When we first heard about the new mono-fuel BMW Hydrogen 7, we were rather impressed by the extremely low emissions numbers posted by the model when tested at Argonne National Laboratory. The fact that BMW was able to reduce the emissions, boast better range and make more power as compared to their previous-generation Hydrogen 7 was pretty cool. According to Dr. Thomas Wallner, lead engineer in Argonne's hydrogen vehicle testing activities, "[The Hydrogen 7's] engine actively cleans the air. Argonne's testing shows that the Hydrogen 7's engine actually shows emissions levels that, for certain components, such as Non Methane Organic Gases (NMOG's) and Carbon Monoxides (CO's), are cleaner than the ambient air that comes into the car's engine."

So, because air is required for the hydrogen combustion, and there are pollutants already present in the air, at times the exhaust from the BMW is cleaner than the air it took in. Does that warrant BMW referring to their hydrogen-burner as a "pollution-consuming internal combustion engine?" Perhaps we're just picking nits, but that sounds a wee bit like greenwashing. It's not like the overall air is cleaner after going through the system, after all. Read their entire press release after the break.

In what could either be a boon to companies which need to advertise and want to minimize their environmental impact or the ultimate in greenwashing, Brand Xperience has launched a new all-electric vehicle marketing division. Using electric trucks (look like Zap! Xebras) with what appears to be custom billboards in the bed, the company claims, "Go Green is the only mobile billboard advertising company dedicated to the sole use of all-electric, zero emissions vehicles for special events, street sampling and mobile billboards." We must say, we're not aware of any direct competition in this segment...

According to Go Green Advertising Senior Vice President, Bob Kopach, "Advertising with our electric vehicles not only allows a company to send its message in a unique and cost-effective way, but also communicates that the company cares about the environment." We're not so sure that companies which truly care about their environmental impact would specifically want to run out and use this service, but we can at least agree that using these electric vehicles would save on gasoline.

[Source: Brand Xperience]