While spending the wee hours trying to dig up more information on a deal reported in The Earth News between micro-turbine maker Capstone and Italian bus builder Eco Power Technology, I came across an unexpected bit of news. According to a post by nbodyhome on Disney fan forum Micechat, a Designline bus has been doing some testing down at the home of the famous rodent in Orlando. Designline is the New Zealand manufacturer behind the solar powered Tindo bus and uses a Capstone micro-turbine in its hybrid designs. The Disney fans post includes pictures of the vehicle (above) and I can see Spanish moss in the trees so I know they weren't taken in New York City when this bus was tested there.

Somewhere, and I can't find my source now, I read Disney runs a fleet of over 250 buses in the Orlando area, so a move to hybrids would help the people living there breathe a little easier. I am surprised I couldn't find either a press release by Disney or Designline about the tests since "green" image projection is all the rage these days.

[Source: The Earth News / Micechat]

There's a fine line that often gets crossed when kids take up political causes. Sometimes, kids make great spokespeople (I suggest checking out 8-year-old Carrick's interview with Darth Vader and the Biodiesel Ambassadors for two examples of this). Other times, watching kids talk about the environment can be slightly painful. You can see what I'm talking about - and see if you agree - in the videos after the break. The clips were shot at the Chevy Rocks the Future / Jonas Brothers event earlier this month and include stars from "Hannah Montana," "Desperate Housewives," "High School Musical" and a lot of other media properties. I'll admit right now that I wouldn't recognize and of these tykes if they were performing right in front of me, so I'm certainly not the target audience here. If the kids aren't enough for you, you can also see Wayne Brady, Kathy Ireland, and Luke Perry interviewed about their green hopes. Watch 'em all after the break.

Finally, a chance to blog about the Jonas Brothers! Today (Feb. 19), at Walt Disney Studios, Chevy is "rolling out the green carpet" (aka sponsoring) a concert that will ask the more than 150 L.A area students that attend to "promise to live better," save the environment ... and also check out GM's collection of green cars. Jonas Brothers Kevin, Joe and Nick actually own a Chevrolet Tahoe 2 Mode Hybrid SUV (are they old enough to drive?) and the "young influencers" will also enjoy a car that pops popcorn using biofuel and a "hybrid" lab that mixes chocolate and peanut butter. The band was enamored with Chevy's cars after driving the Equinox Fuel Cell recently. Nick Jonas said "Being eco-friendly is important to us."

... that's it. I can't continue writing. I have been blinded by the unbounded, advertising synergy of this event. Enjoy the Kids of the Future music video below the fold.

Related:

• 2008 Detroit: videos of the Dodge Ram Hemi hybrid, Chevy Volt, E85 Coupe
• Tour bus that runs on "blubber" in Sidekick's Grammy Awards TV commercial
• Kia TV ad: Spectra is so fuel efficient, you will forget which side the car the gas tank is on
• It's Friday: the Ditty Bops tour by bike
• It's Friday: Is Jeep's "Rock Me Gently" ad greenwashing? o|||||||o
• Videos: Hard Rock cafe concert for Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance

[Source: GM]

The video above is all about Ross Lovegrove's electric car that doubles as a street lamp. We wrote about the Ross' concept car, which is also solar powered and super lightweight, in a post about a Ted Talk he gave in June. If that's too realistic for you, below the fold is a video from a 1958 Disney TV show titled "Magic Highway USA" with wild visions of our automotive future.

Disney predicted that after the gas cars, "more efficient" gas turbine cars would become popular, then speedy jet cars, nuclear powered cars (why not?) and last but not least, solar powered hovering cars. A lot of the other ideas in the Disney video are wrong as well but several were spot on: like GPS maps in cars (except they thought punch cards would store the map data) and rearview TV instead of rearview mirrors.

I hope Disney is right about that hovering solar car. They look like fun.

[Source: YouTube]

Click for a high-res gallery of the fuel cell Equinox

At the Los Angeles Auto Show, General Motors and Disney have announced that the entertainment company will be participating in the Project Driveway program. Ten of the Chevy Equinox fuel cell crossovers will be used on site at Disney facilities in Southern California. Disney will use the vehicles to shuttle staff, talent and other people around the facilities. GM is building over 100 of the fuel cell Equinoxes for the program. Most of them will be loaned to regular drivers for three month terms so that the company can gather real world data on the performance of fuel cell vehicles. The GM press release is after the jump.

[Source: General Motors]