October 2007 Archives

Aside from changing snack habits,

Candy purveyors are also being hit with high prices for high-fructose corn syrup, which have risen more than 40% in the last year because of the ethanol industry's demand for corn. "With so many forces against them, it's hardly any wonder that candymakers are scrambling to keep their heads above water," says Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior research analyst at Mintel. businessweek.com

Hershey is exploring a possible merger with candy giant Cadbury Schweppes

Steve Bupp, of Cross Creek Farm near Glen Rock, uses old windows to give character and charm to the garden sheds he custom builds. He said that he could use plastic, but that these look much better. The 100% decomposable sheds made of wood, the first renewable building material, are built on site and trucked to a buyer's location. The 12 pane window in this picture with Bupp passing by was salvaged from a building in Glenville.

Historic York's Architectural Warehouse is a great source for old windows.

The University of Tasmania built a hybrid two cylinder scooter that runs on ethanol. An electric motor, which is the primary source of power, assists propulsion from the front wheel. The scooter also has a regenerative braking system.

The hybrid uses 35 per cent less fuel than a gasoline-only machine it is based on for mileage of 1/2 gallon for more than 100 miles.

"The control system is generic, so we can take it and put it onto a 4WD car and with minor changes it would work," Dr Karri said. The retro-fitted parts cost just $1500 but could be sourced for as little as $800 in full-scale production.

news.com.au

As with all investment "opportunities", the money flows in; as production grows, price/demand will fall.

The red flag with ethanol investment is that at some point the reality will point to a shaky framework of government subsidies, the environmental impact, impact on food prices, and that it just wasn't a great investment in alternative fuels or our future.

Oct. 25 - De Moines, Iowa -- Ethanol producers have expanded so quickly, they're making more ethanol than drivers can use. The Renewable Fuels Association counts 129 ethanol plants in the United States, a nearly fifty percent increase from just two years ago.

Another eighty plants are undergoing construction or expansion, but with corn prices at record highs and ethanol prices down, some investors are rethinking the power of corn. whotv.com

Video I produced about Morningstar Marketplace featuring Michael Mixell

Michael Mixell, of Fairview Township makes a fashion statement out of recycling at the Morningstar Marketplace.

The fitted vest is made out of 2,314 soda can pull tabs. Mixell holds a belt and a water bottle holder. Mixell got his idea of making Chain Maille after visiting the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. His wears are for sale at stand 112 at the Morningstar Marketplace.

Nissan considering $3,000 car

Possibly marketed worldwide, the cheap car would be built in collaboration with Bajaj, a motorcycle maker in India that's working with Nissan and French car company Renault. For low-price markets, the car would be bare-bones, lacking many of the features considered necessary in mature auto markets such as the U.S. usatoday/money

Ford hopes to hit the car market at the convergence of two advantageous phenomenon: Shoppers giving small cars more consideration because they use less fuel, and a "small is big" trend, in which people decide they've been too indulgent and move into smaller houses, buy plainer clothes, drive smaller cars. usatoday/money/autos

Bob Teixeira decided it was time to take a stand against U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

So last fall the Charlotte, North Carolina, musician and guitar instructor spent $1,200 to convert his 1981 diesel Mercedes to run on vegetable oil. He bought soybean oil in 5-gallon jugs at Costco, spending about 30 percent more than diesel would cost.

His reward, from a state that heavily promotes alternative fuels: a $1,000 fine last month for not paying motor fuel taxes. He has been told to expect another $1,000 fine from the federal government. newsobserver.com

Toyota will slash the price and size of its hybrid system by around half for the next-generation Prius model, and use a nickel-metal hydride battery instead of lithium-ion, Executive Vice President Kazuo Okamoto, in charge of Toyota's research and development, told reporters in Tokyo.

"I can't tell you when it will come to market, but the preparations are making steady progress," Okamoto said. He added that the next Prius would "definitely" use improved nickel-hydride batteries rather than higher-energy lithium-ion.

"Lithium-ion is going to take some time," he said. reuters

Greg and Gerallyn Duke were visiting York on Sunday from West Chester, Pa. and riding the rail trial with a Bilenky tandem bicycle.

The Philadelphia made bicycle allows a shorter person see the road ahead. It features independent cadence (both rides can peddle at different rates) and both riders can shift gears independently.

Free, controlled central heat from the forest, corn, old lumber...

The fireplace isn't anything new and an outside wood burning furnace is hardly a pollution free source of heat. However, cleaver efficient low maintenance and safe ways to extract energy that hasn't been harnessed by assorted profit streams galore that cost you thousands of dollars a year and help separate consumers from dependency on oil and gas is worth noting.

Consider the land owner with ample forest and two strong arms or a farmer with excess feed corn. A stainless steel outdoor furnace makes heat for free.

Wood or other materials are loaded through the front door about twice a day. A thermostat in the outdoor furnace controls the temperature of the water (and the speed of the burn) in the jacket of the furnace by regulating the amount of air forced into the combustion chamber. That water is circulated through the home's radiators or in the case of a hot air system, the hot water is circulated through a heat exchanger in the air handler of the traditional furnace inside your home.

An optional domestic hot water heat exchanger can be installed into the thermostatically controlled water jacket of the outdoor furnace to give you free hot showers from your forest.

Wood is a renewable resource, that is readily available. Pennsylvania is packed with hardwood. The next logical step for these furnaces is to develop the combustion chamber to lower emissions.

heatmor.com: I checked out this system at the Grease, Steam & Rust Association Inc. show in Fulton County this weekend, but it will come to York for the Keystone Farm Show, January 8-10 and the PA Farm Show in Harrisburg, January 6-13

The 2008 EPA mileage estimates reflect new EPA fuel economy methods. The former decade-old EPA standard of calculating mileage gave hybrids a marketing edge, though unrealistic real-world view of fuel consumption.

The Toyota Prius formally "got" 60 mpg in the city and a Honda Civic hybrid 51 on the highway. The two cars, which haven't changed much mechanically since 2007, now get about the same, 45 mpg, on the highway according to their manufacturers' site.

EPA estimates are really out the window with these cars as a number of fuel sipping technology tricks built into the cars are compounded and translated by the driver's ability and desire. I have often been able to exceed 51 mpg/highway on a 2005 Civic hybrid, but I have also had harried, lead foot days that come in the low 40's. My total fuel use average for 53,000 miles is 45 miles per gallon.

Mileage Estimates (mpg city/highway/combined) 48/45/46
www.toyota.com/prius
EPA-estimated 40 city/45 hwy mpg.
honda.com/civic-hybrid

A survey of 200 Toyota dealers by CNW Marketing Research shows 33% of dealers still tout the 2008 model year Prius as a 60-mpg machine gminsidenews.com

Note the source: It's a competitive world, and numbers regardless of reality, fight going backwards.

Vélib (for “vélo,” bicycle, and “liberté,” freedom)

“This is about revolutionizing urban culture,” said Pierre Aidenbaum, mayor of Paris’s trendy third district, which opened 15 docking stations in July. “For a long time cars were associated with freedom of movement and flexibility. What we want to show people is that in many ways bicycles fulfill this role much more today.”

Users can rent a bike online or at any of the stations, using a credit or debit card and leave them at any other station.

A one-day pass costs 1 euro ($1.38), a weekly pass 5 euros ($6.90) and a yearly subscription 29 euros ($40), with no additional charges as long as each bike ride does not exceed 30 minutes. (Beyond that, there is an incremental surcharge, to make sure that as many bikes as possible stay in the rotation.)nytimes.com/europe

The self-service, human powered Vélib came to the rescue Thursday for commuters after a wave of strikes halted most trains, subways and buses throughout France.

On Feb. 12, 1908 six automobiles left New York City's Times Square to a crowd of 250,000 in what was described by its newspaper sponsors as "the toughest race ever devised." Teddy Roosevelt said, "I like people who do something, not the good man who stays at home."

A race from New York to Paris at a time when New York to York was a major accomplishment with a car. Trains and ships were used to go the distance; roads were local affairs that were just evolving from horses to motorized vehicles.

Six of the most innovative automobiles of the time, when the automobile was innovative in itself, representing France, Germany, Italy and the United States started out across the U.S.

A 1907 Model 35, 60HP 4-cylinder, 4-speed transmission from the United States took first place. The Germans actually came in first with a car specially built for the race, but cheated by placing their car on a train for part of the route.

The late American Thomas Flyer entered three days before the race. The 1907 Model 35 was a regular production car that had two long planks lashed to the fenders that served as shelves, and could be quickly detached to create a makeshift bridge. The vehicle also became the first automobile to drive across the US in the winter.

For the 100th anniversary Great Race, ten teams driving hybrid electric cars will join the Innovation Class next summer to complete the almost 22,000 mile course by driving as efficiently as possible.

Bioheat is a low sulfur oil blended with biodegradable, organic materials such as soybean oil available locally through Shipley Energy. It can be used without retrofit as a fuel in home oil burning furnaces.

Testing conducted by the National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA) found that a Bioheat blend of 80% low-sulfur heating oil and 20% biodiesel (B20) reduced sulfur oxide emissions by as much as 80% or more. Nitrogen oxide emissions were lowered by about 20%. In addition, carbon dioxide emissions can be lowered by 20%.

If everyone using heating oil used a B5 blend (5% biodiesel/95% heating oil), 400 million gallons of regular heating oil could be conserved. This would be a big step towards conserving oil, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. oilheatamerica.com

Passed along to me by greenmesh reader KenBob:

Wind Belts are micro wind generators that use a property known as aerolastic flutter. Energy of the wind is converted by vibration akin to the bow of a musical instrument; converting the power of a wind tension membrane. No bearings to suck energy, wind power machines are 10 times cheaper to produce than turbines according to the video below. (Popular Mechanics)

Third-World Wind Power: First Look

The New York City transit agency began a two-month trial of a 35-foot-long electric hybrid turbine diesel bus yesterday.

Unlike New York City's other hybrid buses that run on electric part of the time and regenerate by brakes (like gasoline car hybrid systems on the road), this bus runs on electric power all the time. A diesel turbine engine recharges the battery when needed and power is recovered by regenerative breaking.

The bus made by DesignLine International Holdings LLC. gets 7 miles per gallon, double the city's other hybrid buses.

cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com

The Volkswagen’s Up! Concept appeared at the Frankfurt Auto show this year but unlike many auto show concepts, this concept appears to be blooming with an SUV, cabriolet and minivan variation. It almost makes up for yet another enlarged Jetta and the reintroduction of the behemoth Phaeton.

The up! has two central displays. In the cockpit, a 8-inch monitor shows the driver key information such as vehicle speed, fuel level and range, as well as momentary CO2 emissions. The rear engine car will probably have an engine size of about 1 liter.

In keeping with the company’s diminutive engined offerings of late, there have been further

indications that a 1-litre/100 km car is on the cards for 2010.

The car will feature a plastic and aluminium construction, and will be powered by a one-cylinder 300 cc engine. This powerplant will reportedly be good for a top speed of 120 km/h and will sip 1-litre of fuel per 100 km travelled. Such figures may sound ambitious, at best, but back in 2002 Volkswagen developed a tandem-seater concept that consumed just 0,89-litres /100 km! cartoday.com

The 350 horsepower Kilacycle, is a high-performance, high-speed electric motorcycle.

The KillaCycle is the result of years of effort on the part of Bill Dube’, his sponsors and team members (Steve Ciciora, Derek Barger have worked very hard on the develpoment.) It is currently the quickest 1/4 mile electric drag bike in the world. Recently driver Scott Pollacheck did a record 8.083 second @ 163 MPH run at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado.

The motorcycle is powered by 374 volts of electricity stored in 1210 small, but powerful, ‘nano-phospate cells (batteries) provided by A123 Systems. The cells are connected to provide 9.1 kWh of energy storage and are capable of supplying up to 1800 amps. The cells themselves weigh just 186 pounds.The entire battery pack weighs just under 200 lbs yet puts out about 480 horsepower. www.killacycle.com

In honor of local resident Ray Wallace, who dedicates part of his life filling the greenmesh email inbox with reasons why corn based ethanol production is a mistake in the US., I dedicate today as Ethanol reality day.

Why this alternative fuel has gained so much momentum in production is a formulation of political incentives and feeding an existing ethanol (read commodities and entrenched profit models) infrastructure. The reality is that there seems to be not much good for the general public not to mention the overall environmental impact and benefit as an alternative fuel.

"There's a low level of interest in E85, a low level of understanding," Louis Sheetz, the Altoona-based company's executive vice president of marketing, said Tuesday at a forum on the fuel at Carnegie Mellon University. "It will be a gradual learning experience for consumers."

More than a year after Sheetz gas stations and stores in Monroeville, Pleasant Hills and Robinson switched diesel pumps over to the blend, each of the three locations is selling less than half the volume that those pumps turned out before they were converted to E85.

Sheetz and representatives of General Motors Corp., the state Department of Environmental Protection and Steel City Biofuels took part in the program hosted by the university's Green Design Institute, in order to talk up E85. pittsburghlive.com

I try to find something good about corn to ethanol production. The consequences of the execution of the production of this fuel will eventually sour the American public to the concept of biofuels at a time when marketing acceptance of biofuels in general is more important then the fuel itself.

Ray, take it from here in the comment link... you are better at this than me.

I love this time of year... chilly mornings, frost on the pumpkin, no A/C running, windows closed for minimum wind resistance, and just a hint of waste heat used for the heater.

Fall and Spring are the time for maximum mileage on my 2005 Civic hybrid. Cool days in the 50's when the A/C isn't robbing power from the tiny engine and the batteries can hang almost fully charged without the need to charge while cruising.

The windows can all be closed so the body slips though the wind, while the engine holds it's heat for maximum running efficiency without long warm-ups between stops. The extreme winter temperatures making parts sluggish and not allowing engine shut down at traffic stops are still a couple months away.

Sing to the tune of Chestnuts:

Every 120-pound reduction can yield a 1% gain in gas mileage, says Bill Grabowski, director of body core engineering for Chrysler.

However, it's a balancing act for car companies whose customers want more options and more room. Over time cars up-size, usually based on customer input. A new Honda Civic is is larger than a 1982 Honda Accord. Car companies create new tiny niche vehicles to fill the void and try to shave weight from longstanding nameplates to keep the mileage from going down as the size and features increase.

Ford added 64 pounds of features to its 2008 Ford Focus subcompact but found ways to take out 104 pounds from other places. Ford replaced steel with aluminum in the brakes (7.5 pounds), redesigned the rear seat (10.7 pounds) and changed the carpeting in the trunk (3 pounds). Using aluminum wheels instead of steel saved 22 pounds on Focus. Due to those and other changes, the Focus will be up to 5% more fuel efficient than the old version.
usatoday.com/money

Robert Schmidt writes Greenmesh and would like some input:

I need help getting connected... I want to create a fund to take old guzzlers off the road and replace them with high efficiency cars. Money from a voluntary surcharge on gasoline collected by gas station. Gas station gets publicity.

Money is amplified by hybrid dealer. So for my $1,000 I get a voucher for $1,200 toward a car.

Potential beneficiaries identified by environmental testing... cars that just barely pass are eligible for program.

Mr. Schmidt is on to something here. Those with the least resources usually are stuck with the highest polluting cars. If you take one oil belching monster off the road it's more beneficial for reducing pollution than giving tax incentives to several people who can probably afford a new hybrid without incentives.

The question is how many people will pay a surcharge on gasoline to help a less fortunate polluting neighbor and what incentive does a dealer have to kick in to the fund. Hopefully, the fund would be helping those who really need help getting out from under their heap and not just someone who has a huge SUV and takes the profit because they are downsizing anyway. Making the surcharge voluntary, could tax the eco-minded person and provide a handout to a resourceful car buyer.

I would like to see the "getting the polluting/guzzeler off the road program" based on economic status or just have a universal tax on gasoline that would give incentives to taking the highest polluting vehicles off the road. That way the gas guzzlers left on the road (use more gas/pay more tax) would be forced to pay more at the pump in the first place or take the incentive if they were financially in need. Of course there are always people who need trucks for business and that surcharge trickles down... Creating a tax that will fund the intended purpose without creating an illogical burden is complicated.

A two-car train operating in northern rural Japan is the world's first hybrid train.

The Japanese train, powered by a diesel engine and electric battery, is recharged by energy created from braking at curves and at stations and helps reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter by up to 60 per cent, compared with conventional trains. It cuts fuel consumption by up to 20 per cent and runs more quietly, according to East Japan Railway, the company behind the trial. smh.com.au

A 201-kilowatt solar system has been installed on the roof of Frito-Lay's Arizona Service Center, the company's largest distribution center in the country. The 201-kilowatt system, made up of more than 1,000 Kyocera high output 200-watt photovoltaic (PV) modules, is the largest business-owned PV system in Arizona. The system will produce roughly 350,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. PRNeswire

Arizona is perfect for solar power with Tucson receiving sunshine 86% of the time. Frito-Lay already has installed PV systems in six other distribution centers in California and New York.

Toyota, which has sold more than 1 million fuel-saving hybrid vehicles worldwide and accounts for 78% of hybrid sales in the USA is also opposing tough fuel-economy legislation in contrast with other car companies like Nissan, which actively supported the 35 mpg (by 2020) goal in the Senate legislation. Toyota also produces the Sequoia (Expedition size) and Tundra (F-150 size) both which have just grown for the 2008 model year. GM sides with Toyota.

That would cut U.S. petroleum use equivalent to all the oil imported from the Persian Gulf, says Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., sponsor of a bill to require 35 mpg by 2017.usatoday.com

It's a misplaced attack in a free market system. It would be better to go after the source of consumption, the consumer, rather than tying the hand that feeds the bad habit.

Companies are in business to make money. Smart companies use that money to foresee the market. There is large profit to be made building large pickups, there isn't alot of money to be made designing tech filled hybrids. In Japan, a Corolla is considered a large car. In the US, there is a market for large Toyota Tundras and Chevy Silverados, if one company agrees to a high fuel standard, it misses out on a market and profit that can be exploited by another.

In Toyota's case, profit was invested into building a good hybrid so if the market changes and people didn't buy pickups anymore they are in a position to take that market.

Less enjoyable and popular than the evil corporation approach is investing in a conservation/taxation approach that would raise the cost of driving and force the consumer to downsize. You don't have to convince the average European or a consumer in Toyota's home market, Japan, to drive small, it's just too expensive and congested to do otherwise.

General Motor's director of hybrid energy storage systems, Denise Gray, and Mary Ann Wright, vice president and general manager of hybrid battery systems at Johnson Controls Inc., told a congressional panel today (10/3/07) that U.S. auto suppliers need the federal government's help to create the high-tech future-car batteries we're all waiting for. Those lithium ion and nanotech batteries aren't going to create themselves, you know. njection.com

Profit by dreaming up a better mousetrap seems to have evolved into a government hand-out. It's a great concept for shareholders to get taxpayers to supplement R&D and once it has been invented reap the profit.

The only problem with this model is that while "we're all waiting for" this to happen, another company in another country is sacrificing sweat and perhaps a CEO bonus based on last quarter's profit to bite into our automotive industry. Ford is saddled with a portfolio of large trucks and GM is just nudging into the gasoline/hybrid market; both has taken a hit in market share because they are not producing what is selling.

Proactive thinking is key in a competitive market.

Mazda will make a hydrogen powered rotary engine vehicle available for lease next year in Japan. The Mazda Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid runs on hydrogen stored in a tank, although it can switch to gas when hydrogen (can run a distance of 124 miles) runs out. www.iht.com

Mazda made it's debut in the United States with the rotary engine in the late 1960's and tried marketing several applications of the engine in cars through the next two decades.

The Wankel engine uses a rotating gear assembly with a triangle shape in place of pistons to convert the energy from combustion. Known for it's silence and a rev limit that just won't quit, the engine has fewer moving parts and more power cycles for the mechanical effort involved. By 2003, the RENESIS Mazda rotary engine was capable of delivering 250 hp from a tiny 1.3 L displacement. A two-rotor engine was common in early Mazda's.

Early rotary engines suffered from compression seal (equivalent of piston rings) issues at a mileage that would be considered low for a piston engine, but as materials improved so did the engine. By nature, piston rings in piston engines are lubricated from below by oil splash, while the the rotary engine compression seals are in motion around the rotor with a compression chamber on each side and more difficult to lubricate. The RENESIS engine injects a small amount of oil into the fuel mixture to promote lubrication of the compression seals.

The advantages of the Wankel engine are size, weight, few parts and thus less expensive to construct, but traditionally it uses more gas than a piston engine in roughly the same application and produces more hydrocarbon emissions due to the large cylinder design and it is harder to control the combustion. Emissions are not an issue with hydrogen fuel because it is an energy carrier and not a fossil fuel with pollutants to spew into the air.

One advantage of the rotary design that may lend itself to burning hydrogen is the ability to burn a very low octane fuel without pre-ignition. The large amount of cylinder turbulence prevents hot spots from forming, the "ping" I experienced often with crappy gas on the aging slant-6 1968 Plymouth I drove in college.

Volkswagen AG is considering building diesel engines somewhere in North America as part of its effort to expand sales in the United States, Volkswagen of America's new chief executive said as the company rolled out its latest diesel promotion for reporters.

VW's launch next spring of the 2009 Jetta TDI, which will be the first VW equipped with the clean-diesel technology and the first diesel from VW that can be sold in all 50 states. Better than 40 percent of the vehicles VW sells in its home market are equipped with clean-diesel engines, Jacoby said. www.thecarconnection.com

VW assembled cars in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania from 1980 until around 1988. A diesel was offered through most of those years. The first diesel VW in the US was offered in the 1977 Rabbit.