Filed under: Legislation and Policy

As this is AutoBlogGreen, being green is our reason for both writing and reading this blog. This book, published in 2006 and reviewed in Yes! Magazine by Guy Dauncey, talks about the current – not future – challenge we face: How do we adjust our energy use without creating so much greenhouse gas that we tip the atmosphere into an uncomfortable, non sustainable mode. It takes as a given that we will soon hit Peak Oil sometime between now and 2030. How do we respond as individuals and as nations? After all, I don’t want to conserve petroleum only to have another a-hole elsewhere in the world burn it instead.

Heinberg investigates ways of getting nations to adjust their relative consumption to the total current annual oil production. Productions drops 3%, consumption for each nation drops the same amount each year. Dauncey, however, notes that Heinberg’s protocol distributes oil consumption but it does not address global warming specifically. He only addresses the contribution, for instance, of petroleum and omits coal and gas contribution to global warming. It is total world production of CO2, of course, that will control global warming and the size of its impact on our lives.

Here is an interesting factoid: 1 barrel of oil (42 gallons) when burned produces about 170 pounds (77 kg) of CO2. If those particular barrels are all gasoline and you use 20 of them a year (840 gallons), your car will create nearly 3400 pounds of CO2. Which leads me to ask every day: “Is this (auto) trip really necessary?”

 

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

Filed under: Hydrogen, Legislation and Policy

The European Parliament has voted to approve a declaration laying out comprehensive targets to improve energy efficiency, increase the use of renewable energy and to set up a pan-European hydrogen economy. The plan calls for a twenty percent jump in energy efficiency and thirty percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions.

The plan also envisions large expansions in hydrogen production and distribution by 2025. The declaration does not address either nuclear power or carbon sequestration. If hydrogen is to be produced from natural gas reformation than sequestration will be a necessary component of the process. Of course in the next seventeen years some of the hydrogen production techniques that are currently be worked on may come to fruition and methane may not be part of the equation at all.

[Source: Bellona]

 

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

Filed under: Etc., Flex-Fuel

Car shopping is sometimes a bit of a nightmare – and not only because of salesman. Some people do their homework and get most of the information ready beforehand, but many just arrive at the dealer lot and choose without paying much attention. And when deciding about fuel economy, it can be really difficult to take in consideration a comparison between EPA ratings.

In order to help customers to know if a vehicle is efficient, or a least less bad for the environment, AutoWest and Power Auto Group (members of AutoNation) are introducing a new system in order to label cars called the E-Vehicles program. This system will mark cars with a green, leaf-shaped E-Vehicle logo (the additional sticker) if that produce at least 28 miles-per-gallon or delivers 10 percent better fuel efficiency than the average for their vehicle class.

A similar system, called F-Vehicles, will label with a yellow, leaf-shaped logo cars and trucks that make use of flex fuel or ethanol-based technology. Both systems were developed by AutoNation together with Edmunds.com.

Among the most in-demand models are the Toyota Prius, the Honda Civic Hybrid, the midsize Chevy Malibu and the Mercedes-Benz Diesel. Best-in-class E-Vehicles include the Toyota Tacoma pick-up, the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV and the Dodge Grand Caravan minivan

[Source: AutoNation]

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

Several months ago, I requested to host the Carnival of the Green for this Memorial Day weekend. I meant to get a post up earlier in the week, but, obviously, I’ve been rather tied up… But the Carnival will be here on Monday for a special holiday edition. Please pass along your posts to me.

Despite my lack of posting here, I have been thinking a lot about sustainablog — as I’ve said over and over, it’s my baby. Unfortunately, I simply haven’t been able to give my baby the attention it deserves.

So, once the Carnival post is up on Monday, sustainablog will officially be on indefinite hiatus. I’m following the model set by good blog buddy Al Tepper (aka City Hippy). I hate to have the blog just sitting here gathering dust, so I’d rather close it for now while I can’t give it (and sustainablog readers) the attention it (they) deserves. I hope to restart it at some point, but know I can’t promise that — Green Options is taking up the lion’s share of my time, and I am still writing at Treehugger (though on a lighter schedule than before).

It’s been almost four years since I put up that first post of a few lines, and I’ve been incredibly grateful for the attention it’s received since then. I hope you’ll come by Green Options and/or Treehugger to say “Hi!”

Best,

Jeff

Former Japanese whaler Tomohisa Nagaoka on his whale-watching vessel. (Click to enlarge.)

Posted by Page (in Amsterdam)

“[T]his town, Muroto, was thriving because of whaling and was known as a whale town since 400 years ago. I want to let young people know the culture cultivated by whales in this town should be valued. My dream is to return their favor. I would like to do something like that.”

So says Tomohisa Nagaoka at the end of a fascinating interview he gave to our Whale Love Wagon friends, Yuki and Ivan, back in March 2007. Nagaoka is a former whaler who became one of Japan’s first leader of tourist whale-watching expeditions about 20 years ago.

In the interview, he talks about how countries competed in a “Whaling Olympics”, to see who could kill the most whales. There weren’t quotas for individual countries; rather, the world quota set by the IWC in 1948 was 16,000 Blue Whale Units (which equals 2 fin whales, 6 sei whales, etc.), so blue whales were preferentially hunted over other whales, quickly driving them toward near-extinction.

The other day, the AFP published a longer interview with Nagaoka, where he talks more about whaling, both its past and its future, and what he thinks it means to the Japanese.

Continue reading Respecting the past, saving the future…

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Hybrid, Toyota

Yeah, you’ve seen plenty of companies add plug-in capability to the Toyota Prius. Generally speaking, the battery pack is enlarged to allow for greater range when operating in electric only mode and a charging system is added which allows the vehicle to be charged by plugging into a standard outlet. Of course, this is all harder than it sounds! The standard Prius is only capable of charging its batteries using the on-board internal combustion engine or under regenerative braking and is equipped with nickel metal hydride batteries. The standard batteries are usually swapped for a new pack of lithium ion batteries, which carry a greater energy density than the older nickel based batteries.

Lithium Technology Corporation has gone one step further and used a new type of lithium battery that they have developed. The composition of the batteries is different and they are known as lithium iron phosphate cells, and are considered to be safer than the more common types of lithium ion batteries. These batteries are not completely new, but have never been made in sizes this large before. With these new batteries, LTC was able to demonstrate 125 miles per gallon equilavent with their converted Prius. No price was mentioned in the article, but I expect that the batteries added a substantial amount of money to the cost of the car.

[Source: Gizmag]

 

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

Filed under: Chrysler

We’ve all taken to calling them the Big 2.5 – and I think we have ourselves to thank for that – and here’s Lee Iacocca to tell us why that is. Certainly an authority on Chrysler, he has a unique and casual perspective on the company. He says he wished he had the money to buy it when it went up for sale because – get this – “… it’s a good buy.”

According to him, comparatively, Chrysler has low production costs and if it were making small cars, it would be pulling in steady profits and building back its reputation.

Of course, Iacocca isn’t just here trying to save the automotive world. He’s on Charlie Murphy’s Rose’s show to promote his new book, “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?”, which he comically answers himself, “Some of them died.” The book appears to be a lecture on the automotive industry as well as a discussion of America’s tastes and how they need to change, plus his personal political views. If you know something about the book, or if you are personally reading it already, drop some comments so the rest of us that are too busy to sit down for a good read can hear about what he has to say.

Related:

• Alt Car Expo: Lee Iacocca gets a present

[Source: Google Video, Thanks for the tip, Linton!]

 

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

What if the U.S. federal government raised fuel economy standards? How much further would your vehicle go on a gallon of gas?

The Sierra Club will show you with the MPG Calculator. Choose the make and model of your car, how many miles you drive per year and the average cost you pay for gas at the pump.

For example, I entered Volkswagen Jetta at 12,500 miles per year at $3/gallon. Click on the "I Want My MPG!" button and here's the results:

If fuel economy standards were modernized, I would
Use 182 fewer gallons of gas a year
Save $545 at the pump annualy
Reduce CO2 emissions by 5,083 pounds

It is a fun tool that really shows the impact of what increasing fuel economy standards could do: mainly saving you money and reducing green house gas emissions. Of course raising fuel economy standards relies on politicians and automakers getting on board, and there are a few proposals out there, but the call to action might also have to come from drivers. How much could you be saving?

Filed under: Etc., Hybrid, Toyota

When you think of chauffeur driven car services you generally visualize a Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac DTS or, in England, a big Jaguar or Mercedes sedan. Now London based car service Pink Express is switching their fleet of over 100 cars over to Toyota Priuses as the leases come up.

With most of their services being offered in central London where congestion is the name of the game hybrids are the ideal solution. No one moves very fast and chauffeurs often sit around waiting their passengers. In addition to the cars, Pink Express is providing all their drivers with training in techniques to maximize fuel economy.

[Source: Pink Express]

 

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

Filed under: Diesel, Hybrid

None of the diesels that will be sold in the near future in America will be able to go 300+ mph like the Dieselmax that Ricardo helped to build last year, but the company is still predicting that soon (that is, by 2012) Americans will buy 1.5 million diesel vehicles a year. The factors leading to this move are upcoming higher fuel economy standards, cheaper cost of diesels vs. hybrids, and emissions standards-meeting clean diesel. This prediction comes in a report called “Is Diesel set to boom in the US?” that Ricardo is releasing with UBS. Combined diesel and hybrid sales should reach 2.7 million units, the report says. So, do the math, that means they think diesel sales will be higher than hybrid sales. Compared to the whole market, the two forecast that combined diesel and hybrid gasoline will make up 15 percent of the U.S. light vehicle market by 2012.

Related:

• Ricardo appointed as “Green” consultant to Formula One
• Ricardo showcases micro hybrid technology at the New York Auto Show
• Lifan and Ricardo team up for new family of Chinese car

[Source: Ricardo]

 

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