2nd Green Revolution

Yesterday’s post about the Chinese automaker BYD’s announcement at the Detroit auto show begs the question about the future of the automobile. What does the coming decade hold in store for the automobile? Share your thoughts by answering the following poll:

(polls)

- Eric Wilson

Chinese battery maker-turned-ambitious-automaker BYD (Build Your Dreams) made some noise recently at the Detroit Auto Show. Scheduled to arrive in the U.S. later this year, their E6 electric vehicle has been the target of much speculation. With an “Fe battery” that may be lithium ion phosphate instead of the usual lithium ion, the Discovery Channel reports that the automaker’s battery is fully recyclable, lasts 10 years, and can move the car 205 miles on a single charge. Pricing for the car may be announced later this spring. Read the rest of this entry »

NPR mentioned on the air that the Toyota Prius’s plug-in version of their popular gasoline-electric hybrid will be available in 2011. The New York Times reported today that Japanese car company “planned a widespread release of its plug-in hybrid car in 2011.” According to the story, Toyota is planning an increased roll out due to the pressure the Chevy’s Volt has brought to bear on the industry. Toyota had anticipated moving toward an expanded gasoline-hybrid line, instead of the plug-in hybrid. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Saturday and Sunday the Metro Washington Area Solar Tour was held in Maryland, Virginia, and DC. Ordinary homeowners kindly opened up their houses to strangers in order to educate people interested in learning about solar power and other green technologies and practices. I visited a home in the Maryland suburbs that has a solar roof array of Sun Power panels that “produces approximately 4,534kWh per year and avoids 8,888lbs. of CO2 per year.” The 3.68KW grid-connected PV system with battery backup (about 3-4 hours, I was told) was made possible through financial assistance from a grant and tax credit from the State of Maryland and Montgomery County. The homeowners also received a federal tax credit. While an expensive upfront cost, the owners have already noticed a major reduction in their electricity bills. The back-up battery system also comes in handy when a short-term power outage hits. They can power their refrigerator and freezer for up to 4 hours, by which time minor outages are usually fixed and they have saved their expensive stock of perishable food.

The installation was done by Standard Solar, an experienced solar installation service company based in Gaithersburg, MD. They are a “full service turn key company that will design, permit, install, inspect, commission, and service your system, as well as complete all of your incentive paperwork.” They had a friendly and knowledgeable representative on hand to answer questions. If you’re in the DC area and want to see if your home is a solar candidate, call (301) 944-1200 or visit www.standardsolar.com to receive a no-cost solar evaluation.

- Justin Manger

Fritz Henderson, GM’s Chief Executive, remarked at a news conference today that “Our Chevrolet Volt extended range electric vehicle will achieve unprecedented fuel economy. I’m confident that we will be in triple digits.”

Triple digits indeed, if it can be believed. According to Autoblog, Frank Weber, vehicle chief engineer for the Volt, said that the “[230mpg] number is based on combined electric only driving and charge sustaining mode with the engine running.” It is based on city driving. He declined to get specific about the proportions, but did say that the urban cycle would be predominantly EV only.

The Volt can go 40 miles without using any gas by running on its electric motor. The average American commutes less than 40 miles per day, so on many days using the Volt will result in no gasoline consumption. Fritz also remarked that in Detroit, the car’s battery could be recharged overnight for $.05 per kilowatt hour, or a total of 40 cents. (GM webcast link after the jump). Read the rest of this entry »

Aiming to show the world that existing cars can be made more efficient with current technology, musician Neil Young is now throwing his name, money, and popularity behind a retro-fitted ‘59 Ford gas-guzzler that he claims gets around 100 miles per gallon. From the LincVolt website, “LincVolt is a 2.5 ton Lincoln Continental Mk IV convertible manufactured by Ford motors in 1959. At 19.5 feet long, it was the longest car of its era. A new series-hybrid system for powering the car is in the final stages of tuning and development.” A detailed article can be found here.   Read the rest of this entry »

• In San Jose, California, three private partners will produce 900,000 gallons of biogas using German technology and 150,000 metric tons of organic waste generated by San Jose residents (source: New York Times).
• Puget Sound Energy, the electricity provider for the Seattle, Washington region, gets 42% of its total electricity production from hydro-power.
• New York City unveiled the “world’s first scientifically valid, real-time indicator of carbon emissions” on a giant billboard outside Madison Square Garden. The ticker shows that atmospheric greenhouse gases are rising by 800 tonnes a second.
• China’s ban on free plastic bags, imposed in 2008, has “saved the use of an estimated 40 million plastic bags that would have taken 1.6 million tons of oil to produce.”
• Sony has announced plans to produce an alkaline battery that contains no mercury, a chemical that is said to be particularly harmful to humans and the environment.

- Justin Manger

[image source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art]

• Data centers worldwide now consume more energy annually than Sweden. And the amount of energy required is growing, says Jonathan Koomey, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
• From 2000 to 2005, the aggregate electricity use by data centers doubled. Mr. Koomey calculates that “The cloud, . . . consumes 1 to 2 percent of the world’s electricity.” (NY Times)
• Raw materials for lithium ion batteries is now 75% of their total cost, according to Nathan Lewis, George L. Argyros professor of chemistry at California Institute of Technology
• 84 million barrels of oil per day (mb/d) are consumed worldwide. According to the Energy Information Administration’s International Energy Outlook 2009 that figure will rise to 107mb/d by 2030
• According to same EIA report, fossil fuels will still comprise 80% of marketed energy by 2030. (obviously these are just projections but interesting and shows how major the worldwide dependence on fossil fuels is and how hard to break)

- Justin Manger

[image source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art]

The third annual Meeting of the Minds summit on environmental issues was held in New York City for two days last week. The event bills itself as a “leadership summit [that] brings together 130+ policy-makers, opinion-shapers and thought-leaders from commercial, non-profit and public sector organizations.” The goal of the summit is to bring together all these groups for “2 days of intensive exchange for leaders creating more sustainable cities using smarter design tools, sounder environmental practices, and cleaner energy systems.”

This year, Toyota was once again the lead sponsor of the event and had two of its executives give presentations. It was clear that Toyota has some major doubts about the technology in current plug-in vehicles and is honest about the challenges in mass producing such vehicles. Toyota will soon begin leasing an initial 500 Prius-based hybrids at different locations around the world. According to the Wheels Blog: Read the rest of this entry »