Startech Plasma Converter Future Fuels, Inc. (FFI) and Startech Environmental Corporation have entered into a mutually exclusive global strategic alliance agreement through which FFI will use Startech’s Plasma Converter System to transform feedstock materials such as used tires, municipal solid waste and biomass into ethanol. The Startech Plasma Converter System... Read more →

As part of a collaborative agreement that includes partnering in developing new hybrids, Toyota and Fuji Heavy Industries announced today that the Subaru Indiana Automotive (SIA) plant will begin producing the Toyota Camry beginning in 2007. FHI is the parent of Subaru, and Toyota has an 8.7% position in FHI... Read more →

Cross-section of Pivotal’s two-stroke engine. Click to enlarge. A New Zealand company has redesigned the two-stroke combustion engine with the intention not only of overcoming the shortcomings of the conventional sliding-piston two-stroke engines, but also to produce a combustion engine that can better exploit hydrogen as a fuel. The Pivotal... Read more →

BMW’s liquid-hydrogen fueled V12 from the H2R. Click to enlarge. Of the major automakers working with hydrogen as a fuel, BMW holds a unique position—not only has it settled on hydrogen-fueled combustion engines as the interim step to a longer-term fuel-cell future (a stance Ford also takes), the German automaker... Read more →

Defining Sustainability: Part Five of Eight By Jack Rosebro Honda’s simplified rendition of its life cycle assessment (LCA) system, dividing corporate activity into domains and identifying the environmental impact of each, as well as policies designed to reduce or remove such impacts. Perhaps no automaker is more closely associated with... Read more →

A computer-generated image shows attractive (blue) and repulsive (red) parts of four methyl-alkyl radical interaction potentials. Source: ANL Chemists at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have brought together advances in theoretical chemical kinetics and high-performance computing to speed research in the chemistry of fuel combustion that may... Read more →

Satellite view of some of the oil sands developments, courtesy of the DOE and Google Maps. CBC news reports that the Fort McMurray Medical Examiner, Dr. John O’Connor, is worried by a high number of illnesses, including leukemia, lymphomas, lupus, and autoimmune diseases, afflicting residents of Fort Chipewyan, a community... Read more →

Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports that Toyota Motor has agreed to develop hybrid systems jointly with Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), the parent of Subaru, with the aim of using the technology in Subaru Legacy models in two to three years. Executives of both companies will announce details on Monday of... Read more →

The funds for Pennsylvania’s rebate program to encourage the purchase of hybrid electric and alternative fuel will run dry sometime in April, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The $500 rebates are offered on a first-come, first-served basis throughout the year as long as funds are available.... Read more →

Volvo’s heavy hybrids. The Volvo Group has unveiled a prototype hybrid system for heavy-duty vehicles (buses and trucks) which promises fuel savings of up to 35%, depending upon usage. The company is targeting series production of the hybrid vehicles by 2009. Designated I-SAM (Integrated Starter, Alternator, Motor), the parallel hybrid... Read more →

Iowa State University researchers are working to create chemical catalysts that would increase the yield of fermentable sugars from corn, with the potential to boost the production of corn ethanol by 10% to 15%. The idea is to create the chemical catalysts that create single, simple sugars from molecules made... Read more →

The US became the top ethanol producer in 2005. The United States slipped past Brazil to become the world’s largest producer of ethanol in 2005, according to figures from F.O. Licht as reported by the Renewable Fuels Association. US producers delivered 4.267 billion gallons of ethanol of all grades (fuel,... Read more →

PEM fuel cell. Source: DOE Umicore, a leader in precious metals catalyst, and Solvay, a leader in polymer membrane technology, have agreed to form a joint venture in the research, development, production and sales of Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEA) and related compounds to be used in fuel cell applications. The... Read more →

Nikkei. Toyota Auto Body—one of Toyota’s manufacturing subsidiaries in Japan—is increasing its production of hybrid vehicles to meet growing demand both in Japan and abroad. Beginning in May, the company will double its assembly capacity for the Prius to 120,000 cars a year at its main Fujimatsu plant. The factory... Read more →

GE has entered into a $27 million partnership with the US Department of Energy (DOE) to design a next-generation offshore wind turbine. The power rating of the turbine will be optimized for minimal cost of energy but is expected to be between 5 and 7 MW, making it one of... Read more →

Altair Nanotechnologies and Boshart Engineering have entered into a two-year Joint Development Agreement for the design and engineering of a prototype full-speed electric vehicle (EV) to be powered by an Altairnano rechargeable advanced lithium ion battery system. The Altairnano-Boshart EV will showcase both companies’ respective technologies: Altairnano’s battery technology and... Read more →

Advanced Technologies & Fuels Canada Inc. (ATFCAN) and Tata Motors have entered into a partnership to launch a lean-burn compressed natural gas (CNG) bus demonstration project in New Delhi, India. The project will involve six buses designed for transit and intercity applications that feature new CNG engine and fuel storage... Read more →

Greening the GLH fleet. Greater London Hire (GLH)—London’s longest-established private hire and courier service—will increase to 32 the number of Prius hybrids in its fleet by this summer. That will make the Prius about 10% of the total fleet. Seventeen of the hybrids had already been in service, with another... Read more →

The proposed Shell-Statoil CO2-EOR project. Click to enlarge. Shell and Statoil have signed an agreement to work towards developing the world’s largest project to date using carbon dioxide (CO2) for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) offshore. The concept involves capturing CO2 from power generation and injecting it in into offshore oil... Read more →

Cummins and China’s Beiqi Foton Motor Company have signed a feasibility study plan for the formation of a 50/50 joint venture company to produce two types of light-duty diesel engines for use primarily in the commercial market in China. The proposed joint venture—Beijing Foton Cummins Engine Company—would be based in... Read more →

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels announced that Louis Dreyfus Agriculture Industries plans to build one of the world’s largest biodiesel plants yet near Claypool, Indiana. Daniels made the announcement during his remarks at the 2nd National Agriculture/Forestry Renewable Energy Summit in Washington, DC. With this facility—which will ultimately produce up to... Read more →

Altair Nanotechnologies and Electro Energy have entered into a four-year Joint Development Agreement for the design, manufacture and marketing of high-power lithium-ion batteries and battery systems. Initial target markets consist of a variety of portable devices, including hand-held power tool applications. Under the terms of the agreement, Altairnano and Electro... Read more →

Nissan Diesel’s DME demo truck. The Japan International Transport Institute and the National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory are hosting a half-day conference in Washington, DC, on the development and promotion of environmentally-friendly heavy-duty vehicles—with a specific emphasis on DME (dimethyl ether). Not well-known as a fuel alternative in the... Read more →

The European Commission has presented a new Green Paper on European Energy Policy, outlining an approach to a “secure, competitive and sustainable energy policy for Europe” that seeks to unify the European approach to an energy strategy around three core objectives: sustainable development, competitiveness, and security of supply. The Greens/European... Read more →

The core NG-Motronic system with dual injectors for liquid (gasoline/ethanol) and gaseous (CNG) fuels. Bosch has launched its NG Motronic flexible engine management system—a fuel injection system that supports the transparent switching between gasoline, ethanol or compressed natural gas. Bosch announced the core NG Motronic gasoline-CNG system last fall. (Earlier... Read more →

UK-based biodiesel producer D1 Oils plc (D1) and the Center for Energy and Environment Protection (CEEP) within the Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of the People’s Republic of China have signed a Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the adoption and production of biodiesel produced from jatropha in... Read more →

Click to enlarge. Markets for biofuels, photovoltaics, wind energy, and fuel cells will expand four-fold in the next decade, growing from $40 billion in global revenues in 2005 to $167 billion by 2015, according to a report released today by Clean Edge, a research and publishing firm. Clean Edge has... Read more →

UK Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett and Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim today signed a joint statement establishing the UK-Brazil High-Level Dialogue on Sustainable Development and a Working Group on Climate Change. The signing, which took place in London as part of Brazilian President Lula’s three-day State Visit, establishes a structured... Read more →

The US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on US Energy Independence today, with testimony from four witnesses: Amory Lovins, CEO of Rocky Mountain Institute; R. James Woolsey; Susan Cischke, Ford vice president of environmental and safety engineering; and Frank Verrastro, Director and Senior Fellow of... Read more →

Hybrid sales in the US in February 2006 dipped 5.7% below January 2006 levels to 14,957 units, the overall drop largely caused by a decline in sales of the Prius, which has about a 50% share of the hybrids market in the US. On a year-to-year basis, total hybrid sales... Read more →

Bolloré’s Bluecar EV. The Bolloré Group, through its subsidiary BatScap, brought a road-ready prototype of its BlueCar lithium-ion electric city car to this year’s Geneva Motor Show. The BlueCar made its debut as a concept car at the Geneva show last year. (Earlier post.) In the year since its introduction... Read more →

DaimlerChrysler, Renault, Royal Dutch Shell, Sasol Chevron and the Volkswagen group are launching an association—The Alliance for Synthetic Fuels in Europe (ASFE)—to promote synthetic fuels in Europe and to support research, demonstration projects, and public-private cooperation in the area. ASFE is focusing on synthetic fuels made with the Fischer-Tropsch (FT)... Read more →

Micro CHP schematic. A micro combined heating and power system (Micro CHP) unit—fueled by natural gas—from Honda Motor and Climate Energy is being used in a Massachusetts home in the first residential test in the US of this type of system. (Earlier post.) Honda supplies its compact home-use cogeneration unit... Read more →

Prototype concentric tube atmospheric pressure plasma reactor for fiber oxidation from Atmospheric Glow Technologies. Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), working as part of a consortium with Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler, are working to develop high-volume renewable sources of carbon fiber feedstocks in an... Read more →

The top-performing MOFs for hydrogen storage: MOF-177 and IRMOF-20 Chemists at UCLA and the University of Michigan have achieved hydrogen storage concentrations of up to 7.5 wt% in Metal Organic Framework (MOF) material—exceeding the the DOE target of 6.5% by 2010 for application in hydrogen fuel-cell cars. (Earlier post.) The... Read more →

Cylinder pairs in the Scuderi Split Cycle. Scuderi divides the four strokes of the Otto cycle across two paired cylinders, a compression and a power cylinder. The Scuderi Group, a company that designed and is developing a new internal combustion engine based on dividing the conventional four-stroke engine cycle across... Read more →

View of the edge of one high-temperature electrolysis cell while operating at 830º C (1,525º F). The arch-like openings carry air and the oxygen produced for the electrolysis. Source: INEEL Researchers at DOE’s Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) ran a high-temperature electrolysis stack to produce hydrogen for 1,000... Read more →

The 1.5 dCi diesel engine for the Logan. Renault has applied its 1.5-liter dCi diesel engine in the Dacia Logan, resulting in a 50mpg vehicle (4.7 l/100km) that it will sell starting at €9,840 (US$11,800). Renault also uses the 1.5 dCi in its own Clio range. Renault took a majority... Read more →

A rendering of the off-shore floating GTL platform. Syntroleum Corporation has signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture with Bluewater Energy Services B.V., intended to develop and finance the building of the world’s first air-based gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant on an offshore floating production storage and offloading (FPSO)... Read more →

Hydricity packs are based on Ballard fuel cells. Click to enlarge. GreenShift Corporation is investing in General Hydrogen Corporation, a provider of fuel-cell packs to replace batteries in electric forklifts, industrial vehicles and other off-road equipment. The General Hydrogen’s Hydricity pack combines a Ballard fuel cell, energy storage system and... Read more →

General Motors will sell 92.36 million shares of its holdings in Suzuki Motor Corp back to Suzuki, reducing its equity stake in the manufacturer from 20.4% to 3.0%. GM will have a one-year option to buy back the shares from its partner. GM expects to realize cash proceeds of approximately... Read more →

Defining Sustainability: Part Four of Eight By Jack Rosebro A decade ago, agriculture specialist C.R.W. Spedding observed that there were “[a] remarkable number of books, chapters and papers that use ‘sustainable’ or ‘sustainability’ in the title but do not define either term.” Another decade before Spedding’s remark, another researcher had... Read more →

At the Geneva auto show Renault unveiled a new diesel particulate filter with exhaust post-injection. The filter, which will be available during the first half of 2006 on the 85hp and 105hp versions of the 1.5 dCi diesel engine that powers Clio and Modus, allows active regeneration of the particulate... Read more →

Cash Minerals, an emerging energy company with a base of coal and uranium assets in the Yukon, is evaluating different coal sites in the Yukon and China for their suitability to support Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) projects using the Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) process. This initiative follows high level meetings in South Africa and... Read more →

People’s Daily. China is targeting 8% economic growth this year and will take measures to keep the development “fast” and “steady,” according to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. At the same time, China is striving to lower its energy consumption rate by 4% this year, according to the Premier. Energy consumption... Read more →

One view of the potential CO2-EOR extension of reserves. Click to enlarge. The US Department of Energy (DOE) released reports projecting that state-of-the-art enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques could significantly increase recoverable oil resources of the United States by a factor of four or more. That would, in effect, double... Read more →

States in the EPA case. Green are the petitioners; brown are those supporting EPA’s position. The Attorneys General of 12 states, along with several major metropolitan cities, one island government and a number environmental groups have petitioned the Supreme Court to review a federal appeals court case involving federal regulation... Read more →

Air pollution hangs above Mexico City. Click to enlarge. Source: Nancy Marley, NCAR An international team of researchers in undertaking a month-long investigation of air pollution as it flows downwind from Mexico City. This will represent one of the most complex projects yet undertaken in atmospheric chemistry. The scientists expect... Read more →

EIA’s projections for fuel-cell vehicle sales in the US through 2030. Units in thousands. General Motors now expects to introduce hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles into dealerships in the next four to nine years, according to a report from Agence France Presse. GM told AFP that it has made major steps toward... Read more →

CUTE bus on parade in London. The European fuel-cell bus projects CUTE (Clean Urban Transport for Europe) and ECTOS (Ecological City Transport System) will be continued in combination for an additional year. Seven of the original ten cities operating Mercedes-Benz Citaro fuel-cell buses in regular service—Amsterdam, Barcelona, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg,... Read more →