Filed under: Renault

The new Renault Twingo is set to hit dealer floors in Europe on June 15, says Automotive News Europe (subs req’d). The compact and low-emissions Twingo (the beefiest petrol model emits 140 grams of CO2 per kilometer) will also come with a 1.5 dCi diesel engine option. Renault has sold over 2.4 million Twingos since introducing the vehicle in 1993. The company makes the Twingo at the Novo Mesto plant in Slovenia

Renault’s announcement of the Twingo back in March at the Geneva Motor Show came with a chapter-laden press release. I like the look of the production version more than the Twingo concept shown last year.

Related:

• Renault opens a new chapter with the New Twingo

[Source: Automotive News Europe]

 

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

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Transportation Alternatives, On Two Wheels

Armor Electric has handed over to a dealer in Florida an electric-powered scooter/moped for beta testing. It is a prototype that will shape the production scooters, and the sale of a fleet of which has been negotiated with said dealer. The scooter runs on lithium ion batteries, which are said to outlast lead-acid systems by four or five times. This power source provides a top speed of 40 mph, a 60-mile range, and a 4-hour recharge time.

Over the past year and a half, Armor’s EPS partner has been rigorously testing, developing and retesting the product, and is now ready for the final phase. No timeframes for a commercial sale date have been released yet, but we’ll let you know.
[Source: Armor Electric]

 

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

Sustainably Produced Crib by Kalon StudiosThe Green Movement and sustainable living are often accused of being only accessible to those with a higher level of socioeconomic status. In some ways this statement is true, but in other ways it is false. Many families simply cannot afford to buy organic food and clothing, wooden toys, sustainable children's furniture, etc., because they do not earn living wages. However, these families often make sustainable choices, such as purchasing clothing from thrift stores, based upon their economic needs. Other families are used to megastore prices and go into sticker shock when they see what sustainability costs. Still other families can afford to buy expensive, sustainable products as they make choices to live greener lives. The real question is not how expensive sustainable products are, but how our purchasing habits affect the global population and environment.

Houston's Bike Shop: Photo Credit: The Bike ShopIn many ways, sustainable living is about returning to simpler, less expensive model of living used by families of lower socioeconomic status. For example, many families must use public transportation and bicycles to get around, because they cannot afford vehicle and fuel costs. The choices these families make may be driven by economics, but these choices reflect a more sustainable global lifestyle. In addition, programs have sprung up in poor neighborhoods to help residents maintain and repair their sustainable practices. For example, The Bike Shop of Houston conducts youth programs and promotes recycled bicycles as "an affordable means of transportation in the Third Ward…..Our youth and adult programs focus on hands-on self-directed education as a path to self empowerment." Such programs include Open Shop, where residents fix their own bikes with help from volunteer mechanics, and Earn-A-Bike, where participants receive their own bike by salvaging and repairing a bike for the community, then repairing a bike for themselves. The Bike Shop was recently featured on PBS NOW.

On the other end of the spectrum, Kalon Studios is a new company offering "design for a sustainable culture." Yes, their prices may send you into sticker shock. Their explanation: "In today’s world, sustainability is more than just being green. Rather, it has evolved into a belief system, an approach to living, being." Kalon Studios uses renewable, raw materials and food-grade oil finishes on their products. Although the prices are high, the company's children's products are designed to be versatile and multifunctional. For example, the Ioline Crib converts to a toddler bed, and the Ioline Changing Trunk can be used as a toy chest or reading bench. Kalon Studios believes that loss of aesthetics, chaos, and clutter do not have to rule family life, but sustainability and beauty can go hand in hand with parenthood. Their products are locally made in southern California.

Are sustainable products really more expensive? There are many costs not reflected in the prices we pay for products and services. When looking at a price tag, we are not seeing the true impact of our purchases reflected in the price. As Tom Kemper of environmentally responsible office supply company Dolphin Blue explains,

Please also consider the cost of the loss of resources like habitat; native forests being replaced by mono-cultural species of trees; loss of air quality because we use more energy and create more tons of emissions to make virgin-material products; loss of clean water because of unnecessary and excessive bleaching of paper; excessive reliance on oil because every time we don’t recycle and remanufacture a toner cartridge we use another pint of oil; and then, the associated costs to all of us through increased disease caused by pollution, and the transference of cost to each of us through healthcare premiums and medical care. The list goes on. Unfortunately, our balance sheets don’t account for these costs. So, if we now measure all these costs, which are only a portion of the true costs of 'business as usual,' then what are the costs of that cheap paper, or that non-recycled and non-remanufactured toner cartridge? And, with global population increasing by approximately 90 million people each year, accompanied by eco-systems and resources in severe decline, in what state are we leaving the planet for our children and their children?”

Remember the mantra "less is more": If we buy less, we can afford more expensive, sustainably produced products and services for our families and live with a clear conscious. The prices of sustainably produced products and services reflect the true cost of our purchases.

Image Credit: Homeless DaveSome people looking to reduce their home power use may be interested in alternatives to the typical clothes washer and dryer. While the washer and dryer aren't the appliance with the biggest energy budget in the typical household (that distinction belongs to the refrigerator), an opportunity to save energy here may be something to consider.

The dryer is the easy part. A clothesline is about the simplest, cheapest alternative to a clothes dryer you can find. But the washer is harder. Hand-washing clothes is a difficult task. And wringer washers are a hand-operated option, but they aren't very efficient. A bicycle powered clothes washer is a more efficient, and much more ambitious project. While it's not likely that most of you will rush out to build one of these for yourselves, it offers a wonderful insight into how far you can take DIY if you are inclined to.

The pedal-powered washer was designed and built by Homeless Dave (who is not really homeless, but whose real name is Dave), a local advocate for community and for human-powered tools in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His website, Teeter Talk, features interviews with "folks from Ann Arbor … Detroit … and beyond" which are conducted on a teeter-totter in his back yard.

HD explains the origin of the concept for the washer began after he had been using a wringer washer for a number of years, but was finding it awkward and unpleasant to use. He wanted to come up with something like a salad spinner that could be used to spin out the clothes more efficently than the wringer was able to. And, as he writes, "the engineers at General Electric, Maytag, or really any manufacturer of automatic washers, have already invented this wheel." So, the inventive portion of the project was just figuring out how to connect an old washing machine tub to a stationary bicycle to provide the motive power for the system.

Image Credit: Homeless Dave

The basic idea is to use a stationary bicycle stand as the power source, and use an assembly of belts and pulleys to connect it to an old, salvaged washing machine tub. Rather than reiterate all of the details here, I will instead direct you to HD's website, which contains extensive details about how he worked out the connection. HD did tell me that, in the intervening time since he first put together his page about the project, he has now replaced the front chainring with a much smaller one, which makes operating the assembly a much more reasonable task. He has also hooked up an assembly that runs a permanent-magnet electric motor backwards, serving as a electrical generator, as well.

I have removed the magnetic resistance unit opposite the pulley driving the laundry spinner and mounted a pulley on that shaft, which drives a permanent magnet DC motor backwards, generating DC current, which is fed through a capacitor and then an inverter, into which ordinary household appliances can be plugged. I managed to fry the inverter (for reasons not fully understood), but when it's replaced, the vision is that I can power an electric fan aimed at the freshly spun clothes hanging on their rack and reduce drying time further.

There are several benefits to this system, in addition to the electricity savings. The grey water from this washing can be recycled for filling toilet tanks or for watering plants. It puts moisture into the air, which is especially good in the wintertime. It also provides an aerobic workout for the rider, which also puts heat (and some additional moisture) into the air, which is also a good thing in the wintertime.

Dave also offered a DIY Challenge idea:

Design a replacement toilet tank lid that accommodates an inverted five-gallon drinking water plastic jug with the bottom cut out plus a mechanism that allows water to fill preferentially from this additional five-gallon reservoir, but if it's empty fills the tank from the water line. Why? I'm tired of recycling the grey water, by waiting to flush the toilet until I have a filled drain bucket from the laundry spinner, then moving the tank lid, dumping the gallon or so of drain water in there.

If you have a suggestion for a DIY mechanism that can allow for automatic refill of a toilet tank from a grey water supply, let us know, and we'll feature your idea in a future Weekly DIY article.

 

Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels

The Killacycle is the current world record holder for the quickest quarter mile time for any electric vehicle. It is powered by two 6.7 inch electric motors, which operate on 374 volts of lithium ion power using a custom battery pack provided by A123 Systems. The record run stands at 8.168 seconds at 155.74mph. Think that’s fast? Yeah, me too… but not fast enough for the bike’s owner, Bill Dube, who believes that he should be able to break the regular motorcycle record of 5.88 seconds at 243mph. This would be a great headline generating story, and would show exactly what is possible from electric motors and new battery technology. While a vehicle that is this fast is probably best left off the street, those who know something about batteries know that by reducing the power output of these same batteries can drastically extend their runtime, which is very exciting indeed.

Related:

• Edmunds editor Karl Brauer offers a brief opinion on batteries for electric cars
• Watch an electric motorcycle run an 8-second quarter mile

[Source: Killacycle via Youtube and Motorcycle News]

 

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

Filed under: Hybrid, Toyota

Click on the photo for a gallery of high-res images of the Hybrid-X Concept

At the same time that Lithium Technologies is showing off their plug-in conversion of a Toyota Prius comes word from Japan that Toyota themselves are delaying the introduction of lithium batteries to the next generation Prius. Apparently the production hybrid pioneer is not yet convinced of the safety of lithium ion in an automotive application.

The rising rates of quality issues and recalls that Toyota has been experiencing of late may be causing them to be somewhat more cautious about introducing the new technology. Toyota CEO Katsuaki Watanabe had previously indicated that the next-generation Prius would be using lithium ion batteries. So far there is no indication if this means the new Prius introduction will be delayed or they will just continue with nickel metal hydride batteries.

[Source: Winding Road]

 

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

Since we announced free wind credits for tip suggestions last week, the tips have been rolling in. Today we'd like to focus on a tip suggested by John of Santa Barbara:

Buy your kids clothes and toys at garage sales. We've been doing this for months for our newborn. Kids outgrow clothes and toys so fast that you can get almost-new items for next to nothing. We pay on average fifty cents for each piece of clothing. Not only do we save money, but we are also contributing to buying less, which will hopefully encourage manufacturers to make less. And if you walk, you save gas and get exercise!

Thanks for the tip, John! You've just offset two months of your life! You've also pointed out something that we've been noticing lately, too. Babies get lots of presents. And since they are, well, babies and all, they tend to receive a lot of clothing. It's tough to lay the blame on this one – those clothes are so gosh-darned cute.

But it's true – babies grow fast, and they really don't need to put on a new outfit every day. In fact, most days they'd probably prefer a simple organic onesie. Many babies we know have so many clothes that they only get to wear an outfit once before they grow out of it.

Plus, garage sale shopping is a bit of a sport and can be pretty fun! Thanks for the tip, John!

Rebecca says: I don't have kids yet, but I'm planning on trying a little experiment. I bet (if I wanted, I'm sure I'll break down at some point) that I could go the whole first year of my baby's life without buying him clothes. Between gifts from the grandparents and aunts & uncles (both official and unofficial), and hand me downs from the rest, I'm pretty sure we'll be in the clear. And maybe I'll take John's advice and hit up garage sales for the rest.

Suggest a tip that gets posted and you could win 2 months of wind offsets, too!

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on H.R. 2337, The Energy Policy Reform and Revitalization Act. The bill, according to the nonprofit Alliance to Save Energy, promotes alternative energy and efficiency, including a green building program that would require all major new facility construction projects funded in whole or in part through the Department of the Interior, National Ocean Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, or the Forest Service to meet or exceed silver level LEED standards.

But a provision in the bill has other clean energy supporters up in arms.

Subtitle D, called the Global Warming Wildlife Survival Act, would require new hoops and hurdles for wind power production. The American Wind Energy Association says the law would “effectively shut down the wind energy production industry in the United States,” and House members of both political parties questioned why the wind industry should face new requirements that have never applied to other energy sectors. Some of those requirements include:

• Directing the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to review every existing and planned wind project and penalize operation of wind energy facilities not formally certified by USFWS.
• Landowners and farmers with wind turbines on their property would be subject to inspection requirements at any time.
• Landowners and farmers could face one year in jail or a $50,000 penalty for constructing or operating an uncertified wind turbine, regardless of whether it is for personal or commercial use.

In response to the Global Warming Wildlife Surivial Act, the wind industry points out that it is working with wildlife advocates, government officials, and scientists on a Wind Turbine Guidelines Advisory Committee to examine a national strategy for siting turbines. These stakeholders should decide how best to protect wildlife and support the growth of clean wind power, AWEA says, not Washington bureaucrats.

A report released by the National Academy of Sciences earlier this month concluded that wind turbines cause about .003 percent of human-caused bird mortality. That’s about one thousand times lower than bird deaths from house cats. Previous studies have come to similar conclusions. The report also points out that the locations of wind farms must be sited carefully to minimize the negative impacts on birds and that each wind project should be considered on its own merits. The Audubon Society’s Director of Conservation Policy, Mike Daulton, testified before Congress on May 1 that turbine siting must be done cautiously to minimize the impact on wildlife, but did not discount wind power entirely:

“As the threats of global warming loom ever larger, alternative energy sources like wind power are essential. Many new wind power projects will need to be constructed across the country as part of any serious nationwide effort to address global warming…Audubon strongly supports wind power as a clean alternative energy source that reduces the threat of global warming. Each individual wind project, however, has a unique set of circumstances and should be evaluated on its own merits.”

Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-WV) introduced H.R. 2337. West Virginia is the second largest supplier of our nation’s coal.

Further action is scheduled for June.

Alliance to Save Energy
American Wind Energy Assocation
Audubon Society
United Press International
West Virginia Coal Association

More from Daniel, one of our political advisors, on changes at the World Bank:

Bush has done it again. The US President has put loyalty ahead of merit by choosing Robert Zoellick as the new head of the World Bank. I have known Zoellick for a while. He was Bush’s trade representative from 2001-2005. In that role, he pursued free trade at all costs at the World Trade Organization (WTO). In 2003, he started a WTO attack on Europe’s genetic engineering restrictions.

In 2003, at the failed WTO talks in Cancun, Mexico, Zoellick famously threatened developing countries, that the US will pursue market access for US corporations to developing world markets in whichever way they see fit. I remember listening to his press conference with a certain shiver running down my spine.

Continue reading New World Bank head nominated…