We've told you all about Shai Agassi's (above left) ambitious Project Better Place and how PBP has plans to create a charging and battery-swapping infrastructure to support fleets of electric cars in Israel, Denmark and possibly Japan. We've also noted not only PBP's deals with Renault to be the first major auto supplier for the scheme but Renault's repeated announcements of its intention to bring electric cars to America in couple of years from now. Now all of this seems to be coming together and it appears, much to our jaw-dropping surprise, that a city in California may very well lead the way into this brand new age of electric-car driving.

According to the San Francisco Sentinel, the mayor of that fair city, Gavin Newsom (above on right), is in talks with PBP about setting up shop in his town of steep rolling hills. In Israel last week to encourage exchanges between business peoples of that country with those in the San Francisco area, the mayor met with several different executives from Agassi's company. Over lunch with CEO Moshe Kaplinsky, Newsom offered to work with the company if they would consider using his city as a testing ground. Watch the video from a Israeli news interview after the break to hear the mayor discuss the goings-on in his own words.

Have you been planning on flying into San Francisco and renting a car to get around? The folks down at city hall would prefer that your rental be a hybrid and they are willing to help you pay for it. The free money for making a more environmentally-friendly car rental choice will come in the form of a $15 rebate which ought to be enough for a latte and a croissant or three a couple of gallons of gas.

Mayor Gavin Newsom announced the proposed program just last Tuesday and with two million cars being rented every year at SFO, he's pretty sure someone will take him up on the offer. Besides the rebate for customers, the plan also calls for rental companies who show that at least 15 percent of their rentals have been fuel efficient vehicles to get a 20 percent break on the fees they pay for their concession space at the airport. Don't rush off this instant to take advantage of the saving though as the pilot program is only scheduled to begin in December.

[Source: SFGate]

The smart limited two, unveiled in Geneva.

One reason that micro-vehicles like the smart exist is so that they can cut down on congestion. There is only so much space available in big urban areas, and parking spots are often hard to come by. So, to pack more vehicles in the same amount of parking spots, you've got to have smaller vehicles. Unless, of course, laws prohibit these small cars from taking advantage of their enhanced parking possibilities. This seems to be a problem out in California; "If these things sell in any kind of reasonable numbers, we're going to have to deal with it," said Matt Nichol, a transportation planner in Berkeley. Selling in reasonable numbers they are, so hopefully smart cars will be given special parking privileges soon enough.

Smart is willing to help, says U.S. spokesman Ken Kettenbeil, "It's going to be a lot of work because each city has its own policies, but we've started." We think it just makes sense and really is in everybody's best interest to make sure smart cars can make use of their diminutive size and, well, park smartly.

[Source: SF Gate]

As a blogger for AutoblogGreen, I read about waste vegetable oil used as a car fuel daily but I have to admit to a "WTF?" moment when reading about details of what fuels were used by San Francisco's new fully biodiesel-capable fleet. According to the New York Times, the fleet uses virgin soy from the Midwest in a B20 mix ... and the city of San Francisco wants your used grease. Cue the sound of a record player needle being loudly pushed off an LP. They want what?

Yes, the Times writes about the new SFGreasecycle, which you will remember was launched in November with a website run by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, that will collect waste vegetable oil from homes and restaurants for free and convert it to biodiesel. This is the first city-wide program that collects used veggie oil for its car fleet, an activity usually seen as something done by small garage companies. If you have not seen or don't recall the hilarious 1977 movie The Kentucky Fried Movie, enjoy the predictive powers of comedy in a clip below the fold.

I am not making fun of San Francisco because I think this is a good program. They have the greenest car fleet in the nation. It will save money, reduce waste and hopefully inspire more agencies and companies to collect waste vegetable oil but can you imagine the average Joe reading about this program in the Times? WTF!

[Source: New York Times]

We told you San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order in May 2006 calling for all diesel-powered city-owned vehicles to run on biodiesel by the end of 2007 and we told you recently it was almost complete. With a month to spare, this week the administration announced the goal has been accomplished: San Francisco's city-owned fire engines, ambulances, street sweepers and buses all run on biodiesel. Who knew San Francisco was such a liberal place? (I kid) Congrats San Fran!

[Source: SF Gate]

I've been to San Francisco and when I was there I never drove a car. I did take a few taxi rides and got on the trolley because, you know, how could you not after seeing all of the Rice-a-Roni commercials. I never encountered the Transbay bus terminal, though. From the sounds of it, I was not missing anything. I don't know about you, but homeless people sleeping on benches and human feces on the ground does not a good commuting experience make as far as I am concerned. It looks like things might be on the way up (could they go the other way?) with the selection of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and Hines's design by Transbay Joint Powers Authority for the construction of a new Transbay transit center and skyscraper. Sky scrapers are not necessarily a green addition to the downtown landscape, but they are almost a given in urban centers like San Francisco. At least the developers are adding a roof-top park to absorb CO2 from the buses along with roof-top wind generators.

[Source: Wired]

It looks like Tesla is about to set out to prove that their Roadster is capable of going 200 miles or more on a charge [UPDATE: the car will stop along the way at a Hyatt in Sacramento to show off the charging capability (and charge the batteries), something Tesla's David Vespremi told AutoblogGreen was the plan all along] with their planned road trip from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe. This trip will take them through the mountains, where the life of their battery pack is sure to be tested. However, with the lack of an internal combustion engine, problems with the thin air up there should not be a problem. Sponsoring the trip is the Global Hyatt hotel chain, who, it appears, is mulling over the idea of installing electric car charging stations at some of their hotels.

[Source: Green Wombat]

The question of whether or not people should be forced into driving smaller cars with engines that emit less pollutants is one that is likely to be debated for quite some time. Many believe that it is their "right" to drive whatever kind of car they want as long as they are willing to pay for it, while others believe that it is their "right" to breathe less polluted air. Granted, cars do not make up the majority of all pollution or greenhouse gases, but they do add to the problem. Obviously, sweeping changes have been and must continue to be made to all facets of the problem; cars, factories and the rest of the gang should all be treated equally. But, the results of the pollution that each of these industries contribute to the air we breathe is not in question.

Take for instance the town of Alvin, California. This is a quiet town with almost no pollution-generating factories and little in the way of traffic from its 15,000 residents. However, the area has the unlucky distinction of being downwind of several large metropolitan areas, and its surrounding mountains trap the air in place, giving this city the dubious honor of having the worst air quality of anywhere in the United States.

This story reminds me of the debate that is brought up regarding our environment. Are we ruining the earth for our grandchildren, just as others are seemingly ruining the air quality for the residents of Alvin?

[Source: Physorg]

So, they've made ads that are dumb, and possibly even offensive, depending on who you ask, and they just opened their first B20 station recently. But San Francisco is really putting some effort into greening their city. The newest evidence of this fact is that the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) will be collecting much of the city's waste vegetable oil (WVO) and using it as a base to create biodiesel. This biodiesel will then be used in a B20 blend to power the city's bus fleet.

This could be a big environmental and economic benefit. To wit: "SFPUC official Lewis Harrison stated that at least 1 million gallons of biodiesel could be produced from left-over restaurant grease, which is "more than enough" to run the city's entire bus fleet on B20. Since WVO is a waste stream, offsetting petro-diesel usage with WVO biodiesel is particularly advantageous: the use of 1 million gallons of WVO-biodiesel would offset 19,600,000 lbs (9,800 tons) of carbon dioxide emissions each year. It also has significant economic and public health benefits: municipal biodiesel production should beat the $4/gallon price of fuel in San Francisco, and B20 biodiesel blends cut diesel soot emissions by 20-40%."

This quote was taken from an article on Green Options. Click here to check it out.

[Source: Green Options]

During October, 15 individuals from around the San Francisco will give up their cars as part of a Low-Car Diet program (a diet Weblog's Sarah Gilbert went on back in July). The idea should demonstrate the ease of living in transit-friendly Bay Area. Each participant will have their car keys locked away for 30 days. They have pledged to use alternative forms of transportation, such as bicycles, busses, trolleys, ridesharing and walking. They were also given a membership to Flexcar, an program that offers on-demand access to a fleet of low-emission vehicles.

San Francisco is well-suited to such a test. There are mass-transit stops in most neighborhoods, and most amenities such as restaurants, night life and food stores are within walking distance.

Related:

• Low-car diet: too much stuff

[Source: Carbon Free]

San Franciscans and neighboring Bay Area residents should be breathing a little easier these days. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the local transit systems are nearly finished retrofitting over 1,700 diesel buses with exhaust filters.

Under the Clean Diesel Bus Program which began in 2003, these "high-tech emission control filters" prevent over 50 tons of harmful particulate matter and 436 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from being released into Bay Area air each year.

At a cost of $18,000 each, the filter-fitted buses, which have years of service ahead of them, provide a reasonable alternative to new buses which come in around $140,000. The program is being funded by the Air District, MTC and the regional transit districts.

As of last Tuesday, 1,384 buses have undergone the treatment with 340 left to go. Most of the remaining buses are scheduled to go under the knife by the end of this year.

[Source: Metropolitan Transportation Commission]

While wind turbines provide a clean source of energy, they still have a number of short-comings as well as vocal opponents who often come from the sore-sight front. San Francisco, which probably wouldn't have the space for a field of wind turbines anyway, is proposing to decrease the city's dependence on foreign oil by implementing turbines submerged underwater that would sit on the floor of the Bay. Preliminary studies say that San Francisco's tides and currents could generate enough power to light up 38,000 homes.

Public Utilities Commission General Manager Susan Leal said that they will spend $150,000 for a study on harnessing power from the ocean's waves and currents. Mayor Gavin Newsom fully supports the proposal and added that a task force of experts will be formed to advise the city on the matter.

Studies determining turbine location and size as well as the potential impacts they would have on marine life need to be done. Also, it is not yet known who would own the project or who would pay to install the turbines.

Despite the obstacles, city officials hope to start a pilot program by 2009 which they estimate would cost between $5 million and $7 million.

[Source: San Francisco Chronicle]

This profile on San Francisco activist Marc Geller serves an excellent expression of the feelings, emotions and obsessions associated with electric-car advocates.

Geller wanted a "cool" car to replace his quirky Citroen and leased the Ford Th!nk. He lost the vehicle when Ford dropped its electric division and pulled all the Th!nks off the road to be crushed. Geller then became active in dontcrush.com and helped launch Plug In America.

Geller says owning an electric vehicle changed his outlook on energy use. He installed solar panels on his roof to help recharge his current vehicle, a Toyota RAV4 electric.

Geller is concerned that the large environmental organizations are slow to back the electric-vehicle movement. A quote from a Sierra Club official says the group is committed to improving fuel efficiency and that electric vehicles are less appealing in states where the grid is "dirty."

Geller claims the trade-offs are in favor of electric cars. He sees electric plants getting cleaner and stresses the need to reduce oil dependency. And, when you get to the end of the story, you'll discover he doesn't want to contribute to Dick Cheney's "retirement fund."

[Source: New America Media]

Moving from Texas over to California, here's a quick post on how you could make $3.4 billion if you happen to be in the clean energy business. That is, if you happen to have the only good idea at the third annual Energy Tech Conference taking place next month San Francisco. The conference, put on by the Strategic Research Institute, will bring together lots of "senior executives" and is being promoted as better than last year because "this time, it's not just the specialized energy funds and strategies investors that are looking into this area, but also mainstream venture capital firms who seek the 'next big thing'." I'm not quite sure if the promoted $3.4 billion is an estimate of what could change hands at the conference, or what the market could provide to firms this year, but it implies there's a lot of money to be had in producing green energy for cars and more.

[Source: Strategic Research Institute]

Politicians are often criticized for promoting short-term solutions and forgetting about long-term gains. Today we read in Inside Bay Area about a California Assemblyman, Joe Nation, who is calling for a 25-cent tax increase on each gallon of gasoline to snap people into considering alternatives to driving. Nation is not alone in considering dramatic tactics to reduce the number of cars on the California roads. The Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission will increase wait times at cash-only toll booths to encourage people to buy one of those automatic passes, a change that will eventually speed up wait times at toll booths. Some politicians in San Francisco are looking into charging drivers who want to drive in downtown San Francisco a fee similar to London's $15-a-day charge. However these proposals fare over the next few months, it is good to see officials unafraid of thinking outside the smog.

[Source: Inside Bay Area via Hybrid Cars]