Citing two unnamed Administration officials, the New York Times reported Sunday that President Obama will on Monday direct the EPA to move swiftly to reconsider an application by California and, by extension, 13 other states for a waiver to implement greenhouse gas standards on new light-duty vehicles (California AB 1493,... Read more →

Nikkei. Global sales of new cars will likely drop 14% to 55 million units in 2009, Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn said at the Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Worldwide new car sales dropped 9% in 2008. Ghosn also predicted that it will take at least seven... Read more →

(a) Schematic showing evenly spread out Sn nanoclusters on a SnO2 nanowire surface. (b) SEM image showing a network of Sn-nanocluster-covered SnO2 nanowires. (c) HRTEM image showing well-spaced crystalline Sn nanoclusters on the nanowire periphery. Credit: ACS. Click to enlarge. Researchers at the University of Louisville (Kentucky) are proposing a... Read more →

Wenatchee World. The Port of Chelan County, Washington (in north central Washington) is seeking $15 million in federal economic stimulus money to modify 500 standard Toyota Prius hybrids to plug-in hybrids. Ron Johnston-Rodriguez, the port’s director of economic development, said the port is working with the Department of Energy’s Idaho... Read more →

In 2008, venture capital firms invested $680.2 million into US biofuel firms, including $437 million in cellulosic ethanol (64.25%), $175.9 million in microalgae (25.86%), $42 million in butanol (6.17%) and 25.3 million into systems and infrastructure providers (3.72%), according to a compilation by Biofuels Digest. VCs invested $110.5 million in... Read more →

The Nikkei reports that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to require businesses owning 200 or more vehicles to fill at least 5% of their fleets with fuel-efficient vehicles from fiscal 2011. This is the first such proposal of its kind by a local government in Japan. Both gasoline and diesel... Read more →

Net energy yield (NEY) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction compared to gasoline from different types of corn-ethanol systems used as default scenarios in the BESS model. NEY includes ethanol plus coproduct energy credit minus energy inputs. A closed-loop biorefinery with anaerobic digestion (CL) reduced GHG emissions by 67%. Credit:... Read more →

ZAP used the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) annual exposition running in New Orleans, 24-27 January 2009, as the venue to introduce the Shuttle, a five-passenger, 4-wheel, battery electric van and the pre-production Alias, a three-wheel, battery-electric 2-seater capable of freeway speeds. The ZAP Shuttle was designed for transportation around... Read more →

The US stock car racing sanctioning body NASCAR has appointed Mike Lynch to the newly created position of managing director for green innovation. Speaking during the recent 2009 NASCAR Media Tour, NASCAR chairman Brian France said: ...we want to do our part to be a better partner with the environment.... Read more →

Total annual per-vehicle tailpipe, refinery, and generation emissions of pollutants with different-sized PHEV fleets, with V2G services provided by the PHEV fleet (CO2-e is in tonnes, SO2 and NOx are in kg). Credit: ACS. Click to enlarge. A new study has concluded that in addition to reducing emissions from the... Read more →

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, along with sponsors state Senator Paul Pinsky and Delegate Kumar Barve, unveiled legislation to commit Maryland to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 25% by the year 2020. The 2009 Greenhouse Gas Reduction legislation would require the following: By 2020, Maryland must reduce Statewide greenhouse gas emissions... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) today approved amendments to exhaust and evaporative emissions test procedures for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as well as a new method for determining the range of fuel cell vehicles. The Board deferred a decision on ARB Staff’s proposal for certification and warranty requirements for... Read more →

The Nikkei reports that Japan’s eight automakers are expected to produce 1.7 million or so vehicles from their domestic factories in the January-March quarter, down more than 40% from a year earlier. This total reduction of 1.3 million units is seen as the largest on record and may rise further... Read more →

DUECO has acquired most of the assets of Odyne Corporation and will produce plug-in electric hybrid drive systems for medium and heavy duty trucks. Odyne, which was supplying PHEV systems for application in DUECO trucks (earlier post), suspended operations earlier in January (earlier post). Under the terms of a transaction... Read more →

Freescale Semiconductor and Dongfeng Motor Corporation (DFM) plan to establish a joint automotive electronics lab in China. The lab will be aimed at jointly developing silicon, software and system-level solutions to be used in the next generation of Dongfeng Motor’s vehicles for the China and export markets. The two companies... Read more →

Aluminum clusters reacting with water to produce H2. The bottom image shows a water molecule splitting on the surface of an Al17- cluster, the upper right image shows role of active sites on binding water, and the upper left image shows the release of H2. The orange and blue spheres... Read more →

US Senator Ben Nelson (D, NE) has introduced legislation that promotes the development of biogas through tax incentives. This legislation is cosponsored by Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), John Thune (R-SD), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). “We shouldn’t waste the waste; we should... Read more →

Under the hood of the SEAT León Twin Drive prototype. Click to enlarge. SEAT, a member of the Volkswagen Group, presented an electrically-driven research prototype to Miguel Sebastián, Spanish minister for Industry, Tourism and Business. The research prototype is an electrically-powered León Twin Drive Ecomotive vehicle equipped with a lithium-ion... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) today adopted a regulation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of cans of refrigerants by do-it-yourselfers to recharge the air-conditioning systems of cars. The regulation includes a deposit and recycling program patterned after a recent and successful pilot program by industry... Read more →

DONG Energy is taking an undisclosed stake in Denmark-based LiTHIUM BALANCE A/S, a developer of lithium-ion battery management systems (BMS) for applications including electric and hybrid cars. DONG Energy is a Northern European energy company based in Denmark, and is primarily owned by the Danish government. The LiTHIUM BALANCE BMS... Read more →

Production of cars in the UK declined by 47.5% in December, and was down 5.7% for the full year 2008, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). UK car production. Click to enlarge. Commercial vehicle production fell 56.7% in December, with a full year decrease... Read more →

Australia-based Eden Energy has sold all the shares in its two US subsidiary companies: Eden Cryogenics LLC, which has two operating businesses (Eden Cryogenics and Cryogenic Technical Services which manufacture cryogenic equipment and supply cryogenic design services) and Eden Hydrogen Inc which operates the business known as HyRadix which manufactures... Read more →

The six zones of the model. Credit: ACS. Click to enlarge. Researchers at Ecole Centrale de Nantes, France, are developing a new phenomenological multizone combustion model for direct-injection (DI) diesel engines. The model distinguishes six zones and provides local information, such as mean equivalence ratio and temperature in the various... Read more →

The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) and Süd-Chemie together will research alternative routes to produce chemicals to help reduce dependence on traditional sources of oil and gas. The collaborative research aims to convert synthetic gas (syngas), that can be derived from resources such as coal or biomass, to building block chemicals... Read more →

Miljø will use TM4’s MΦ120 electric motor, designed for EVs and HEVs. Click to enlarge. Miljø Innovasjon, a subsidiary of Tata Motors, has selected TM4, a subsidiary of Hydro-Quebec, to provide electric motors, power electronics and vehicle controllers for an electric car demonstration program to be launched in Norway in... Read more →

Lithium consultants TRU Group Inc. says that its updated lithium outlook for presentation at the IM Lithium Supply & Markets Conference Santiago 2009 will conclude that the industry is not immune from the global recession and will be pushed into oversupply this year through 2013. Global use of lithium will... Read more →

Cummins Inc. will introduce the next generation QSL9 engine platform ready to meet EPA Tier 4 Interim and EU Stage IIIB off-highway emissions at the INTERMAT Show in Paris, France from 20-25 April. The QSL9 will be showcased as a fully integrated air-intake to exhaust aftertreatment system with all Tier... Read more →

California Air Resources Board (ARB) Chairman Mary Nichols sent a letter to Lisa Jackson, the new designated Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), requesting that she revisit the decision by the previous EPA administrator that denied California the waiver it needs to enforce its vehicle greenhouse gas reduction... Read more →

In one of the first commercial examples of under-the-hood metals replacement by Nissan in the company’s European operation, DuPont Minlon and Zytel nylon resins are being used for the rocker and front cover on turbo diesel engines for the Pathfinder model. The injection molded parts offer top performance in terms... Read more →

The AFEX process. Click to enlarge. A patented pre-treatment process developed by Michigan State University professor Bruce Dale can reduce the cost of fermenting cellulosic biomass to ethanol by reducing pre-treatment processing steps and eliminating the need to add additional nutrients to support fermentation. A paper on the work is... Read more →

Top: Schematic illustration of the lithiation of the Si c-a core-shell NWs. Bottom: Capacity and Coulombic efficiency over 100 cycles. Credit: ACS. Click to enlarge. A team of researchers from Stanford University and Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, led by Stanford professor Yi Cui, have developed a core-shell design of... Read more →

Last week, California received a waiver from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that allows the state to enforce regulations that cut toxic diesel emissions from tens of thousands of transport refrigeration units (TRU) mounted on big rigs. The regulations require all TRU engines on the road in California, about... Read more →

In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama called for the US to “harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories” and said that “with old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to ... roll back the specter of a... Read more →

With combined 2008 worldwide sales of 8.972 million units, Toyota Motor (Toyota, Daihatsu, Hino) became the world’s top-selling OEM by volume, passing GM’s 2008 sales of 8.356 million units. Worldwide sales of both automakers dropped in 2008, the Toyota Groups’s down 4%, GM’s down 10.8%. Within the larger Toyota group,... Read more →

The dual-clutch PowerShift transmission. Click to enlarge. Ford Motor Company will introduce a dry-clutch derivative of the dual-clutch PowerShift six-speed transmission in North America in 2010 for the small-car segment. The dual-clutch technology consists essentially of two manual transmissions working in parallel, each with its own independent clutch unit. One... Read more →

Avantium, a high-throughput R&D company with core expertise in catalysis and crystallization, and Royal Cosun, an international group that develops, produces and sells natural foodstuffs and ingredients, are collaborating to develop a specific process for the production of a new generation of bioplastics and biofuels from selected organic waste streams.... Read more →

Volkswagen presented the roadster Concept BlueSport at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The BlueSport features a 132 kW (177 hp) diesel with common rail injection and downstream NOx storage catalytic converter coupled with a 6-speed DSG dual clutch transmission. The Concept BlueSport. Click to enlarge. The 2.0-liter... Read more →

Cummins Emission Solutions (CES), a subsidiary of Cummins Inc., will strategically partner with EMCON Technologies LLC in the manufacturing of CES-Designed emission controls systems for the 2010 on-highway truck market. CES will continue to provide the integrated DPF-SCR systems for meeting 2010 EPA emission standards from its existing manufacturing base... Read more →

Lexus has made revisions to the IS 220d (diesel) on sale in Europe that bring CO2 emissions down to 148 g/km from 163 g/km. In November, Lexus had announced a set of minor changes that reduced IS 220d emissions from 168 g/km to 163 g/km. A Lexus spokesperson said that... Read more →

Custom lithium-ion battery manufacturer Quallion LLC was recently awarded a contract from The Boeing Company to replace the legacy emergency battery power supply system for the C-17 Globemaster III. Quallion develops and manufactures lithium-ion batteries for the military, aerospace, medical and automotive industries. Quallion’s services include designing, fabricating and manufacturing... Read more →

The new BMW Sauber F1.09 (left) and older F1.08 (right). The F1.09 nose is higher and much wider than before, and the three-element front wing spans the full width of the car. Click to enlarge. The BMW Sauber F1 Team unveiled the new BMW Sauber F1.09 with its electric KERS... Read more →

The US The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program issued a Request for Information (RFI) on the formation of new Centers of Excellence for the research and development of hydrogen storage materials. The on-board vehicle storage of... Read more →

Japan for Sustainability. Car sharing is gradually gaining popularity in Japan, particularly in urban areas, although car sharing systems are still not as common as in Europe and North America. Mazda Car Rental Corp. has been expanding its car sharing business throughout Japan since July 2006. In Kanazawa City, Ishikawa... Read more →

Fiat S.p.A., Chrysler LLC (Chrysler) and Cerberus Capital Management L.P., the private investment majority owner of Chrysler LLC, have signed a non-binding term sheet to establish a global strategic alliance that will result in Fiat having a 35% stake in the Detroit-based automaker. As a consideration for Fiat Group’s contribution... Read more →

The UK Government will spend £250 million (US$354 million) on a wide-ranging package of measures to promote ultra-low carbon vehicles. Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon announced the move alongside the government’s decision to grant approval for a third runway at Heathrow Airport—a highly-charged issue in the UK. In a wide-ranging statement... Read more →

Siemens wants to ensure that its company car fleet, which comprises some 2,500 vehicles in Germany, achieves the EU reference value of 120 grams of CO2 per kilometer by 2015. The company is the first DAX-listed company to align its company car policy for executives with that target. Siemens plans... Read more →

The US Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) released four more final synthesis and assessment (S&A) reports in the series that will total 21. These latest S&A products examine past climate variability and change in the Arctic (1.2); the impact of aerosols on climate (2.3); the sensitivity of the Mid-Atlantic coastal... Read more →

Nikkei. Nippon Oil Corp. will begin full-scale sales of home-use fuel cell systems in the year ending March 31, 2010 by creating a nationwide dealership network comprising 100 or so liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene sales agents. The company is targeting sales of 10,000 units in fiscal 2010. Switching... Read more →

A new analysis by Michigan State University (MSU) researchers suggests that other studies that have concluded that land use changes resulting from biofuel production are significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions are based on a set of assumptions that may not be correct. In a paper published in the journal... Read more →

The Scuderi Group, developers of the split-cycle Scuderi Engine (earlier post) has raised more than $20 million in additional private funding. This brings the total amount of funds raised to date to more than $35 million. The split-cycle design that divides the four strokes of a standard engine over a... Read more →