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Filed under: Hydrogen, Ford, AutoblogGreen Exclusive

AutoblogGreen got a call from Ford this afternoon to let us know about a special new project they are working on. The team behind the HySeries Drive Edge is teaming up with Ohio State University to create a special fuel cell powered Fusion. This fall the Fusion XV1 will traveling out to the Bonneville Salt Flats to make a run at the land speed record for fuel cell vehicles in the production class.

Ohio State currently holds the world record for electrically driven vehicles at almost 315mph with the Buckeye Bullet and they are lending their Bonneville experience to the new project. The OSU team will be providing the motor and fuel cell technology they are using on the second generation Bullet and the Ford engineers are doing the systems integration into a production body shell.

The Fusion XV1 will look pretty much like a standard Fusion but with aerodynamics optimized for a maximum speed run on the salt. The car is currently being built at Roush Engineering facility, and ABG will be bringing you more exclusive updates on the progress of the project over the coming weeks and months. If all goes according to plan Ford and OSU will be setting parallel records this fall with Buckeye Bullet 2 and Fusion XV1 in the unlimited and production classes.

[Source: Ford]

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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., SMART

Live Earth sounds like one of the biggest parties on earth, ever. And the best part, it’s about worldwide awareness of global warming. It will be the Le Mans of concerts, 24 hours straight, broadcast in 120 countries, from venues in Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Istanbul, Hamburg, London, Rio de Janeiro and New York. Artists playing include The Police, Madonna, Genesis, Bon Jovi, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Sheryl Crow. I’ll definitely be tuning in for the Chili Peppers. It is a key part of the S.O.S. (Save Our Selves) awareness campaign (launched by Kevin Wall and former U.S. VP/MVP Al Gore), which consists also of PSAs, short films, books, and “interactive web experiences.”

smart is going to be the chauffeur/shuttle service for the celebrities for the event, which, after the publicity tour follows, will make for a tasty marketing treat for smart. Then people have had a chance to drive them, and they have seen their favorite stars driving them, and by golly, maybe they should have one too. That would actually be no bad thing, because the fortwo claims “the lowest CO2 emissions of any vehicle on the market,” being one of the main reasons they are supporting the S.O.S. campaign, as well as being “the world’s only mass production vehicle that actually consumes only three litres of fuel per 100 kilometres.”

Well, it sounds like they feel they have some bragging rights, and perhaps they do. I’ll reserve judgment until I drive one myself.

Press release after the jump.

[Source: smart]
smart now an Official Global Partner of Live Earth

• Partnership announced today in Stuttgart by DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche, SOS/Live Earth founder Kevin Wall and singer Katie Melua
• 24-hour concert series on all continents to combat global warming
• Largest global music event of all time
• True to its philosophy, smart is supporting the Live Earth concerts and “Save Our Selves – SOS” campaign against global warming launched by Founder Kevin Wall and Partner former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

DaimlerChrysler is, with smart, the world’s only automotive manufacturer serving as an official partner of the Live Earth concerts on 7 July 2007. smart is providing the official shuttle service for all artists and other celebrities participating in Live Earth.

“With the smart fortwo, DaimlerChrysler has set new standards in urban mobility and low CO2emissions in inner cities without making any sacrifices in terms of functionality, comfort or driving pleasure,” said Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management DaimlerChrysler and Head of Mercedes Car Group.

“This vehicle combines like no other a modern lifestyle and individual mobility with environmental protection. We are therefore happy that the smart – which boasts the lowest CO2 emissions of any vehicle on the market – will support the Live Earth concerts and the SOS campaign.”

The smart fortwo diesel is the world champion in low CO2 emissions, releasing only 88 grams of CO2 per kilometre driven. It is also the world’s only mass production vehicle that actually consumes only three litres of fuel per 100 kilometres. “The smart fortwo offers an unconventional solution to problems associated with urban mobility today,” said Anders Sundt Jensen, Vice President Marketing and Sales at smart.

“And we need to have such solutions in all areas of life if we’re going to face up to the dangers of climate change. Our goal with the smart brand is to encourage people to live responsibly, question conventional views, and remain open to new, forward-looking solutions.”

Kevin Wall welcomed smart as an official global partner of his initiative: “I’m pleased that we’ve got a strong partner in smart, which has already taken major steps forward in the battle to stop global warming.

“Together, we can demonstrate to billions of people that there are technologies on the road today with low CO2 emissions, which is an important contribution to achieving global climate protection goals.”

“Live Earth will unite people from across all continents to spur action against the climate crisis from individuals, corporations and governments,” Al Gore said. “Live Earth will spread our call for action to address the climate crisis to millions of Germans, Europeans and people worldwide.”

The objective of the Live Earth concerts is to mobilise more than two billion people to play an active role in climate protection. The nine concerts will offer a total of 24 hours of live music at venues in Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Istanbul, Hamburg, London, Rio de Janeiro and New York. They will be broadcast in more than 120 countries on TV, the radio and the Internet.

The events will feature performances by internationally renowned rock and pop stars including The Police, Madonna, Genesis, Bon Jovi, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Sheryl Crow.

“I’m happy to be part of an event for this exceptionally important cause and I hope our contribution not only by taking part but also by acting as green as possible will influence others,” said singer Katie Melua at today’s press conference in Stuttgart. Melua will perform at the German Live Earth concert in Hamburg.

Live Earth is a project of the SOS campaign, which aims to motivate people around the world to “Answer the Call” through solutions-based short films, PSAs, books, and interactive web experience, and through the Live Earth concerts. Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign led by the Alliance for Climate Protection and other international nongovernmental organisations to drive individuals, corporations and governments to make immediate and lasting changes to solve the climate crisis.

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is the Chair of the Alliance for Climate Protection and Partner of Live Earth.

The smart fortwo has won over nearly 800,000 customers in 36 countries since it was first launched in October 1998. As a DaimlerChrysler brand, smart benefits from the parent company’s engineering expertise and many years of experience in the automotive industry.

The new smart fortwo goes on sale in the UK in September and will become available in the U.S. for the first time in 2008.

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

Filed under: Biodiesel, Ethanol

That’s genetically modified not General Motors. In most other developed countries of the world outside of the United States GM crops have not exactly caught on. In fact most people want nothing to do with so-called Franken-food. However the Japanese agriculture ministry is now taking a look at the use of GM crops as a feedstock for biofuels rather than food or feed. Ultimately they would like to see the new hybrids approved for human consumption as well but that’s another story.

But before that happens they want to see GM crops commercialized for non-food applications like biofuels. Since genetically modified rice can yield more grain per acre it would be preferred as a fuel feedstock. However even with that it would be unlikely that there would not be enough acreage to really make domestic biofuel a viable alternative in Japan. One of the other concerns with modified plants is that when grown in the open they can cross-pollinate with conventional versions, contaminating those as well.

[Source: The Asahi Shimbun]

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

Last week, I flew over the coast of Greenland at 800 kph. As the northern sun glinted off the aluminum of the wing, I watched the ice floes — at first rare white specks on the Prussian blue sea — grow gradually more numerous until they ran in great streaks of broken ice where the waves were pushing them together. Gradually they grew closer together still, and more studded with icebergs, until in the distance I could see enormous sheets of ice, glowing white and blending on the horizon into clouds and fog. And then, rising steeply up, the mountains of Greenland, masses of ice and snow and dark brown rock. It was like watching a documentary on global warming in reverse. Except it wasn’t. That footage won’t run backwards. I have no idea if massive expanses of broken ice at that location are the norm or unusual at this time of year. But we do know that climate change is driving us towards an ice-free world, more quickly than we expected, and by flying home from Portugal, I was helping fuel that great planetary melting. As symbols, it doesn’t get much better than that: rocketing across the sky in… (more)

(Posted by Alex Steffen in Climate Change at 3:37 PM)

Many people are working on inventions that push the efficiency envelope in lighting, heating, computers, and more. But control technologies may actually be more important–by only using what we need, we can save huge amounts of energy with existing systems, and control technologies help us take only what we need.

(more)

(Posted by Jeremy Faludi in Sustainable Design at 3:27 PM)

Filed under: Hybrid

Maybe I should have worded that title a bit differently. Case studies in and of themselves might not make for the most interesting piece of reading, but this one might be an exception. That is, if you are interested in hybrid vehicles and the collaborations of very large American corporations. I am sure you are interested in hybrids, at least.

I feel compelled to add that I have always had very good service from FedEx. If you order computer parts from Newegg, which I have (more times than I should admit to), then you have probably experienced how quickly the shipment has come. That proves to me that when I order something from somebody else, and it ships through FedEx but takes weeks to get to me, it is not FedEx that is taking their dear sweat time! Another thing – ever see Cast Away? That guy really took his job at FedEx seriously.

Yeah, anyway, check out the case study (warning: .pdf file). The goal, as you will see if you read through it, was to create a replacement for the “W700” delivery vehicle. They were looking for something that got better fuel mileage (by 50 percent) and “dramatically reduced emissions”. This was all done after FedEx had tested some alternative vehicles in the 1990s and came away seemingly unimpressed. But after some meetings with Environmental Defense and their auto suppliers, they realized that they should give it another shot. I’ll stop there so I don’t ruin the ending for you, ’cause I’m cool like that.

Related:

• Road&Track tests the FedEx W700 Hybrid
• FedEx to Add Hybrid Vans to its Fleet

[Source: Stanford via Hybrid Car & Vehicle News via Hugg]

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

Filed under: Dodge, AutoblogGreen Exclusive

A Dodge Nitro might not be the vehicle of choice of the typical AutoblogGreen reader (it’s mileage ratings are modest, certainly not great, at about 20 mpg combined), but you can’t beat the price: free to one lucky reader.

Yes, our friends at Autoblog have an historic contest that starts today to celebrate the relaunch of the now-three-year old car obsession site. You can read all of the details over at the contest post, but the short of it is that you can sign up once a day for the next few weeks to be in the running for the tricked out Nitro. If you win and want to sell it for something greener, the estimated value of $29,680 should put a nice dent into whatever hybrid or Phoenix or Tesla you’re interested in.

Speaking of prizes and relaunches, we’re working for one for AutoblogGreen as well, so stay tuned. I wish I could release more details, but it’s not time yet. You can get a pretty good idea of what ABG will look like from the new Autoblog, though.

[Source: Autoblog]

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

Filed under: MPG, MINI, SMART, Fiat

This diminutive roller-skate of a car, as seen in Car Magazine, looks positively angry. And somehow, I love it. The Abarth 500 is aimed somewhere between a Brabus ForTwo and a Cooper S in size and performance, which is no bad place to be. The 1.4L turbo-four from the sleek, hot Abarth Grande Punto is likely going to put out the same 150 hp and 170 lb.-ft., making a pretty nice way to save a little gas money. If you’re in Europe. The wheels are larger than on the base model and where low-profile tires, sacrificing yet more ride comfort for some by-the-seat-of-your-pants fun. There’s a small roof spoiler at the rear, and most of the chrome from the base model is swapped for body-color or black, which definitely works. Even with the ridiculous ‘camouflaging’ duct tape, I think it looks cool, and inspires maybe some creative striping ideas.

It’s high time that we start aligning our taste in cars here in America with that of the Europeans. We’ve been rather slow on the uptake, but hot-hatches, while being a smaller market (pun intended), are definitely a growing one, albeit slowly. The fact is, if I – a power-hungry, tire-smoking, gasoline-sniffing, recklessly driving mid-western whitey – am getting excited about a microcar, maybe it’s time to box a few and send them over. You know, get a head start on boosting the market. Wha’dya think, Fiat? Wanna send one over with it’s Grande Punto counterpart so I can drive them and tell our readers how cool they are?

[Source: Car Magazine]

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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., Green Culture

West Coast food retailer Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will use a number of new, environmentally-friendly trailers in its fleet operations. The aerodynamically-designed trailers are designed to help increase fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions through innovations such as a hybrid refrigeration vector unit.

An automated refrigeration shutoff feature goes into effect once the trailer has reached its optimal cooling temp, giving the truck’s diesel engine one less thing it needs to supply power to. In addition, full engine shutoff will take place when parked at Fresh & Easy retail stores, and standby electrical power at the company’s distribution centers will eliminate the need to burn any diesel to power the trailers at those facilities.

The trailers are 66 percent quieter than other refrigerated units, and the company has also instituted noise-reduction measures and/or policies to make them as unobtrusive as possible in their areas of operation. All that’s missing are some hybrid trucks to pull the slick new trailers.

[Source: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market]

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

Filed under: Biodiesel, Vegetable Oil

Yeah, I know that some people make their own biodiesel, sometimes using fresh new vegetable oil and other times using used deep fryer oil. But, I personally don’t know anybody who actually grows their own crop, mashes up the seeds and uses the oils to make biofuel. I still don’t, because I don’t know the author of this post here, but I digress. The seeds that he is starting with are Jatropha seeds, which he sourced on eBay from outside the country. He lists the reasons that he chose that plant over other options, so check it out if you are interested.

This whole thing got me thinking… how many people would brew their own biodiesel if the instructions actually started like this:

• Purchase Jatropha seeds on eBay
• Plant Jatropha seeds in ground
• Water Jatropha seeds

And so on, and so forth… I will monitor his success (or lack thereof, depending) and report back with his findings if they prove to be interesting.

[Source: Groovy Green]

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