Green Car Advisor
Natural Gas
November 20, 2009
The California agency that sets the American standard for automotive emissions today unveiled a much-improved Website that helps consumers choose the least polluting cars on the market.
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Click on art to enlarge.
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The California Air Resources Board Website, using information collected for vehicle certification in the golden state, offers a practical and easy to use system that ranks vehicles according to their emission characteristics and provides tools to compare models.
The site allows visitors to view models by technology/fuel type, smog score, global-warming score and engine family. And there's a very smart tool that, with a click of your mouse, allows you to view all the tax incentives available for a particular model.
Last year, the agency adopted a state regulation requiring automakers to affix the Environmental Performance Label to California showroom models that convey the vehicle's smog and greenhouse-gas emissions. The simply illustrated graphic has two rankings, from one to 10, that depict vehicle emissions. The higher the score, the less polluting it is.
Driveclean.ca.gov puts these same rankings in an online format, making them practical for web research. The Website also provides information about clean-car technology and guides users to consider the emissions of the models they are evaluating.
We salute CARB, once again, for taking another significant step to make the world we live in a healthier place.
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- Scott Doggett November 20, 2009, 8:15 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Butanol, Coal, Compressed Air, Diesel, Emissions, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, LPG, Legislation, Manufacturers, Methanol, Motorcycles, Natural Gas, Oil, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Tax Incentives
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- Alternative Fuels and Vehicles
, California Air Resources Board, CARB, Electric Vehicles, Fuel Economy
November 4, 2009
Video explains Fiat Multiair system that will be used in many of Chrysler's new models to improve fuel efficiency, reduce emissions and boost power.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Chrysler's new powertrain chief, Paolo Ferrero, says the company will begin widespread adoption of gas and diesel engine technologies from its new owner, Fiat Group, with the first of a family of more fuel-efficient engines due next summer.
The company believes that hybrids and electric vehicles are a longer-term strategy and will concentrate in the "short-to-medium" term on internal combustion engine improvements and downsizing, and introduction of fuel-efficient clean diesels and engines using alternative low carbon fuels such as compressed natural gas.
Chrysler also will be adopting the start-stop system, also called a micro-hybrid system, that is used in some Fiat models to shut down the engine at stop signs and when idling. It can reduce emissions and improve fuel economy by as much as 5 percent, Ferrero said.
The first model in the Chrysler lineup to use it will be the the 2011 Jeep Wrangler.
By 2014, Ferrero said during a morning presentation at the day-long Chrysler product plan meeting, 38 percent of Chrysler vehicles will use small, four-cylinder engines, up from 19 percent today, and 14 percent will use diesel engines, up from 9 percent now.
Continue reading...
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- John O'Dell November 4, 2009, 10:30 AM
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- Chrysler, Diesel, Dodge, Hybrid, Jeep, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
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- Chrysler Product Plans
, Diesel, Fuel Efficient Engines, Multiair
Recycling at work: Trash hauler Waste Management Inc. says it will be able to produce up to 13,000 gallons of liquefied natural gas daily to fuel 300 of its trash trucks using methane gas from decomposing garbage at one of its large Northern California landfill dumps.
The company, which has been involved in waste-to-energy programs for nearly 40 years, has installed a $15.5 million biogas collection and refining system at its Altamont Landfill near Livermore in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The German-made system removes impurities from the methane and chills it to minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit to liquefy it so it can be pumped directly into the trash trucks' tanks.
We can't help but wonder how many gallons a weekly residential curbside garbage can would be good for and whether there's any future in, say, neighborhood waste-to-gas programs? Perhaps a monthly voucher good for your garbage's equivalent of LNG at the local dump pump?
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- John O'Dell November 4, 2009, 9:43 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Natural Gas, Recycling
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- Biogas
, Gas From Trash, Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, Methane, Waste Management Inc.
November 2, 2009
Just wondering here, but Toyota rarely doesn't do much anything unless it has a meaningful money-making or image-enhancing possibility attached.
The company showed a neat compressed natural gas hybrid Camry last year at the 2008 LA Auto show, and said it was just a study.
It sort of disappeared, but it now being resurrected- and redesigned as a cool, green surf buggy - as the Surfrider Foundation Camry CNG Hybrid concept for an environmental lifestyles display at Toyota's stand at the 2009 SEMA show in Las Vegas this week.
With all the talk about vast new natural gas resources (albeit obtainable through the controversial hydro-cracking method of fracturing gas-bearing shale with high-pressure injections of water in a process that can release toxic chemicals that affect drinking water in areas that don't pre-treat it ), we can't help but think Toyota might be a little more devoted to the idea of a CNG-electric hybrid than it has been letting on.
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- John O'Dell November 2, 2009, 12:20 PM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Hybrid, Natural Gas, Toyota
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, Camry CNG Hybrid, Compressed Natural Gas Hybrid, Toyota
October 20, 2009
From Gas to Electric, 3-Wheelers to Exotics, Contestants Vie to Build 100 MPG Vehicles
Students from West Philadelphia High School are youngest competitors, but no slouches when it comes to design or performance, as shown by their Alternative category entry, the biodiesel-electric EVX-GT hybrid sports car. The school also has a diesel-electric hybrid Ford Focus in the Conventional class.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Judges for the Progressive Automotive X Prize contest have winnowed the field in the race for $10 million in prize money for building the best 100 MPG MPH car to the final 43 teams.
The teams will enter a total of 53 vehicles (there are different categories, so multiple entries are possible) in a competition pitting them against one another in a variety of road and safety tests.
All the finalists already have survived two design judging rounds that pared the number of entries from the original 111 teams with 135 vehicles.
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The Progressive Automotive X Prize was launched at last year's New York Auto Show.
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The contest, aimed at inspiring green-car development, was announced more than 18 months ago. It challenges contestants to design, build and operate a commercially viable vehicles that can deliver fuel economy of at least 100 miles per gallon - or the equivalent.
Part of the competition involves presenting a marketing plan to the judges, who will decide if the vehicle has real-world possibilities.
Among them, the final entrants use 14 different fuels including gasoline and electricity, with battery-electric and hybrid-electric the most popular types of powertrains.
In the hybrid-electric category, teams are entering vehicles whose internal combustion engines run on gasoline, diesel biodiesel, ethanol, butanol and compressed natural gas.
There are even three entries that use plain old gasoline as their sole fuel.
Continue reading...
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- John O'Dell October 20, 2009, 3:20 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Butanol, Diesel, Ethanol, Fuel Economy, Fuels & Technologies, Hybrid, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
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- 100 MPG Car
, Alternative Fuels, Fuel Efficiency, Progressive Automotive X Prize Finalists
October 8, 2009
Study Says Fleet Conversions Quickest Way for U.S. to Make Dent in Carbon Footprint
By Danny King, Contributor
Corporations could be significant players in improving air quality and reducing carbon emissions by converting their fleets of gasoline and diesel vehicles to hybrids and compressed natural gas-powered cars and trucks, according to a study by the nonprofit Center for Automotive Research.
If just one-fourth of all major corporations were to convert their vehicle fleets, a new CAR study found, the resulting reduction of CO2 emissions would be the equivalent of removing 600,000 vehicles from the streets.
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AT&T is converting 8,000 trucks and vans, such as this, to compressed natural gas.
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The move would cut U.S. gasoline use by 750 million gallons a year and be the fastest way the nation could achieve significantly improved fuel efficiency, the Ann Arbor, Mich., think-tank said in its report.
Replacing 25 percent of all corporate vehicles with hybrid or CNG vehicles also would support 10,000 vehicle-assembly jobs, the report said.
CAR used AT&T's vehicle fleet for its case study, extrapolating the findings to other corporate fleets.
"If the country is serious about increasing the number of fuel-efficient vehicles on the road in the near future, the fleets of America, with their rapid turnover of vehicles, represent the best opportunity in the shortest time frame," said Kim Hill, director of CAR's sustainable transportation and communities group.
Continue reading...
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- John O'Dell October 8, 2009, 5:15 PM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Natural Gas
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- CAR
, Center for Automotive Research, CNG, CO2, Compressed Natural Gas, Fuel Efficiency, Hybrids
September 28, 2009
But Owners Found No CNG Alternatives to Buy With Their Clunker Credits
Finally got around to perusing the official preliminary list of vehicles traded-in during the cash-for-clunkers program, and aside from the 1997 Aston Martin DB7 Volante (!), what struck me most was the number of natural gas vehicles whose owners decided were clunkers ready for the trash heap.
In addition to some 2,000 flex-fuel vehicles - which we don't consider green because their owners, according to all sorts of government and private studies, rarely put anything but gasoline in the tank - there were 1,135 natural gas vehicles on the 130-page list.
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Ford Crown Victoria CNG models, like this 1996 Crown Vic posted on the Pickens Plan pro-natural gas Website, were the most-frequent "green" trade-ins during the cash for clunkers program this summer.
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The natural gas cars and trucks are considered green because natural gas is a low-pollutant, low-carbon fuel (California's tough Air Resources Board gives vehicles running on natural gas the same "clean air car" sticker and admission to carpool lanes that it gives to electric cars).
It didn't take long, though, to see why it made senses for the owners of these particular compressed (CNG)- and liquefied (LNG)-natural gas vehicles to consign them to the scrap heap in favor of a $3,500 or $4,500 credit on a new car or truck.
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- John O'Dell September 28, 2009, 12:11 PM
- Categories:
- Natural Gas
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- Cash For Clunkers
, CNG, Compressed Natural Gas, Green Vehicles, Liquefied Natural Gas
Hybrid Kinetics Motors, a start-up that wants to build hybrid cars in the U.S., has announced its intent to build a new green-car manufacturing plant in Alabama for assembly of bi-fuel hybrids that can use either gasoline or compressed natural gas in their internal combustion engines.
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Photographer for newspaper Website Al.com caught this image of Yung Yeung showing off rendering of proposed Hybrid Kinetics Motors plant at Alabama press conference last week.
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The company, which has a Pasadena, Calif, address, was formed several years ago by the former chairman of China's Brilliance Automotive, Yung "Benjamin" Yeung (also known as Yang Rong) who fled his native China in 2002 after being charged with unspecified "economic crimes."
In its Alabama announcement, HKM says it could build as many as 300,000 vehicles a year - a goal, we think, that's based on equal parts hope and hype.
Among other things, HKM claims its car will have a 1.5-liter engine and an electric motor that combined will pump out as much as 400 horsepower and deliver at least 45 miles per gallon fuel economy.
We don't see any way - including giving them away- that an unproven manufacturer could unload 300,000 cars a year - hybrid or not - in North America; nor do we see much hope of a 1.5 liter gas or CNG engine tied to a reasonably sized electric motor putting out anything near 400 ponies.
Besides the questionable claims, the company's plan, announced with fanfare in Birmingham late last week at a press conference attended by state officials including by Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, comes with a big "IF."
Continue reading...
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- John O'Dell September 28, 2009, 1:24 AM
- Categories:
- Hybrid, Natural Gas
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- Alabama Hybrid Factory
, Benjamin Yeung, Hybrid Kinetic Motors, Hybrid Kinetics Motors, Hybrids, Yung Yeung
September 25, 2009
CNG conversion company AFVTech Inc. is developing a dedicated compressed natural gas hot rod (pictured) based on a 1933 Ford Roadster to make a statement.
That statement being "that natural gas can be fun to drive, fast and wrapped up in a package that will turn heads," said AFVTech President Kevin Fern in a statement today.
"We are investing a lot of engineering time in this project, highlighting the technological advancements that we use in the Natural Drive Dedicated EPA Certified CNG retrofit systems," he said.
What might those be, you ask?
Well, the CNG Hot Rod features:
- A modified General Motors LS7 7-liter engine producing more than 600 horsepower (it's hand-built by GM's Performance Build Center in Wixom, Michigan; most are installed in the Corvette Z06).
- Drive-by-wire engine management system (replaces the traditional mechanical and hydraulic control systems with electronic control systems using electromechanical actuators and human-machine interfaces such as pedal and steering feel emulators).
- 4-wheel ABS disc brakes with selectable traction control (a good thing, considering how easy it would be to lose control of this steel beast).
Fern promises lots of other features not found in your run-of-the-mill '33 Ford Roadster -- as if he hadn't gotten our attention yet. The vehicle will debut at the AFVI trade show in Las Vegas in May 2010.
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- Scott Doggett September 25, 2009, 3:59 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Ford, Natural Gas
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- 1933 Ford Roadster
, AFCTech, Auto Show, CNG Hot Rod, Compressed Natural Gas, Las Vegas
Natural gas giant Clean Energy Fuels Corp. says it is acquiring BAF Technologies, a major manufacturer of natural gas fuel conversion systems.
BAF, based in Dallas, Texas, largely serves the commercial fleet market, but Clean Energy apparently plans to use its not inconsiderable clout as low-carbon fuels supplier to help BAF break into the passenger vehicle market.
It's a neat deal as the more conversion systems BAF can sell, the more customers there will be for Clean Energy's liquid and compressed natural gas fuels.
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Clean Energy believes that as automakers seek to lower their greenhouse gas emissions, natural gas will become a popular fuel instead of being limited to auto show concepts such as the CNG-electric hybrid from Toyota shown here.
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In its announcement this morning, Clean Energy - co-founded by energy magnate T.Boone Pickins, who remains a major shareholder and frequent spokesman for the publicly-traded company - said it believes domestic automakers "have been remiss in not making NGVs [natural gas vehicles] available in the United States, even though the same companies produce numerous makes and models overseas," where natural gas-powered cars and trucks are commonplace in many countries.
Continue reading...
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- John O'Dell September 25, 2009, 9:43 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Natural Gas
- Technorati Tags:
- BAF Technologies
, Clean Energy Fuels Corp., Natural Gas Fuel Conversions, Natural Gas Vehicles, NGVs
September 1, 2009
The federal-private Clean Cities progam is responsible for promoting a lot of alternatively fueled vehicles over the years and this month added to the tally by handing out $300 million in federal grants that will help various government agencies and commercial fleet operators deploy and fuel 9,000 more - mainly commercial trucks and taxis using compressed andliquid natural gas, propane and E85.
The list is long -agencies in 22 states and muillti-state regions received funding, and a little disheartening - it provides for 542 new alt-fuel stations, but that includes only 1 hydrogen fueling station and 210 electric vehicle chargers -most of them in three locales, Chicago and North and South Carolina.
Only about100 of the 9,000-plus alt-fuel vehicles to be subsidized with the grants will be all-elelctric, including at east 56 neighborhood electrics, or NEVs. But more than 1,000 will be trucks and buses (and a few cars) using propane.
Gas-electric hybrids will account for at leat 738 of the vehicles (the totals aren't exact because the grant descriptions don't always specify how many of which type of vehicle will be purchased with the funds.
Still, the main purpose of the program is to clear up the diesel emissions and other exhaust fumes choking many cities, and that's a goal we applaud, long and loudly.
A rundown of grants, provided by the federal Energy Department, shows that more than 1,400 diesel trucks and buses and several hundred gasoline-burning taxis will be replaced by alt-fuel vehicles. Almost half - 651 - will be LNG trucks replacing diesel trucks in several Southern California locations.
Most will use natural gas, but150 gas and diesel trucks in Maryland and 190 diesel school buses in Kentucky will be replaced with hybrid-electric models.
Teh feds say the programs will help displace 38 million gallons of petrolleum annually.
The entire list of grants, and their descriptions,is available here.
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- John O'Dell September 1, 2009, 5:25 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Emissions, Ethanol, Hybrid, Hydrogen, LPG, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Clean CIties Initiative
, CNG, E85, Electric Vehicles, Hybrids, LNG, Propane
July 21, 2009
Natural gas vehicles got a boost today as the House of Representatives voted 393-35 to reauthorize the Department of energy's natural gas vehicle research program and to provide $150 million in funding over the next five years.
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This Toyota Camry natural gas-electric hybrid concept might become real and sights like this Southern California CNG pump more prevalent if DOE research is approved in Senate and proposed tax incentives become law.
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The measure, H.R. 1622, focuses on development of engines for all classes of natural gas vehicles, according to a report from the subscription only Energy & Environment News service.
But it also contains funding for improving the nation's spotty natural gas refueling infrastructure, to study use of natural gas engines in hybrids and for improvements to present storage technologies.
Natural gas appears to be one of the few issues with strong bipartisan support in the lower chamber, as the lopsided vote shows.
It also appears to have support in the Senate where Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, recently said he may seek time on the floor to stump for passage of a bill to extend and perhaps increase tax incentives and other support for natural gas vehicles
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- John O'Dell July 21, 2009, 4:47 PM
- Categories:
- Legislation, Natural Gas, Tax Incentives
- Technorati Tags:
- H.R. 1622
, Natural Gas Vehicles
July 9, 2009
Bill Was Passed by House, but Senate Okay Isn't Certain; Reid Sets December Deadline
We're still trying to get a solid understanding of how the proposed climate and energy bill will affect the cars we drive - now and in the future.
So we offer up a quiet "thank you" to Sen. Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee and just said she'll hold off hearings until after the August recess.
That gives us a little more time to digest the bill (and opponents and proponents more time to argue about it).
To Obama By December
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), said today that he wants to place the measure on President Obama's desk before the big U.N. climate talks set for Copenhagen in December - a location sure to give the climate warming non-believers lots to shout about as they stand in the center of Denmark's capital city and throw snowballs).
There's some doubt as to whether the Senate can muster the 60 votes needed to pass the bill - Republicans are pretty much united in their opposition and more than a few Democrats in the Democrat-controlled upper chamber are iffy.
Most Congress watchers figure that if a bill does come out of the Senate, it will be considerably watered down from the House version, necessitating a potentially heated joint committee session to iron out differences and make compromises.
What We Know
Incentives
Right now, the House version has lots of goodies for green car boosters, including a doubling of the federal loan program to help car makers revamp old factories to build a new generation of advanced technology vehicles (plug-in hybrids, battery electric, natural gas and more).The House wants to make a total of $50 billion in loans available.
Continue reading...
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- John O'Dell July 9, 2009, 6:09 PM
- Categories:
- Biofuels, Emissions, Hybrid, Legislation, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives
- Technorati Tags:
- Advanced Technology Vehicles
, Climate Bill, Plug In Hybrid Incentives
There's a natural gas car in Edmunds' long-term fleet
and I drive it most of the time, and like it, so I ought to be banging the drums for a pair of bills promoting natural gas vehicles and filling stations that are pending in Congress this session.
But I'm a bit cautious: the bills' big backer is T. Boone Pickens, the Texas oilman who has turned his talents and substantial fortune to promoting - and investing heavily in - natural gas.
The latest, introduced just this week in the Senate, pretty much echos the language of the first, H.R. 1835, introduced in the House is April and now awaiting action in the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.
Several sections of the bills would give hefty tax credits to manufacturers and purchasers of natural gas vehicles, but several others would provide huge tax credits to companies that build natural-gas stations - up to $100,000 per installation.
Guess what. Pickens is co-founder and a significant owner of Clean Energy Corp., the country's biggest builder and operator of natural gas filling stations.
I guess somebody benefits from most any legislation passed in Congress, but I'd be happier if Pickens had sat this one out and let a less-financially involved organization, perhaps one of the green groups, do the heavy lifting.
Instead, T. Boone stood next to Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who is co-sponsoring the bill, at the press conference when Menendez announced that the Senate measure had been introduced.
Despite all that, I still like the bill, which also would double the tax credits for purchasers of natural gas vehicles and extend the incentives for 10 years - through 2019.
Continue reading...
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- John O'Dell July 9, 2009, 2:04 PM
- Categories:
- Legislation, Natural Gas, Tax Incentives
- Technorati Tags:
- Natural Gas Incentives
, T. Boone Pickens
June 19, 2009
Is T. Boone Pickens on to something?
The oil billionaire-turned natural gas booster (and investor) has said time and again that there's lots of natural gas out there, plenty to power our cars, factories and power plants.
Now there's a new study by the nonprofit Potential Gas Committee that increases previous estimates of domestic natural gas supplied by a pretty staggering 35 percent.
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Excess natural gas from Barnett Shale deposits in Texas is burned away.
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The group, whose analyses of resources are closely watched by the government, energy companies and investors, said that the U.S. has 1,836 trillion cubic feet of "likely and potential" natural gas resources.
That's more than 500 trillion cubic feet more than estimated in 2007 and the highest estimated in the committee's 44-year-history, according to a report by the Energy & Environment news service.
Threat to Drinking Water?
Add the Energy Department's estimates of proved reserves and the total U.S. future supply of natural gas is 2,074 trillion cubic feet.
The increase comes largely because it has been determined that it is commercially viable to suck gas from major shale formations in Texas, Louisiana, Appalachia and the Rocky Mountains.
Nothing comes easy, though, in our highly politicized and environmentally conscious country: They're fighting in Congress over a technique called hydraulic fracturing that's used to break open the shale and release the gas.
Continue reading...
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- John O'Dell June 19, 2009, 3:06 AM
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- Natural Gas
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- Natural Gas Reserves
June 4, 2009
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Cancer is caused by hereditary and environmental factors. Little can be done about the former. But quite a lot can be done about the latter - and the American Trucking Association doesn't want to hear another word about it.
Just when the political climate seemed right for air-quality regulators and others to protect the millions of people who live downwind of America's seaports, the self-proclaimed "advocacy organization for the U.S. trucking industry" stepped forward and crushed that presumption with lawsuits.
At the heart of the conflict are old big rigs that haul goods from the seaports inland, spewing thousands of tons of carcinogenic diesel particulates annually as they go.
But the greatest concentration of their microscopic toxic emissions exists at the ports, where the trucks congregate, engines running, awaiting turns to load up and move out to destinations throughout California and beyond.
That their emissions contribute to abnormally high numbers of asthma, bronchitis and cancer victims in and around the ports is irrefutable. Studies have shown that like an atomic bomb detonated in a populated area, the casualty count is greatest at ground zero and decreases with distance from it.
For this reason, the state's air-quality regulators, port authorities, environmental groups and others have sought to reduce the amount of lethal emissions leaving tractor-trailers at the state's various seaports.
They had initial success last year with the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where for a time they were initially able to require trucking firms to use new cleaner-burning diesel trucks or trucks fueled with natural gas.
Authorities say the two ports spew more soot and smog than half a million cars, an oil refinery and a power plant combined. Port trucks produce 30 percent to 40 percent of that pollution, with the rest produced by ships and locomotives at the ports.
Then thanks to the truckers' advocacy group, lawyers entered the fray and cried foul. Ultimately, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the ATA's favor, calling the ports' requirement unconstitutional on the grounds that it interfered in interstate commerce.
The ATA claimed the ports' requirement placed a tremendous financial burden on trucking firms. Doesn't matter that the ports - the nation's busiest - offered to help with a $20,000-per-truck incentive for trucking operations that bought clean rigs.
Despite the ports' defeat in court, the Port of Oakland this week tried to pass an air-quality plan aimed at cleaning up one of the dirtiest industrial areas in the country.
The port's commissioners voted 3-2 for a truck management rule that would ban many old haulers and require others to retrofits to reduce diesel pollution. The tally was a vote shy of the four needed to clear the proposal.
Continue reading...
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- Scott Doggett June 4, 2009, 1:20 AM
- Categories:
- Courts, Diesel, Emissions, Legislation, Natural Gas
- Technorati Tags:
- American Trucking Association
, Cancer, Court, Diesel Exhaust, Diesel Trucks, Emissions, Legislation, Natural Gas Trucks
May 28, 2009
Most Americans likely expect the price of gasoline to one day reach the record highs we saw last summer. The question is not so much will the price soar again, but rather when will it.
According to the Energy Information Administration's 2009 outlook report released today, oil prices will return to $110 per barrel in 2015 and could go up to $200 per barrel in 2030, depending on supply
You'll recall that the nationwide price for a gallon of regular unleaded topped $4 when the barrel price of oil reached $147. But with taxes on gasoline expected to rise, the per-gallon price of gasoline will likely be significantly higher than $4 when the barrel price of oil revisits $147.
World energy consumption - the driving force behind higher gasoline prices - is forecast to increase by 44 percent from 2006 to 2030, the report says, with almost two-thirds of that coming from developing countries and fossil fuels that continue to dominate energy supply.
Developing countries are projected to increase demand by 73 percent by 2030 in the outlook's base reference case - EIA's analysis under current laws and policies - whereas developed countries will grow by 15 percent, the report says.
Liquids, including biofuels, will reportedly continue to be the primary energy source in the world's transportation sector unless there are "significant technological advances" and despite several policy changes.
Unconventional resources such as oil sands and biofuels will become increasingly competitive, accounting for about 13 percent of the world's liquid supply by 2030, according to the report.
The U.S. in particular will see an increase in biofuels, mostly in advanced cellulosic rather than corn-based ethanol, acting Administrator Howard Gruenspecht said at the report's release event in Washington.
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- Scott Doggett May 28, 2009, 9:21 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, China, Diesel, Energy Companies, Legislation, Natural Gas, Oil
- Technorati Tags:
- Biofuels
, Energy Information Administration, Gasoline Tax, Global Warming, Legislation, Oil Prices
May 12, 2009
Clean Energy Fuels Corp.
, the company founded and controlled by Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens,
has agreed to acquire Exterran Holdings
Inc.'s natural gas fueling station business. The deal includes natural gas fueling station operations and maintenance agreements covering approximately 25 million GGEs (gasoline gallon equivalents.)
Clean Energy provides CNG and LNG for fleet operators in the refuse, transit, ports, shuttle, taxi, trucking, airport and municipal sectors. It fuels more than 15,000 vehicles annually at 176 stations in the U.S. and Canada. It also owns two LNG production plants (in Willis, Texas and Boron, Calif.) with a combined capacity of 260,000 LNG gallons per day.
Exterran Holdings' customers include the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the country's largest clean air bus fleet, the Montgomery (Maryland) County Transit system, Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Boston. The sale must be approved by the transit agencies.
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- Greg Johnson May 12, 2009, 12:30 PM
- Categories:
- Mass Transit, Natural Gas
- Technorati Tags:
- Clean Energy Fuels Corp.
, Exterran Holdings Inc., Natural Gas, Transit Systems
May 11, 2009
The Los Angeles Harbor Commission has approved up to $44.2 million in funding that will be used to help increase the number of alternative fuel trucks operating at the Port of Los Angeles. The funding is part of the port's Clean Truck Incentive Program, which last year helped owners and operators bring 2,200 cleaner vehicles into service at the port.
The 2009 CTIP goal is to add 1,000 additional trucks that are powered by CNG, LNG or lithium-ion battery packs. The port hopes to bring 100 electric-powered trucks into service this year.
In 2012, the port will ban 2003 model year and older trucks from its terminals. The goal is to cut port-related pollution caused by diesel engines by more than 80 percent.
Truck operators can qualify for up to $80,000 in incentives for each LNG or CNG truck purchased. Port terminal operators and concessionaires also can qualify for up to 80 percent of the cost of each electric vehicle purchased for work at the port.
A qualifying LNG truck costs between $160,000 and $190,000. The electric trucks that qualify for incentives cost about $230,000, according to the port, which is now testing two all-electric vehicles at its terminals.
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- Greg Johnson May 11, 2009, 10:43 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Diesel, Natural Gas, Tax Incentives
- Technorati Tags:
- Balqon Corp. Port of Los Angeles
, Electric Trucks, pollution, Port of Long Beach, Trucks
May 8, 2009
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Is compressed natural gas catching on?
Could T. Boone Pickens -- the oil billionaire who has spent tens of millions of his own dollars promoting natural gas as a transportation fuel and alternative to gasoline -- be on to something?
(Yes, he owns a lot of natural gas and has a vested interest in selling it. That doesn't mean he can't be right.)
Will Honda end up having a last laugh as its limited-production CGN-burning Civic GX -the only factory-built compressed natural gas car still being made -- becomes the car du jour of the trendy set?
It's early days yet, but from the signs and portents department here's one CNG success story from the heart of Southern California that might hold a clue.
The City of Riverside, which owns and operates its own CNG fueling station to serve a municipal fleet of about 100 natural gas vehicles -- from trash trucks to a trio of pre-2005 Chevrolet Cavalier economy cars built by GM as bi-fuel vehicles (natural gas or gasoline) -- says business has boomed in the past year, ever since gasoline prices in the state rose to more than $4 per gallon last summer.
A lot of the additional CNG fuel being pumped at the station is for the city's increasingly large natural gas fleet as well as for the local school district's 41 CNG buses, a trash company's eight CNG refuse trucks and the natural gas vehicles for a number of other public agency fleets.
But fully a third of the nearly 70,000 gallons (actually, gasoline-gallon equivalents, which is how the pumps measure the gas) pumped monthly now is purchased by private customers.
They range from taxi owners to everyday commuters who use CNG vehicles in order to save money on fuel and, in many cases, gain access the region's carpool lanes, which permit single-occupant CNG cars under a state initiative promoting use of the very low-emissions fuel.
Overall, CNG sales at the city's single station are up about 60 percent from 2007 and 16 percent from a year ago, according to figures provided by the city's fleet operations office.
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- John O'Dell May 8, 2009, 3:00 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Natural Gas
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, CNG, Compressed Natural Gas
May 1, 2009
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Honda Motor Co., which pushed financially strapped natural-gas pump manufacturer FuelMaker Corp.
into receivership last month, has found a buyer to keep customers for its natural gas-powered Civic GX supplied with home fueling systems.
The deal could do more than that, however.
The buyer, Southern California-based Fuel Systems Solutions Inc., also owns a major manufacturer of systems for converting gasoline vehicles to natural gas and is one of the biggest players in the European CNG vehicles market with plans to expand into the U.S.
Owning a fueling systems manufacturer opens the door to cross-marketing opportunities that could help it grow its business.
Fuel systems said this morning that it has agreed to acquire FuelMaker's assets and intellectual property through a European subsidiary.
Honda, FuelMaker's controlling shareholder and longtime business partner, said in a statement that it expects Fuel Systems to continue manufacturing and selling home-based natural gas refueling systems such as the Phill unit that many Honda Civic GX owners (including Edmunds.com) acquired when they bought their cars.
Warranty Protection
FuelMaker, based in Canada, manufactured and sold the Phill as well as a number of larger natural gas fuel stations for commercial applications.
About 14,000 FuelMaker compressed natural gas, or CNG, pumps are in use, mainly in the U.S., and Honda and Fuel Systems Solutions both said the sale, which still required bankruptcy court approval and is expected to close in the second quarter, would ensure continued warranty coverage and maintenance of the systems.
FuelMaker was pushed into bankruptcy liquidation early last month after the collapse of a deal to sell it to natural gas retail giant Clean Energy Fuels Corp.
The Phill pump has been a critical resource for Honda in marketing the Civic GX, which is rated as the greenest production car sold in the U.S. because of natural gas' super-clean emissions and low greenhouse gas content.
Gasoline Alternative
Honda had been selling only about 400 natural gas Civics a year - mainly to fleet customers.
But demand blossomed a bit last year as gasoline prices soared and retail customers in California and New York - the only two states where Honda dealers offer the Civic GX to retail buyers - discovered the car as an economical alternative to gasoline-burning vehicles.
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- John O'Dell May 1, 2009, 3:04 PM
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- Honda, Natural Gas
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- CGNG Fueling Systems
, CNG, Compressed Natural Gas, FuelMaker, FuelSystems Solutions, HondaCivic GX
April 21, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla - A pair of heavy hitters with big plans for alternative fuels kicked off the annnual Alternative Fuels and Vehicles conference here Monday, energy investor and former oilman T. Boone Pickens continuing his campaign to make natural gas the nation's fuel of choice and former Army general and 2004 Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark pushing for greater use of ethanol in gasoline blending.
Pickens' post-breakfast appearance was a repeat of his frequent calls for a much-needed federal energy policy
and for inclusion of natural gas, of which the U.S. has a fairly plentiful supply, as a preferred replacement for gasoline and diesel fuels.
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T. Boone Pickens delivered his dual plea for a national energy policy and increased use of natural gas to kick off annual Alternative Fuels and Vehicles conference.
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He's updated his message, however, with a call to quickly convert many of the nation's heavy duty over-the-road cargo trucks - 18-wheelers - to natural gas as a rapid way to shave billions of dollars from the amounts we're sending overseas to buy imported oil.
According to Pickens - who also is predicting that oil will rise to at east $75 a barrel by year's end I(which would likely result in gas prices hitting $3 - $3.25 a gallon) - says that each big rig burning compressed or liquid natural gas would have the same positive environmental impact as converting 325 passenger cars to the clean-burning fuel.
In a press conference before his talk, Pickens - who is heavily invested in natural gas - told reporters that he sees the fuel as the best bridge between the present petroleum-based tranpostation system and one 20 years from now that will be based on electric vehicles - either plug-in battery or hydrogen fuel-cell.
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- John O'Dell April 21, 2009, 3:00 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Ethanol, Legislation, Natural Gas
- Technorati Tags:
- Alternative Fuels & Vehicles
, Ethanol, Natural Gas, T. Boone Pickens, Wesley Clark
April 20, 2009
A lawnmower like this would rate right up there with a Hemi-powered Challenger or a full-blown Camaro as an object of lust and desire for the menfolk in a big swatch of the country - in states where lawns are measured in acres, not square feet as is the norm in Southern California, where we're from.
But whether a hefty commercial rider-mower, or a big-box home store's 21-inch push-it-yourself model, gasoline lawn mowers are not all that earth-friendly.
The EPA figures that, among other things, filling up gas mowers results in about 17 million (yup, million) gallons of fuel being spilled each year - almost 70 percent more spillage than the Exxon Valdez was responsible for - while a single gas mower is responsible for more annual air pollution than 43 new cars each driven 1,000 miles a month.
(Hear that, emissions regulators? Where's the lawnmower crackdown?)
So imagine our delight, and amazement, when we stumbled upon this baby Sunday afternoon at the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute's annual conference in Orlando, Fla.
It's not only big and beefy, it is green - eschewing gasoline for compressed natural gas carried in a pair of side-mounted, polished steel tanks.
There was no one in the booth, so we weren't able to cadge a test ride, but Indiana-based Dixie Chopper claims that in addition to being green, its Xcalibur Eco-Eagle commercial lawn cutter is the world's fastest mower by dint of its ability to execute zero-radius turns (fast in mowing is measured by the time it takes to trim a park or groom a golf course, not the mower's top speed in a straight line - the Xcalibur is rated at 9.2 acres an hour and we bet that means something to many of you.)
The CNG lawn mower, which has a 1-liter engine and cuts a 66-inch swath through a patch of grass - and looks like it could also topple brush and small trees - is the newest in Dixie Chopper's Xcalibur line (the company makes gasoline, diesel and propane models as well). It is getting its world debut at the Alt Fuels fest, which caters to an awful lot of government and commercial fleet operators and usually features trucks, buses and cars that run on stuff other than gasoline.
It's not cheap - no official price available yet but the other models in the line start at $11,700. But CNG costs a lot less than gasoline and runs a lot cleaner, so there are far fewer emissions and less engine maintenance to pay for - major ocnsideratins when you're a cash-strapped city parks department.
It looks like it would do our yard in about two passes.
Wonder how it would do in an eighth-mile against Edmunds' long-term natural gas Honda Civic GX?
NOTE (added April 21): We talked to the guys at the Dixie Chopper booth. The mower's top speed is 15 mph, so looks like the Civic would beat it.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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- John O'Dell April 20, 2009, 5:15 AM
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April 14, 2009
Low gasoline prices are a boon for recession-weary consumers who are struggling to make ends meet. But cheaper gasoline also can be a deal-killer when it comes to persuading motorists to pay a relative premium for hybrid cars, fuel-sipping diesels or vehicles with fuel-efficient but relatively expensive direct-injected, supercharged engines.
So green automotive technology buffs had best fasten their safety belts before reading the federal Energy Information Administration's annual "Short-Term Energy and Summer Fuels Outlook."
Domestic gasoline prices are forecast to stay relatively low during the summer months that typically are a high-demand season. The EIA forecast calls for regular-grade gasoline to peak at $2.30 per gallon, with the summer average falling to $2.23 per gallon. That would mark a dramatic drop from last summer's per-gallon average of $3.81.
Though motorists will continue to benefit from lower petroleum prices, the weak economy will continue to dampen demand. Gasoline consumption should grow by 1.0 percent to 9.1 million barrels per day, according to the EIA forecast, but that growth is measured against last summer's consumption, which was "low due to the high gas prices and hurricane-related distribution problems."
Flat Until Q3
EIA doesn't expect gasoline consumption to begin showing consistent year-over-year growth until the third quarter.
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- Greg Johnson April 14, 2009, 4:15 PM
- Categories:
- Diesel, Ethanol, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Natural Gas, Oil
- Technorati Tags:
- Ethanol
, Gasoline, Hybrid Sales, Oil Embargo, Oil Prices, OPEC
April 9, 2009
Add Nissan to the list of automakers (including Chongqing Changan Auto, BYD, Brilliance, Chery, Dongfeng and SAIC) that are intent upon plugging into the rough-and-tumble Chinese market for hybrid-electric and battery-electric cars.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Nissan is negotiating with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to create a pilot electric-vehicle program in Wuhan, a city in central China with nine million residents.
The deal is unusual, the Journal reports, because Beijing typically doesn't forge such partnerships with foreign companies. The newspaper reported that the deal, which calls for Nissan to contribute cars and help create a recharging network, could be completed as soon as Friday.
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- Greg Johnson April 9, 2009, 11:49 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, BYD, Chery, China, China, Dongfeng, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Chinese Hybrids
, Electric Vehicles, Legislation, Nissan
April 8, 2009
Don't count Phill out just yet. And the same goes for the Honda Civic GX.
American Honda Motor Co. today said that is still trying to negotiate a sale of FuelMaker Corp., the Toronto-based manufacturer of the Phill-branded natural gas home refueling units that some Civic GX owners use to fill their tanks.
Honda also said that it will keep marketing the GX, currently the only natural gas car being sold in the U.S.
Honda's announcement came several days after an online natural gas industry newsletter reported that FuelMaker had been placed into receivership and seemed to be headed into bankruptcy proceedings.
Honda confirmed that FuelMaker is, indeed, in receivership and that bankruptcy is a possibility.
But the Torrance, Calif.-based automaker also reported that it is in the "final stages" of negotiations with a potential buyer that shares its vision of making natural gas a "viable alternative fuel."
Honda declined to say much more about FuelMaker's fate, citing "the pending finalization of the legal matters involved."
Honda said that it will continue selling the Civic GX through select dealerships in California and New York. The car and the fueling system had become synonymous because Honda had been trying to couple the Phill-branded home refueling unit with the Civic GX as a marketing tool.
No word on whether Honda is again negotiating with Clean Energy, a company co-founded by Texas oilman and natural gas advocate T. Boone Pickens. In September 2008 we reported that Clean Energy had agreed to buy FuelMaker for $17 million. But that deal fell apart less than a month later.
Greg Johnson, Contributor
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- Greg Johnson April 8, 2009, 4:33 PM
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April 7, 2009
Has FuelMaker Corp.,
manufacturer of the Phill-branded home refueling unit that some Civic GX owners use to fill their natural gas tanks, been forced into bankruptcy?
And, if that's the case, what does the news mean for Honda Motor Co.'s natural gas vehicles program in North America?
Honda officials didn't immediately respond to a telephone request on Tuesday for confirmation that Toronto-based FuelMaker is being liquidated.
But NGV Global, an online newsletter published by the International Assn. for Natural Gas Vehicles, earlier today ran a story with this headline: "FuelMaker Declared Bankrupt - Honda Hands to Liquidator." NGV Global reported that FuelMaker "entered into receivership on 2nd April" and that the plan is to "liquidate all assets."
The newsletter also quoted John Lyon, identified as FuelMaker's former president and CEO, as saying:
"FuelMaker management was aware that American Honda was trying to sell its FuelMaker stock and intellectual property to a company that would provide the synergies necessary to move FM to the next step of efficiency and profitability. This was public knowledge. We were shocked to learn this week from a third party (not Honda) that Honda was planning to put FM into bankruptcy and sell the assets."
Last fall, Honda seemed close to brokering a sale of FuelMaker that would have kept Phill-branded home refueling units in the North American marketplace. (At the time, the company was co-owned by Honda and a private trust.)
In September 2008 we reported that Clean Energy, a company co-founded by Texas oilman and natural gas advocate T. Boone Pickins, wanted to buy FuelMaker for $17 million. But within weeks, the deal fell apart.
At the time, we reported that "Honda and FuelMaker were unable to complete their end of a purchase agreement with Clean Energy Fuels Corp." A Honda spokesman also said that the company still wanted to sell FuelMaker "to an appropriate buyer who wants to expand the CNG fueling infrastructure."
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- Greg Johnson April 7, 2009, 5:40 PM
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March 19, 2009
We've never been enamored of the California legislation that opened its carpool lanes to solo drivers of certain high fuel-economy hybrids and clean-burning natural gas vehicles.
(Not that our principled stand is enough to stop Green Car Advisor's senior editor from driving solo in the HOV lanes when he's in Edmunds.com's state-credentialed, natural-gas burning Honda Civic GX.)
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States with carpool lanes usually require vehicles to have two or more occupants, unless vehicle is a 45-mpg hybrid or a specially designated clean-air vehicle.
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So we were planning a modest celebration for New Year's Day in 2011 when the special dispensation was set to expire and carpool lanes were to be handed back to carpoolers. Something along the lines of a mass chuckle as solo greenies sadly rejoined drivers of fuel-guzzling sedans, sport utilities and pick-up trucks that never escaped the hoi polloi lanes.
Imagine our disappointment then upon learning that California Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D, Torrance) has introduced legislation to extend the HOV Lane special dispensation to 2016. His bill, AB 1500 could surface in a committee hearing as early as March 30.
We think it's a bad idea to breathe new life into a bad idea.
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- John O'Dell March 19, 2009, 7:00 AM
- Categories:
- Chevrolet, Green Vehicles, Honda, Hybrid, Natural Gas, Toyota
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March 11, 2009
AT&T says it plans to spend more than half a billion dollars over the next decade purchasing hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles for its corporate fleet.
More than half the 15,000 vehicles the communications giant intends to acquire would be Ford vans - 8,000 of them - that would be converted to compressed natural gas by a so-called "upfitter" that would install the new CNG fuel systems.
The sales would not require any production increase at Ford. "We can meet this demand within our current plans," a spokeswoman for the automaker said.
In all, Reuters news service reported, AT&T is budgeting $565 million on the project, aimed at making its fleet on of the greenest in corporate America.
Ford Motor Co., which would likely be the biggest financial beneficiary of the plan, said in a statement provided to Green Car Advisor today that it "is pleased to support AT&T with their Green Fleet strategy."
A spokeswoman Ford, which has seen sales plummet as the global economy continues to weaken, confirmed that the automaker would not build the CNG vehicles itself but would merely sell AT&T the full-size Econoline vans with 5.4-liter V8 engines prepared with special valves that are compatible with natural gas.
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- John O'Dell March 11, 2009, 1:42 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Ford, Hybrid, Natural Gas, Toyota
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- Alternative Fuels
, Compressed Natural Gas, Hybrids
February 23, 2009
Three days before Christmas, we joyously reported
that Idaho was looking to convert mountains of manure into natural gas for vehicles and homes.
Today, we're delighted to report that Hilarides Dairy of Lindsay, California, has gone a step farther: It's converted two of its diesel 18-wheelers to run on clean-burning biomethane made from the dairy's formidable stockpiles of cow crap.
In addition to curbing the amount of greenhouse gases that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere as the manure decomposed, by producing biomethane from cow waste the dairy is reducing the nation's dependence on foreign fossil fuels.
And the production will "give us some protection from volatile energy prices," said owner Ron Hilarides (pictured). Who'd have thunk so much good could come from cow patties.
The bio-gas making process begins with flushing manure from stalls housing 10,000 cows into a covered lagoon, where bacteria breaks it down. The resulting methane gas is then pumped to a refinery that removes carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and other impurities.
The purified methane is pressurized - made into compressed natural gas - before being pumped into the 18-wheelers, which are fitted with Cummins engines that have been converted from compression-ignited diesels to spark-ignited methane-burners.
The dairy generates 226,000 cubic feet of bio-gas per day - enough to slash the dairy's diesel consumption by 650 gallons a day, Hilarides said, adding that he intends to convert five pick-up trucks to run on biomethane.
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- Scott Doggett February 23, 2009, 12:01 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Diesel, Emissions, Methanol, Natural Gas, Tax Incentives
- Technorati Tags:
- Biofuel
, Biomethane, California Air Resources Board, Carbon Dioxide, Compressed Natural Gas, Fossil Fuels, Greenhouse Gases
February 10, 2009
China has taken steps in recent years to change its reputation as a mass polluter to an environmentally sensitive country.
Its efforts started with a massive Beijing clean-up operation for the Olympics, followed by a $175 billion countrywide clean-up and the closure of some particularly dirty coal power plants.
Soon the country will offer subsidies to the residents and businesses of 13 large cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, who purchase hybrid cars, trucks and buses, or vehicles that run on electricity, liquefied petroleum gas or compressed natural gas.
If the subsidy program succeeds, it might be extended to the rest of China.
Although the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid and the domestically produced and recently released BYD F3DM are available in China, fewer than a 1,000 hybrids cars were sold in 2008.
That number will likely change as China produces more hybrids, which are much less expensive than the Japanese hybrids. The size of the subsidies have yet to be announced.
So far, only two Chinese carmakers - Dongfeng Motor and Great Wall Motor (its Kunna EV is pictured) - have announced plans to make electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.
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- Scott Doggett February 10, 2009, 1:37 PM
- Categories:
- BYD, Chery, Dongfeng, Emissions, Great Wall, Honda, Hybrid, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives, Toyota
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- BYD F3DM
, China, Dongfeng Motor, Great Wall Motor, Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Prius
February 6, 2009
Company Says Time is Right to Begin Marketing Kits to Add Natural Gas Capability to Conventional Vehicles
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
A California-based company that has played a major role in popularizing bi-fuel cars and tucks in Europe and Latin America is bringing its technology home.
IMPCO Technologies, manufacturer of a bi-fuel conversion system that can enable cars to run on natural gas or propane as well as gasoline, plans to announce this morning that it is establishing a new U.S. automotive division to take advantage of what it sees as a growth market for technologies that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on petroleum.
The company's Automotive Alternative Fuels Division initially will concentrate of the fleet market with conversion kits for popular domestic pickup trucks and vans, said Tim Standke, IMPCO's director of automotive operations. The company also will show a converted Chevrolet Impala sedan - a popular government fleet car - at its press conference today.
IMPCO - a subsidiary of Fuel Systems Solutions - could expand its product line into the general passenger vehicle market if demand is there, Standke told Green Car Advisor in an interview earlier this week.
"Our goal is to open up to all markets," he said. "We want to be there, to be ready, when gas prices go up and the demand for alternative fuels grows."
The company already manufactures conversion kits for a wide variety of passenger cars sold in Europe and South America, including vehicles from Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.
The big drawback to a widespread introduction in the U.S. passenger vehicle market is the cost of testing and certification, Standke said.
It costs about $50,000 to perform the tests needed to obtain federal Environmental Protection Agency certification for a kit for a specific model, he said, and almost $500,000 per model to gain certification from the California Air Resources Board, which requires far more testing than the EPA.
CARB certification is a necessity if the company wants to be able to sell its product in states that use California emissions rules rather than federal standards - the list includes many of the country's most populous states.
The company's system (left)
consists of a separate fuel injector rail, a control valve, fuel filter, new fuel lines for the under-the-hood portion of the system, pressure and temperature sensors and an injector control module that works with the vehicle's original engine control computer to permit seamless switching from gasoline to natural gas or propane.
Customers also must purchase pressurized fuel tanks and tank-to-engine bay fuel lines, typically from a licensed IMPCO installer.
The entire system, which is added to the vehicle in parallel with the existing gasoline fuel system, can run from $7,000 to $8,000, with the cost of the fuel tanks and pressurized fuel lines representing more than half the price.
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- John O'Dell February 6, 2009, 5:00 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Flex-Fuel, Ford, General Motors, Natural Gas
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- Alternative Fuels
, Bi Fuel Conversion Systems, CNG, IMPCO
February 3, 2009
Mercedes-Benz says it's thinking of selling in the United States a B-class four-door hatchback fueled by compressed natural gas, very similar to the European 2009 B-class model shown here.
Mercedes, part of Daimler AG, plans to display a CNG - or rather NGT, for natural gas technology - B-class model this week at the Washington Auto Show.
Natural gas, once was considered a promising alternative fuel, has fallen out of favor in the light-duty segment even though it tends to be cheaper than gasoline and releases 20 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Regardless, Honda still sells the Civic GX, which runs on CNG.
Mercedes offers a B-class CNG vehicle can run on both natural gas and premium grade gasoline while delivering an identical maximum output of 116 horsepower. Five CNG gas tanks provide a natural gas range of 186 miles. With the gasoline tank, the vehicle has a total range between refueling of 620 miles.
The driver selects which fuel to use with the touch of a button in the steering wheel. An electronic control unit carries out the switch instantaneously without any jolts. Fuel economy tends to run about 32 miles per gallon combined.
The vehicle's four-cylinder engine has been modified by Mercedes-Benz to include additional gas injectors on the underside of the intake manifold. A close-coupled pressure governor with an electromagnetic shut-off valve regulates the supply of natural gas and keeps the pressure within the system constant.
We hope Mercedes will provide additional details during the auto show, which runs February 4 through 8.
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- Scott Doggett February 3, 2009, 3:42 PM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Natural Gas
- Technorati Tags:
- B-Class
, CNG, Compressed Natural Gas, Honda GX, Mercedes-Benz
GM Gets Three Models on 'Greenest' List and Tops 'Meanest' Ranking With Hummer H2
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
In an anticlimactic repeat, Honda's natural-gas burning Civic GX topped the annual "greenest vehicles" of the year listing being published this morning by the non-profit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
It is the 12th year the Washington-based environmental and economic lobbying group has published its Green Book Online, which ranks passenger cars and light trucks for overall environmental impact.
Although the list for the 2009 model year contained no big surprises, it was marked by the reappearance of General Motors Corp., with trio of small cars among the dozen "greenest" vehicles in the market - the Chevrolet Cobalt compact and its Pontiac G5 twin placed eighth overall and the Chevrolet Aveo subcompact finished10th.
The GM cars, which were rated highly for their fuel economy, knocked Ford's Focus off the "greenest" list after its appearance there last year as the only domestic car in the top twelve.
The Ford didn't get a lower score - but the average scores in the top 12 were higher this year than last.
Evolution, Not Revolution
Generally, the 2009 list was marked by continued improvements in the fuel economy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions of scores of vehicles rather than by stellar performances from just one or two models.
Manufacturers are fine-tuning their engines and transmissions, improving materials, and adding emission control technologies, said ACEEE transportation program director Therese Langer.
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- John O'Dell February 3, 2009, 5:00 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Chevrolet, Daimler, Diesel, Emissions, Flex-Fuel, Ford, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Green Vehicles, Honda, Hummer, Hybrid, Lamborghini, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Natural Gas, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Pontiac, Smart, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen
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- ACEEE Green Book Online
, American Council For An Energy Efficient Economy, Fuel economy, Green Car Rankings
January 10, 2009
Toyota's concept electric vehicle is a light-duty runabout based on Japanese-market iQ commuter car.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
The battery-electric city car concept Toyota Motor Corp. will unveil Sunday afternoon in Detroit at the North American International Auto Show is confirmation, the automaker said today, of Toyota's intent to begin selling an urban EV by 2010.
In a pre-show statement, Toyota's chief US spokesman also said the automaker, undaunted by the present collapse of auto sales around the globe, intends in the next few years to :
- intensify the launch of conventional hybrid models;
- push development of plug-in hybrids that can run solely on electric power for extended periods, and ;
- use concepts like the city EV to expand its alternative vehicles efforts beyond the hybrid technology it has helped perfect.
Toyota's hybrid push begins Sunday with the 2010 Prius and 2010 Lexus HS250h hybrids being unveiled during the auto show's opening media day.
iQ With Batteries
The EV concept, which hasn't been seen until now, is expected to generate as much buzz as the new hybrids, however.
Photos released today (top, right and below)
show the Toyota electric car, the FT-EV Concept, as a tiny two-seater based on the popular Toyota iQ urban commuter car launched last year in Japan.
Toyota says the FT-EV concept is an attempt to examine a car that would fit the needs and lifestyle of an urban dweller who drives no more than 50 miles a day and uses public transit for longer trips.
"Last summer's $4-a-gallon gasoline was no anomaly, it was a brief glimpse of our future" Toyota spokesman Irv Miller said in a statement released with the photos.
"We must address the inevitability of peak oil [the point at which global production begins to decline] by developing vehicles powered by alternatives to liquid-oil fuel, as well as new concepts, like the iQ, that are lighter in weight and smaller in size," said Miller, group vice president for environmental and public affairs at Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.
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- John O'Dell January 10, 2009, 12:00 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Batteries, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Lexus, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
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- Detroit Auto Show
, Hybrids, Toyota Electric Car, Toyota EV Cncept, Toyota's Alternative Vehicles
December 22, 2008
Idaho energy czar Paul Kjellander is hoping to capitalize on more than just the milk emerging from the state's cows.
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Steaming mounds of manure like these warm the heart of at least one Boise bureaucrat.
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The self-proclaimed "gem state" contains mountains of manure that the head of Idaho's Office of Energy Resources would like to see refined into natural gas for home and vehicular use.
To that end Kjellander is promoting a package of income tax credits, property tax waivers and other incentives in the state Legislature to transform Idaho's southern heartland into a methane Mecca.
The state of Washington already offers sales-tax exemptions for dairies that install "digesters" that convert methane -- the second-worst greenhouse gas behind carbon dioxide -- from cow manure into electricity.
Kjellander and others are also promoting the burning of cow patties to generate electricity for the state's power grid, which could of course supply power for zero-emission electric vehicles.
Agriculture accounts for a third of U.S. methane released into the atmosphere. Other sources include landfills, coal mines and oil refineries, and consideration is being given to put methane from them to good use.
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- Scott Doggett December 22, 2008, 1:52 PM
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- Emissions, Fuel Economy, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
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, Electric Vehicle, Greenhouse Gas, Idaho, Zero Emission
December 11, 2008
By John O'Dell and Scott Doggett
Steven Chu, President-elect Barack Obama's choice to head the Energy Department, has been a strong advocate of alternative fuels and a vociferous opponent of fossil fuels -- foreign oil in particular -- for years.
Most recently, the scientific interests of the 60-year-old Nobel laureate and director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have centered on energy and finding ways to replace fossil fuels with other energy sources such as biofuels from plants.
But Chu seems to be at odds with Obama on the role of corn-based ethanol in America's future. The domestic ethanol industry had a huge friend in Obama for most of the past year, while Chu has never been a friend to corn-ethanol producers.
On a segment on PBS' The News Hour last year, Chu said "corn, at best, is a transition crop, but very quickly we want to transition away from corn to a grass that requires far less land for the amount of fuel, far less fertilizer, far less water."
Chu sees tremendous promise in other biofuels, particularly biofuels that would propel automobiles. In an interview with an Australian radio personality last year, he said transportation fuel is the most valuable form of energy we have -- even when that fuel is electricity.
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- Scott Doggett December 11, 2008, 3:27 PM
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, Biofuel, Department of Energy, Energy Department, Ethanol, Hybrid, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Steven Chu
The World Car of the Year organization has announced the initial slate of candidates for 2009 World Green Car of the Year.
Launched three years ago, the title has been awarded in the past to the BMW 118d (2008), the Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec (2007) and the Honda Civic Hybrid (2006).
The 2009 candidates must be new and on sale by December 31.
The list includes the Audi Q7 3.0 TDI (pictured), BMW 335d BluePerformance, Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon hybrids, Citroen C1, Fiat Palio Weekend Electric, Fiat Siena Tetrafuel model, Honda FCX Clarity. Go to Edmunds.com's Inside Line to view more candidates.
The organization includes working automotive journalists from around the globe, including regular Inside Line contributors Matt Davis, Hormazd Sorabjee, Peter Nunn and Peter Lyon.
The top 10 finalists will be announced in January, with the winner revealed in April at the 2009 New York Auto Show.
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- Scott Doggett December 11, 2008, 1:33 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Audi, Auto Shows, BMW, Chevrolet, Citroen, Diesel, Emissions, Fiat, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Mercedes-Benz, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
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, BMW 335d BluePerformance, Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, Citroen C1, Fiat Palio Weekend Electric, Fiat Siena Tetrafuel, GMC Yukon Hybrid, Honda FCX Clarity., World Green Car of the Year
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Chemists at the University of Liverpool have reportedly developed a way of converting methane gas into a powder form, effectively creating methane hydrates (pictured), in order to make it more transportable.
The material, made from a mixture of silica and water, can soak up large quantities of methane (natural gas) molecules. It looks and acts like a fine white powder, which the chemists say might be used to power clean vehicles, according to a statement issued by the university.
Andy Cooper, a chemistry professor at the university, said that due to its gaseous state at room temperature, methane is difficult to transport from its source.
"Many natural gas reserves are geographically remote and can only be extracted via pipelines, so there is a need to look for other ways to transport the gas," he said in the statement. As a result, methane gas hydrate could be used as a way of containing methane gas for transportation from the source to market.
The disadvantage of methane gas hydrate for industry use is that it is formed at a very slow rate when methane reacts with water under pressure, he said.
"To counteract these difficulties, we used a method to break water up into tiny droplets to increase the surface area in contact with the gas," Cooper said. The chemists did this by mixing water with a special form of silica that stops the water droplets from coalescing.
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- Scott Doggett December 11, 2008, 11:08 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Energy Companies, Natural Gas
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, Methane, Methane Hydrates, Natural Gas, University of Liverpool
December 9, 2008
It was a veritable green Christmas at the nation's largest port complex Tuesday as Daimler Trucks North America delivered 232 new natural-gas fueled tractors to be used in the Clean Truck Programs
at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
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Natural-gas trucks such as this Sterling model from Daimler are beginning to replace diesel trucks at nation's busiest port complex.
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California Cartage, a privately owned trucking company that specializes in short-haul trucking from the ports, took delivery of 132 of the liquid natural gas tractors from Daimler's Sterling Truck Co. subsidiary. The trucks will be leased to the company's contract drivers.
An additional 100 trucks were delivered directly to the port operating authorities to be leased by carriers and independent owner-operators who do business with the ports and want to upgrade their fleets with the clean-burning LNG trucks.
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- John O'Dell December 9, 2008, 1:16 PM
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- Daimler, Emissions, Fuels & Technologies, Natural Gas
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, Daimler LNG Trucks, Natural Gas Trucks, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles
December 3, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama has quietly abandoned a proposal to slap oil and natural gas companies with a new windfall profits tax.
The revelation came after a small-business group in Northern California discovered the proposal had been dropped from the incoming administration's Web site.
"President-elect Obama announced the policy during the campaign because oil prices were above $80 per barrel," a transition aide said, according to an article in Monday's Houston Chronicle. "They are below that now and expected to stay below that."
The price of crude has fallen $100 per barrel since its record close of $145.29 on the New York Mercantile Exchange on July 3, translating to lower prices at the pump.
On the campaign trail, Obama repeatedly called for the use of the proceeds from the proposed new tax to give American consumers an "emergency energy rebate" worth up to $500 per individual or $1,000 per married couple.
The transition aide reportedly said the energy rebate plan was included in a middle class "rescue plan," which called for a permanent tax cut of $500 for a worker or $1,000 for a family, which the president-elect released in mid-October.
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- Scott Doggett December 3, 2008, 3:59 PM
- Categories:
- Energy Companies, Fuel Economy, Natural Gas, Oil
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- American Petroleum Institute
, Barack Obama, Natural Gas, Oil Company, Windfall Tax
December 1, 2008
In Troy, Michigan, engineers are reportedly tweaking what they believe to be the public transit vehicle of the future: a super-lightweight hybrid bus.
The GTB-40 (right) is made of a high-strength steel that will last longer than most bus frames. Its builder, Fisher Coachworks, says the chassis allows it to zip along with half the weight of its peers.
And, its hybrid-electric engine not only consumes less fuel, but also stores electric energy whenever a driver hits the brakes.
The result is a bus that gets 10 miles per gallon--if you convert its battery power to diesel equivalents, that is.
But the average diesel bus--the dominant vehicle in public transit--gets just over 3 miles to the gallon, so the new mpg number has city transit agencies taking note, the subscription news service ClimateWire reported today. Battered by fuel prices and hoping to spruce up their environmental records, they are buying more and more hybrid buses to run everyday routes.
Compared to the tens of thousands of diesel buses already in service, the hybrids are few. In most places, they haven't graduated from pilot projects. But they're at the front of a trend that's been building since early this decade. In 1995, according to the American Public Transportation Association, only 6 percent of buses ran on anything other than straight diesel or gasoline. In 2007, that number had risen to 22 percent, ClimateWire reported.
"They're all prototypes. None are really final in the sense that they're out on the road in any type of mass," Lurae Stuart, an alternative-fuels analyst with the American Public Transportation Association, told ClimateWire. "But that's still a rapid change for a technology."
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- Scott Doggett December 1, 2008, 7:22 AM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Biofuels, Diesel, Fisher Coachworks, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Mass Transit, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives
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- Biodiesel
, Energy Department, Fisher Coachworks, Fuel Cell, Fuel Saving, Natural Gas, plug-in hybrid, Public Transit, Tax Incentives
November 26, 2008
An Arizona startup that grew out of an auto shop specializing in natural gas vehicle repair said it has received federal EPA certification for a kit that converts the 2008 Chevrolet Impala from gasoline to cleaner, cheaper compressed natural gas.
Prices to convert the car -- kit plus labor -- should run from $11,500 to $13,000, said John Mitton, managing partner of Phoenix-based Natural Drive LLC.
The system works on the LS, LT and LTZ "civilian" models and the 9C1 and 9C3 police models and on both the 3.5-liter and 3.9-liter V6 engines.
The conversion system for the '08 Impala is available through a network of independent installers in states where it meets applicable emissions equipment rules. That rules out California and 10 other states that use California's emissions standards and require such equipment to be certified by the California Air Resources Board as well as the EPA.
Mitton said he expects to have CARB certification for the 2009 Impala conversion system, but not until about the middle of next year. It can cost up to $250,000 to pay for the various test procedures that must be done to obtain the state's stamp of approval, he said.
The system, which includes high-pressure fuel tanks, fuel lines and fuel injectors as well as a reprogrammed powertrain control module, is aimed primarily at government and private business fleet operators but also is available to individuals who can foot the bill.
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A 2008 Chevrolet Impala converted to run on natural gas displays a CNG logo.
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It qualifies for a $2,500 federal income tax credit, which helps cut the total cost, and various states also offer incentives (click here for a list) for CNG conversions: Oklahoma and Colorado are at the top of the list, providing a state income tax credit of half the total cost.
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- John O'Dell November 26, 2008, 3:00 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Chevrolet, Natural Gas, Tax Incentives
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- CNG
, CNG Impala, Impala Natural Gas Conversion, Natural Gas Impala
November 24, 2008
California's first large-scale liquefied natural gas plant opened for business today. Its operator is hoping to profit by supplying LNG fuel to a new generation of long-haul trucks which use the clean-burning fuel to satisfy state and local demands to slash diesel-based air pollution on major freight corridors running out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The plant, located 125 miles east of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert community of Boron, is owned by Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a natural gas supply firm co-founded by Texas oil billionaire-turned clean energy proponent T. Boone Pickens.
It presently can produce up to 160,000 gallons of LNG per day and has the potential to liquefy 240,000 gallons a day if demand increases.
The facility takes natural gas from a major pipeline and liquefies it for fuel. It includes a 1.5-million-gallon storage tank that will serve as a major regional source of LNG.
Clean Energy plans to use fuel from the Mojave plant at LNG truck stops it is building in the area serving the two big L.A.-area ports, the nation's busiest ocean freight facilities.
A clean truck program for the ports calls for up to 8,000 new LNG trucks, and as many clean diesel trucks, to move goods in and out of the docks.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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- John O'Dell November 24, 2008, 4:22 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Natural Gas
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November 19, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
CNG hasn't caught on with automakers - Honda's the only company presently selling a natural gas car - but Toyota thinks things could change and wants to be ready if they do.
Thus was born the CNG-electric Camry Hybrid Concept (right) being unveiled today at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Toyota actually spilled the beans two months ago when it announced that it would show the concept car at the LA event, which opens to the public Friday and runs through Nov. 30.
But the company is providing a few previously withheld technical details with today's official unveiling.
The numbers
Under its hood, the CNG Hybrid Camry carries a 2.4-liter, 4-cylinder engine and Toyota's patented "hybrid synergy drive" electric powerplant and drive system. The whole thing has a combined power output equal to 170 horsepower
Toyota says the concept would get almost the same EPA mileage rating as the conventional gasoline-electric Camry Hybrid, coming in at 32 miles per gallon in the city cycle, 34 mpg on the highway and 33 mpg overall, versus 33 mpg city, 34 highway and 34 overall for the regular hybrid model.
In testimony to the fuel saving prowess of a hybrid system, the non-hybrid Honda Civic GX natural gas car is EPA-rated at 28 mpg overall, 15 percent less than the larger and heavier Camry CNG Hybrid.
The Camry CNG Hybrid Concept started with a standard Camry Hybrid then stripped off its gasoline fuel storage and delivery system and replaced it with a system suitable for compressed natural gas.
That included a pair of 4-gallon cylindrical fuel tanks installed in the car's spare tire well (right)
, and special fuel lines, injectors and engine control software to handle the pressurized gas (it usually is delivered at 3,600 psi).
Because it is a show car, the vehicle's exterior also got some attention, including a custom front fascia and front bumper cover that eliminates the grill opening, and a custom rear bumper that conceals the tail pipe and otherwise visible part of the exhaust system.
The CNG hybrid concept is shod with 19" Bridgestone run-flat tires - to make up for loss of the spare tire - and the car was lowered and its sides emblazoned "Compressed Natural Gas Hybrid" graphics.
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- John O'Dell November 19, 2008, 8:00 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Fuels & Technologies, Honda, Hybrid, Natural Gas, Toyota
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, Los Angeles Auto Show, Toyota Camry CNG Hybrid
November 17, 2008
Four children in Utah were hospitalized last week after inhaling natural gas inside a Chevrolet Suburban, police reported.
The incident occurred in Orem on Nov. 11 while the children's father refueled the Suburban, a gasoline-powered vehicle that he converted to run on compressed natural gas.
The father had done much of the conversion work himself and the CNG fuel tank, which was improperly installed inside the SUV's passenger compartment, had apparently leaked, police said.
Natural gas is not poisonous, but it does displace normal air, including oxygen necessary for human survival. The children were taken to a hospital and released after a short stay.
Do-it-yourself CNG conversions are very popular in Utah, where demand for the gaseous fossil fuel is the cheapest in the country at less than 90 cents per gasoline gallon equivalent.
By an odd confluence of public policy and private initiative, Utah has become the first state in the country to experience broad consumer interest in the idea of running cars on natural gas.
State government controls the price of natural gas in Utah, and private industry has created an fairly decent infrastructure of CNG fueling stations throuhgout the state.
Questar Gas, the public utility, estimates the number of CNG vehicles on Utah roads at 6,000 and growing by several hundred a month.
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- Scott Doggett November 17, 2008, 12:10 PM
- Categories:
- Chevrolet, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Natural Gas
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, CNG, Compressed Natural Gas, Utah
Fueling Alternatives, California's alternative fuel vehicle rebate program, has added the 2009 Honda Civic GX compressed natural gas car to its list of vehicles
that are eligible for a $3,000 rebate under the state-funded program.
The 2009 model joins the 2007 and 2008 Civic GX, as well as the BAF conversions for the 2007 Ford Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town Car and Mercury Grand Marquis, as eligible for $3,000 rebates.
Eleven other models are eligible for smaller rebates and two models--the 2008 Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen-powered fuel-cell sedan and the all-electric 2008 Tesla Roadster--are eligible for $5,000 rebates.
Additionally, the 2009 Civic GX might qualify for a $4,000 federal new-energy tax credit. The 2005-2008 Civic GX models meet the Internal Revenue Service criteria for that tax credit, but the IRS has not yet extended the tax credit to the 2009 model.
The Civic GX is fueled by compressed natural gas for nearly zero emissions. It is fuel-economy rated for 24 miles per gallon equivalent in the city and 36 mpg equivalent on the highway by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The vehicle's suggested starting price is $25,090.
More information about the Civic GX can be found at Edmund's Inside Line Website, where Green Car Advisor Senior Editor John O'Dell has been reviewing a 2007 model on a regular basis for many months, and at Honda's Website for the U.S.
Fueling Alternatives is funded by the California Air Resources Board and administered by the California Center for Sustainable Energy. A total of $1.8 million was appropriated and directed toward vehicle incentive rebates to promote the use and production of alternative fuel vehicles.
Rebates of up to $5,000 are available for California residents who purchase or lease new eligible alternative-fuel vehicles between May 24, 2007, and March 31, 2009, or until funding runs out. For more information, go to Fueling Alternatives' Website.
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- Scott Doggett November 17, 2008, 7:46 AM
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, 2008 Tesla Roadster, 2009 Honda Civic GX, Alternative Fuel, California Air Resources Board, California Center for Sustainable Energy, Compressed Natural Gas, Emissions, Environmental Protection Agency, Ford Crown Victoria, Fuel Economy, Fueling Alternatives, Internal Revenue Service, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis
November 7, 2008
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
For years, members of Congress have been saying we needed to have more aggressive fuel-economy standards. And for years--32 to be precise--Detroit's automakers have lobbied aggressively to prevent that from happening.
The person the car companies have routinely turned to to fight their battles in Washington is Democratic Representative John Dingell of Michigan (right), the longest serving current member of the House and second-longest serving member in our nation's history.
For more than half a century, Dingell has fought virtually every regulation the automakers have opposed, from seatbelts and airbags to tailpipe emissions and fuel-efficiency standards. His position as chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has given him enormous influence over such matters.
For nearly as long as Dingell has been in office, critics have charged that elected officials such as him are far too beholden to large corporate interests to regulate them in a socially responsible manner.
One of those critics is Democratic Representative Henry Waxman of California, who has been as strong advocate of fuel-efficiency standards and legislation curbing greenhouse-gas emissions. And this week Waxman stated his intentions to replace Dingell as chairman of the Commerce Committee in a power play the chairmen of the Detroit 3 can only dread.
On Wednesday, Waxman (left) released the following statement:
"When the new Congress starts in January, we will face unprecedented opportunities and challenges. The public expects Congress and President-elect Obama to work together to find solutions to the nation's most pressing problems. But the issues we will confront are immensely difficult. We will need the very best leadership in Congress and our committees to succeed.
"That is why after long thought I have decided to seek the chairmanship of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Some of the most important challenges we face--energy, climate change, and health care--are under the jurisdiction of the Commerce Committee. In large measure, our success as Congress will depend on how the Commerce Committee performs.
"Enacting comprehensive energy, climate, and health care reform will not be easy. But my record shows that I have the skill and ability to build consensus and deliver legislation that improves the lives of all Americans."
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- Scott Doggett November 7, 2008, 4:37 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Chrysler, Diesel, Emissions, Ethanol, Ford, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hybrid, Legislation, Natural Gas, Oil, Plug-ins and Electric
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- CAFE
, California Waiver Denial, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Greenhouse Gas, Henry Waxman, John Dingell
November 5, 2008
Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the company founded and controlled through majority stock interest by Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, issued a press release today following the defeat
of a California ballot measure that would have resulted in rebates for natural-gas-powered vehicles at great taxpayers' expense
.
Here is the press release in its entirety:
California voters yesterday turned down Proposition 10. Named The California Renewable Energy and Clean Alternative Fuels Initiative, the measure was a $5-billion, first-in-the-nation public investment to provide funds for a wide variety of clean energy projects across the state, including consumer incentives for clean alternative vehicle fuels and the construction of renewable energy generation facilities, such as solar and wind power plants.
"Everyone talks about reducing the use of imported oil, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and cleaning the air through the use of alternative energy resources, and California's voters considered supporting these critical goals in a meaningful way," said Andrew J. Littlefair, President and CEO, Clean Energy. "The passage of Prop 10 would have provided an important funding mechanism to rapidly turn these goals into a reality throughout the state.
"We supported the initiative, and while Prop 10 may have served as a catalyst to accelerate our growth, its failure does not reduce our opportunities. We believe our core business is strong and pledge to continue to help California and the nation meet our critical goals of reducing imported oil while increasing the use of clean, alternative energy for the health and welfare of all our citizens," Littlefair noted.
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- Scott Doggett November 5, 2008, 10:31 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Coal, Diesel, Emissions, Energy Companies, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Natural Gas, Oil
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- California
, Clean Energy Fuels Corp., Natural Gas, Proposition 10, Renewable Energy and Clean Alternative Fuels, T. Boone Pickens
Perhaps with all the talk we've been hearing lately pitting the middle class against the upper class -- the 95 percent against the 5 percent -- a ballot initiative bankrolled by a Texas billionaire didn't have a snowball's chance in Houston Tuesday.
Or perhaps all the recent talk of the economy taking a flying leap into Great Depression Land got voters to focus on the bottom line, which in this case said: "Fiscal Impact: State cost of about $10 billion over 30 years to repay bonds."
Whatever it was, millions of Californians went to the polls Tuesday and an overwhelming majority of them voted no on a statewide ballot initiative that would have benefited very few of them while throwing a tremendous amount of money behind an automotive fuel that isn't particularly green and would have made T. Boone Pickens even more filthy rich than the 80-year-old oil tycoon already is.
With 85.2 percent of the precincts reporting at the time this was typed, 60.2 percent of the voters voted against Proposition 10 while 39.8 percent in favor of it.
This lopsided defeat occurred despite the fact that Pickens and others -- all with very deep pockets who stood to gain handsomely had the natural-gas initiative passed -- spent at least $23 million backing it, in large part with television commercials that flooded living rooms throughout the state in recent weeks.
Conversely, Prop 10's opposition, cleverly named the No On Prop 10 campaign, raised so little money that it wasn't able to pay for a single TV commercial. The No people were outspent 179.9 dollars to 1. And still they prevailed?!
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- Scott Doggett November 5, 2008, 2:40 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Energy Companies, Fuel Economy, Legislation, Natural Gas, Opinion
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- Alternative Fuel
, California Ballot, Natural Gas, Proposition 10, T. Boone Pickens
November 2, 2008
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
You can't always get what you want, but if you've got a big pot of money and a sweet-sounding environmental pitch, chances are you can get a proposition on a state ballot. In California, anyway.
And if there's enough money left in the pot to pay for volleys of TV ads after you've paid the people who gathered the signatures needed to put the proposition on the ballot, odds are it will become state law. In California, anyway.
And, because California is such a trendsetting state, if your proposition becomes law there, it stands a good chance of becoming law in other states as well.
Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens knows this. It's why the Texas billionaire is bankrolling a proposition -- one that ostensibly would advance renewable energy and alternative fuels -- on California's November 4 general election ballot.
In truth, what it advances most is Picken's fortune -- while costing the state's taxpayers $10 billion.
To give you an idea of how little California can afford Pickens' proposition, consider that officials in Sacramento are expected to announce this coming week that the state's budget deficit has reached at least $10 billion.
The budget crisis is why Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson last month informing him that "California may need to turn to the Federal Treasury for short-term financing." A bailout, in other words.
At a time when the locomotive that drives America's economic train can least afford it, Pickens' initiative would nearly double California's deficit.
And despite the crushing cost the proposition would levy on all of the state's taxpayers, the ballot measure would benefit very few while throwing a tremendous amount of money behind an automotive fuel that isn't very green compared to other alternative fuels that could benefit from that kind of spending.
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- Scott Doggett November 2, 2008, 10:46 AM
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, 2009 Honda Civic GX, Alternative Fuel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, California General Election, Carbon Dioxide, Climate Change, Diesel, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Fuel Efficiency, Greenhouse Gas, Natural Gas, Oil, Poll, Proposition 10, Solar Energy, Survey, T. Boone Pickens, Tax Incentives, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Wind Energy
October 24, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
In yet another example of why it is foolish to install the roof before the walls are up, a government report finds that while federal agencies are meeting a mandate to buy and lease mostly flex-fuel vehicles these days, they rarely put anything but gasoline in the tanks.
That, of course, defeats the concept of using alternative fuels to boost our energy security - something you'd think federal agencies would be concerned about.
The problem is that alt fuel availability is pretty limited except in the midwest corn belt, where most of the nation's ethanol pumps are grouped.
Nationally, there are about 117,000 conventional gas stations but only 5,731 private and public alternative fuel stations.
That stunningly small total, compiled by the Energy Department, includes stations dispensing one or more of the various alt fuels: bio-diesel, compressed natural gas, electricity, ethanol, hydrogen, liquid natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, which accounts for 2,141 stations, or 37 percent of the total.
While Detroit loves to make flex-fuel vehicles - automakers get extra credits for them than help them meet federal fuel economy requirements even though the cars and trucks aren't being used to help lower petroleum consumption - fuel companies are loathe to spend the money to install alt fueling pumps.
Additionally, ethanol, the most common alternative fuel after LPG, is corrosive and must be shipped by tanker truck, so moving it from the refineries to areas with large populations of flex-fuel vehicles gets to be an uneconomical proposition.
Limited availability of non-petroleum fuels means that it is not likely that government agencies can comply with mandates to boost alt-fuels use and reduce petroleum-based fuel use over the next several years, the Government Accountability Agency said in its just-released report.
The GAO complained that while agencies made sure they met the mandate that 75 percent of their new-vehicle fleets be flex-fuel compatible by the end of fiscal 2007, many - including the Energy Department, which ought to have known better - never ensured that the vehicles used alternative fuels.
Investigators said 2006 data indicate that the agencies primarily relied on gasoline, and that while they failed to file reports for 2007, there was no reason to believe things have changed.
The watchdog agency also said it found "persistent data problems" that made it doubt the accuracy of government agency reports showing that about half have achieved the goal of using 10 percent more alternative fuel than in 2006 while two-third have achieved the goal of lowering gasoline and diesel usage by 2 percent.
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- John O'Dell October 24, 2008, 3:01 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Alternative Fuel
, Flex Fuel Vehicles
October 21, 2008
An unusual alliance of energy tycoons and environmentalists is trying, with limited success, to persuade skeptical Americans to start running their cars on compressed natural gas instead of gasoline.
But in many developing countries, the switch is already on, driven by the volatile price of gasoline, the accessibility of natural gas, hefty consumer subsidies and concern about the environment, The Wall Street Journal reported today (subscription required).
Besides the small tanks, drivers complain of poor acceleration in CNG vehicles. There still aren't enough fueling stations set up to sell natural gas, so many users wait in line for 45 minutes or more to fill their tank.
In Thailand, drivers have converted or purchased more than 40,000 natural-gas-burning cars and trucks in the past six months, the Journal reported. Local energy officials say they expect the number of natural-gas cars, which in many cases are able to run on gasoline as well as natural gas, to nearly triple by 2012 to 330,000.
Natural-gas-powered cars are among the hottest sellers in Bangkok, where long queues of drivers line up to buy the alternative fuel every day. Kanika Kamdee, a 50-year-old psychology professor, paid $1,795 last year to modify her Nissan sedan so that it could use relatively clean-burning natural gas.
The lower price for natural gas at the pump here has meant "big savings" in her monthly fuel bill, the Journal reported. She paid just $3.05 to fill her tank one recent afternoon -- enough fuel to travel 93 miles.
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- Scott Doggett October 21, 2008, 8:31 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, China, Emissions, Energy Companies, Fuel Economy, Natural Gas
- Technorati Tags:
- Alternative Fuel
, Clean Burning, CNG, Compressed Natural Gas, Savings, Thailand
October 16, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Looks like Honda Motor Co. will hang onto its controlling interest in natural gas refueling pump manufacturer FuelMaker Corp.
Honda and FuelMaker were unable to complete their end of a purchase agreement with Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a natural gas fuel company co-founded by oil billionaire-turned-CNG-booster T. Boone Pickens, and the deal was terminated Wednesday.
Clean Energy, based in Southern California, had agreed last month to pay $17 million to purchase Toronto-based FuelMaker from Honda and the private trust that owns the minority interest in the Canadian company.
At the time, Clean Energy said it wanted Fuel Maker to take advantage of the growing demand for less-expensive alternatives to gasoline and diesel fuel by aggressively marketing the company's home- and business-based natural gas pumps.
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- John O'Dell October 16, 2008, 12:24 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Honda, Natural Gas
- Technorati Tags:
- Clean Energy
, CNG, Fuel Maker, Honda
October 10, 2008
By
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Honda Motor Co. has begun shifting production of its 4-door Civic from its East Liberty, Ohio, plant to its new assembly facility (right)
in Greensburg, Indiana.
That's of interest because one of the models in the 4-door line is the natural gas powered Honda Civic GX
, and there have been a few reports circulating that the move will disrupt supplies of the very green GX at a time the limited-production car is in high demand.
The GX is made in batches throughout the year and it probably is true that the move will delay a batch or two - we say "probably" because while a spokesman for Honda's sales and marketing unit in California says that's so, the always-secretive carmaker's manufacturing spokesman in Ohio won't discuss production scheduling.
But we are assured by Honda that even if the regular flow of the natural gas vehicles to the 114 Honda dealers authorized to sell them is momentarily interrupted, the total output for the 2009 model year won't be affected.
It's a bit of a tempest in a teapot, as Honda only plans to make 2,000 GX models for the year - but it's important to the growing number of consumers who see in the car a reasonable alternative to a gasoline-burner that is cleaner and can save them money.
Natural gas has about 30 percent less carbon content that gasoline and about 95 percent fewer smog-causing emissions. Natural gas also is cheaper (for now at least) than gasoline -- by $2 a gallon or more with at-home fuel systems that compress and pump natural gas from the residential supply.
The 2,000 GX models for the 2009 model year, by the way, is up from 1,000 GXs in the '08 model year - and Honda says it is considering doubling production again, to as many as 4,000 vehicles in 2010, if demand is still there.
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- John O'Dell October 10, 2008, 5:47 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Honda, Natural Gas
- Technorati Tags:
- Honda Civic Factory
, Honda Civic GX, Honda Moves Civic Production
October 7, 2008
The American Gas Assn. is warning that natural gas for home heating may jump by 10-30 percent this winter, but don't blame the transportation sector.
While there is a big push on to popularize compressed natural gas as an alternative to gasoline, it began long after the summertime price hikes that are expected to impact home heating costs, the association said at a press conference today in Washington.
Higher natural gas consumption last winter, and increased use of the fuel to generate electricity to power air conditioners during the long hot summer are the major culprits, said Chris McGill, the trade group's managing director for policy analysis.
Companies that supply natural gas in the winter had to purchase it for storage this summer, at record high prices. Gas futures almost doubled, from $7 per million BTU in January to $14 per million in June. (BTU is the abbreviation for British Thermal Units, a measurement of the heat value of natural gas: One cubic foot of natural gas contains about 1030 BTU).
McGill said that the slumping economy, regional weather patterns and consumer conservation could help keep a lid on winter gas prices.
Nationally, natural gas demand averages about 60 billion cubic feet per day, but last winter peak demand ranged from 70 to 100 billion cubic feet, the association said.
Congress has approved $5.1 billion in federal aid for household heating assistance this year, double last year's aid package.
While use of natural gas as a transportation fuel isn't being blamed this year, it's impact on the availability - and cost - of natural gas for electrical generation and home heating is yet another wrinkle to consider as we hunt for ralternative fuels.
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- John O'Dell October 7, 2008, 4:05 AM
- Categories:
- Natural Gas
- Technorati Tags:
- Alternative Fuel
, Natural Gas
September 29, 2008
AltCar Expo 2008 closed its doors Saturday evening, ending from what by all accounts was another successful effort to showcase alternative transporation or fuels technologies to mainstream consumers.
We brought you a couple of pre-event reports and now are taking advantage of the goods nature of one of our colleagues, Edmunds New Product Manager Dori Merifield, to bring us a wrap-up report from the eyes - and pen - of one of those interested consumers.
Dori is an member of Edmund's corporate Green Team, helping to make sure the company is an environmentally responsible corporate citizen, and is an active environmental advocate in her own right.
She spent much of Saturday at AltCar, listening to the various symposia, examining displays and vehicles and talking to expo-goers and exhibitors about the event and the products.
Here's her report:
Thousands of people visited AltCar Expo over the weekend, many hoping to find an efficient but viable alternative to their present cars and trucks.
The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was filled with vehicles large and small that ran on a variety of alternative fuels - electricity, natural gas, hydrogen, biodiesel and even compressed air.
AltCar visitor examines Hybrid Technologies' Mini Cooper EV conversion.
There were also lots of conversion companies on hand hoping to persuade people of the wisdom of converting existing cars to a plug-in electric vehicles.
At one symposium, UC Davis Professor Andy Frank - father of the plug-in - explained why using electric cars to help reduce our oil consumption is so important: "Oil production is going to peak this year or next - after that supply will decrease and the cost will only increase."
Peter Ward, of the California Energy Commission staff, said the bigger problem is that 38 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in California come from transportation (a lot of that is from buses, delivery trucks and other commercial vehicles) and that the state is the third largest consumer of gasoline in the world.
Frank believes the solution is to convert existing cars to alternative energy.
Most cars on the road aren't new, he said, "so if only 10 percent of new cars are hybrid or electric, we're only replacing 1% of all the cars on the road each year. We simply don't have 50 years to make this change."
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- John O'Dell September 29, 2008, 1:49 PM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Green Vehicles, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, MINI, Miles, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
September 24, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Portland, Or. - Usually when a carmaker invites a bunch of journalists to a seminar, they get wined and dined and stuffed with all sorts of fun facts about how well the company's doing and what great new products it is working on.
Toyota turned things upside down this week with a day-long session it called the Toyota Sustainable Mobility Seminar.
We were wined and dined, but only after listening to a parade of top scientists and researchers tell us, in unsparing detail, how the planet is running out of oil and water; how the biofuels we look to as potential replacements for oil aren't worth the power and water it takes to make 'em, and how we now are consuming 40 percent more resources each year than the planet can sustain.
It was not, as you can tell, a particularly spirit-lifting session.
Bill Reinert, Toyota's North American advanced technology vehicles manager, took to the podium after the morning's sessions, held out his left wrist and, with a downward slashing motion of his right hand told us that after hearing all that had just been said he wanted us to know that the proper way to slit it was vertically, not horizontally.
Highlights - or low lights - included:
From Scripps Institute (San Diego) hydrologist Tim Barnett the cheery news that there's a 50 percent probability that the American West, where much of the next few decades' population growth will be centered, is likely to run out of water in the next 20-40 years.
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- John O'Dell September 24, 2008, 5:00 AM
- Categories:
- Biofuels, Chevrolet, Ethanol, Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz, Natural Gas, Toyota, Volkswagen
- Technorati Tags:
- Peak Oil
, Toyota Sustainable Mobility Seminar
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
PORTLAND, Or. - In a move that could give a big boost to proponents of natural gas as an automotive fuel, hybrid car leader Toyota Motor Corp. says it will show off a "concept" CNG Camry Hybrid at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.
Bill Reinert, Toyota's North American advanced technology vehicles manager, said the automaker hasn't decided to put the car into production and wants to use its showing at the heavily visited LA show to gather consumer feedback on the idea of a hybrid that used compressed national gas to power its internal combustion engine.
For consumers where CNG is available - there are only 1,000 pumps nationwide and half aren't open to the public - the idea has merit.
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2009 Camry Hybrid uses gasoline enging, electric motgor. Is a natural gas-electric version soon to follow?
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CNG delivers the same fuel economy as gasoline and is considerably less expensive.
It also is far cleaner-burning that gasoline, with fewer smog-causing emissions and less carbon dioxide.
For Toyota, and other automakers, use of CNG helps overcome growing concerns about the impacts on their businesses of global oil depletion and the drive for U.S. energy independence.
The announcement was made Tuesday in Portland during a day-long Toyota Sustainable Mobility Conference at which one keynote speaker pointed out that of all the alternative fuels on the table today, natural gas is perhaps the easiest to put into widespread use, and also is the most plentiful.
"It lasts a lot longer than crude oil," noted oil industry consultant Peter Wells said of the global supply of natural gas.
Toyota's concept marries its Hybrid Synergy Drive system to a CNG-fueled four-cylinder engine that likely would be modified for high compression to optimize natural gas' high octane level.
It would be the only CNG-electric hybrid on the road if put into production, and only one of two factory-built CNG vehicles.
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- John O'Dell September 24, 2008, 3:00 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Chevrolet, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Honda, Hybrid, Natural Gas, Toyota
- Technorati Tags:
- Toyota Natural Gas Camry Hybrid
September 23, 2008
Unlike most of the vehicles there, it won't be running, but a production model of General Motors Corp.'s Volt series hybrid car (left)
will be on hand for viewing at AltCar Expo 2008
this weekend in Santa Monica, Calif.
The two-day event, now in its third year, is one of the nation's premier showcases for alternatives to the conventional gasoline-burning automobile.
Organizers say more than 100 vehicles - cars, trucks, scooters and 'cycles with natural gas, battery-electric, hydrogen fuel-cell electric, compressed air, biodiesel, flex-fuel and hybrid propulsion systems - will be on hand, several available for test drives.
The expo, to be held Friday and Saturday at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, drew more than 10,000 attendees last year.
In addition to the vehicle displays, the event features numerous displays by alternative energy providers and proponents; a series of seminars addressing climate change and transportation and energy trends and featuring panelists from government, industry and advocacy groups.
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- John O'Dell September 23, 2008, 3:02 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Audi, Auto Shows, BMW, Biofuels, Diesel, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Motorcycles, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- AltCar Expo 2008
, Alternative Fuel, Santa Monica Alternative Car Expo
September 22, 2008
Hard on the heels of energy billionaire T. Boone Pickins' $58 million push
for adoption of natural gas as the nation's preferred alternative to gasoline, the ethanol industry is planning its own lobbying campaign.
Renewable Fuels Association, the ethanol industry trade group, plans to debut pair of television ads this week aimed at including the plant-based alcohol fuel in the national debate on energy security.
Greenwire, a subscription-only environmental issues news service, reports that the ethanol group has filmed separate 30-second ads and purchased time on cable news channels in the Washington and New York City markets.
The decision to mount the campaign was made after a recent study by the international management consulting firm Accenture suggested that neither consumers nor politicians in the U.S. are sold on the fuel.
That's largely because ethanol today is made from corn (and, in Brazil and many other tropical countries, from sugar cane) and there is widespread belief that increased production of the fuel has driven corn prices -and the prices of many foods based on corn and other grains - through the roof.
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- John O'Dell September 22, 2008, 10:11 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Diesel, Ethanol, Natural Gas
- Technorati Tags:
- Alternative Fuel
, Ethanol, Natural Gas
September 12, 2008
Some blogs are reporting today that the U.S. government is now offering tax incentives for five diesel models, three from Mercedes-Benz and two from Volkswagen.
We brought you that information weeks ago, when it had just come out of the oven, so to speak.
But in case you missed it, here it is again, in a wrap-up of all the fuel-efficient vehicles that are now eligible for U.S. tax credits.
Just click on the charts below for easily readable charts of what's available.
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- Scott Doggett September 12, 2008, 12:26 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Daimler, Diesel, Emissions, Ford, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Legislation, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Natural Gas, Saturn, Toyota, Volkswagen
September 11, 2008
Hardly a day goes by without a webinar or video round table on one alternative fuel or another.
Natural gas, especially, is getting a lot of play, particularly after receivng a big push from oilman turned wind power and natgas prophet T. Boone Pickins.
Critics point out, though, that it is a fossil fuel closely tied to oil drilling and exploration and, although more plentiful than oil, is still a finite resource. They also point out that Pickins stands to make a bundle from increased use of natural gas.
Additionally, the natural gas industry says government incentives will be needed to bring CNG and LNG vehicles into the mainstream, and despite a lot of campaign rhetoric, Congress hasn't been all that freewheeling with tax incentives for alt energy.
E&E TV's OnPoint, produced by the Washington-based Energy and Environment news organization, sat down this week with Richard Kolodziej (above), president of NGVAmerica, the national trade organization for the natural-gas vehicle industry, to get his take on the future of the fuel and the vehicles that use it.
In the interview (click here for the 14-minute video), Kolodziej discusses existing supply and price questions, argues for expanding offshore oil and gas drilling while continuing to support alternatives and outlines the policies and incentives the industry says are needed to accelerate natural gas vehicles into the mainstream.
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- John O'Dell September 11, 2008, 11:49 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Natural Gas, Tax Incentives
- Technorati Tags:
- Natural Gas Vehicles Association
, NGVAmerica, Richard Kolodziej
September 9, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
As has been noted here and in our longterm vehicles blog, Edmunds' 2007 Honda Civic GX doesn't generate a lot of news. It's a competent daily commuter with carpool lane access and relatively cheap fuel that is plentiful in some places (ie: Utah, Southern California, parts of Oklahoma) and hard to find in others.
But as a leading player in the alternative fuels arena, Honda's natural gas car it ought to help generate discussion about energy resources.
As we approach a pivotal presidential election (correction - they're all pivotal, this one is going to be a real game-changer in terms of the directions we're heading on many fronts), we need to start talking about oil and gasoline prices and availability versus energy security.
Do we simply want to make more oil available so it and the fuels derived from it are cheaper - "drill, baby, drill," as those suited cheerleaders at the GOP convention were shouting last week - or do we want to figure out ways to free ourselves from oil's tyranny?
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- John O'Dell September 9, 2008, 3:00 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Honda, Natural Gas, Oil, Opinion
- Technorati Tags:
- 2007 Honda Civic GX
, Alternative Fuel, Energy Security, Natural Gas Fuel
September 8, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Natural gas fuel giant Clean Energy Fuels Corp. said today it will spend $17 million to buy Toronto-based FuelMaker Corp. manufacturer of compressed natural gas pumps for commercial and home use.
FuelMaker is partly owned by American Honda Motor Corp., which has tried to couple the company's Phill-brand home refueling unit with its Civic GX as a marketing tool to help generate interest in the alternative fuel car.
Clean Energy, co-founded by Texas oilman and natural gas advocate T. Boone Pickins, said its purchase agreement with Honda and the Fuel Marker Trust calls for the all-cash deal to be completed within 25 days.
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- John O'Dell September 8, 2008, 5:24 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Natural Gas
- Technorati Tags:
- Clean Energy Acquires Fuel Maker
, Compressed Natural Gas
August 11, 2008
Large-SUV segment: Could reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated?
The run-up in gas prices from April through June spooked American car buyers into a manic rush to find the most fuel-efficient vehicles they could and to dump their gas guzzlers.
So new-car buyers nearly abandoned the large-SUV and pickup-truck segments, grew lukewarm about crossovers even compared with the first quarter, sought out small cars, pushed OEMs' subcompact-car manufacturing capacity to the max, and completely sucked up supplies of Prius and of some other hybrids. All the while, overall sales tanked.
So automakers made some of the most precipitous and significant decisions ever about production cutbacks and segment reallocations. Each of Detroit's Big Three and even Toyota moved quickly and massively to slash pickup and SUV production and goose small-car output as much as they could.
But the latest Edmunds.com data indicate that the industry may well have rushed into these moves too soon, perhaps overreacting -- along with the news media and other entities -- to how American consumers plainly were responding to skyrocketing gasoline prices.
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- Scott Doggett August 11, 2008, 7:15 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- CAFE
, Edmunds.com, Fuel Economy, Fuel Efficiency, Hybrid, Mileage
July 16, 2008
While most automakers have shifted production to focus on smaller vehicles, nearly 70 percent of consumers want the companies to invest more in existing and emerging powertrain technologies, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Alternative Powertrain Study released today.
Now in its third year, the Alternative Powertrain Study examines the reasons why consumers consider or avoid alternative powertrain vehicles, such as gas-electric hybrid, flex fuel and clean diesel models.
The study includes the Automotive Environmental Index, which rates the 2008-model-year vehicles on the basis of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data to fuel economy and greenhouse-gas emissions, as well as expert input from J.D. Power & Associates.
The study found that more than 80 percent of the 4,000 consumers polled believe the U.S. is currently facing an energy crisis. Only 18 percent of these respondents believe the issue can be addressed by building small, fuel-efficient vehicle.
Thirty percent believe automakers should continue to produce a comparable vehicle lineup with a focus on gas-electric hybrid, clean diesel and flexible-fuel vehicles, while another 39 percent believe carmakers should focus on developing fuel cell and all-electric vehicles.
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- Scott Doggett July 16, 2008, 3:32 PM
- Categories:
- Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Emissions, Ethanol, Fiat, Flex-Fuel, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, MINI, Mitsubishi, Natural Gas, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Pontiac, Smart, Solar, Toyota
July 7, 2008
The same day a World Bank report identifies biofuels as the principal cause
of the global food crisis, the Bush administration announces creation of a Web site that Americans can use to locate biofuel service stations.
"Need to know where to buy E85 or other alternative fuels?" today's announcement asks. "The U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center now has an online station locator. Just specify which kind of fuel you want, then enter your address and the locator will map out the closest stations that sell that fuel."
It's been reported that the World Bank withheld publicizing its findings to avoid embarrassing President Bush. The World Bank's determination that biofuels are responsible for the food crisis that threatens the lives of 100 million people contradicts the U.S. government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3 percent to food price rises.
The White House must be delighted that Bush isn't the only Western leader with egg on his face today. The president's good friend, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, sparked outrage after it was disclosed today that he and other world leaders enjoyed a six-course lunch followed by an eight-course dinner at the G8 summit, where the global food crisis tops the agenda.
The prime minister was served 24 different dishes during his first day at the summit -- just hours after urging the world to reduce the "unnecessary demand" for food and calling on British families to cut back on their wasteful use of food.
For the low-down on that scandal, take a look at an article in today's edition of the British newspaper Telegraph.
Scott Doggett, Contributor
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- Scott Doggett July 7, 2008, 2:17 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Emissions, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen, Natural Gas
June 24, 2008
Congress is vowing to take actions that it believes will reverse runaway crude and gasoline prices. Oil rose above $136 a barrel on Monday – more than double what it cost a year ago – and gas hovered around $4.07 a gallon nationwide.
Lawmakers have introduced nine different bills on speculation, not to mention many more that tackle other causes of escalating fuel and oil prices. Several of the speculation measures have bipartisan support...
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- Scott Doggett June 24, 2008, 7:46 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Courts, Diesel, Emissions, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives
May 19, 2008
Underscoring its newfound commitment to electric cars, Nissan Motor Co. said today that the joint-venture company it formed with NEC Corp. and NEC Tokin Corp. last month would invest $115 million over three years to make lithium-ion batteries starting next year for use in next-generation green vehicles.
Batteries that are long-lived, fast-charging, lightweight, powerful, reliable, cheap, safe and easy on the environment continue to elude automakers worldwide. As we reported recently, they represent the missing piece in the otherwise complete electric-drivetrain puzzle.
Car and battery manufacturers generally believe that the solution will come in the form of advanced lithium-ion batteries.
Automotive Energy Supply Corp., the three-way joint venture announced last month, would initially have capacity to build 13,000 units a year at a planned factory in Kanagawa, near Tokyo, first supplying batteries for forklifts in 2009.
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- Scott Doggett May 19, 2008, 3:40 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric
May 16, 2008
United Parcel Service has ordered 200 hybrid electric trucks and 300 compressed natural gas vehicles from Daimler as it seeks to make its delivery fleet more fuel-efficient.
Daimler said the order represents the largest ever placed for "green" commercial vehicles. Retail value of the trucks has been estimated at $50 million.The chassis will be supplied by Daimler's Freightllner subsidary, the hybrid systems by Eaton Corp.
In addition to helping UPS "green" its fleet and cut its fuel bills, use of the trucks throughout the U.S...
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- John O'Dell May 16, 2008, 3:05 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Daimler, Hybrid, Natural Gas
May 13, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
LAS VEGAS, Nevada --Energy gazillionaire T. Boone Pickens has been singing a variation of the same song for several years now, but it's a tune worthy of repeat play: The planet, says a man who made billions in petroleum exploration and ought to know his stuff, is using more oil than it produces, the situation isn't going to improve and nobody's doing much of anything about it.
"America is in a hell of a bad spot," he said in a presentation Tuesday at the Alternative Fuels & Vehicles annual conference here.
Without a radical reduction in the nation's appetite for imported crude, which now accounts for 72 percent of our total daily consumption, "we are going to be reduced to something less than the superpower we are now."
For Pickens, who has become one of the country's biggest backers of wind energy and of natural gas as a transportation fuel, the cure is painful but necessary.
We must cut back on the use of oil for automotive fuels and shepherd in a rapid and widespread adoption of domestically produced alternative fuels, he said,
Pickens, who left the oil exploration business in 1996 to set up his BP Capital Management investment company and, it turned out, to become one of the nation's biggest alternative energy boosters, has big holdings in natural gas and, not coincidentally, believes it to be the best interim solution on the transportation side of things.
"Everything" from propane to biofuels will have a place in the effort to reduce oil consumption, he said, but available supplies of domestically produced natural gas are the largest "alternative" energy source around and, if used entirely for transportation fuel, could reduce oil imports by 38 percent.
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- John O'Dell May 13, 2008, 2:16 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Diesel, Natural Gas
Gorton Vallely stands with his company's prototype battery-electric, medium-duty truck at Alternative Fuel Vehicles show.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada --The Detroit Auto Show this year had a herd of diesel concepts, a few hybrids and a host of muscle cars, typical fare these days for a mainstream auto show.
Absent was much of anything to do about other "today" alternatives to gasoline, leading people who are concerned about the auto, the energy sector and the environment to wonder what the automakers are up to and why they aren't moving faster to throw off the yolk of demon oil.
Can't answer that question. If I could I'd be out making millions as a highly paid consultant and seer instead of sitting in front of my computer in a 'Vegas hotel room overlooking the scenic roof of the power plant that keeps the casino chilled.
But I can suggest that for every innovation we don't see coming from our mass market automakers there's a small business out there somewhere hoping to offer up a solution.
Many of them are serving the fleet business – the trucking, bus and taxi companies that buy lots of relatively expensive equipment, are subject to strenuous emissions regulation in most states and bleed profits every time the price of gasoline or diesel goes up even a penny a gallon.
Walk around the showroom floor at the annual Alternative Fuel Vehicles national conference here this week and you see that can do spirit everywhere.
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- John O'Dell May 13, 2008, 3:06 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Diesel, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
April 17, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
I just grin these days when friends and neighbors complain about the price of gasoline -- which is running around $3.71 a gallon in our part of Southern Californnia.
Fuel for my daily driver -- the natural gas Honda Civic GX in Edmunds' longterm fleet -- averaged just $2.53 a gallon last month, and I'm expecting it to fall below $2 a gallon for April. That'll be a savings of nearly 50% and will put $100 or more back in my pocket each month.
My secret weapon is the Phill home CNG pump that does an overnight replacement of the half-tank of fuel I use on my daily 116-mile commute tank overnight (it takes 19 hours or more to fill a a completely empty eight-gallon tank).
Using the Phill means I pay for my natural gas at the same rate Southern California Gas Co...
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- John O'Dell April 17, 2008, 12:48 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Natural Gas
April 9, 2008
Nearly 1.8 million alternative-fuel cars were sold in the United States during the 2007 model year, about 250,000 more than the previous model year, according to figures gathered by the automotive information and marketing company R.L. Polk & Co. and released by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
The sales tally included 1,670,933 E-85-capable flex-fuel vehicles, 375,506 diesel-powered and 347,847 hybrids that use gas engines and electric motors. Honda Motor Co. also sold about 1,000 Civic models modified to run on compressed natural gas -- the only factory-built CNG cars in the market.
Sales of E-85-capable vehicles more than doubled from the 823,726 sold during the 2006 model year, while sales of hybrid vehicles increased 37 percent from the 253,081 hybrids sold during the 2006 model year. Sales of diesel vehicles actually fell 21 percent from the 475,203 sold during the previous model year, due to the discontinuation of some models.
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- John O'Dell April 9, 2008, 1:10 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Flex-Fuel, Hybrid, Natural Gas
March 21, 2008
We don't write about it much here on the Green Car Advisor site, but Edmunds has a 2007 Honda Civic GX in its long-erm fleet and we do most of the driving -- it's not hot-rod enough for most of the crew.
One of the benefits is that it comes with a single occupancy carpool lane sticker, and with a 116-mile daily round trip commute on crowded Southern California freeways, that's worth a lot.
Another is that fuel is relatively cheap -- especially as we've just installed a Phill home CNG unit in our garage and can fill the tank with compressed natural gas while we sleep.
Won't bother you with all the details here -- you can jump over to the Civic GX long-term blog on Edmunds Inside Line for all the details -- but we've found that using the Phill has really boosted the car's perceived fuel economy...
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- John O'Dell March 21, 2008, 2:40 PM
- Categories:
- Honda, Natural Gas
Auto X-Prize entries will include mainstream vehicles and fanciful concepts.
By Robert E. Calem, ContributorNew York --The Automotive X Prize competition, an effort to do for the green car what the original
X Prize did for private space flight, was officially launched Thursday at the New York International Auto Show, where sample vehicles were displayed by four of the more than 60 teams from nine countries that will be vying for shares of a $10 million bounty.
The prize money was put up by Progressive Insurance, which has become the main sponsor in return for a name change: the competition is now the
Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize.
Additionally, the federal Department of Energy plans to provide a $3.5 million grant to fund a national education program organized around the competition in order to “inspire youth and the general public about the alternative vehicle and fuel options of the near future,” the X Prize Foundation announced.
Inspiring EntrepreneursThe contest, developed over the past two and a half years by the non-profit foundation, has the lofty goal of inspiring entrepreneurs to develop a new generation of commercially viable automobiles with low emissions and fuel economy equivalent to 100 miles per gallon.
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- John O'Dell March 21, 2008, 4:03 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Biofuels, Diesel, Emissions, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Transportation Alternatives
March 18, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior EditorCalifornia's clean air regulators are updating the state's controversial zero emissions vehicle, or ZEV, mandate and are holding a public hearing in Sacramento next week to hear comment on the proposed revisions.
In advance of that, the
Plug In America advocacy group today sent a lengthy letter to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, urging him to influence the panel to protect present rules calling for automakers to collectively build 25,000 zero emissions vehicles for sale in the state between 2012 and 2014 and 50,000 between 2015 and 2017.
One of the proposed changes would cut the number of ZEVs to just 2,500 in the first stage of the build-up and to 25,000 in the second stage.
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- John O'Dell March 18, 2008, 1:58 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Natural Gas, Solar
March 12, 2008
Honda Motor Co.'s new subcompact hybrid, scheduled to launch in 2009, should come to the U.S. with a cost premium of less than $2,000 according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
That's about half the premium Honda charges for its gas-electric Civic Hybrid to account for the cost of the hybrid electric system.
The new small car – Honda has refused to provide a more detailed description – will be smaller than the Civic but still could serve as a family vehicle, insiders say.
Honda isn't planning on a radical change in its hybrid system to accommodate the reduced cost. It will be able to lop $2,000 or more off the cost of the system because of the economies of scale the company intends to achieve by selling at least 200,000 of the new small hybrid worldwide each year.
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- John O'Dell March 12, 2008, 12:35 PM
- Categories:
- Diesel, Honda, Hybrid, Natural Gas
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- Paris
March 10, 2008
Ah, Monday.
Another week of commuting begins, and with it, more concern about what the price of gasoline is doing to the family budget.
Which brings up this thought: What if you could do a whole year's worth of commuting on a couple gallons of gas?
A team of students from a French technology school accomplished the equivalent (in theory) when they achieved an amazing 7,148 miles per gallon driving their ultralight, ultra-streamlined wondercar around the 1.94-mile banked circuit at Rockingham Motor Speedway outside of London during the Royal Dutch Shell-sponsored 2007 Eco-Marathon last July.
We say "in theory" because Team Microjoule, entered in the "prototype" category, didn't burn anywhere near a gallon of gas -- the car's fuel tank held only 1.01 ounces of fuel and the mileage was extrapolated from the gas used during 7 laps around the racecourse.
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- John O'Dell March 10, 2008, 10:30 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Solar, Transportation Alternatives
February 28, 2008
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
The governors of 19 western U.S. states and three Pacific island nations have agreed to work together to speed the development and use of alternative fuels, improve vehicle fuel economy and help reduce dependence on foreign petroleum.
A
resolution adopted by the
Western Governors' Association earlier this month incorporates recommendations contained in
a report developed at the request of the governors and with the assistance of energy experts.
The resolution calls for development of a regional framework for performance-based greenhouse gas standards for transportation fuels, such as a low-carbon fuel standard. The fuels and technologies include biodiesel, biofuels, coal-to-liquids, compressed natural gas, propane, electricity and hydrogen.
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- John O'Dell February 28, 2008, 5:40 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen, Natural Gas
VW Is stuffing a diesel-electric hybrid system into its Golf
--
the Rabbit here.
When the world's auto companies (most of 'em, anyhow) gather in Geneva next week to strut their stuff, much of the focus will be on fuel efficiency and carbon dioxide reduction.
The two go hand in glove, as CO
2
-- the principal greenhouse gas associated with global warming -- is released when gasoline, diesel and other hydrocarbon-based fuels are burned. The less fuel a vehicle consumes per mile traveled, the lower its carbon dioxide emissions (unless it is driven more because fuel costs drop due to better mileage, but that's a topic for another time).
So expect lots of diesels, with and without turbochargers, lots of ultra efficient small gasoline engines, usually turbocharged, and even a natural gas engine or two to be featured in the cars that will be unveiled.
Edmunds Inside Line
has prepared an exhaustive look at the cars being featured at the Geneva auto show, and
Edmunds AutoObserver
offers a look at the show and CO
2
issues.
Geneva also will offer a few hybrids, including one that has the Internet burning up: VW has confirmed that it will show what it calls a diesel-hybrid "study." We'd call it a concept and a number of European auto blogs including Britain's
Channel4.com
are calling it a done deal, sure to go into production soon. (Sorry, VW wasn't offering any pictures today, so we're just showing the standard Golf.)
The excitement is all about mileage. Loaded into the latest version of the VW Golf (that's a Rabbit in the U.S.), the power train is good for U.S. fuel economy of 69.9 miles per gallon – take that, Toyota.
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- John O'Dell February 28, 2008, 2:45 PM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Diesel, Hybrid, Natural Gas, Toyota, Volkswagen
February 19, 2008
It's not packed with sexy new technology like hybrid or fuel-cell cars, but its clean, low-carbon fuel and respectable fuel economy combined to earn Honda's 2008 Civic GX top place on a leading environmental guide's "greenest cars" list for the fifth consecutive year.
Honda's natural gas Civic GX is rated "greenest" car in U.S. for fifth year.
VW's Touareg diesel ranked "meanest" of more than 1,300 vehicles rated.
The four-wheel-drive version of Volkswagen's diesel-burning V10 Touareg SUV placed dead last on the lengthy list, behind such gas guzzlers as the Bugatti Veyron, Lamborghini Murcielago and the 6.0-liter Hummer H2.
In taking the top spot the GX, fueled by compressed natural gas, once again beat out the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrids.
The rankings are contained in the Washington, D.C.-based the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy's 11the annual
Green Book
. The online guide to environmental rankings for every 2008 model car and passenger truck sold in the U.S. was released this morning by the ACEEE.
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- John O'Dell February 19, 2008, 1:05 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Diesel, Emissions, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas
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- Paris
February 15, 2008
NGV sticker on the rear flank tells world the Honda Givic GX uses natural gas.It's been a step-child of the green car movement for a decade now, but Honda's
Civic GX is finally getting some notice.
As gasoline prices soar, demand for the company's natural-gas powered emissions fighter is soaring too.
Dealers are actually building waiting lists in California and New York, the two states where the car is sold to regular consumers.
Allocations are sold out through June, and Honda is considering nearly doubling production to 2,000 a year, with the possibility of an even bigger boost if market demand continues to build, a company insider said.
Those aren't earth-shaking numbers, but they reflect quite a jump from the GX's first eight years on the market, when sales averaged a mere 698 cars a year.
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- John O'Dell February 15, 2008, 5:45 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Honda, Natural Gas
February 12, 2008
Coming, but not to U.S., the Cevennes Turbo CNG roadster.
We drive a Honda Civic GX on our daily commute most days. That's 58 miles one-way on jammed-up Southern California freeways.
It's a pretty dull drive, in a pretty plain-vanilla car whose redeeming virtues are that it, so far, has been problem free, comes with a single-occupancy carpool lane pass, is relatively cheap to run because its fuel -- compressed natural gas -- costs less than gasoline, and, of course, is the greenest internal combustion car on the road because of CNG's lower carbon and pollutants content.
The Civic GX is the only factory-built CNG car sold in the U.S. today, although you can get conversion kits to adapt several other vehicles, including big pickups and SUVs, to natural gas if you so desire.
We don't want to dis the Honda, it's a wonderful commuter car. But we can't help but sigh wistfully and think how much more fun our commute, and weekend excursions, would be if we could get our hands on the Cevennes Turbo CNG to be unveiled next month at the Geneva Auto Salon.
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- John O'Dell February 12, 2008, 2:17 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Emissions, Natural Gas
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- Paris Auto Show
January 17, 2008
Here's are a pair of must-reads for those who criticize the auto industry for its environmental record, and for those seeking ammunition to defend car makers from all the criticism.
Colleague John DiPietro has penned (or pixeled) an incisive look at how Subaru of America became the first automaker in the country to develop a comprehensive, plant-wide recycling system and has made its plant in Indiana a zero-landfill operation.
That's right. Despite the tons and tons waste generated in the assembly of automobiles -- everything from the wood and plastic from shipping pallets to the thousands of soft drink cans and bottles emptied during lunch breaks, not an ounce of stuff from the factory ends up in a landfill!
You can read
John's piece over at Edmunds Green Car Guide...
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- John O'Dell January 17, 2008, 11:45 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Diesel, Natural Gas, Subaru
January 12, 2008
By Nick Kurczewski, ContributorNEW DELHI -- The 9th New Delhi Auto Expo has seen many auto manufacturers talk about emissions and the cleanliness of their vehicles. It has also marked the arrival of hulking sport-utility vehicles and fearsomely quick sports cars into the Indian market.
As Greenpeace protested outside, and journalists fought to take photos of the $2,500 Tata Nano car-for-everyone, a message of clean emissions and environmental awareness got lost here at the Pragati Maidan exhibition halls.
Tata heaped praise upon itself, not only for unveiling what is now the world's cheapest car, but for ensuring that it achieves 50 miles per gallon and meets Euro III emissions standards.
Those fuel economy figures look pretty good, though it’s probably what you should expect when buying a car powered by a 32 horsepower two-cylinder engine.
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- John O'Dell January 12, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, BMW, Diesel, Emissions, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hybrid, Natural Gas
December 17, 2007
As part of an ongoing effort to clean up air pollution from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
--
the nation's busiest container ports – a new liquefied natural gas fuel station has been built to help speed conversion of the ports' short-haul truck fleet.
The facility is the first of three to be built in the port area by Clean Energy Fuels Corp. to help meet the goals of the ports' year-old Clean Air Action Plan.
That plan calls for replacing 16,500 aging diesel trucks with trucks fueled by liquid natural gas or equipped with clean diesel emissions systems to reduce nitrogen oxide and sooty particulate matter.
Shaunt Hartounian, a Clean Energy marketing executive, said the company estimates that each of the trucks burns 15,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year. Replacing all 16,500 diesels with trucks burning LNG or other alternative fuels would offset 247.5 million gallons of diesel a year, he said.
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- John O'Dell December 17, 2007, 2:00 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Diesel, Natural Gas
Hybrid-electric Citroen prototype enters Challenge Bibendum in Shanghai.
By Kate McLeod, Contributor
There was little TV coverage and hardly anyone watched from the sidelines, but this still was one of the most important races in the world.
Run in the form of a rally on the public roads of China’s Shanghai province on November 14, it was part of a unique event, the Challenge Bibendum.
There were no winners, though. The Bibendum philosophy is that the race won't be over until we all enter and drive together to find a sustainable finish. The environment is the ultimate winner, says Michelin, although the Hyundai Tucson fuel-cell prototype received "As" in tests for noise, local pollutants, fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions -- tank to tire. Venturi’s Eclectic got As across the board for the above tests as well as acceleration and maneuverability. Two prototype buses made in China, WanXiang EV Co.’s C3 fuel cell and CITIC Guoan Mengguli’s battery-electric, also made top grades.
Until then, the event -- launched by French tire giant Michelin Group in 1998 -- is staged annually to showcase existing and developing technologies that can help save fuel and reduce atmospheric pollutants, including greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
It brings together global vehicle makers, energy suppliers, researchers and political and economic decision makers and encourages discussion of potential solutions to transportation, energy consumption, and traffic congestion and noise problems.
Equally important is that it lets them see advanced technology vehicles in motion.
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- John O'Dell December 17, 2007, 3:26 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Diesel, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Transportation Alternatives
November 23, 2007
By Robert E. Calem, Contributor
It could be the perfect automobile for environment-conscious Americans who are also short on money and time: the NGV, or natural gas vehicle, a near-zero emissions auto powered by an inexpensive, domestically abundant fuel, and granted special single-occupancy access to commuter fast lanes.
Popular in Europe where gasoline prices are exorbitant, NGVs are still rare among alternative fuel vehicles in the U.S. Earlier this decade, citing weak sales, Ford, Chrysler and GM all stopped selling them here, ceding the domestic market to the Honda Civic GX, which has been named the world's cleanest internal combustion engine vehicle.
Through a process called "upfitting," however, some new GM and Ford vehicles can be converted to NGVs, and reap all of the benefits available to Civic GX owners. Those include a federal tax credit and certain local tax credits and incentives aimed at encouraging ownership of natural gas vehicles, as well as relatively cheap fuel prices and, in some states, "driver-only" access to HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes on arterial highways.
As gasoline prices climb, U.S. sales to everyday folks of the Civic GX and of NGV conversions are on an upswing, people close to the market say.
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- John O'Dell November 23, 2007, 3:23 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Natural Gas, Tax Incentives
October 11, 2007
Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell Vehicle
As if on cue, the cars of the future queue up and drive past Vijay Vaitheeswaran.
A shiny new Nissan Altima hybrid powered by both gasoline and electricity zips by silently. A slick European-spec Audi A6 sedan purrs by, burning clean diesel.
Then comes a Prius hybrid with a short power cord where you'd expect to find a tailpipe, signifying its aftermarket conversion to a 100-plus mpg plug-in. There's even a Hyundai Tucson fuel-cell electric SUV carrying three tanks full of hydrogen, enough to travel about 150 miles.
Vaitheeswaran, a reporter for The Economist and co-author of Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future, nods in appreciation.
He's taken a break from his book tour to attend an alternative fuels program in the industrial town of South San Francisco.
"In a nutshell, oil is the problem, cars are a big part of the solution," he said.
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- John O'Dell October 11, 2007, 1:00 PM
- Categories:
- Diesel, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Hyundai, Natural Gas, Nissan, Volkswagen
The California agency that sets the American standard for automotive emissions today unveiled a much-improved Website that helps consumers choose the least polluting cars on the market.
