The General Motors factory in Zaragoza, Spain is set to get a roof tiled in solar panels as part of a larger initiative throughout GM's European operations. 183,000 square meters of photovoltaic cells will be capable of providing up to a quarter of the factory's peak demand. Zaragoza is GM's biggest European factory, and the project will cost €50m, though its benefit will be significant reduction in energy bills for the automaker. GM has 19 other plants in Europe, and the Saint Petersburg factory is next on the list for the solar treatment. Other locations may follow, though some are likely better suited than others due to a variety of environmental and business factors.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub Req]

Photo by Martin Pettitt. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

It was not an easy journey. Following a tragic first attempt, the crew of the biodiesel-powered Earthrace boat set out a second time to break the record for motorized circumnavigation. On the second trip, a biodiesel flood and a lost engine were serious setbacks, but this past weekend, the Earthrace pulled into Sagunto, Sapin, two months after setting forth. The 61-day journey means that the Earthrace can now claim to be the best at circling the globe with an engine: the previous such record took two weeks longer to go the distance.

The Guardian UK has a nice story about the crew's victory, the many troubles they faced along the way, and the well-deserved parties in their future. As tipster Sayyad wrote in to AutoblogGreen, "I think congratulations are in order, especially considering all they've been through." True, but let's not forget that the record for sailing around the world using nothing but wind and human power is just over 50 days. Sails beat biofuels on the open seas. h/t to Sayyad!


[Source: Guardian UK]

Is your car more than 15 years old? If so, and you're in Spain, you might be in luck. The Spanish Government thinks that such a vehicle is a very polluting machine and is eager to help you purchasing a cleaner car. The plan is called VIVE (Vehículo Innovador - Vehículo Ecológico or Innvative Vehicle - Ecological Vehicle). To be eligible, your new car shouldn't cost more than €20,000 and should not emit more than 120 g/km of CO₂, or 140 g/km if it includes special security features. The government's financial aid is a zero percent interest loan for the first €5,000 of the final price of the car. However, the plan is limited to 120,000 cars in two years, and should never exceed €1,200 million in total. Through this plan, the Government expects to reduce Spain's carbon emissions by 200,000 metric tons and reduce the accident rates (some of the highest in Europe).

[Source: El País]

Higher fuel prices? Higher registration taxes? Economic downturn? Might these three issues be the reasons why cars that produce more than 200 g/km of CO₂ just aren't being purchased in Spain as much as they used to be. Sales of vehicles in this segment sunk by 44 percent during the first four months of 2008, compared to 2007 figures. All car sales were down, but the most polluting cars were the most affected: Vehicles producing between 161 and 200 g/km of CO₂ sold 30 percent less, while sales of the 121 to 160 g/km of CO₂ segment were down by just 10 percent. These figures confirm the trends observed in February.

Remarkably, SUVs were slightly less affected than large sedans: Sales of SUVs producing more than 200 g/km of CO₂ were down by 37.4 percent, compared to 53.7 percent for passenger cars in the same emissions category. As a result, the average car sold in Spain now produces 4.6 percent less CO₂ than last year, at 150.7 g/km of CO₂. This translates to slightly less power per average car, 118.5 HP (down by 0.75 percent) but also better mileage: 17.5 km per liter (about 42 mpg U.S. - EU highway cycle), which is 2.8 percent better than last year.

Spain's Registration Tax (also called "Inmatriculation") might be the reason. This tax is paid when purchasing a new vehicle. It changed on January 1st and became dependent on CO₂ emission levels, encouraging cleaner vehicle purchases. The new rate is zero percent for cars producing less than 120 g/km, 4.75 percent for cars between 121 and 160 g/km, 9.75 percent between 161 and 200 g/km and 14.75 percent if the vehicle produces more than 201 g/km of CO₂

[Source: Faconauto via Econoticias]

Blocked borders, fuel pumps running out of gasoline, supermarkets that don't get fresh produce supply ... these are just a few of the consequences of a strike by Spanish and French truckers against high diesel prices. The strike is taking place this week. Currently, diesel prices are around €1.30/liter in Spain and €1.45 in France (that translates to $7.71 U.S. and $8.62 a gallon, respectively. You can see energy prices for all EU country members here). Those prices might be high compared to other countries, but that's not all that's not all the drivers are mad about: diesel prices have jumped up 40 percent in less than a year.

Major cities in Spain such as Valencia, Madrid or Barcelona suffered traffic jams because of demonstrations where trucks were driven at low speeds, making getting around difficult for other vehicles (the picture above shows one of Barcelona's main entry, the C-58 highway). The two main borders between Spain and France, La Jonquera and Irun, were also blocked and demonstrators prevented any truck from crossing. In response, the Spanish government offered an agreement to the Freight Unions. It includes a flexible fare system where transport could reflect fuel prices directly, as well as other measures like subventions for early retirement.


[Source: El País]

You know how it is when you're in traffic. Everyone thinks they're Mario Andretti or Danika Patrick while jostling for the prize of pole position at the upcoming traffic light so that when it turns green they can speed off without any impedance for a least half a block. Certain cities in Spain have decided, however, that it will do you no good to do the blacktop boogie unless you are on a motorbike. Yes, those Spaniard civil-engineering smartie pants realize that motorbikes are not only greener than cars but that they accelerate faster and therefore deserve the added safety and prestige of the front row. If you've ever watched Formula One racing you know that the most dangerous place to be is somewhere mid-pack where everybody seems to want to occupy the same real estate as someone else. The front row doesn't usually have that problem (until the first turn anyway.)

According the Motorbiker.org, Barcelona was the first to come up with the innovation but now Madrid has followed, though their "grid" has a less colorful paint scheme. We doubt this idea will make the journey across the pond but think it's a pretty good one. Click the pic above for more images.

[Source: Motorbiker.org via The Scooter Scoop ]

We take it for granted that Europeans love diesels. This is quite a save statement if you're talking about countries like France or Spain, where diesel sales make up around 65 percent of all car sold. This might be changing, though, as recent changes in fuel prices has made the diesel vehicles less attractive. Since February, diesel has been more expensive than gasoline in Spain. The same shift happened in France in May and a similar situation is happening in Germany. This brings about at least two interesting situations.

First of all, the decline in car sales in Spain is affecting diesel cars more than petrol ones. The high diesel prices hurt, but a new registration tax scheme made for a milder decrease in sales of small and subcompact cars than in past months. A bit of surprising news comes from Germany, where one out of four diesel owners state that their next new car will likely be a gasoline vehicle, thanks in part to the complexity of owning a diesel and the high repair costs. Things even look worse for old models: those cars not fitted with Diesel Particulate Filters aren't likely to be purchased second hand (and will probably end up in Southern Europe), mostly due to the restrictions in some cities.

[Source: El País, Auto-Presse]

Figure of the day: In a country where half of the surface is covered by forests (such as Spain), trees capture 20 percent of that country's CO₂ emissions. This nice information masks two facts: we still have 80 percent of those emissions still to reduce and that the group that is currently spreading this information, the FBYCC (Forum of Forests and Climate Change) is asking for forest owners to be compensated. Seventy percent of Spanish forestsare held in private hands.

The FBYCC states that trees play a very important role in fighting combat change. Species such as eucalyptus and pine trees are the fastest growing, so they capture carbon more efficiently. Also, if you have some spare land available, bear in mind that you can offset a compact car's annual carbon emissions with the following: 0.39 ha of beech trees (about 1 acre), 0.14 ha of poplars (0.34 acre) or 0.19 ha of pines (about half an acre).

[Source: FBYCC via Madrid+d]

Europe's largest Solar Rally departed from Barcelona, Spain, yesterday and is expected to arrive in Toulouse, France, on June 7th. That's about 250 miles over the course of a week. This is the seventh edition of the Rally, organized by non-profit organizations Volt-Tour and Phebus Ariège. Any vehicles can participate, as long as they satisfy a single condition: all of their energy must be obtained from sunlight, either with on-board or auxiliary photovoltaic panels.

The Rally defines itself as a forum for solar car developers to communicate instead of simply a race. And don't miss the scoring system: Cars don't get points depending on their speed and how much time it takes for them to make a certain lap, but on how little energy they need.

The Rally also takes in consideration additional measures to produce as little carbon as possible. First of all, the Rally produces all of the hot water it needs using solar energy, and the safety car is a Toyota Prius. Any energy that they need to produce that doesn't come from solar radiation gets offset via the purchase of carbon rights.

[Source: Rallyesolaire (h/t to Imma)]

Although the situation has improved in the recent weeks, Barcelona, Spain and its metro area is facing a severe drought, with water reserves that aren't expect to last until the end of the summer. The local governments made a plea to industries to reduce water consumption and Nissan, which has a plant in Barcelona's Zona Franca district and very close to the river Llobregat, is heeding the call.

Thanks to reusing water, the plant is expected to save 21.6 million liters of water in 2008 - a 20 percent improvement from 2007 figures. The main savings came from the paint section, where water is filtered and reused. This not only saves the precious liquid, but generates less waste water to be treated at the final filters before reaching the river and reduces electricity consumption from water pumps and the final treatment. Nissan claims that each car needs 51.5 percent less water to be produced than in 1998.

[Source: Nissan España]

With a quite clever name, "CO₂Operación" is Peugeot Spain's new marketing campaign to help Spaniards purchase more efficient cars and raise the Lion marque's sales. If you hadn't noticed, the name mixes the CO₂ with the Spanish word for "cooperation." What does the Lion offer? Peugeot will give buyers a discount of up to €1,700 for trading in a car that is more than 10 years old when they purchase a model that produces less than 120 g/km of CO₂. The scheme is quite simple: buy a Peugeot under the 120 g/km level and get €500 discount and get additional money for the trade-in vehicle depending on it's age. Cars that are four to six years old are worth €400; seven to nine years old earns €700, and heaps more than 10 years get €1,200.

[Source: Econoticias]

If you check any European car ad, you will see in tiny letters at the bottom the car's consumption and CO₂ production figures. This information is a mandatory requirement in Spain. But, according to Ecologistas en Acción and the Unión de Consumidores de España (UCE), an environmental organization and a consumer union from Spain respectively, these figures are not accurate and could be misleading.

Spain taxes the purchase of cars depending on CO₂ production figures, therefore it's a consumer's right to know previously what these figures are. UCE found out that 11 automakers didn't have accurate information or their ads were plainly misleading, like saying a car is under 119 g/km when it's just one model and the ad focus on the sport version that produces more than 200 g/km. Also, these figures tend to be hidden with small print. They also accuse automakers of trivializing these figures because all cars pollute even when polluting less.

Don't think it's just one automaker: Hyundai, Nissan, Seat, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Honda, Citroën, Opel, Dacia and Mercedes-Benz were accused of these practices.

[Source: Ecologistas en Acción via Econoticias]

Madrid, Spain, is currently a very polluted city where 1.8 million vehicles are responsible for 75 percent of the pollutants in the air. Madrid's City Hall has decided that it will switch all its vehicles over to "clean" fuels, that is, they will be all running on electricity, natural gas, biodiesel or ethanol. The city also announced that it will join the BEST (BioEthanol for Sustainable Transport) European project to promote the use of ethanol in cars. Madrid has also worked out agreements with groups like taxi organizations that get up to a 75 percent discount on the road tax, depending on fuel.

[Source: Ayuntamiento de Madrid via Agroinformación]

Fiat Spain has decided to make an effort to reduce the amount of water used to wash cars by using a special wax. The wax will be used at dealers and repair shops when cars are cleaned before delivery to customers. What will it do? Fiat expects the wax to reduce water use by up to 145 million liters of water (about 40 million gallons) per year.

The wax treatment is part of Fiat's "Ecoproject," which aims to offer customers greener dealers and post-sale services. Other "Ecoproject" measures include discounts for customers with the greatest "ecologic" commitment (whatever that means) and free "green" check-ups.

[Source: Fiat Spain via Europa Press]

Fiat Spain recently launched a campaign to promote the Grande Punto that told people they could, "Get it for under 13,000 cucumbers." Clever, considering that "cucumber" is slang for the euro (€) currency (another word is "turkey," which would have made for a more interesting situation), but a guy from Málaga, in the SE of Spain took the words literally and got himself a brand new Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 16V for, well, 13,000 cucumbers. Renato Del Bino, from Fiat Spain's marketing division, said that they gladly traded the car for the cukes to show the brand interest in giving a "fresh message" for potential buyers and to show just how easy it is to buy the car. Was it worth it? Well, you can buy 1 kg of cucumbers for less than €1/kg, so the lucky guy got the car for a quarter of its normal price. Not bad, huh, and this has got to be the "greenest" payment method we've read about in a long time.

[Source: Autofácil (thanks to Dominique for the tip)]