TreeHugger

Rolls Royce Could Launch an Electric Phantom In a Year

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:36:07 -0500

Photo: Rolls Royce Does It Matter? Depends How You Look at It... Autocar reports that a source inside the company told them that Rolls Royce could have an electric version of its Phantom super-luxury car on the road by the end of 2010: "Internally it's thought that the near-silence of electric propulsion, and the fact that full torque is available from a standstill, would align perfectly with Rolls-Royce's core values. Engineers are currently hard at work making this a reality, although a running prototype has yet t]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Supermarket Launches City-Wide Electric Vehicle Charging

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:58:08 -0500

Image credit: Webecoist From turning waste food into energy to delivering food by barge, UK supermarket Sainsbury's has been exploring alternative energy and transportation for some time. They even recently unveiled "people-powered" checkouts, though on closer inspection they appeared to be gasoline driven]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Video Game Developers Want Authentic Electric Sports Car Sound, Record Tesla Roadster in Action

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:06:42 -0500

Photo: Tesla Motors Roadster #203 Got Quite a Workout Making a video game used to be all about a few guys writing code. But as the the industry grew into a mammoth, the production of games turned into huge enterprises employing tons of people and requiring more and more realistic sounds and images. O]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

CycleTracks iPhone App Tells San Fancisco TA Where Bike Paths Should be Built

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:05:44 -0500

Image: CycleTracks iPhone App from Apple App Store Crowdsourcing Bike Path Planning People don't always go where you think they will. You can try to predict the best places for foot paths and bike routes, but you'll never be able to know for sure if they are located optimally... Unless there's a way to know where people are naturally going (the path of least resistance). That's exactly what the new free iPhone app by the San Francisco Transportation Authority is trying to do. ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

EPA Proposes First Toughening of Air Quality Standards for Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Since 1971

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:08:44 -0500

Source: EPA About Time It's been almost 40 years since the EPA's SO2 standards were strengthened. Sounds like a tightening was overdue... Until now. The EPA is look at a proposal to establish a new national one-hour SO2 standard, between 50 and 100 parts per billion (ppb). "The existing primary standards were 140 ppb measured over 24-hours, and 30 ppb measured over an entire year. The Agency also is taking comment on alternative levels for the 1-hour standard up to 150 ppb."]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Ode to Los Angeles Bike Culture from 30 Seconds to Mars (Video)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:45:01 -0500

American rock band '30 Seconds to Mars,' sing lyrics like: We were the kings and queens of promise / We were the victims of ourselves / These lessons that we learned here / Have only just begun. And they have chosen the vibrant bike culture of Los Angeles as the visual connection to their words. Although parts of the city were closed off to allow for filming it is rather ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Barack Obama and Hu Jintao Announce US-China Electric Vehicles Initiative

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:02:18 -0500

Photos: Public domain Good Intentions, But Let's Wait for Real-World Results The Chinese government and many Chinese businesses have been making pretty big bets on electric cars in the past few years. In fact, the richest man in ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Action Beats Talk: Santa Clara to Get Pilot Bike-Sharing Program in Mid-2010

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:39:47 -0500

Cyclists in Santa Clara. Not the actual bike-sharing program since there are no pics yet. Photo: Flickr, CC First in the Bay Area Despite talk about a bike-share program in San Francisco for the past couple of years, it looks like Santa Clara will actually beat them to the punch with a pilot program to be launched in mid-2010. Market research began last April, and about 1,200 surveys were conducted in the target area. ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Riding the Phoenix Light Rail System

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:16:00 -0500

Jim Kunstler don't think Phoenix has much of a future. That doesn't stop the people there from trying to be greener; an example is their great new light rail system, previously coverd by Mike in Video: Phoenix's Brand New Light Rail Has 60% More Users than Expected. When I left supposedly transit-oriented Toronto for Greenbuild I had to pay fifty buck]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Move Like a Cheetah with this Incredible Human Powered Vehicle [Photos]

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:50:22 -0500

... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Automobile User Trade Organization (A.U.T.O.) Lobbyist Veronica Moss Visits Time Square

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:59:00 -0500

Quite a Character I think the less I say about this one the better. You just have to see for yourself, and hopefully get it... For those who missed the previous appearance from Veronica, check out her interview (at the wheel of her SUV) here: Read the full story on TreeHugger

Nissan LEAF: Instead of Engine Choices, People Might Have Battery Choices

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:49:31 -0500

Photo: Nissan Bigger Battery Optional, Instead of Bigger Engine With gasoline and diesel powered vehicles, one of the biggest option choices facing buyers is engine size. 4 cylinders? A V6 maybe? Or even a V8? That's an important decision since the engine is at the heart of a vehicle. But when it comes to electric vehicles, the heart is no doubt the battery. This is why Tesla has announced battery options for its upcoming Model S]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Bike Cargo: Chapter Three - 22 Extended Frame Bikes

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:41:15 -0500

Photo: WorkCycles Other photos via respective manufacturers. Bike Cargos for All Tastes! In our endeavours to take a snapshot of the world of Bicycle Cargo we have to date looked at the Racks And Bags used for bicycle cargo as well as the Bike Trailer. Now in Chapter Three, we take a gander at over 20 Extende]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

William Lind: Conservative Arguments for Public Transit (Video)

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:09:58 -0500

Building Bipartisan Support for Public Transportation Our friends at Streetfilms did a short interview with William Lind, co-autor of Moving Minds: Conservatives and Public Transportation. Mr. Lind seems ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Chinese Traffic Cop's Funny Lecture on Helmet Safety (Video)

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:35:52 -0500

Flickr/BeijingPatrol When Beijing Policeman Tan, the star of his very own local news segment, stops a motorcyclist because his passenger isn't wearing his helmet, we get an earful on gender norms, hairstyles, and one of our favorite topics -- helmets! See the video below.]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Award-Winning Human Powered Vehicle (Video)

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:54:05 -0500

Image credit: Peak Moment TV From four-wheel-drive human-powered SUVs, to pedicabs, to cargo bikes, pedal-powered transportation is evolving. Students at Chico State University are determined to speed up that evolution with their Human-Powered-Vehicle challenge. Read the full story on TreeHugger

Awesome Recumbent Folding Trike Video

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:36:13 -0500

Image credit: Greenspeed As the former owner of a Brompton folding bike, I know how convenient a human-powered vehicle that packs up small can be. But while the Brompton was great for commutes, it wasn't the finest touring bike in the world. So imagine my intrigue when I came across a folding recumbent trike. And then I saw a video of this thing doing some serious downhill action, and I fell in love.]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Saudi 'Solution' to Traffic Jams: No Foreign Drivers

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:27:00 -0500

Some 86 percent of Saudis have cars. Photo of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, via Ar-Riyadh Development Authority. From instituting traffic calming measures to building metrobus systems, there are plenty of ways to ease congestion on the roads. But radio listeners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, think they have a better idea: Keep foreigners and th]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Garmin Eco-Route Add-on Turns Your GPS Into a Green-Driving Teacher

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:57:08 -0500

Image: Garmin Knowledge is Power Most of us probably don't realize that over the past few years our cars have turned into computers on wheels. There are tons of sensors everywhere, but most of that information isn't available to the driver. That's a shame, because if it was parsed through a user-intuitive interface, it could ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Whale Penis Leather Option Dumped by Russian Luxury Armored Car Company

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:52:59 -0500

Photo: Dartz A New Kind of Penis Car For Billionaire Oligarchs with No Taste Some companies specialize in excess. Nobody really needs a Rolls Royce, but some people feel a need for exclusivity. Other companies go ever further and attempt excessive excess, like Read the full story on TreeHugger

Is San Francisco Dangerous for Pedestrians?

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:05:39 -0500

Source: Dangerous By Design It's the Jungle Out There! San Francisco is definitely pedestrian-friendly in many ways compared to many cities, but being walkable doesn't always mean that it is safe. A new report by Transportation for America ranks the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont area 13th safest for walkers, based on an index that takes into account annual pedestrian deaths and the percentage of workers who commute by foot. Our friends at Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Truth Behind the Study Finding Hybrids More Likely to Hit Pedestrians and Bicycles

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:55:00 -0500

Image: Center for Neighborhood Technology, I-GO Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics Do you want the good news or the bad news first? The good news: Hybrid registrations were up 38% in 2007, over 350,000 hybrids replacing internal combustion motors on the US roadways. The bad news: Headlines are touting a new study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finding that hybrids are hitting pedestrians and bicyclists more than traditional cars, e]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Ford Adds Wheat Straw to the 2010 Flex

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:32:07 -0500

Even in the early heydays, Henry Ford was fond of using plants like hemp and straw to reinforce plastic components for his cars. Now bioplastics are back and turning up in cell phones, forks, and more. Ford Motors started trying out soy-based seat foam a few years back, and is now expanding its palette of plant plastics. It's a small step, but the 2010 Ford Flex will be the first car to feature a plastic part that contains wheat straw.]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Create Your Own Custom Solar Car and Win $1,000 USD from Kia

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:05:00 -0500

Image via: Antenna Magazine Share Don't we wish it were that easy: Just go online, pick all the green attributes you want, and then pick up you own custom solar car the next week or month at a dealership. You could add solar panels, make ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Climate Campaign Turns Down Airport: "Eco-Snobbery" or Drawing the Line?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:26:17 -0500

Image credit: 10:10 Campaign The 10:10 Campaign has been receiving massive attention in the UK, signing up everyone from government ministers to major corporations with pledges to cut their own CO2 emissions 10% by 2010. It almost won a vote in parliament to reduce the entire country's emissions by 10% too. So you'd think think they'd be pleased when they receive an application from the country's third largest airport, an institution that is creating power with biomass grown and bu]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Florida: Fairly Fatal for Peds and Cyclists

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:21:04 -0500

Evel Knievel (here in the 1970s in Fort Lauderdale) wore a special suit and helmet for his Florida biking. According to Transportation for America's (ToA's) new report Dangerous by Design, 43,000 pedestrians have been killed this decade (3,906 children under 16) due in part to roads and streets that are poorly designed, that is, mainly with cars instead of pedestrians in mind. And the deadliest of all metro areas is none other than Orlando, Florida, known as "O Town" and home to th]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Medicos Find Bike Injuries Are Increasing in Severity

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:44:26 -0500

Photo: DeltaMike on Flickr The other day Lloyd highlighted the ways in which cyclists are most often killed in altercations with motor vehicles. But not everyone shakes off this mortal coil after a bike accident. Many folk are injured. Now it seems that he severity of injuries and time spent in hospitalized for bicycle injuries has significantly increased At least that is the findings of the Read the full story on TreeHugger

'Road Train' Autopilot Driving System Cuts Fuel Consumption, Travel Time

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:35:00 -0500

Image via Earth2Tech It's one of those ideas that crosses your mind while you're stuck in never-ending stop and go traffic on some ugly stretch of the highway: what if there were some sort of a sensor that could put all of those cars into lockstep? Some sort of automated driving system that would keep that SOB from cutting you off and wedging himself into your lane--something that would make the whole process more efficient, help control the traffic flow, and even let you ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Woo! Bicycling in New York City is UP 26% in 2009!

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:15:28 -0500

Image: NYC DOT (pdf) "Everybody get out there and ride!" The stats are out and according to the NYC DOT, bicycling in New York has shot up by 26% in 2009, which is a lot by any measure, though it is lower than the 35% increase in 2008. As you can see from the chart above, these increases are unprecedented. For more on these feel good news, make sure to check out the great video below.]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Pay-Per-Mile Car Insurance Moves Forward in California

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:51:41 -0500

Photo: Flickr, CC The Greener Kind of Car Insurance Incentives are a great tool to nudge people in the right direction. It will always be harder to clean up the environment when people's personal interests are opposed to the environment, but when both are aligned, the path of least resistance leads to a better world. Pay-per-mile car insurance is a good example of such an incentive. It's not world-changing by itself, but if applied to enough motorists, it can no doubt have a significant impact. The principle is simple: The less you drive,]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Newest, Shiniest Metros in the World (A Slideshow)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:57:11 -0500

budget crises to boot), new metro systems continue to spread across the world. As emerging cities seek to answer the needs of booming populations -- or ease the traffic and environmental strains of private cars -- 11 municipalities have opened new underground and light-rail lines in the past two ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Toronto Gets Its Own Cycle Chic

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:30:47 -0500

Copenhagen Cycle Chic to "take back the bike culture by showing how the bicycle once again can be an integral, respectable and feasible transport form, free of sports clothes and gear, and how it can play a vital role in increasing the life quality in cities." He has been very effective and influential; If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery than he must be feeling good these days, as yet another city gets a cycle chic site. As Spacing describes it, Toronto's new Read the full story on TreeHugger

Awesome Bike Parking at W Hotel in San Francisco

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:50:38 -0500

Photo: Mikael from Copenhagenize Not Sure How Well that Would Scale, Though Mikeal from Copenhagenize has taken these pictures of a very cool bike parking at the W Hotel in San Francisco. Included in the price of a room is access to one of three Biomega bikes (I think the one on the pics is the "Copenha]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Another Benefit of Smart Grids: Fewer Utility Trucks Spewing CO2

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:48:13 -0500

Photo: Flickr, CC The Difference Between Snail Mail and Email One of the benefits of smart grids that we too often overlook is the fact that they'll greatly reduce the need for power utilities to send trucks (and often big ones) out in the field to gather data and fix problems. The most obvious example of this is the remote reading of meters instead of having to send people to read meters, but it will also help with maintenance and repairs since]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Massive Refrigerated Trains: Is Railex the Future of Produce Freight? (Video)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:45:40 -0500

Image credit: Railex Last week I wrote about the Stobart Refrigerated Train shipping produce from Spain to the UK via the Channel Tunnel, providing an alternative to hybrid trucks or slowing down freight as a means to saving gas. But while it was impressive, commenter Andrew pointed out that the "first-of-its-kind" headlin]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger