The Green Optimistic

An Outlook on the Impact of U.S. Car Industry on Economy

Guest Contributor — Sat, 25 May 2013 06:59:51 +0000

The automobile industry has been instrumental in the improvement of GDP of the US economy. Some of the leading auto companies like Ford, General Motors and Chrysler had done a good business in the last year. Compared to the sales in 2011 the hike was over 13% and it is estimated that the domestic economic [...]

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Pinkhouses Make Suburban Farming a Reality

Leigh Kim — Sat, 25 May 2013 01:57:20 +0000

The concept of vertical farming is extremely popular. Architects and engineers have started designing tall buildings intended to function as urban food centers in the attempt to implement vertical farming. Many horticulturists, however, find the concept ludicrous and believe the future of farming is in the suburbs, not skyscrapers. Horticulturalists envision huge warehouses in the [...]

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Power-to-Gas System in Germany Uses Sun and Wind to Make Natural Gas

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:39:07 +0000

Germany is about to start a new phase in its energy revolution with a project that is meant to use captured carbon dioxide, use solar and wind power to produce hydrogen from water, and combine all of them to produce natural gas, aka methane. The project, named “Power to Gas” (P2G), aims to use the [...]

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Airborne Wind Turbine Company Makani Power Bought by Google

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:00:06 +0000

Makani Power, the company who made an airborne wind turbine a few years ago, has been acquired by Google for an undisclosed sum. Google had already invested about $15 million in them and if they bought the idea it may mean there’s something worth following about Makani. The Makani Power team will now joing Google [...]

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Solar Powered PlanetSolar Tûranor Sets New Record

Benji Jerew — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:20:18 +0000

Originally commissioned in 2009, the PlanetSolar Tûranor was designed to see how successful a boat powered entirely by solar power would perform. After a successful circumnavigation of the globe in 2012, the PlanetSolar Tûranor spent a few months in port getting retrofitted with more efficient motors and solar power control systems. After the circumnavigation in [...]

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Plug-In Hybrid Bailey Blade EVR: New Muscle or Fisker Repeat?

Benji Jerew — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:16:29 +0000

Very few people have the vision and business sense to get any invention out of the garage and into production. Nowhere is this more true than the budding electric vehicle market. Case in point: Tesla Model S and Fisker Karma, an electric vehicle and extended-range electric vehicle, respectively. With its undeniably sexy body and zero [...]

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Osmoblue Thermoelectric Device Works at Lower Temperatures

Benji Jerew — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:14:43 +0000

Aside from energy efficiency, energy recovery could be the next best way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Thermoelectric devices use waste heat to generate electricity. Depending on whether you are looking at an internal combustion engine or a manufacturing plant, up to 60% of the energy that goes into these, whether chemical or electrical, is [...]

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Gold and Rust Unlikely Partners in Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Duke University

Benji Jerew — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:28:29 +0000

Hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity directly from hydrogen and generate zero carbon dioxide emissions, unlike conventional methods of electricity generation. In order to accomplish this feat, a catalyst in the hydrogen fuel cell starts and maintains the reaction. Hydrogen in the fuel, typically pure hydrogen gas, is combined chemically with oxygen from the atmosphere, generating [...]

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KERS-Enabled Electric Twizy and 265 HP Meganes Race Each Other – See Who Wins

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:41:32 +0000

We’ve been talking a lot about Kinetic Energy Recover Systems (KERS) lately, and even presented an actual implementation by Volvo. Now the French have put such a system into an electric vehicle called Twizy (about which we’ve been too talking a while ago) and managed to beat the cr*p out of two 265 horsepower, gas-drinking [...]

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The Fisker Automotive, Wanxiang, and VL Automotive Love Triangle Overseen by Bob Lutz

Benji Jerew — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:15:37 +0000

By now it’s no longer old news when we talk about yet another electric vehicle company going down, such as A123 Systems, CODA Motors, Better Place, and now Fisker Automotive. Bob Lutz, previously of General Motors and the driving force behind the Chevy Volt, has turned his attention to other projects. VIA Motors has designs [...]

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Tesla Motors Just Repaid Entire 2010 Loan, 9 Years Ahead of Deadline

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:17:04 +0000

Good breaking news today: Tesla Motors repaid its entire loan to the U.S. Department of Energy that it received in 2010. This ends all kinds of malicious talks about them not having money or the government failing to back successful companies in the alternative energy/transportation sector. Here’s an e-mail I got from them a few [...]

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Climate Change Means More Heat-Related Deaths in NYC

Leigh Kim — Thu, 23 May 2013 03:14:42 +0000

A new study released Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change found that in the 2020s, heat-related mortality may rise by up to 20%. In the very worst cases, by the 2080s, that number might rise to 90%. The study is the most thorough examination to date of the impact global warming will have on [...]

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Japan’s Hydrogen Fuel Infrastructure is World’s Most Advanced

Benji Jerew — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:20:26 +0000

As automakers gear up to release even limited numbers of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, perhaps the biggest struggle will be getting infrastructure in place. Electric vehicles have pretty much the same problem right now, with limited opportunities for fast charging on the road. Efforts are well under way, but this is mostly on the part [...]

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Wanxiang Also Has Eyes On Fisker Automotive

Benji Jerew — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:15:49 +0000

In business, sometimes death [read: bankruptcy] comes from a series of unfortunate events, as seems to have happened with Fisker Automotive. It’s been a story long in coming, but the end result is that Fisker Automotive can’t produce any vehicles. In spite of having a truly beautiful sedan and some big plans for the future [...]

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Increased Energy Efficiency Could Cut Wireless Data Power Consumption by 90%

Benji Jerew — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:14:14 +0000

Take a look at your mobile device. Other than worrying about battery life and data plan overages, have you ever thought about the energy efficiency [or lack thereof] of the network itself? In our ever-increasingly connected world, many have come to rely on mobile data delivered by mobile-phone networks delivered to tablets, laptops, and smartphones. [...]

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Subhydro’s Energy Storage System Uses Ocean Depth Pressure Difference

Mila Luleva — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:48:50 +0000

A German engineer is planning to utilize the pressure difference between the seafloor and the sea surface in order to create a new highly efficient energy storage system. Rainer Shramm, and co-founder of the company Subhydro AS, together experts from SINTEF, have applied for a patent of the technology. The team is planning to develop [...]

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Vehicle Emissions Transforming Good Cholesterol into Bad One

Mila Luleva — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:06:08 +0000

A new study reveals that vehicle emissions affect the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, leading to hardening of arteries and increased risk of artery clogging. The study will be released in the June’s issue of the the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, and it is conducted by a team of researchers from UCLA, University [...]

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Algae-Based Biofuels Not Yet Ready to Compete With Fossil Fuels, Says ExxonMobil

Mila Luleva — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:04:30 +0000

Algae-based fuels are still a very expensive idea and the technology behind their production is not yet ready to compete with fossil fuels, according to the latest press release by Synthetic Genomics. ExxonMobil was the company, which hired Synthetic Genomics to develop algae-based fuels back in 2009. However, the experts behind the so-called Exxon-Synthetic Genomics [...]

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City of Vancouver’s 5 Tips for a Greener Life

Guest Contributor — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:21:09 +0000

The Vancouver City Council and Parks Board works hard to through on programs to support the Greenest City 2020 initiative by attracting green building projects, increasing staff commuting options, sourcing local food for city cafeterias, and planning community based events. While individual residents may not wield the same power and influence as the city government, [...]

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Toyota Finally Venturing Into Lithium-Ion Batteries, In a Big Way!

Benji Jerew — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:24:23 +0000

Toyota’s hybrid electric vehicles look like their going to get a boost in power and efficiency in the next few years as they make the switch to lithium-ion battery technology. Nickel-Metal Hydride [NiMH] rechargeable battery technology has been around for years, is exceptionally reliable, and has been the mainstay of Toyota’s hybrid electric vehicle program [...]

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How Audi Told the World They’re Afraid of Tesla Motors

Benji Jerew — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:26:48 +0000

Last week, we reported that Tesla Motors sales were outselling other luxury automobiles in its class. Audi says “Not so fast!” According to Green Car Reports and CNN Money, the Tesla Model S sold more in the first quarter of 2013 than other luxury sedans in its class, including the Audi A8, BMW 7-Series, Lexus [...]

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Cheap Autonomous Driving System with Artificial Intelligence Developed by Romanian High School Student

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:21:41 +0000

Either Google or Tesla Motors should hire this guy – he made a system that can autonomously drive a car and that costs just a fraction of Google’s current LIDAR-based self-driving mechanism. Ionut Budisteanu, the Romanian inventor, is to some just a high school student – to others, he may be the key to revolutionary [...]

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Natural Hazard Early Warning Systems Improved Using GPS Data

Mila Luleva — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:55:07 +0000

Scientists claim that the Global Positioning System (GPS) could save millions of lives by providing detailed information about upcoming natural hazards before they have occurred. As the effects of climate change are continuously accelerating, ice sheets are melting, sea level is rising and atmospheric currents are changing, we keep hearing about more and more cases [...]

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British Government Doubles Renewable Energy Incentives For Households

Mila Luleva — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:54:11 +0000

The British government is expected to announce an increase in the one-off payments to help households switch to renewable energy sources. The measure will be taken as the implementation of governmental renewable heat incentive scheme (RHI) has been postponed until 2014. Initially scheduled to be launched this summer, RHI was supposed to stimulate people to [...]

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The Earth Gets A Reprieve From Global Warming, For Now

Leigh Kim — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:05:48 +0000

Climatologists are breathing a collective sigh of relief. New data suggests that over the coming decade, the Earth will warm more slowly than previously thought. However, scientists stress that this is not a long-term reprieve – and temperatures are currently rising faster than they have been for the past 11, 000 years. The Earth warmed [...]

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Self-Driving Vehicle Development Platform Sold by Japanese Company

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:02:53 +0000

Not long ago, Google started teasing the world with the idea of a self-driving vehicle. Now, a company called ZMP Inc released a development platform called ”RoboCar MV2 Autonomous Driving Package,” which is a single seat electric vehicle meant to help car companies (like Tesla) get going with autonomous driving. Actually, the ZMP platform is based [...]

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EU to Tax Chinese Solar Panel Imports Starting June

Mila Luleva — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:39:28 +0000

The European Commission (EC) announced last week that they will impose import duties and hefty penalties on half of the solar panels from China in June. In response, Chinese officials stated that these could have serious implications on China-Europe trade relations. Following up on the recently reported issue regarding low cost imports of solar panels [...]

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Scientists Optimistic About Temperature Rise Rates

Mila Luleva — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:38:11 +0000

Lower rates of global warming over the past few years do not indicate slower increase in temperatures in a long-term, according to a recent study in Nature Geoscience. An international team of scientists conducted a detailed study, which indicates that the lower rates are associated with the absorption of heat by the Earth’s oceans. Using [...]

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What Can Kinetic Energy Recovery [KERS] Do for a Volvo S60?

Benji Jerew — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:36:33 +0000

You might associate the Kinetic Energy Recovery System [KERS] with high-end Formula 1 race cars, but Volvo isn’t leaving it just for the track. In fact, many track-tested technologies find their way into production vehicles, such as dual-overhead camshafts and tire technology. Volvo’s S60 KERS engineering prototype is one way that Volvo is approaching performance [...]

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Liquified Air Could Be Cheaper Energy Storage Than Batteries

Benji Jerew — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:36:00 +0000

The idea is a couple of hundred years old, but liquified air technology was just too inefficient to store energy. Of course, just like batteries of the 1880′s couldn’t hold a candle to today’s batteries, the technology needed to liquify air today is much more efficient. By compressing and cooling a gas, it can be [...]

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Electric Bikes Banned in NYC, Biking Law a Little Short-Sighted

Benji Jerew — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:35:31 +0000

Electric bikes are a great way to get around, especially on city streets. They take up almost no room and you can park them practically anywhere. In New York City, you can also get fined up to $1,000 for riding an electric bike. Electric bikes have actually been outlawed in New York State since 2004, [...]

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Geobacter Bacteria Used to Create Electricity from Hydrogen and Carbon Dioxide

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:03:25 +0000

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst have recently engineered Geobacter metallireducens, a bacterium that can feed with hydrogen and carbon dioxide to produce electricity. “This represents the first result of current production solely on hydrogen,” says Amit Kumar, who worked with Derek Lovely, the scientist who first isolated Geobacter metallireducens 26 years ago, in the Potomac River. [...]

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Young People Drive Less Than Parents Did, Study

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:03:50 +0000

A recent study conducted by the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) shows that young people these days don’t enjoy driving as much as their parents did. The “driving boom,” as they call it, affected Baby Boomers (now 50 to 60 years old). The total number of miles driven has been the same, but the [...]

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Climate Change Ruining the Earth’s Food Supply

Leigh Kim — Sat, 18 May 2013 12:02:28 +0000

Climate change is drastically affecting the ingredients in our daily meals, including the maple syrup on our pancakes, wine in our glass, chocolate in our desserts, and the salmon on our dinner plates. The moister and warmer air in many of the Earth’s locations, mixed with extreme drought conditions in others, is wreaking havoc on [...]

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Food Waste Produces 13 Million kWh of Electricity for Supermarket Chain

Leigh Kim — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:36:27 +0000

West Coast supermarket chain Ralph’s uses leftover fruit and expired meat and milk from its stores to keep generate electricity. The closed-loop system, to which it is referred, was developed by the Boston start-up Feed Resource Recovery and offsets more than 20% of Ralph’s Compton, CA distribution center’s energy demands. In Ralph’s distribution center that it [...]

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Engineered Tobacco Leaves Produce Biofuel at Berkeley

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:20:13 +0000

Instead of smoking it, we could one day use tobacco to power cars – thanks to a project at UC Berkeley, CA. A team of scientists are now using genetically modified tobacco leaves that produce oil. The researchers have worked to isolate chlorophyll from the oil that the leaves produce so that the final product [...]

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Mogadishu a Safer Place Thanks to Solar Powered Street Lights

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 18 May 2013 07:53:13 +0000

Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, is now a safer place to live thanks to solar-powered streetlights installed by the British and Norwegian government. The lights, spreading over a length of 15 kilometers, cost $400,000. After 20 years of conflict, the people of Mogadishu have started to rebuild their lives and the local economy to prosper. If only [...]

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Cheap and Safe Fission Reactor Designed by Teenager

Mila Luleva — Sat, 18 May 2013 04:14:33 +0000

A teenager designed a cheap and safe modular fission reactor at the impressive age of only nineteen. The reactor is an invention of Taylor Wilson, who worked on it for the past one year. He claims that his design has 30-year fuel life and very low usage cost, making it perfect for developing nations. Instead of [...]

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Climate Change is Man-Made, Scientists Unanimously Agree

Mila Luleva — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:45:48 +0000

Scientists from the University of Queensland conducted a survey based on 30,000 scientific peer-reviewed papers published over the past 20 years, identifying that 97.1% of the studies found climate change to be caused by human activities. The findings were published in the journal Environmental Research Letters earlier this week. It was concluded that among scientists, [...]

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Fossil Fuel Industries Identified As The Main Source of Methane

Mila Luleva — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:44:36 +0000

A study recently published in the journal Atmospheric Environment, reported an increase in methane concentrations alongside major southern US roads and highways. Researchers from University of California, Santa Barbara, conducted an extensive sampling of atmospheric methane concentrations along transects from the Southwest and moving towards Huston. The scientists used a gas chromatograph to measure methane, since [...]

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Emerging Objects’ Cheap 3D Printing Material Made from Salt, Recycled Wood and Clay

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:44:58 +0000

3D printing these days is not actualy… um… green. Because it uses plastic. However, a team at Emerging Objects, a small fabrication studio in Oakland, has developed a material made from salt, wood and clay that can be (greenly) used to make 3D printing a lot greener and cheaper. “Many people are focused on machines [...]

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Light Control Sheets “Self-Adjust” Solar Load, Can Make Home More Efficient

Benji Jerew — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:34:17 +0000

One way to reduce the amount of energy in a building is to regulate solar load. The sun adds heat, which helps warm a home in winter, but isn’t so great in summer. In the winter, you could open the southern window shades to allow the sun to heat up the home and reduce the [...]

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Princesse Benedikte Will Be World’s Largest Hybrid Ferry

Benji Jerew — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:48:28 +0000

The Princess Benedikte is not in service right now, but when retrofits are completed, it will be the world’s largest hybrid diesel electric ferry. The Princess Benedikte is already diesel electric, as most ships are these days. Powerful diesel engines turn generators, the power of which is then fed to electric motors on the propellers. [...]

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Light Hybrid Vehicles May be The Next Best Thing

Benji Jerew — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:27:18 +0000

To reduce emissions and increase fuel economy, hybrid vehicles are a pretty good option that aren’t nearly as expensive as pure electric vehicles. In the hierarchy of vehicle pricing, though, it can be difficult sometimes to justify spending more up front for better technology, even if it’ll save you money at the pump. Given a [...]

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CO2 Capturing System to be Installed at Norwegian Cement Factory

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:57:45 +0000

A new and innovative CO2 capturing system is to be installed in Norway, at a Norcem cement producing plant in Brevik. Developed by Aker Solutions, the carbon capturing system is the first in the world to do this at a cement station. While most of today’s efforts only focus on capturing emissions resulted from coal-fired [...]

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“Full-Size Truck Sales Surge, Fuel Economy Doesn’t Matter,” Fox Business Puts Foot in Mouth

Benji Jerew — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:01:52 +0000

This story appeared a month ago, but I thought I’d take a look at it again. Is fuel economy the driving force behind customer choice of vehicle? The simple answer is yes, but before I get to that, I thought the following quote was most telling: “The gas guzzlers reign supreme in the American auto [...]

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Extracting Uranium from Seawater for Nuclear Power Plants

Benji Jerew — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:24:28 +0000

Nuclear power is basically a carbon-free energy source but, we have to admit, it has its own special problems. The radioactive fuel that goes into nuclear power plants is typically mined the standard way, but there is a vast untapped reserve trapped in the world’s oceans. Water is the universal solvent, and seawater is much [...]

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Tesla Motors Set to Pay off DOE Loans Even Faster, Has to Raise the Cash First

Benji Jerew — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:55:41 +0000

Tesla Motors has become quite a driving force with stock prices trending upwards, great reviews, and steady sales. Tesla Motors has also managed, in a market of other failing electric-vehicle ventures, to bring a great vehicle to market and make a profit while at it. Production is now at full speed and Tesla Motors expressed [...]

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Amtrak Upgrading to Siemens’ High-Efficiency Electric Locomotives

Benji Jerew — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:36:55 +0000

When train locomotives made the switch from diesel to electric, especially commuter lines, Amtrak was able to provide cleaner transportation. Of course, the almighty dollar has a lot to do with it, as electricity is much cheaper than diesel fuel. As a side benefit, electric locomotives could reduce emissions depending on where they get their [...]

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Air Quality Directive Strengthened by Scientists

Mila Luleva — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:33:11 +0000

In anticipation of the Green Week 2013, which will take place in Brussels between the 4th and 7th of June, scientists and stakeholders gathered earlier this week to discuss ways to expand research and strengthen the Air Quality Directive. The event entitled „Frontline Research for Improved Air Quality and Climate Action” was initiated by the the Leibniz [...]

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Plasmons Make Liquid Solar Cells More Efficient And Affordable

Mila Luleva — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:31:22 +0000

A new generation liquid solar cells are being developed at SUFY Buffalo. Although the new technology is expected to have lower efficiency than conventional silicon or cadmium solar cells, the new solar cells will be much cheaper to produce and can cover much larger surfaces. The new liquid solar cells, made of metal nanoparticles, are [...]

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Oil Production Surges with Technological Advances, Biofuel Interest Wanes

Leigh Kim — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:28:08 +0000

Oil production is taking off, much to the surprise and chagrin of proponents of biofuel. The United States could see a surge in oil production that could make it the world’s leading oil producer within the next 10 years, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. Several years ago, experts posited that [...]

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Tesla Motors Outweighs Fiat in NASDAQ Value

Benji Jerew — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:03:57 +0000

The rest of the automobile market may be saying that Tesla Motors is punching far beyond its weight, but what do you do with someone who’s breaking all the rules? Tesla Motors is a young company, just ten years old in a market sporting makers from as far back as the 1890s. It’s also a [...]

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Porsche Lays Out Its All-Hybrid-Vehicle Future

Benji Jerew — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:09:18 +0000

While some automakers have been content to offer just a couple of hybrid vehicles, Porsche is planning something a whole lot more intensive. Subaru, for example, has only just gotten into hybrid vehicle technology, which is kind of surprising considering Subaru’s link to all things outdoors. Still it’s a start, but other companies like Toyota, [...]

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Chevy Cruze Turbo Diesel Fuel Economy Rated at 46MPG

Benji Jerew — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:48:36 +0000

Perhaps you may know the Chevy Volt for being a remarkably fuel-conscious vehicle. Engineers at General Motors have produced a remarkable diesel-powered vehicle with some impressive fuel economy ratings. If you’re interested in reducing your vehicle emissions, you’ve got a lot of choices. With the introduction of hybrid electric and electric vehicle technology, you might [...]

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Climate Change Affects Insurance Companies, Carbon Tax Taken Seriously

Mila Luleva — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:26:50 +0000

As climate change becomes more apparent and the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events become higher, insurance companies are having to face additional and very often unforeseen losses. It is surprising that although the insurance industry is heavily dependant on scientific predictions and research, the sector has not been involved in any discussions related [...]

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Battery Swapping May Soon Be Implemented by Tesla Motors

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:24:03 +0000

As usual, it all started with a tweet from Elon Musk saying “There is a way for the Tesla Model S to be recharged throughout the country faster than you could fill a gas tank.” What can you understand from that? The usual suspect would be battery swapping. Musk is now thinking that, while they’re [...]

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CAT Scans Determine Safety of Undersea CO2 Storage

Leigh Kim — Wed, 15 May 2013 03:13:53 +0000

Using X-rays and CAT scanners to probe the undersea rock formations and their ability to store CO2 permanently, two petroleum engineering and applied geophysics professors at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have made an interesting discovery. Any time a natural gas, petroleum, coal, or gasoline is burned, CO2 is formed, and too [...]

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Nissan and Renault Electric Vehicles Selling Better Than Most, Still Won’t Hit Targets

Benji Jerew — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:05:17 +0000

It seems that Nissan and Renault’s electric vehicle sales are doing pretty well, but have they set themselves up for disappointment? It’s easy to be pessimistic in an automobile market that doesn’t appreciate newcomers, especially electric vehicles. A little optimism can be good, but being too optimistic can also become a problem, which seems to [...]

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London Power Station Generates Electricity From Fat in Sewers

Mila Luleva — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:04:19 +0000

A new type of power station in London will turn oil and fat, which accumulate in the sewers under the city streets, into electricity. The station will be located in Beckton, east London, and it will generate enough electricity to serve nearly 3.5 million people in case of emergency. The water company have already agreed [...]

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UN Encourages Us to Eat Insects as Part of a Nutrition-Rich Diet

Mila Luleva — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:03:11 +0000

According to a report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization insects can provide all needed nutrients and proteins to undernourished children. The report, which was presented at a news conference in Rome, states that insects are not only a valuable food supplement, which is already consumed by more than 2 million people around the world, [...]

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Loss in Rainforest Could Lead to Drop of Hydropower Generation

Mila Luleva — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:00:31 +0000

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science earlier this week revealed that deforestation in tropical regions will lead to a reduction in hydroenergy output. Scientists explain that rainforests, especially in the Amazon basin, Central Africa and Indonesia, are not only responsible for controlling the carbon cycle, but they also play [...]

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Tesla Model S Outselling Other Luxury Vehicles

Benji Jerew — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:41:20 +0000

It’s all good news for Tesla Motors these days. Production of the Tesla Model S is in full swing, stock prices are trending upwards and, perhaps best of all, it’s profitable! Another feather in Tesla Motors’ cap comes up after reviewing first quarter sales numbers for 2013. Tesla Model S is outselling everything else in [...]

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Volvo’s New Engines Big on Fuel Economy AND Performance

Benji Jerew — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:59:56 +0000

This fall, Volvo will unveil a new line of engines that offer better fuel economy without sacrificing performance. As concerns over vehicle emissions continue to rise and regulations become more strict, increasing fuel economy is at the forefront of addressing them. Some automakers have turned to vehicle electrification, but there is still plenty of innovation [...]

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Terrafugia’s TF-X is World’s First Flying Hybrid Car

Mike Sandru — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:43:13 +0000

As if putting their very first flying car through its paces was not enough, Terrafugia have recently revealed plans to build a hybrid flying car – the first of its kind in the world. The flying car would be semi-autonomous, small enough for regular-sized garages, have space for four people and a range of 500 [...]

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Researchers Harness Photosynthesis to Produce Energy

Leigh Kim — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:18:22 +0000

For years, scientists have been trying to harness the energy of photosynthesis since plants themselves are the perfect solar technology. Plants use photosynthesis to produce energy at nearly 100% efficiency. Researchers at the University of Georgia have been able to tap into photosynthesis directly to produce electricity. They discovered a method to interrupt photosynthesis to [...]

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Nanotech Solar Cells being Developed by RedWave Energy

Benji Jerew — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:35:17 +0000

Energy is all around us, but harvesting it remains an issue if we are going to really clean up our act. Nanotech solar cells promise to harvest energy more efficiently and turn it into something we can use. We’ve talked before about how nanotech might improve current solar panel efficiency. One such technology developed by [...]

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China’s Turbocharged Future Will Reduce Vehicle Emissions

Benji Jerew — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:42:48 +0000

The main way to reduce vehicle emissions is to reduce fuel consumption. Typically, reducing fuel consumption requires reducing engine size and power, which isn’t very attractive to buyers. Admittedly, it is difficult to reduce engine size without impacting power too much. China needs to reduce vehicle emissions in a big way however, and automakers are [...]

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Fiat 500e CARB Fodder After All, CEO Marchionne Calls it Masochism

Benji Jerew — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:05:23 +0000

Of all the fuel economy regulations, possibly in the world, those of California are the most strict, which is why electric vehicles [EV] like the Tesla Model S and Fiat 500e are such a great idea. CEOs of regular automobile companies that produce EVs aren’t as convinced that those regulations are very fair. California Air [...]

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Secret Menu in Tesla Model S Reveals Possible Future Features

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:31:03 +0000

Gas2/Autoblog revealed yesterday a video showing a secret menu (and how to access it). From the image we can deduct that Tesla’s plans for the Model S/X include the addition of: Blind spot detection adaptive cruise control land departure warning I’ve always thought that electric cars, when they become mainstream, will be the hackers’ havens: [...]

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Atmospheric CO2 at Its Highest Last Friday, Scientists Warn

Mila Luleva — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:20:31 +0000

The concentration of carbon dioxide, one of the most dangerous greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, has passed 400 parts per million (ppm) milestone on Friday. In human history, a record of such levels have been detected millions of years ago, when sea level has been nearly 40 meters higher than today’s, while the Arctic has [...]

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“Flash Thermography Measurement” Technique Sees Battery Electrode Defects Before Assembly

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 11 May 2013 07:17:39 +0000

A team at Purdue University have discovered a method of detecting defects in lithium ion battery anodes as they are manufactured, before installing them in actual batteries. Their discovery relies on thermal imaging and could increase the reliability of lithium ion cells used in electric cars. Anodes and cathodes are the two electrodes of a [...]

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Vegetarian Diet Key to Curbing Global Warming

Leigh Kim — Sat, 11 May 2013 02:24:36 +0000

A recent Cornell University concluded that a global shift toward a vegetarian diet is extremely important in order to combat the worst effects of climate change. Environmentalists stress the need for the general public to understand the connection between land use and the environment. The United Nations has declared that raising animals for food is [...]

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Veefil Quick EV Charger in Australia, a Competitor for Tesla’s Supercharger

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:39:27 +0000

Tesla Motors were the first to introduce a truly high-capacity Supercharger. However, like mushrooms after the rain, more startup companies do the same – and that’s good. Today’s best example is a company named Tritium, based in Australia, that designed a supercharger called “Veefil” and which is intended for other plug-in vehicles than the Tesla. [...]

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Greenland’s Glacial Melts Seems to be Retreating

Mila Luleva — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:15:13 +0000

A study published in the latest issue of Nature suggests that Greenland glacial melt is likely to slow down in the next 100 years. The scientists from The University Centre in Svalbard, Norway, ran a series of simulation models to predict for a first time the behaviour of Greenland‘s outlet glaciers. They established that these [...]

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Arctic Ice Will Soon Melt Completely, Study Says

Mila Luleva — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:14:05 +0000

A study conducted by an international team of scientists reveals that the Arctic might soon become an ice-free zone. The research was based on analysis of sediment cores from Lake El’gygytgyn, referred by the authors as “Lake E”, and published in the latest issue of the journal Science. Samples were collected back in 2009, when [...]

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Toxic Contaminants Threaten More Lives Than Malaria

Mila Luleva — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:12:25 +0000

Earlier this week, a research conducted by scientists at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York established that toxic pollutants from contaminated land cause more deaths in developing countries than infectious diseases such as malaria. The study lead by Dr. Kevin Charham was based on samples collected from various locations in India, Indonesia [...]

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Plants That Glow In The Dark Might Replace Home Lighting Systems

Mila Luleva — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:10:25 +0000

The latest innovation in the field of genetic modification is set to create a unique kind of bioluminescent plants, which have the potential to replace home lighting installation systems, and why not even street lamps. A team of scientists based in California is trying to raise funding for their one a kind project. Their aim [...]

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New Thermal Decomposition Process Produces Hydrogen Fuel sans Carbon Dioxide

Benji Jerew — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:31:07 +0000

Hydrogen fuel on its own may be greenhouse-gas [GHG] free, but what’s the point of it all if the production methods produce GHGs like carbon dioxide [CO2]? One way to produce hydrogen fuel is by steam reformation of natural gas, the main component of which is methane [CH4], itself a GHG about 20x more potent [...]

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Chevy Volt Batteries to be Manufactured by LG Chem in July, Finally

Benji Jerew — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:58:13 +0000

Sales of the Chevy Volt extended range electric vehicle [EREV] has been slow, but steady, meaning that support companies like battery suppliers aren’t as productive as they could be. True, the market for electric vehicles as a whole hasn’t been enough to justify handshakes and champagne. Much to the contrary, aside from dashing success Tesla [...]

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Natural Disturbancies Included in Climate Mitigation Strategies

Mila Luleva — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:17:23 +0000

A study by researchers at the Joint Global Change Research Institute at Maryland determined that successful climate mitigation strategies in the future should take into account natural disturbances such as fires and hurricanes, which have impact on world’s forested areas. Forests and other ecosystems that control the global carbon cycle are these that are affected by [...]

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Technique for Waste Water Phosphorous Removal Improved

Mila Luleva — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:14:42 +0000

Research coming from the Urban Water Technologies Stream of CSIRO’s Water for a Healthy Country Flagship created a new approach to remove phosphorus from waste water and limit algal blooms. Phosphorus is one of the most commonly found constituents of commercial fertilizers. Concentrations of the element in waste waters increase mainly due to agricultural run off. [...]

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Impact of Methane Emissions On Climate Understated

Mila Luleva — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:13:20 +0000

The impact of methane as a greenhouse gas has been severely understated, as the amount that can be released through fracking has been projected for an 100-year period. Considering that emitted methane can last in the environment for just over eight years, governmental decisions about shale gas exploration have been highly criticised. Politicians are said [...]

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Bosch Power Max Electric Vehicle Charging Station is just $450, Also Most Efficient

Benji Jerew — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:45:01 +0000

Part of electric vehicle ownership is installing your own refueling station, an electric vehicle charging station, that is. When you look at the overall costs of running an electric vehicle, it’s easy to see how many people could benefit financially by avoiding the gas pump and recharging at home, or even on the go. It’s [...]

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Tesla Motors Profits First Quarter of 2013, Plans to Increase Production

Benji Jerew — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:51:30 +0000

“Promises were made to be broken,” but not by Tesla Motors, which is good news for everyone, including investors and prospective clients. The driving force behind Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, has almost everything to do with how this high-tech electric vehicle has developed from idea to success. So many things can destroy a new company, [...]

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Wind Turbines + Batteries = Stable Power Supplies

Leigh Kim — Thu, 09 May 2013 05:18:33 +0000

By pairing a hybrid wind turbine’s battery with a wind-forecasting algorithm, wind farm operators might be able to guarantee a specified amount of power output for nearly an hour. If this pairing is possible, then integrating intermittent renewable energy might become much easier and lower the cost of wind power. It’s difficult to determine the [...]

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Tesla Model S Just Got Affordable: $580 a Month!

Benji Jerew — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:04:15 +0000

Considering Tesla Motors is not for the faint-of-wallet, to be sure, but then, the Tesla Model S is a high-tech luxury vehicle. The base Tesla Model S 60kWh with no options ticked still starts over $70,000 before incentives that bring the price down to anywhere between $56,070 and $63,570, depending on what state you live [...]

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Iran’s Apartment No. 1 Built Entirely from Recycled Stone

Mike Sandru — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:56:02 +0000

Iranian city Mahallat is home to a thriving stone cutting industry. Even though the industry contributes nearly half of the city’s economy, it also generates a lot of waste stone from the cutting process. Tehran’s Architecture by Collective Terrain thus set out to put the so-called waste stone to use by constructing an apartment building [...]

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Composite Nanomaterials Remove Microbes and Chemical Contaminants From Drinking Water

Mila Luleva — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:52:57 +0000

A prototype developed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Medras in Chennai, India, purifies 10 litres of water at a time, making it free from harmful contaminants and bacteria. The study was published in the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It shows how a mixture of [...]

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World’s First Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Plant to be Built Off Chinese Shore

Mike Sandru — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:51:42 +0000

US aerospace company Lockheed Martin have signed an agreement with Reignwood Group, a resort developer based in Beijing, China, to construct an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plant – the first of its kind in the world – off the shores of southern China. The plant, scheduled to be finished by 2017, will produce 10 [...]

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Nissan Leaf Braving Down Under With Lower Prices, Again

Benji Jerew — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:48:25 +0000

Sales of the Nissan Leaf in Australia haven’t been all that great, but then the market is a fledgeling one. Perhaps better pricing will help to spur the market? Americans may think that had a stranglehold on the muscle-car market and big pickup trucks and 4x4s, especially in comparison to our nearest neighbor Europe, whose [...]

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“Autopilot” Function on Tesla Cars Anticipated, Elon Musk Says It’s Years Away

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 08 May 2013 07:32:14 +0000

When Elon Musk tweets about something, it usually becomes news for a day or two. But when he doesn’t, people speculate. So it’s been the case with Bloomberg and their anticipation of a self-driving car from Tesla. It looks like Musk has recently been in talks with Google about how this technology could steer future [...]

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New “Connected Universe” Theory Could Pave the Way to Unlimited Energy Resource

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 08 May 2013 06:34:33 +0000

A new paper on the theory of gravity published last week could revolutionize the world as we know it by demonstrating – through basic algebraic and geometric equations – the existence of a new energy reservoir: the spacetime. It may sound like Star Trek, but the prospect of unlimited, free energy actually isn’t a pipe [...]

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New Plant in Arizona Turns Garbage Into Gas

Mila Luleva — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:16:53 +0000

The Spanish engineering company Abengoa announced that they will invest $110 million to build a plant, which will turn garbage into electricity. The new factory will be located in the city of Glendale, Arizona. Abengoa states that the construction will take around 20 months. The factory will be owned by Vieste Energy, a Chicago-based energy [...]

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New Technique Identifies Manufacturing Residue, Improves Solar Cell Efficiency

Mila Luleva — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:16:06 +0000

Scientists from Argonne National Laboratory discovered that the efficiency of solar cells is reduced by traces of residue from the manufacturing process of organic photovoltaics. Solar cells based on organic polymers, or the so-called organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs), are known to be much cheaper to make than the popular silicon solar cells. They can be applied [...]

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PediPower Extracts Gadget-Ready Energy from Walking

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:52:44 +0000

Ever wondered how it’d be like generating electricity while walking? A team of students at Rice University have created PediPower – a device that, embedded in the soles of your shoes, generate as much as 400 mW of power to charge the batteries of mobile devices you’re stuck with wearing. The PediPower was born as [...]

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$10,000 Cheaper Chevy Volt Could be Profitable by 2016

Benji Jerew — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:35:28 +0000

Chevy Volt sales have been fairly steady and has sold a bit over 26,000 units since its introduction, but the rumors were true, General Motors is “losing money on every one,” CEO Dan Akerson admits. Losing money on every transaction is no way to run a business, but sometimes you have to give a little [...]

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New Nissan Leaf Loses Weight, Gains Range

Benji Jerew — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:27:57 +0000

The Nissan Leaf was originally released in 2010, so one wouldn’t expect it due for any radical changes quite yet, but Nissan isn’t sitting on its haunches waiting to release its latest enhancements. Takeshi Miyamoto, a Nissan Electric Vehicle engineering director, says Nissan Leaf’s improvements are ready now and will be ready now, which is [...]

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Tesla Motors Profits from Other Automakers’ Emissions [UPDATE]

Benji Jerew — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:01:14 +0000

Tesla Motors reported its first profitable quarter this year and looks to be well on its way to a second. Good news begets good news, and Tesla Motors stock reached a peak just shy of $60/shr yesterday. Most of those profits are due to Tesla Motors getting to full production speed, which means they can [...]

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Toyota FCV-R Hydrogen Fuel Cell Concept Set for Production in 2015

Benji Jerew — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:31:27 +0000

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles haven’t seen a whole lot of the limelight in recent times, in part because the technology is wildly expensive, not only for the infrastructure, but the vehicles themselves. Still, imagine a vehicle that has zero emissions [tailpipe anyway] like an electric vehicle, but can refuel in about the same amount of [...]

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