Author: valeriu

Is Ford dropping Fiesta name for new global B-car?

Filed under: ,

For a few weeks now, we’ve been saying we expect Ford to bring the Fiesta to the U.S. when the company’s new global B-car arrives sometime in late 2009. But hold the phones. Just-Auto (subs req’d) says today that the Fiesta name may be dropped in favor of one of the following four: Genesis, Isis, Cuga or Phoenix. J-A says Ford is checking to see what other companies have claims on these names, and will likely use one of them for the vehicle.

Does it really matter what name this car has? I think that because the car will be the most global of any in Ford’s history, and the Fiesta name is popular around the globe, a bit of unity wouldn’t be a bad thing. Unfortunately, in the U.S., where Ford Fiesta sounds a bit like Ford Festiva. I guess if 70-85 percent of the parts are the same around the world, a different name badge is pretty easy to do.

Related:

[Source: Just-Auto via Autoblog]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Principle 8: Leapfrogging

Article PhotoIn the industrialized world, we’ve gone through many phases and iterations of innovation to reach the level of technological advancement we currently enjoy. It took well over a century, for example, to get from Alexander Graham Bell’s historic first telephone call to ubiquitous mobile phones and VoIP. And, indeed, in our societies, the old and the new are everywhere intertwined: we may use Blackberries and take genetically-targeted medications, but many of us still drink water delivered through victorian clay pipes and drive internal combustion automobiles over MacAdam roads. That’s not the case everywhere. In rural areas and emerging megacities across the Global South, basic services like telephone and power lines just don’t exist. This creates a new kind of opportunity: where even the most basic systems of telephony have never been introduced, for instance, it’s possible to skip the landlines altogether and jump straight to mobile phones — leapfrogging to the technological forefront. Leapfrogging has tremendous implications in terms of promoting development, facilitating access to medical care and educational tools, enabling new forms of local currency and credit, and transferring remittances around the world. It’s a means of sharing information and leveling the playing field between Global North and Global… (more)

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Leapfrogging at 3:24 PM)

UTC and Van Hool bring Belgium its first hydrogen fuel cell bus

Filed under:

UTC Power, which has been operating a hydrogen fuel cell in Connecticut for about a month, has brought the European country of Belgium its first fuel cell bus, in partnership with bus manufacturer Van Hool. The bus is a 43-foot hybrid electric transit bus that can carry over 100 passengers. It has a UTC Power fuel cell system and will go into service in early June, first for six months in Belgium and then other European countries. UTC has similar buses operating in Oakland and Palm Springs, California.

UTC Power president Jan van Dokkum said in a release that the bus is being given to Belgium for the half-year trial period. “There is growing momentum worldwide for cleaner transit solutions, and we believe this ‘try-before-you- buy’ arrangement will only help accelerate that momentum,” he said.

Related:

[Source: UTC]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Autoblog Green Podcast #5 – GM’s Gary Smyth

Filed under:

The first thing you’ll notice is our new podcast music, a bridge from your other audio files to the AutoblogGreen news. But what we’re really excited about it our interview with Gary Smyth, director of Powertrain Systems Research Lab at GM (interview transcript coming soon). We also try to figure out the recent green car news about the Spyder, the possible CAFE standards increase, and Smarts U.S. toe-dipping (which might be a bit of a cannonball). Whattya think?

SUBSCRIBE to the AutoblogGreen Podcast in iTunes
LISTEN to the show now
ADD the AutoblogGreen Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Energy efficiency study finds Segways are 5-20 times more energy efficient than cars

Filed under: , ,

I don’t own a Segway, but I have used them on several occasions. In the grand scheme of transportation devices, Segway fits between an electric bicycle and an electric scooter. Segway’s claim to fame is its unique balancing system and space saving dimensions. The EPA reports that most people use their automobiles for local trips of 5 miles or less – that famous “trip to the store to buy a quart of milk” that a bicycle, a Segway, or a scooter could perform.

Segway reported last month that using a Segway is – and this should come as no surprise – more energy efficient and greener than using hybrids, conventional cars, or SUVs for these trips: 5.5 to 20 times greener (fewer greenhouse gases). Bicycles and scooters were not however included in the comparison.

Thus the dilemma continues. Bikes, scooters, and even Segways suffer from the same limitations: Lack of all weather capability, lack of carrying capacity, and relative lack of safety protection. Yet, all are clearly greener and more efficient. All over the country, the cell-phone using, SUV driving public is making pedestrian and bike rider safety a worrisome issue. As Kermit the Frog says, “It ain’t easy being Green.”

Related:

[Source: Segway]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

New wheat ethanol plant under construction in Teesside, UK

Filed under:

On Friday, the UK Secretary of State for the Environment, David Miliband, peeked in at the start of construction of a new £250 million bioethanol production plant to be run by Ensus in Teesside. The plant will open in 2009, and the Northern Echo reports that the plant will turn 1.2 million tons of wheat into 400 million liters of ethanol a year. Ensus says that’s about a third of the UK’s demand by 2010. Miliband rode in a Saab 9-5 BioPower to and from the event.

Nearby, the Biofuels Corporation of Teesside also makes biodiesel, sometimes for politicians. There’s another picture after the break, because why not.

[Source: Saab UK, The Northern Echo]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

More on Honda’s new dedicated hybrid

Filed under: ,

As Jeremy wrote a few days ago, Honda is thinking about a new dedicated hybrid model that would sell for under $25,000. Automotive News (subs req’d) yesterday brings us more. This new model should be on the lots in mid-2009, with an ambitious 200,000 produced each year. This is separate from the introduction of Honda’s hybrid sports coupe, which should come a few months earlier and which will look somewhat like the Remix concept that was unveiled in LA last fall and is pictured above. The new mid-price hybrid will be available in markets around the world, Ken Keir, managing director of Honda UK and senior vice president of Honda Motor Europe, told Automotive News. I think it’s a safe bet that this vehicle will sell better than the Insight.

[Source: Automotive News via Autoblog]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Producing renewable fuels and milk from corn and cows

Filed under: , ,

XL Dairy Group is moving beyond milk into the biofuel business with a new facility they are building in Vicksburg, Arizona. The $260-million biorefinery will produce milk, ethanol and biodiesel. The plant will be making use of all the intermediate products to optimize the overall efficiency of all the processes. Incoming corn will be fractionated into corn starch, bran, and germ which will be used to generate ethanol, electricity, and biodiesel.

Thin sillage from the ethanol process, glycerol from the biodiesel and manure from the cows will all be fed back into the energy island for electricity production. The electricity will be used in the fuel production as well as dairy production. Distillers grain and germ cakes from the fuel processes will feed the cows and waste from the power plant will be composted. Overall they anticipate an energy efficiency efficiency ratio of 10:1 for the ethanol compared to 1.2:1 for a conventional dry mill corn ethanol process and cost savings of up to $0.35 a gallon for ethanol.

When the plant goes into production in fall 2008 it should be turning 576,000 tons of corn annually into 54 million gallons of ethanol, 5 million gallons of biodiesel, an 110,000 tons of animal feed. The facility will also capture carbon dioxide to recycle into dry ice, cooling and beverage carbonation. The only thing they don’t seem to have a plan for is capturing the methane from the cows for extra electric generation. XL Dairy is also working a proprietary algae biodiesel process which could also be used to consume CO2 from the other processes as well as expand fuel and feed production.

[Source: XL Dairy Group via GreenCarCongress]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Feeling Shaky? Worried? Depressed? You Might Just Need An Eco-Therapist

Let's face it. Before Global Warming, Peak Oil, and the demise of bees came along, we all had plenty of other things to worry about. Now that we're in the thick of leading "greener" lives, some of the information out there can sometimes make the task a little overwhelming. Thankfully, there are those out there willing to lend a hand.

For instance, Melissa Pickett, an eco-therapist in Santa Fe, sees between 40 to 80 eco-anxious patients a month. Whoa. They complain of panic attacks, sleepless nights, weakness and "the eerie feeling that their cells are twitching." I haven't quite had that experience yet — but I can attest to the buzz of four cups of organic coffee producing similar results.

Needless to say, we all experience the highs and lows of constantly attempting to reinvent our lives (for the better) while also revisiting the question of "Is what I'm doing really making a difference?" Visiting eco websites, attending green drink parties, talking to other "positive" individuals can all help. Therapist Melissa Pickett often recommends her clients carry natural objects, like certain minerals, for a period of weeks. Hey, whatever gets your groove back, Stella.

Then again? Should we really be so worried? Dr. Gavin Schmidt, who studies climate variability at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in Manhattan, says there are "reasons to be concerned, but no scientific reason to despair…  'The fact that people don’t have a good grasp of how science thinking works,' Schmidt said, 'means they don’t have a good grasp of what they should be skeptical about."

Oh, smack! I'd be willing to challenge Gavin that even with the proper education, there's still plenty to be worried about. If you need to see an eco-therapist to inject a little sunshine into your outlook, so be it. We all have different ways of handling stress or depressing news. Just remember that there are lots of us out there going through the same thing you are. Hey, it's not easy saving the world! Keep smiling.

Hit the jump for more!