August 2007 Archives

Peugeot debuted a hybrid diesel-electric hybrid at the Frankfurt Auto show. The parallel hybrid will send power to the wheels via a 6-speed electronically controlled manual gearbox.

Peugeot claims that the 308 Hybrid HDi gets 89-69 MPG (depending on who is writing about it) and CO2 emissions are also 38 percent lower than a comparable 308 diesel.

Peugeot pulled out the the U.S. market here in the early 90's so don't look for one around here.

Clean diesel technology in small engines is moving beyond the niche market of Volkswagen in the U.S. as Honda has announced an offering in the works for the Honda Accord.

Preview: Autobloggreen

A few weeks ago a Toyota Supra HV-R coupe, using an ultracapacitor, became the first hybrid to win the 24-hour endurance car race held at Japan's Tokachi International Speedway, 19 more laps than the second-place non-hybrid Nissan Fairlady Z.

While most hybrid vehicle manufacturers are migrating from nickel-metal hydride to the more densely stored power packs of lithium ion systems, another way of storing and dispensing energy is the Ultracapacitor and smaller battery packs.

Ultracapacitors store electricity by physically separating positive and negative charges while batteries use toxic chemicals, loose the ability to charge over time and can be difficult to recycle.

Capacitors haven't been competitive with batteries, because they cannot pack the energy density needed to propel a vehicle for more than short bursts although surges of power needed by hybrids during short periods of heavy acceleration or braking require nearly instant access to large energy pulses. A combination of both would create the best of both worlds.

Researchers at The University of Arizona are developing a technology based on DESDs (Digitated Energy Storage Devices). that could solve this problem. DESDs quickly store and discharge large amounts of power using capacitors built on nano-scale structures. arizona.edu

scientificamerican.com published a meaty article today on the differences of the two technologies and how they can combine forces.

Axel Friedrich, a top German environmental regulator, got tired of hearing automakers say that stricter emission standards won't be possible until future technology becomes available. So he hired a bunch of engineers to take a Volkswagen Golf and make it more environmentally friendly using existing technology, without compromising safety or horsepower. They cut emissions by 25% latimes.com

In Germany, automotive fleets are required to achieve an emissions level that's the U.S. equivalent of a 40-mpg fuel economy standard.

Current U.S. government standards require a manufacturer's fleet to attain 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.2-mpg for SUVs and small trucks.

Old school pine has the property of "thermal inertia," a phenomenon where the solid wood stored energy during the day, and released it during the night.

Southern Yellow Pine was extensively used for building throughout the United States (Colonies) during the 1700’s and 1800’s. It is one of the hardest of the pines, so it was good for flooring when pine forests were extensive before hardwoods became popular.

The material is also a good high-tech (natural-tech) insulator. According to Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak, who is focusing himself on super energy-efficient housing,

The Southern Yellow Pine has a resin inside that melts and freezes at 71 degrees F., a very comfortable temperature for humans. The chemical actions of melting and freezing work to balance the temperature. If it’s a hot day, some small amount of the resin melts (it takes a huge amount of energy to melt a tiny amount) and the melting process pulls heat from the surroundings, from the home. When it gets colder at night, the resin-wood emits heat as it freezes. ecorazzi.com

Yellow Pine is a renewable resource. More pines are planted than harvested each year. Unlike foams and plastics, it degrades and doesn't emit chemicals that are as toxic when burned.

Enertia® Building System, solid wood walls replace siding, framing, insulation, and paneling. An air flow and access channel, or Envelope, runs around the building, just inside the walls - creating a miniature biosphere. Here solar heated air circulates, pumping and boosting geothermal energy from beneath the house, storing it in the massive wood walls. Thermal inertia causes the house to "float" between the cycles of night and day, and even between the seasons.

Sony has developed a battery prototype that runs on sugars that can generate enough electricity to power a music player and a pair of speakers.

The battery works by pouring a sugar solution into the unit, where enzymes break it down to generate electricity. Sugar is produced by plants and is a naturally process by photosynthesis.

Plants + Sun = Stored Energy

General Motors' first full hybrid reaches showrooms in November as a Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid or a GMC Yukon Hybrid. Micky Bly, GM's director of hybrid powertrain integration, says the big SUV will get 25 percent better fuel economy overall than the gasoline-only version, and about 40 percent better in city driving. That's about five or six more mpg in the city and one to two more on the highway.

Take a test drive mercurynews.com/drive/

Toyota announced the price of a Highlander Hybrid will be $190 less for a 4-wheel drive model (2-wheel no longer available). A stripped down version of the 2008 Prius should also be available, however, the cost of one fully loaded will climb.

Rather than a price drop, it sounds more like a reshuffling of price in an effort to attract more modest buyers.

Energy independence is about innovation and vision rather than technology and confusion.

Jay’s garage is going green. Like most of us, Jay Leno has been taking a hard look at his footprint on the planet. So in a long-term project with Popular Mechanics, Jay will be upgrading his nearly 20,000-sq.-ft. garage with the latest environmentally friendly shop equipment and products.

Over the next year, we’ll work with Jay and expert consultants in a variety of fields to analyze the garage’s energy usage and come up with some alternative energy systems. Jay not only wants to reduce his energy needs but maybe even help the garage become a self-sufficient power station. popularmechanics.com/greengarage

Some of the articles:

Converting a 19th century, single-cylinder steam engine from Pennsylvania to natural gas to make electricity.
Jay Leno Goes Green with Time-Tested Steam

A three-wheeled car built by a Minnesota 17 year-old in the 1930's using an Indian motorcycle engine that's been running for 70 years. Bob Shotwell's father told him that if you want a car than you have to build one. He did and drove "Philbert the Puddle Jumper" 6000-plus-mile jaunt around the country. Reminds me of my grandfather, Alfred.
Jay Remembers the Three-Wheeled Car

I have hope for the future.

Do More, Use Less, See how...

In 2000, GM's slogan, as well as most of the automotive industry might have been.
Care Little, Take More, See how...

Between wars in oil rich nations, the realization by the federal government that burning carbon fuels will eventually destroy the American way of life more than the threat of Jihad extremists and opportunistic profiteering/supply and demand of the oil energy infrastructure...the consumer began asking for something different. Companies hoping to survive and compete obliged.

The hybrid Camero concept (freep.com) is a symbol of classic American muscle getting toned. The cylinder deactivating V-8 tied to a joint venture a two-mode hybrid transmission might get 40 m.p.g. on the highway and 30 m.p.g. in the city.

It remains to be seen how this execution of hybrid technology will work out as it's use is in it's infancy for GM, however because the basic transmission unit is a joint venture of several manufacturers (greenmesh 4/2006) , one can assume that there is alot riding on it's success. I am eager for GM to gain some road time and have the opportunity to flex a new muscle.

BAE Systems, our hometown defense contractor in West Manchester Township, demonstrated the first hybrid electric drive system today for ground combat vehicles as part of the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) program.

The hybrid drive system will be used in a family of 8 ground combat vehicles and is scheduled to go into production in 2008.

The system should lower fuel and maintenance costs over current production vehicles as well reduce the need for external generators by making enough electricity to power 300 typical homes. It also offers better low speed maneuverability, and can prowl in stealthy, quiet attack mode.

businesswire.com

Two months ago, I posted 'Congestion Charge' saying that New York City was toying with the idea of charging cars $8 and trucks $21 to enter Manhattan's business district, other U.S. cities are also interested in the idea.

This week, the federal government stepped in with $354m in federal aid to launch what would be the first congestion pricing plan in the US. Such a system is in use in London and Singapore.

The federal dollars are more aimed at building up public transportation to give people a reason to want to get out of their cars. New York City has to come up with additional funding to implement the fees for driving downtown during prime time. I am curious to see how they will implement a fee system without creating congestion.

Consumers hate taxes and fees, however money is the primary motivation in a free market economy. It is why people save gas when it is expensive and use more the following week when the price goes down. Personally, I would rather take the train to Manhattan any day.

Commuters spend an average of 49 hours a year stuck in traffic in lower Manhattan, up from 18 hours in 1982. msnbc.com

I was in a small coastal town on Cape Cod, Massachusetts last week, where every other car seems to be a Prius, and spotted this golf cart-plus sized Ford electric police car. Maybe a 15 mpg Crown Victoria is too heavy to park on the wharf and looks funny chasing a speeding Prius.

Kenworth Truck Co., subsidiary of Bellevue-based Paccar Inc., announced plans to introduce a hybrid truck for the medium-duty market (vehicles typically used for local pick-up and delivery). Kenworth has delivered its first hybrid, and it's to a Seattle company -- Dunn Lumber.

Kenworth says the truck can deliver up to 30 percent reduction in fuel consumption for applications in which the truck does a lot of starting and stopping with it's diesel/electric drive.
seattlepi.com/buisiness

Investigators look into the role of climate extremes in the failure of the Interstate 35W bridge.

Today, Mark V. Rosenker, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a televised news conference that the investigation so far has looked at weather history, which can stress the bridge as it stretches and condenses... nytimes.com

Part I - Interstate 35W bridge collapse

Like the change of seasons, the price of fuel determines the interest in saving fuel.

As gas prices begin to fall, so does consumer interest in fuel-efficient vehicles, according the latest Cars.com Consumer Search Index. Cars.com is reporting a decline in searches for hybrids and other fuel-efficient cars, all of which saw dramatic increases over the last several months when gas prices were at all-time highs.

Honda Civic Hybrid , the Honda Insight, the Toyota Prius and the Ford Escape Hybrid were all among the site's used cars with the greatest decline in search activity over the last month.cnn/money

Gas prices have recently declined due to more refinery capacity coming on line and therefore the promise of a steady supply, although oil prices have remained high. This has nothing to do with global demand or the long-term supply of oil, a finite resource. It is more about the dynamics of the market.

The good news is that this is great time to haggle a price on a hybrid, so you will be ready for the next panic during a surge of gas prices.

The United States, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is not a party to the Kyoto agreement adopted in 1997, and large developing countries such as China, the second-largest emitter, India and Brazil are exempt. The agreement is set to expire in 2012.

In 1997, Kyoto Protocol was viewed by the United States as a dulling of our uncompetitive edge against developing countries that could continue to pollute and prosper and a threat to the American way - a mark of our success; gobbling energy and expelling the equivalent carbon was considered a right.

Today, nearly 100 countries speaking at the first U.N. General Assembly meeting on climate change signaled strong support for negotiations on a new global deal to tackle global warming. China has more to loose than in 1997, as an ever growing irate American public becomes more dependent on Chinese goods and has come to realize the price it is paying for the lowest price.

President Bush invited representatives of major industrialized and developing countries to a climate change summit in September at the same time that the United Nations is holding a similar meeting. "In recent years, science has deepened our understanding of climate change and opened new possibilities for confronting it," Bush said in his invitation letter Friday, asking other nations to take part in discussing a long-term strategy for reducing greenhouse emissions. AP

Science has spoken, local government has spoken... 600 U.S. mayors have pledged to try to meet the target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions set by the Kyoto Protocol NPR.org,

Mayor Mark Ruzzin says residents are alarmed about global warming and want to take action. "We don't need to study it for another five years. We don't need to play politics for another five years," he says.

If the federal government is taking the lead to combat global warming and to help rope in developing countries as a preemptive strike to the UN deal, we should be hearing more than a restating of goals come September.

"We have never sensed there were any troubles with this particular bridge," agreed Rep. Frank Hornstein of Minneapolis. Both are members of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer- Labor Party.

Hortman speculated that 90-plus-degree heat Wednesday and the above-normal temperatures of the past two summers may have been a contributing factor.

"Did the heat put extra strain on the steel?" Hortman said. "You wonder if this bridge was built to withstand the massive heat we have had this summer." denverpost.com

If a 1,907 foot bridge speced out before 1967,

that a 2001 evaluation of the bridge, prepared for the state transportation department by the University of Minnesota Civil Engineering Department, reported that there were preliminary signs of fatigue on the steel truss section under the roadway, but no cracking, detnews.com

...were to undergo an increased range of expansion and contraction due to warmer than unusual summers in Minnesota. Would it fail ahead of projections for replacement after 2012?

All structures have specified tolerances based on what engineers currently know about climate. When you take into account 70,000 bridges in the US that have been found to be structurally deficient and a highway system that is 40-60 years old there are alot of assumptions based on what we "did" know about climate data.

A drastic increase in temperature as a result of a rapid increase in greenhouse gases in the near future might have implications in the longevity of structures built and designed when maximum temperatures were thought to be lower.

According to Phoenix Motorcars of Ontario, California, this pickup can go 95 mph with a 0-60 time of 10 seconds. It's on board charger that can bring the charge up to 95% in 10 minutes. The battery, made of 900 pounds of Altair NanoSafe lithium titanate batteries, is expected to last 250,000 miles/12+ years. Expect a price in the $40K range for this limited production truck.

Even though energy is lost when a raw energy source is turned into electricity, pushed through wires, and stored in an electric car, electricity is still cheaper than gasoline as a source of vehicle power. The nation's electrical infrastructure, which is over built to meet peak demands, is underused most of the time. Using power plants in during off-peak times would help maximize an underutilized resource available everywhere that we already regulate and understand the consequences of it's use.

Lowering demand for gasoline would cause the price of gasoline to drop, extending the benefit of electric cars to fossil fuel drivers.