound, etc) by pedaling a stationary bike. Ed, an actor known to be very eco-friendly, didn't really power the entire show but the organizers did use green power to show off their Independent Spirits. Biodiesel generators powered the show's electrical systems (lights, sound, etc.) and the organizers found other ways to make the entire show very green. Will the Oscars be able to top Begley on a bike?

[Source: AMC]

Bild am Sontag, one of the most important publications in Germany has given an award to BMW's Efficient Dynamics program. This year's "Goldenes Lenkrad" (Golden Steering Wheel) included a green prize for the first time and praised BMW's measures to cut CO₂ emissions.

Efficient Dynamics is available in almost all BMW models. ED consists of a set of features such as high-end diesel units, brake energy regeneration, Start and Stop functionality, better aerodynamics and lightweight construction techniques.

Related:

• BMW 123d: More than 200 HP and less than 140 CO2 g/km
• Wondering how the new stop/start Mini drives?
• BMW: 40% of European Car Range under 140 CO2 g/km by fall.

[Source: BMW]

In their third annual Bottom Line Design Awards for ingenuity in business success, Business 2.0 and Frog Design have awarded the H-racer hydrogen fuel-cell powered toy as one of "the 11 coolest new products on the Planet." The toy car, created by Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, comes complete with its own solar powered hydrogen refuelling station to provide a truly renewable energy solution. Batteries are definitely not included.

Check out a video of the H-racer in action after the jump.

Analysis: When you see the H-racer in action, it's incredible just how simple the entire process is; the solar cell runs the production plant which produces the hydrogen and fuels the car. I'd love to full sized examples on the market.

Related:

• Yellow cabs turning green at New York Auto Show
• Arizona State extending fuel cell-life with antifreeze
• Mazda goes green with "Sustainable Zoom-Zoom"

[Source: Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies]

The United Kingdom's Environmental Transport Association (ETA) annual awards have named the Honda Civic Hybrid Britain's greenest car for the second straight year. Finishing ahead of the Vauxhall Corsa 13.CTDi and Toyota Yaris 1.4 Diesel, the Civic won out for its superior combination of engine size, fuel consumption, noise pollution and safety impact on pedestrians.

The award for Greenest Off-Roader went to the Toyota RAV4 diesel and the Greenest Luxury Car award went to the Jaguar XJ 2.7 diesel. The wrong end of the list was dominated by luxury brands including Lamborghini, Ferrari and Aston Martin, proving that making a car really fast still requires a lot of petrol.

Top ten green cars:

• Honda Civic Hybrid
• Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 CDTi
• Toyota Yaris 1.4 D-4D Manual
• Renault Modus 1.2 16V VVT
• Daihatsu Sirion M300
• Citroen C1 1.1
• Toyota Aygo 1.0 Manual
• Peugeot 107 Manual
• Daihatsu Charade Manual
• Fiat Panda 1.3

Top ten worst cars:

• Lamborghini Diablo Roadster
• Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster
• Ferrari Supermerica
• Ferrari Scagliatti
• Bentley Azure
• Bentley Arnage RL
• Aston Martin Vanquish
• Aston Martin DB9 Manual
• Bentley Continental Flying Spur
• Ferrari F430 Spider

Analysis: Small, light vehicles get great fuel economy and are unlikely to mow down pedestrians while large, fast sports cars are made to go even faster by using bigger engines that suck more fuel. That's why the Tesla Roadster is such a revelation - a fast, sporty vehicle that runs on electricity and has zero emissions. By the looks of this list, it will have the other sports cars beaten hands down for environmental performance for a while yet.

Related:

• Cameron Diaz in the Tesla Roadster = porn?
• Honda Accord Hybrid to pace Indy series for 2007
• Ecorazzi highlights Q'Orianka Kilcher and her Honda FCX with video

[Source: AutoTrader.co.uk]