From a friend in Australia comes a report of a new type of engine powered by pressurized air. Angelo di Pietros engine, which has been patented, uses compressed air that expands in a chamber, pushes a rotor in a circular motion and turns a wheel through a chain and sprocket.... Read more →
In rummaging through information on diesels, I found some datapoints on hardware and software that helped me size the problem a bit better in my mind. First, from Magneti Marelli, a global designer and producerof high-tech components and systems for the automotive industry, serving Renault, Citroën, Peugeot, Fiat Group, Ford,... Read more →
I ran across a piece of analysis from Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation, a division of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Fraunhofer is one of the larger contract engineering and science research outfits, and has been active in the discussion around the transition to a hydrogen economy. The work on Fuel Cell Innovation... Read more →
Working from the chart in the previous post, I added some data representative of the new generation of diesels. It is much easier to find more data about diesels, as there are numerous models from which to pick -- as long as you are not looking in the US. The... Read more →
Ive been curious to see what the next crop of hybrids -- the bigger ones, the versions of existing popular models -- might mean from a fuel efficiency point of view. There arent a large variety of hybrid models in the market for comparison (understatement), but enough information about some... Read more →
In addition to the Ford/BP partnership (below), Toyota, Honda and Nissan are planning to put 65 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the California test fleet in the next 5 years, working with Air Products & Chemicals, which will build 24 H2 refueling stations. BMW is also working as part of... Read more →
Ford will place up to 30 hydrogen-powered vehicles and BP will build a network of fueling stations to support them in metropolitan Sacramento, Orlando and Detroit. The Ford and BP joint proposal calls for Ford to provide up to 30 hydrogen-powered Ford Focus Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCV). Assembly of the... Read more →
Interesting piece from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (registration required) on the reactions of buyers to the current state of gasoline prices. About what youd expect, but a revealing comment from one of the interviewees. Id love to get one of those hybrid cars, but when you look at the math on... Read more →
Lets take a quick look at the composition of the 2004 fleet -- all the 2004 light duty vehicles sold in the US that have an EPA mileage rating. Heavy-duty vehicles do not receive a mileage rating. This excludes certain passenger vehicles such as the Hummer, higher end pickups and... Read more →
Denver is testing a 20% biodiesel blend (20% biodiesel, 80% petroleum diesel) -- B20 -- in 60 city vehicles. Read more →
From Saskatchewan comes news of the worlds first hydrogen-diesel pickup truck. This is not a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that runs on electricity; this truck uses hydrogen in its internal combustion engine. This latter approach to using hydrogen as a fuel is one that has some environmentalists concerned due to... Read more →
One of the key issues for supporting a transition to alternative fuels is the availability of fueling stations. The Department of Energy provides a look at the infrastructure for this in the US as of 2002. This table does not include hybrids such as the Prius as an alternative fuel... Read more →
Interesting viewpoint from the Persian Journal. However, given Irans immense economical and social potential, the fact that petroleum incomes have always formed the kernel of the export revenues is indeed a great shame. Yet, the regime's reluctance, bequeathed from the preceding one, to focus on the country's non-oil potential, is... Read more →
Iogen, a Canadian biotech company, released its first commercial shipment of bioethanol . Unlike conventional ethanol which is made from grain, bioethanol is made from cellulose-rich biomass such as wheat straw, sugar-cane bagasse, and corn stovers and stalks left over after harvesting. Critics say conventional grain-based ethanol requires as much... Read more →
General Motors and Ford are investing almost .75 Billion dollars into three plants to make fuel-efficient, six-speed front wheel drive transmissions. Following a pattern of increasing cooperation in R&D between rivals as a way to manage costs, the two teamed up in October 2002 to work together on the device.... Read more →
From R. L. Polk & Co. comes a view of the emerging hybrid market. In 2003, registrations of hybrid cars jumped 25.8% to 43,435 from 2002. California is Hybrid Heaven, with 11,425, or 26%, of the total, followed by Virginia with 3,376, or 8%. The top 20 states accounted for... Read more →
An op-ed piece in the NYT adds another voice to the call for a strategic, national push to a hydrogen economy. Read more →
Low-emission technologies, fuel-efficient engines, electric vehicles -- all are forseeable and almost tangible in many cases. But even if we had the bugs winkled out of all the new technologies, and even if we had an infrastructure to support them -- we still need to incorporate those new technologies into... Read more →
The California Air Resources Boards Technology Assessment Workshop on Climate Change Emission Regulations for Light-Duty Vehicles provided some very good insight into short-term fixes for CO2 emissions from vehicles. The CARB focus on CO2 reduction results from the mandate of California AB 1493 to regulate CO2 -- the most prevalent... Read more →
Another write-down in global oil reserves, another exec on the bricks. Shell said in January that it was downgrading 3.9 billion barrels in reserves, or about 20 percent of its total holdings. A March announcement raised the total downgraded to 4.15 billion barrels. The latest downgrade (19 April) raised the... Read more →
While the California Air Resource Board hosted its technology workshop (below), California Governor Arnold Schwarenegger signed an executive order mandating the construction of 200 hydrogen fueling stations by the end of the decade. Read more →
In 2002, California enacted Assembly Bill 1493 (AB 1493) -- the Pavley climate change bill. The bill requires the California Air Resources Board to develop CO2 (greenhouse gas) standards for vehicles in model year 2009 and beyond. California has consistently led the nation in the stringency of its emission control,... Read more →
Speaking of a broader choice of hybrid models, heres a preview of the upcoming Lexus RX400 hybrid, due out for the 2005 model year. Read more →
Joseph J. Romm, former acting assistant secretary of energy during the Clinton administration, takes a strong stance in the Sacramento Bee against rushing to merge onto the Hydrogen Highway. (Sacramento is the capital of California, and hence the seat of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is outspoken about his Hydrogen... Read more →
A look back over the sales figures for the first quarter from a fuel-efficiency perspective provides a mixed view. On the whole, fuel-efficient vehicles did not do as well as guzzlers. (I posted about the surge in SUV and small truck sales earlier.) The two established hybrids vendors -- Toyota... Read more →
Via the Chicago Sun Times and Fuel Cell Works comes news that Illinois is joining California in beginning to build out the fueling infrastructure to support hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The Illinois Coalition, city of Chicago, state of Illinois and the private sector are joining forces as the Illinois 2... Read more →
You'll recall that earlier in the year, RoyalDutch/Shell wrote down its global oil reserves by 20%, a stunning event that led to the sacking of its chairman, Sir Philip Watts. Last week, the New York Times published a strong piece describing the decline in RoyalDutch/Shell Groups oil production in Omans... Read more →
An AP story ran today (here's a sample) noting that Roughly a fourth of oil and gas wells with permits approved by the Bureau of Land Management have not been drilled, despite skyrocketing oil and gas prices that have prompted Republicans in Congress to demand more access by oil companies... Read more →
Officials in the village of Northbrook, Illinois, have spurned a $315,000 federal grant to build a compressed natural gas station for compressed-gas cars because they believe the CNG technology will phase out, replaced by hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Chevrolet has announced that it will soon stop producing a... Read more →
In 2002, less than 0.5% of cars sold in the US were diesel vehicles. This is in marked contrast to the 40% market share these cars have in Europe. Part of the reason lies in the memory of the stinky diesels of the 70s and 80s, part in the heavy... Read more →
Solutions for reducing oil use and emissions vary by continent. In Europe, diesel holds a primary position. In France, for example, 67.5% of all cars sold in March were diesels. In Western Europe as a whole, 43% of the cars sold last year were diesels. Diesel fuel has richer energy... Read more →
Daimler Chrysler is road testing a Mercedes C Class biodiesel auto as part of a longer term biodiesel project with the Institue of Hohenheim in Germany and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in India. The test involves a 5,000 km drive and will meet stringent Euro II emission... Read more →
Science Blog points to a report from Berkeley that indicates renewable energy promotes US job growth better than investment in fossil fuels. Investing in renewable energy such as solar, wind and the use of municipal and agricultural waste for fuel would produce more American jobs than a comparable investment in... Read more →
Decades ago, California was in the vanguard with air quality regulations and restrictions on emissions (much to the dismay of many, but to the betterment of the air). California is also being equally forward thinking in pushing for hydrogen-based energy solutions. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared that he will build... Read more →
For the sixth month in a row, the International Energy Agency has raised its short-term demand forecast for oil. Herein lies a major issue. Take a look at a plot of the last six months: (Click to enlarge): Heres a plot for monthly adjustments over the baseline forecast. These are... Read more →
Agri News reports that the increasing price of oil is raising the cost of farming. Its not fuel cost that is the primary culprit; its that many chemicals and fertilizers are petroleum-based. Although fuel-type products account for some 80% of the product coming from a barrel of oil, that other... Read more →
Axcess news reports that OPECs pledge to slash overproduction ahead of a new cut of 1,000,000 barrels per day in crude output quotas did not materialize in March. Output from the ten members bound by quotas actually rose over the month, according to Platts, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies.... Read more →
The Western Governors’ Association North American Energy Summit opens tomorrow (14 Apr 04) in Albuquerque, NM. (ABQ). The scope of this event goes well beyond the transportation market. Some interesting aspects to it. There is a transportation breakout in the expo area with featured participation from Blue Sun biodiesel and... Read more →
Daimler Chrysler is bringing diesel cars back to the US for the first time since 1999 because it expects increased demand for the fuel-efficient vehicles, reports the Detroit Free press. Diesels can get 30 to 50 percent better fuel economy than comparable gasoline vehicles. There is, however, a tradeoff: diesels... Read more →
The Macon County Telegraph reports that the Vehicle Management Department at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia is bringing in hybrid and alternative-powered vehicles to the fleet mix. They are using gas/diesel hybrids, electirc vehicles and are strongly pursuing hydrogen. Were looking at ways of creating hydrogen by a process... Read more →
The Detroit Free Press reports on Bill Fords suggestion that the feds extend the tax credit for hybrids, and possibly even raise the gas tax. Good idea, and insufficient. We certainly need consumer incentives, but we need more than a bandaid. Hybrids alone wont solve our energy security situation. Tick... Read more →
Im a Powerpoint packrat. For all the slams against the package and sneers about bad communication its incredibly widespread in its use as a tool for corporate or organizational communication. In other words you find some interesting things by looking for Powerpoint files. Heres one from Booz Allen Hamilton... Read more →
Reuters and Forbes report from the New York International Auto Show that hybrids and other alternatives are predominant keynote topics for the top executives of the auto companies. Ford, licensing the Toyota hybrid technology, is making a big splash with its newly announced hybrid SUV. People are concerned about where... Read more →
Our energy environment today is based predominantly on oil. This wasn’t always the case – up through the end of the 19th century, coal was king. But the 20th century has been the century of oil. (Daniel Yergin’s Pulitzer-winning tome The Prize provides invaluable background on the history of the... Read more →
I had the privilege to participate in the early days of the rapid growth of the Internet – post ARPAnet, pre-Web. At the time there was no widely adopted common networking solution such as TCP/IP, the lingua franca of the Internet. The major computer vendors were launching their own approaches... Read more →
As one of the most critical areas of developing a secure (i.e. sustainable) energy environment, we need to tackle the transportation problem. Transportation – mobility – accounts for a hefty percentage of energy use – close to 30% in the US. (Click on the thumbnail for a full-size chart.) Although... Read more →