Two weeks ago I reviewed, “Two Billion Cars” by Daniel Sperling and Deborah Gordon. I focused on several aspects but I did not tie together this important point: Daniel Sperling vehemently dislikes corn ethanol and he is the lead researcher for the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that just passed the Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS). The LCFS was a huge set-back for the corn-ethanol industry in California, but even more so in light that other states and/or the federal government may adopt similar if not identical standards.

So, how does someone with such an outspoken, biased view have such prominent role in developing this legislation? Most people would consider this a conflict of interest.

I don’t have a crystal ball so I can’t answer that question, but I can tell you that Sperling founded and runs the Institute for Transportation Studies whose main research focus is hydrogen fuels (including from coal), natural gas fuels and fuel cells. Don’t forget California’s Hydrogen Highway and Gov. Schwarzenegger’s hydrogen powered Hummer. I surmise that Sperling had a major role in the support of a statewide hydrogen initiative.

Now I can’t criticize Sperling for supporting hydrogen. Many supporters of renewable energy support hydrogen for valid reasons but according to experts it is still 20 years away. Everyone must understand that it’s going to take all kinds of technologies to help us move away from fossil fuels – there is no silver bullet. Corn-ethanol is not perfect but it has a positive impact on the reduction of CO2 emissions and has offset some of our need to purchase foreign oil. In the future, biofuels will continue to play a major role. It is not in the best interest of our country to adopt the attitude, “Let’s wait and see. Something will save us.” We don’t have to wait. We have great technology right now.

So the moral? When making policy decisions, we need people who have an open mind, and are willing to review both current and future technologies and the roles they will play in our new energy economy.

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During a recent session of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce aviation forum, FedEx announced that it has a goal of using renewable fuels for 30 percent of its fuel needs by 2030. The company is confident that this action will both reduce air-transportation costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

According to a New York Times article published yesterday, CEO Fred Smith cited using biodiesel derived from jatropha, ethanol produced from switchgrass and other second-generation biofuels to help reduce CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases that are prevalent in petroleum based fuels.

However, Smith did cite a caveat for adoption and use of biofuels, “These non-fossil fuels must be capable of being easily mixed with existing petroleum aviation fuels that use existing infrastructure,” he said.

President Obama has demonstrated his strong support of environmental and renewable energy initiatives during his first 100 days in office, and most experts have given him high praise. But with the majority of federal legislation favoring next generation biofuels, Smith suggested to the administration that they need to dedicate more significant dollars to fund research, development and deployment of these alternative fuels.

Another effort to curb FedEx’s energy use is to also replace older planes with new ones that use less fuel and fewer emissions. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, aviation fuel use accounts for approximately 10 percent greenhouse gas emisions from the transportaton sector.

It is hoped that Fed-Ex’s annoncement will encourage others in the aviation industry to follow suit.

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TreeHugger is starting to round up its favorite Twitterers for each of the various green categories. We’re starting with green tech (only because I have a soft spot for it…). Check out who you will want to follow to stay up on all the latest green tech news. …

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Conversation with Nicholas Stern, leader of The Stern Review, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, and former U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer.

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Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Mercedes Benz

Mercedes-Benz plans to introduce stop/start technology sometime next year on its turbodiesel-powered E200 sedan in Europe, but don’t expect to see the fuel-saving bits on models equipped with an automatic transmission for a little while longer. According to Christoph Spengel, a powertrain engineer at the German automaker:

Fitting the system to any engine and gearbox is not a problem, we can get reliability quite easily. Achieving the smoothness of the start is the real problem. Engaging the starter takes a little time, and then firing the engine takes a little time, and it is important that our system does not disturb the driver. 

Adapting stop/start to automatic transmissions is a priority at Mercedes-Benz, and the automaker believes it will have the technology ready by 2011. By that time, stop/start could be fitted on nearly every model rolling down the line, including those fitted with massively powerful V8 engines.

[Source: Autocar]

Mercedes-Benz plans to have stop/start on all engines by 2011 originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wondering what Chrysler’s newly-announced bankruptcy means for its current green initiatives? So are we. According to the latest information we could get our grubby mitts on, Fiat is slated to get a 20 percent share of the new Chrysler, with another 15 percent distributed in three 5 percent increments for meeting the following goals: creating a U.S.-built 40-mpg vehicle platform, providing a U.S.-built fuel-efficient engine family and giving Chrysler access to global distribution network.

This arrangement with Fiat could mean that a number of the Italian automaker’s most fuel efficient small cars make it into the American market through Chrysler’s dealer network. According to Bob Nardelli, Chairman and CEO of Chrysler (for now), “It enables us to better serve our customers and dealers with a broader and more competitive line-up of environmentally friendly, fuel-efficient high-quality vehicles.”

Further, while it’s too early to say what the bankruptcy filing will do the the timing of the automaker’s first EV, Green Car Advisor was able to speak with some “Chrysler insiders” who suggested that the automaker’s ENVI program was still moving forward as planned this morning. In any case, we expect more details to come to the fore in the coming days. See Chrysler’s latest press release after the break.

[Source: Chrysler, Green Car Advisor]

Continue reading Fiat to get stake in Chrysler; work to begin on new fuel-efficient platform

Filed under: MPG, Chrysler, Legislation and Policy, Fiat, Green Daily

Fiat to get stake in Chrysler; work to begin on new fuel-efficient platform originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If there’s one thing that goes incredibly well with expensive prototype vehicles, it’s scratches from high heels. You also get this when some waif-y models (or could-be models) snag a drink and everyone’s enjoying themselves. The scenes above and in the gallery below are from the Model S party in New York City last night as part of the whole Dave Letterman thing. Our friend and photographer Shannon A. also spotted Who Killed The Electric Car? director Chris Paine hanging around, as well as a Tesla-powered smart fortwo and a Roadster. Remember when the Roadster was the star of the show? Thanks to Shannon A. for the pics.!

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily

Tesla Model S in NYC: Party like it’s zero-emissions night originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It seems those Urban-Cabs we told you about last year aren’t just handy for hauling tourists about “La Ville-Lumière.” Apparently, once they are adorned with the famous FedEx logo, they transform into highly productive delivery machines. The global logistics giant has been testing two of the human-electric hybrids and, during the 11 week trial, they delivered over 2,400 documents and small parcels. With an average of 15 stops an hour, the vehicles, which employ a 250 watt motor to keep the pedal pushers from working too hard, proved to be a super-efficient way of getting around this traffic dense part of Paris. The company now plans to acquire three more and try them out in other parts of town.

Another small electric vehicle in the FedEx Parisian fleet is a cube van. Made by Goupil, the box on the back is about one meter cubed with a sliding shutter on three sides. It only gets up to about 15 mph but can poke along for over 40 miles. While we doubt that either of these vehicles will be making deliveries in America any time soon, we can think of at least one electric vehicle, available next year, that would look good in FedEx livery. Press release after the break.

Source: FedEx via Avenir Du VehiculeElectrique Mediterraneen]

Continue reading Fed-Ex adding small electric vehicles to Paris fleet

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Lightweight, Europe/EU

Fed-Ex adding small electric vehicles to Paris fleet originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota Motor Company is putting some high-tech goodies in the 2010 Prius, but one feature is coming exclusively (at least for now) to the company’s high-end Lexus RX 450h: Remote Touch control. The luxury hybrid SUV is the first Lexus vehicle to get the little mouse-like controller that sits in the center console beneath the gear shifter and is used to operate the navigation system and other functions displayed on the info screen (audio system, climate control, etc.). Lexus says the Remote Touch was designed to be “simple to understand, intuitive to use and likely to cause the least distraction from the job of driving.” When Autoblog had a chance to take a quick drive in the RX 450h earlier this year, the verdict was “If you’ve used a mouse, you’re good to go.” The feature comes standard on the SE-I and SE-L models and can be added to SE grade vehicles. At $42,535 for the most basic model, shouldn’t all RX 450h SUVs come with the mouse?

There’s a video featuring Remote Touch after the jump.

[Source: Lexus]

Continue reading “Remote Touch control” will debut in 2010 Lexus RX 450h

Filed under: Hybrid, Lexus, Green Daily, UK

“Remote Touch control” will debut in 2010 Lexus RX 450h originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Justin G. visited the main Hydrogen Cars website recently and sent in a lot of his opinions about different topics that he would like to share:

“I was surfing your site and couldn’t help but notice on your page about the 1966 GM Electrovan you mention that the setup used to power the vehicle was originally intended to go into the 1966 GM Electrovair. I’m not trying to dispute this information, I just figured I’d mention the fact that the 1966 GM Electrovair was indeed an actual vehicle made by Chevrolet. The vehicle wasn’t powered by hydrogen, but was in fact powered by a 100HP electric motor. I’m not sure if the car was originally designed to be powered by hydrogen or not, but I think it would be a cool addition to your page if you added that the 1966 Electrovair was indeed built using fully electric propulsion. The car doesn’t need it’s own page devoted to it (Especially seeing as how it’s not hydrogen powered) but it would be nice to see the car get some recognition.

“Honda and Toyota seem to get all the credit in the alternative fuel market, I just think it’s time for people to realize that these are not new concepts, and that most were actually introduced as concepts by American manufacturers over 4 decades ago. The same goes for modern fuel injection systems, which made their first widespread appearance in diesel engines, then were adapted to gasoline engines by Alfa Romeo. Bosch made the fuel injection systems put in Mercedes Benz vehicles in 1955. Even Chevrolet had a fuel injection system by 1957. In 1958, Chrysler developed the first form of “Electronic” (If you could even call it that) fuel injection on their line of HEMI engines, yet Japanese companies who mass produced such technologies still seem to take all the credit.

“Anyhoo… I just hated when Toyota got all the credit for making a “Semi-Electric” car (The Prius), when Chevrolet had a fully electric concept in 1966. It broke my heart to see Honda take credit for the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCX Clarity) when, again, Chevy had similar (Albeit primitive) technology in 1966.

“I guess the import market does deserve credit for creating such vehicles worthy of mass production and marketing to the public, but I hate to see the efforts of our own domestic manufacturers go unnoticed, especially since their achievements over 40 years ago were so advanced for their time. This raises the question, what happened to us that we abandoned such ideas so long ago?

If these companies had invested a little more time, effort, and money into these projects years ago, we would’ve been driving electronic fuel injected V8′s in 1965, hybrids by 1975, electric cars by 1980, and probably hydrogen powered vehicles by 1985. Man, where did we go wrong….. My guess would have to be big oil companies and their big wallets keeping these technologies at bay until people finally got fed up with the gas prices…. Enter, stage left, the Japanese automobile market……”

Agree or disagree, Justin G. lays it all out there and perhaps a few more people would like to add their comments to this thread as well.

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