Mar 11
I put a fair amount of time into gathering news that can make up a story and where I intended to go today was a nice thread beginning with FleetOwner’s coverage of the Green Truck Summit to Triple Pundit’s explanation of why the Ford Transit Connect is a perfect vehicle for fleets. I got a bit giddy, too, over NBC’s coverage of CNG cabs getting to move to the front of the taxi queue in Dallas-Fort Worth, and euphoria set in when I spotted Jersey.com’s news about significant funding for ports in New York and New Jersey to replace nasty, polluting trucks.
What hijacked the story line was an in-depth piece in The Nation that finally answered this niggling question I’ve been plagued by regarding what seems to be sinister environmental group ploys. I’ve been puzzled by the state of California’s venomous policy direction to suck the market potential out of ethanol. While the NRDC’s Roland Hwang is not a state employee, he does serve an influential role as part of the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) AB 118 Advisory Committee. I read in January his screed called “Old, Dirty Ethanol Must Innovate, Not Litigate,” and while he blogged his vitriol he didn’t have time to reply to two thoughtful challenges to his viewpoint. He did have time, though to raise a bizarre question during the CEC’s Advisory Committee meeting. I suspect he was nervous, too, as he rambled on pages 27 and 28 of the transcript before he finally got to the question “Is there a state policy, Energy Commission policy, about recipients of state funding to participants in active litigation against state air pollution laws? And if not, should there be one, I guess, is a question.” Translated, ethanol associations have filed a lawsuit against CEC’s sister agency the Air Resources Board over their absurd direction in implementing the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Roland seems to think government cannot be challenged, cannot be wrong, or litigants won’t have access to the piggy bank. CEC’s Jim Boyd was understandably speechless. Enter The Nation. Johann Hari’s impeccable research implicates most of the environmental groups you’ve heard of as selling their missions for funding from oil and coal companies. While not related directly to Indirect Land Use, the latest thing to plague biofuels, Hari offers a compelling explanation of the role these NGO’s play in focusing the spotlight on emissions in faraway lands so we don’t have to make tough emission reduction decisions right here at home. The Big Oil, Big Green lovefest gets better, but you are going to have to read it to find out why one person said, “We’re close to a civil war in the environmental movement.”
The tag line on Roland’s blog is “The Environment is Now Open.” The lingering question is, “For what?”
Tagged with: airport • AT&T • Big Coal • Big Green • big oil • biofuels • CEC • CNG • Dallas • DOE • emissions • environmental groups • EPA • ethanol • fleets • Ford • Fort Worth • lobbying • New Jersey • New York • NGO • ports • subnationals • taxi • Transit Connect • truck funding • trucks • Verizon
Mar 04
Like it or not, lawmakers are at it again in D.C. and this week the Senate is dancing with big oil. It seems democrats and republicans alike are conniving a cap-and-trade (C-a-T) end run. The New York Times reports that ConocoPhilips, BP and Exxon are begging for a carbon fee in lieu of the controversial C-a-T and the revenues would go back into transportation projects. There’s a cat fight of a different type in the capitol where Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson is taking on legislators who are doing all they can to delay EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Human health can wait until the economy is back on track, say those who oppose the Administrator, and The Hill says Jackson will not abide another legislative blow to science.
The AutoExtremist is back with a lot of good news about vehicle sales last month. Numbers showing increases like 43% for Ford and 38% gains for Subaru are attributable largely to fleet sales. But, Peter De Lorenzo’s crystal ball rings the death knell for “the forgotten car company.” He says Chrysler’s sales are flat, they are trying to get by just tweaking the old, and they’ve completely fallen off of the radar of the auto buying public. And then in late breaking news, De Lorenzo pays a sweet homage to GM’s Bob Lutz who announced yesterday “Early retirement is finally here at age 78.”
Where in the world is the latest auto show? Geneva, of course. Tonic links to numerous stories about what car lovers are finding there. Take for instance the “smoking hot plug-in Porsche,” or Audi’s A1 Ambassador Justin Timberlake. Like auto shows everywhere Geneva is a green car lover nirvana. New Delhi’s auto show, which took place recently, was a true nirvana for natural gas vehicle (NGV) lovers. Toyota execs were no doubt basking in some rare of late, positive news coverage. Toyota launched the compressed natural gas (CNG) version of its Toyota Corolla Altis, reports NGV Communications, as well as the CNG variant of the popular MPV Innova.
Poor Toyota is not alone in the recall game. Nissan and GM are now recalling 1.5 million vehicles. Enter Edmunds.com and their new contest “Who wants to be an unintended acceleration millionaire?” That’s right, the consumer website that tracks auto industry trends is sure there’s a research solution out there and Slate opines they are looking for serious researchers to invest time in getting to the bottom of the acceleration problems. The official rules haven’t been released but when they are you can find them on Edmund’s Inside Line.
This closing thought is a morsel of wisdom from the soon to be retired Bob Lutz. “You can’t sacrifice future product for short-term finanical gains. That’s like a farmer eating his seed potatoes instead of planting them.”
Tagged with: acceleration • Audi • auto sales • big oil • Bob Lutz • BP • cap and trade • carbon tax • Chrysler • Clean Air Act • contest • Edmunds.com millionaire • EPA • Exxon • Ford • Geneva Auto Show • GHG • GM • Justin Timberlake • Lisa Jackson • New Delhi auto show • Nissan • PHEV • Porsche • regulations • research • science • Subaru • Toyota NGVs • transportation
Feb 25
The National Truck Equipment Association and Calstart should be beaming this morning as it was announced late yesterday that their latest keynote speaker for their upcoming summit is the impressive Under Secretary for the Department of Energy. Trucking Info says who better than Kristin Johnson to talk about the next generation of fuel-efficient commercial trucks? While Dr. Johnson is off to St. Louis, GM’s Denise Gray picked up a new gig with a battery start-up in California. Gray looks like she’s 30 but Autoblog Green says the three decade veteran of GM was a lead brain behind battery development and testing, including her work with the Volt. Mums the word so far on which company will strike gold by acquiring Gray.
In this fantastic age of innovation, it’s hard not to have a jaw-dropping moment over the launch of Bloom Energy’s Bloom Box. Mashable chronicles the star-studded (corporate and political stars, that is) event which took place yesterday at EBay’s HQ. The presentation of the story is delightful as moment-by-moment, from graphs to event photographs, you will be wowed by the already in use fuel cell device that will power your house with a handheld-sized box. It can even use solar to power a hybrid car. That’s a good thing, too, as Rocky Mountain Institute visionary Amory Lovins spoke at Catawba College this week and colorfully reminded his audience that our whole society is fueled with “primeval swamp goo and dinosaur poop.” The innovative Bloom Box isn’t the only non-fossil fuel silver bullet in the arsenal as the Salisbury Post points out. Pointing to lightweight carbon fiber vehicles and aerodynamically engineered efficiencies, you could feel the Lovins as the icon invited people to re-imagine the world.
As companies deploy nascent technologies, revenue streams without volatility can mean the difference between winging it and innovation. Picture now what Bad Idea Magazine described as “…the twinkly ukulele-wielding investment oracle…” Warren Buffett who invested a 10% revenue ownership stream into Chinese company BYD last October. The very successful auto manufacturer and maker of lithium-ion batteries is now in partnership discussions with VW, leaving some to speculate that the rest of the world could be left in a primeval swamp as the Chinese innovator takes its batteries, partnerships, and their yuan to the bank. C’mon Denise Gray, the U.S. is looking for a gold medal in battery development and production. No pressure.
Tagged with: aerodynamics • Amory Lovins • battery • battery production • Bloom Box • BYD • Calstart. DOE • carbon fiber • Coke • Colin Powell • Cox • Denise Gray • efficient vehicles • energy innovation • fuel cell • GM • Google • green trucks • hybrid • Kristin Johnson • nascent technologies • RMI • sand • Schwarzenegger • solar • St. Louis • Staples • Volt • VW • Walmart • Warren Buffet
Feb 23
Someone once said “Politics is the art of postponing decisions until they are no longer relevant.” Postponement takes two forms this week and Climate Wire looks to a business roundtable for top CEO’s to be the forum for the first. President Obama plans to share his newly cobbled together hybrid proposal that is part climate and a bit of energy policy. Reportedly, there’s something in it for everyone including enthusiasts of natural gas, nuclear and coal. Coal state elected officials are intent on delaying EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. EPA head Lisa Jackson responded yesterday by saying her agency will move ahead but the Washington Post reports opponents promise to litigate every step of the way.
Irascible Forbes columnist Jerry Flint has offered some fighting words along the lines of Nissan’s highly touted Leaf is destined to blow away. Is the company getting some terrific publicity? Yep. But Jerry says it will be a colossal flop when it comes to sales. His reasons apply to any PHEV manufacturer-range, speed, cost and charging time. But Autoblog Green offers some compelling reasons why Mr. Flint just may be wrong. And if Pike Research is right, fuel cell enthusiasts can take a market penetration victory lap. The Colorado-based company concludes that by 2014 FCVs will be commercially launched in most regions of the world with an expected 2.8 million globally by 2020.
If luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, there are plenty of examples from coast to coast. If you are one of 25,000 owners of a flex-fuel vehicle in the Sacramento area, MSN Money says Propel Biofuels is practically giving away E85 for 85 cents tomorrow. And, if you are an Ohio based fleet, a big announcement takes place in Columbus Wednesday morning. Clean Fuels Ohio gets to spend $11 million of Clean Cities stimulus money on 280 AFVs and 15 refueling stations, with propane taking front and center. Truckinginfo.com shares news of a lucky day for New England truck drivers, too. Cascade Sierra Solutions wants to get the word out that they have a $1 million grant from EPA that provides instant rebates to qualified fleet owners for installing SmartWay-verified technology updates. Each provides a great opportunity and now it is up to you. As funny guy Woody Allen said, “90% of life is just showing up.”
Tagged with: Alliance Autogas • ARRA • biodiesel • charging • Clean Air Act • Clean Cities • Clean Fuels Ohio • climate • coal • Connecticut • cost • diesel • DOE • energy • EPA • ethanol • FCEV • GHG • Maine • Massachusetts • natural gas • New England • New Hampshire • Nissan • nuclear • Obama • PHEV • Pike Research • Propel Fuels • range • rebates • refueling • Rhode Island • Sacramento • SmartWay • vehicles • Vermont
Feb 19
The Department of Energy’s Clean Cities success story is a success because at its core, it is a fuel and technology neutral deployment program. That’s why people trust it and that’s why the 90 Clean Cities Coordinators sprinkled throughout the nation have garnered the fealty of fleet managers everywhere. Enter what Clean Fuels Ohio’s Executive Director, Sam Spofforth calls “Obama’s Clean Cities Bombshell.” In the 2011 proposed budget sent to Congress, the program allocation decreases through an increase. Last year the budget was $25 million and this year it is $35 million minus a $20 million earmark for electric vehicles. $35 million minus $20 million=$15 million or $10 million fuel and technology neutral dollars less than 2010. To make matters worse, there is an emphasis on infrastructure with a nod likely to go to cities that are EV Ready. ASG Renaissance conducted a study for Think North America recently, and if they are right, those millions of dollars are likely to go to what Car Tech documents as the top ranked EV prepared cities. Hold out your hands LA, San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago and New York City. Something is rotten in Washington, DC.
There’s a change of climate at the UN where their climate head announced yesterday he is stepping down. The highly respected Yvo de Boer is credited by The Guardian with lifting the climate change issue from another international environmental discussion to one near the top of the global agenda. In the disastrous Copenhagen Summit in December, de Boer fiercely defended the Kyoto treaty by saying, “You don’t saw off the branch you are sitting on.” That could also apply to global reluctance to embrace the realities of peak oil and no less a popular culture figure than movie reviewer Roger Ebert calls the new movie “Collapse” both authentic and real. Writes Ebert in his Denver Post review, “I don’t know when I’ve seen a thriller more frightening. I couldn’t tear my eyes from the screen.”
Not to be too dour, there are new studies that could make a good dent in both climate and peak oil challenges. GreenBang shares the findings of Sweden’s Lund University researchers which concludes that optimized biogas could be carbon negative, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by a whopping 120%. Now that’s valkommen (the only Swedish word I know) news. To bee or not to bee has a new Shakesperian twist and AutoBlogGreen couldn’t resist commenting on NPR’s piece comparing the fuel efficiency of bees with the VW L1. The VW loses dramatically in comparison but the peak oil buzz has to be that for transportation purposes the most fuel efficient automobile in the world is the bees knees.
As AFVi gears up for our annual May Conference, Alternative Fuel Views will land in your mailbox on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. You can still check out daily news headlines at our website www.afvi.org
Tagged with: ASG Renaissance • bees • biogas • Bonn • carbon negative • Clean Cities • climate • climate neutral • Collapse • Copenhagen • DOE • earmark • environment • EV infrastructure • EVs • fuel • fuel efficiency • GHG • Kyoto • Lund University • movie • NPR • Obama • peak oil • power plants • Roger Ebert • Sweden • technology • Think • UN • VW • Yvo de Boer
Feb 18
We’ve now sailed past the February days that celebrate groundhogs, Lincoln, Washington, love, and biofuels. Now that the Renewable Fuels Association and the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) have successfully completed their annual conferences, love and biofuels still linger as AutoblogGreen shares an NBB forecaster prediction that 2010 is the year biodiesel will bounce back. The appeal of domestically produced biodiesel, combined with an improving economy portend good things. An improving economy? Okay, let’s go with that for a minute. Rumors of the ascent of Smith Electric Vehicles made BDaily headlines today. Thank you Coke, Staples and Frito-Lay for leading the corporate investment in their electric trucks. Their booming success has the Kansas based company poised to open assembly and repair facilities in 10 U.S. cities. Who can ignore AT&T when it comes to corporate fleet leadership? It was March of last year that the company announced an ambitious ten year plan to convert 8,000 of their vehicles to run on compressed natural gas and another 7,000 will be electric additions. PR Newswire announces that today the company is rolling out their 1000th AFV.
The newswires were abuzz yesterday over how stimulating stimulus money was. While it’s a bit of a spinapalooza, Representative Ed Markey chronicles energy sector achievements in Grist. While the full impacts of Recovery Act funding will be something for historians to interpret, I will fall on my sword over the importance of government credits and incentives for nascent alternative fuel and advanced technology enterprises. The poster child of derring-do in this regard is California’s AB32, which is the most significant energy legislation to come out of any legislative body in the United States. I echo Tim Herdt’s sentiment in the Fresno Bee. California-don’t mess this up. There’s a mental-lite proposal afoot to suspend the law until the state’s unemployment rate falls under 5.5% for four consecutive quarters. Translated-kill the sucker. Inarguably, California’s bold vision has built markets not just for the Golden state but for the nation as a whole. It’s that important.
Poor Toyota. NBC host Jay Leno joked recently, “Over the next two weeks, we’re going to have the Winter Olympics… They’re doing something this year that is going to add a little more excitement. All the bobsleds are made by Toyota.” I’m raising my hand to defend Toyota. Prius branding has been the envy of the industry and I don’t think it’s time to step on the brakes. Joel Stein, on the other hand, has some marital Prius issues that he makes public to no less than the readership of Time Magazine. It seems that you are a big nobody in his LA neighborhood if you don’t shop at Whole Foods, participate in yoga, and drive a Prius. His wife seems to love her car so much that even though she will only feed their baby organic blueberries, she refuses to remove her beloved driver’s side floor mat. Amen sister. For the near-term, I’m just going to enjoy the uber sleek hybrids as I watch them cruise ahead of me on the highway.
Tagged with: AB32 • alternative fuel • AT&T • biodiesel • CNG • Coke • conversion • energy • EV • Frito-Lay • Jay Leno • NBB • Prius • RFA • Smith Electric • Staples • Stimulus • Toyota
Feb 16
I still remember the day eggs were thrown and boo hisses were spewed at the affable Dave Henry. (I added the eggs as part of my storytelling license) Dave worked for Ford back then and he was tasked with sharing the news that the automaker was getting out of the natural gas vehicle business. No doubt Dave was smiling in his Chrysler office last week when Ford told the assembled masses at the Chicago auto show that natural gas isn’t so bad after all. The Examiner reports that the Transit Connect will be out this fall both as an electric vehicle (EV), and as a taxi cab fueled using natural gas or propane. This fall looms automotively large as a target for plug-in EVs and the New York Times says San Francisco isn’t taking it lightly. The city, utilities and OEMs are all clamoring to make sure this great experiment succeeds.
Alex Steffen of World Changing wants us to know that if we weren’t paying attention last Friday, we missed the most important climate change speech of the year. When Bill Gates speaks, the investment community listens, and the visionary didn’t use words like “some,” “a tish,” “an itty bitty amount” when setting a target for reducing emissions. His visual was the planet earth and the number zero, as in no net emissions. That’s his ambitious goal and he didn’t spell out how he might tackle groups like the American Trucking Association or the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. The California Air Resources Board (ARB) less than a year ago approved an impressive ambitious low carbon fuel standard and Triple Pundit says the aforementioned groups are the latest to litigate what they see as too costly legislation. ARB’s Mary Nichols thinks the claims are all washed up and that notion is corroborated by a study showing the California air pollution price tag is running $28 billion a year.
Is Mary Nichols all washed up? Here’s a hint in the form of a Domestic Fuel headline, “You’re Ugly But We Love you Big Oil.” I don’t live in California but have admired ARB and the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) ambitious plans to regulate air quality and transform energy markets. That said, I have to agree with reporter Joanna Schroeder’s observation that appointees for both agencies seem to have a full blown anti-ethanol vendetta. The latest guy invited to the party is a new CEC Commissioner Anthony Eggert who studied under no less than Mary Nichols and ethanol hating UC-Davis professor and ARB Board member Daniel Sperling. Schroeder raises the question, how the heck do you meet a low carbon fuel standard when you shun low carbon fuels? The first Advisory Committee meeting for the Alternative Fuels Investment Plan for the CEC was last week. While the snooze factor risk is very high, I’m keeping my eyes peeled for what I hope will be a transcript posting from the meeting. I’ll let you know if I find anything egg toss worthy.
Tagged with: A Better Place • air pollution • Anthony Eggert • ATA lawsuit • Bill Gates • biofuels • CARB • CEC • climate change • coal • Coulomb • electric vehicles • ethanol vendetta • Ford • investment • LCFS • LEAF • natural gas • oil sands • oil shale • PG&E • propane • San Francisco recharging • Transit Connect • Volt • zero emissions
Feb 12
After a barrage of biodiesel good news stories flooding out of Grapevine, TX this week, the Senate Finance Committee became the ultimate party pooper. Senator Reid is the spoiler, reports The Hill, when he jettisoned the 2010 blend credit extension from the jobs bill, which could mean the loss of 23,000 jobs in 44 states this year. What? I thought they were all snowed in. Snow jobs come in many forms and Daily Climate tries to claim that the State of California’s perplexing ethanol death knell is on even rationale footing with EPA’s ruling that corn-based ethanol must achieve at least a 20% reduction in GHG emissions compared with conventional gasoline. The New York Times applauds EPA’s forward-looking ruling that uses regulations to propel less energy-intensive, next generation fuels. If both approaches differ only in their methodology, why is it that the California Air Resources Board refuses to opt for the cup half-full?
Charismatic T. Boone Pickens may have reached across the aisle to develop kumbaya moments with democrats and environmentalists but he’s got some splainin to do in the Arab community. Yikes! Al-Ahram Weekly carries an editorial from the head of the Arab American Institute who doesn’t disagree with all of the tenets of the Pickens Plan but he sure as tootin’ doesn’t like the “anti-Arab bigotry” employed in the latest ad campaign. Why pick on the region or Saudi Arabia, he implores? Seeking Alpha blogger Michael Fitzsimmons goes on, and on, and on answering that question. I’ve met plenty of natural gas vehicle enthusiasts, but this guy takes the cake. You go, Michael, and while at it, take note of the latest Navistar partnership with Clean Air Power. iStockAnalyst reports that in about one year and $1.5 million later, we may have a new CNG fueled, long haul tractor in the North American market.
While Vancouver is dreaming of a white Olympics as the games kick off tonight, I’m content with the abundance of green. Sharing my content is journalist Keith Morgan who shares with Vancouver Sun readers his newfound love of the Chevrolet Volt. Good for GM, earning a green medal review even before the games begin.
Tagged with: biodiesel • blend credit • CARB • Clean Air Power • CNG • EPA • ethanol • GHG • GM • jobs bill • natural gas • Navistar • Pickens Plan • tractor • Volt
Feb 11
The investors are coming! The investors are coming! Last week it was A Better Place, and this week Propel Fuels laid a golden egg. Sacramento Business Journal reports that Craton Equity is betting the bank on the ethanol and biodiesel retailer by dumping $20 million into their coffers to expand fueling infrastructure across the state. California has the largest fleet of alternatively powered vehicles in the country and it just keeps growing. Thank you Union Oil Company and Unocal Corporation for your business boo boos resulting in $7 million redirected to cleaner school buses. School Transportation News reports on a new opportunity for California school districts to get funding for buses that reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency. The deadline to apply is May 3. “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by,” funny man Douglas Adams said. Which reminds me that May is months away but tomorrow is only a day away. Tomorrow, tomorrow is the deadline for the early registration date for our upcoming Conference in Las Vegas. Go to our website, enter your magic credit card number, hit send by midnight Friday, and save $200.
I have been waiting for the EV World story that offers a believable look, above all the hubbub, about the future of Toyota. PRTM is a privately owned management company acknowledging a short-term consumer confidence price to pay, but their long-term electrification pathway is on solid ground. Bigger picture drivers for electric vehicles (EVs) like fuel efficiency mandates, CO2 regulations, all OEMs shuffling their product lines, falling costs and competitive threats from other regions signal a path of no return for electrification, and Toyota. That view is further substantiated by the Brookings Institution which analyzed the future of vehicles and transportation in cities across America. Fast Company shows suburbs as the very big losers and dense, vibrant urban areas as the hot spots. All of a sudden, those who are smarter than us make a lot of sense dotting urban landscapes with all of those electric recharging stations. Does that mean we can say goodbye to the ubiquity of the McMerchants we see no matter what city in the world we are travelling to? Probably not, but unpack Beijing artist Yin Xiuzhen’s suitcase for a poignant expression of the miniaturized landscapes she’s found unique in each city she goes to. Space and Culture includes photos of her remarkable way of raising questions about rapid modernization by weaving unique buildings, bridges and greenscapes into ordinary suitcases.
In a society that dreams up E-Harmony, anything’s possible so why not P-Harmony? Polluter Harmony.com helps lobbyists (aka legislative consultants) find the legislator of their dreams. You know, she’s desperate for cash and loves environmentally destructive legislation. They get all emotional over gutting energy bills late at night. And, while they can’t spend a lot of time together, they do finish each other’s legislation. So, for this Valentine’s holiday, meet Jeff and Lisa who found each other on P-Harmony.com
Tagged with: AF&V 2010 • alternative energy investment • B20 • B20 infrastructure • biodiesel • E85 • E85 infrastructure • electric vehicles • emissions • ethanol • EV pathway • fuel efficiency • school bus • School bus grant • Toyota • urban development
Feb 10
While my daily news summaries took a brief hiatus, it was hard to miss the whirlwind of news, most notably the Toyota tsunami. The poor company can’t get a break. Autoblog Green is out with news that Zipcar is yanking the Prius out of their lineup. Not fun during a time when car-sharing companies are growing and greening dramatically. The trend is not lost on rental car companies like Hertz, which is getting into the business. Wisconsin Ag Connection points out that Enterprise is green innovating in yet other ways by announcing at the National Biodiesel Conference this week that they will fuel all 600 of their shuttle buses with B20 within the next six years. Not to be outdone, General Motors used the forum to tell biodiesel enthusiasts that they will have four B20 compatible models in their 2011 lineup. Biodiesel Magazine says they include the Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra pickups, and two full-size vans.
The chicken-egg paradigm of what comes first, the energy or the air quality, is played out daily. University of Montreal author Vaclav Smil is out with a report discussing the five factors that will make transitioning away from fossil fuels most difficult. Financial Times paints a picture of an interesting thinker who isn’t convinced that the necessity of replacing fossil fuels is driven by energy supply, but rather by climate matters. Au contraire, says a group of business people in the UK, led by Richard Branson who even fails to put a pretty face on this pickle. The Press Association writes that by 2015 we’re going to see some major social disruptions from oil depletion that will hit transportation and delivery markets hard.
One big clean out your ears moment last week was news that the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) snagged $11 million in federal funds for 55 ethanol fueling stations and they said no? In spite of several highly regarded South Coast Air Quality Management District officials saying their playing field includes all fuels with environmental benefits, SCAG’s having none of it, according to Ethanol Producer Magazine. One defender of the SCAG decision found assumptions made about things we don’t know much about to be staggering adding, “We understand things a mile wide and an inch deep.” The other side would say that too.
Speaking of an inch deep, or maybe 52 inches, it’s hard not to think that if it costs $100 million a day to shut down the feds, wouldn’t it be a better investment to buck up on investing in snow removal equipment? One commentator I read said one fed snow day could pay for 16 years of the DC snow removal budget. Now that’s a good capitol expenditure.
Tagged with: air quality • B20 • biodiesel • car rental • car-sharing • climate • energy supply • Enterprise • ethanol • federal funds • GM • Hertz • national biodiesel conference • oil depletion • Prius • SCAG • SCAQMD • social disruption • Toyota • Zipcar
Feb 03
Those Brazilians are so showy when it comes to their ethanol and today they are at it again in a very big way. Domain-b.com is out with the news that Royal Dutch Shell and Cosan S.A. (world’s 5th largest producer of ethanol) have announced a $12 billion joint venture to produce and sell ethanol. This trumps any other alternative fuel investment made by a western oil major, suggesting confidence in ethanol’s staying power for transportation. Talk about confidence. Japanese hoteliers are the latest to throw their hat into the electric vehicle (EV) ring and in Nissan’s latest push, they’ve landed a commitment that will result in 18,000 EV charge points. What makes more sense, suggests Gas 2.0 , than charging your vehicle while recharging thyself on a zero-emission eco-vacation? While vacation-land USA hasn’t scored a hotel deal, Orlando is all charged up over Nissan’s Leaf, too. Automotive World shares the news that the central Florida fantasy land is the latest city to announce their partnership with the automaker.
Fantasies come in many forms and two researchers from the University of Singapore are out with a doozy. Could it be that the hydrogen economy fulfills psychological and cultural needs, thereby trumping the viability of the science? Scitizen chronicles their methodology which involved a broad range of literature scans which contained a rich number of compelling visions about cheap, abundant and clean energy with hydrogen as the replacement answer to the internal combustion energy. Coachella Valley Green leaves make-believe to researchers as they proudly showcase an upcoming unveiling of the 6th generation fuel cell bus to grace SunLine Transit’s fleet. This warrants a shout out to birthday boy Richard Cromwell III who was the original SunLine chief responsible for the alternative fuel incubator that the agency has become. Visionaries come in many forms and my favorite du jour is the clever guy who never saw a windshield that couldn’t be recycled. Inhabitat shows a gem of a greenhouse that could be named “auto glass gone wild.”
Gems are on my mind as I get to join Clean Cities friends for a long weekend at the Tucson Gem Show. So, this is it for the news of the week. But, I’ll be back with more jewels on Monday.
Tagged with: electric vehicle • ethanol • EV charge points • fuel cell • fuel cell bus • hydrogen • Nissan • recharging vehicles • recycle
Feb 01
Even though the forecasted high temperature in our nation’s capitol is expected to be 25 degrees today, I’m thinking hot air will prevail. Oil and coal companies may be the losers as the White House announces their proposed budget for 2010. $40 billion is what the New York Times says will be redirected from oil interests to clean energy over the next decade. While elevated lobbying will be part of the drill, the Kansas City Star delivers even more bad news for oil companies. The Energy Information Administration has declared that 2007 was the peak year for gas consumption. The combination of fuel efficiency standards, market growth of alternative fuels, and a vehicle purchase plateau, all add up to a spiraling demand trend. 2007 was also the year that saw the beginning of a shift that auto manufacturers better pay heed to, reports Earth2Tech. You’ve heard of death and taxes but the new certainty is that drivers are using car-sharing services in record numbers. In the last two years they’ve seen a user increase of 117 whopping percent. A Frost & Sullivan analysis predicts that within five years, 4.4 million drivers in North America will opt to save $1834 annually through car-sharing.
What calling does a guy with degrees in linguistics and French civilization answer to? If the guy is Phillip Roberts, he goes on an e-mission. Roberts is the founder of a 5-person, Long Beach, California company called Extengine Transport Systems. When his beautiful view of the harbor was sullied by a soot challenged balcony, he did what any clean air loving guy would do and developed a retrofit emissions control system solution. The Los Angeles Times showcases the passion that has caught the attention of, and product funding from the Port. Diesel emissions have become just one motivation behind the National Association of Fleet Administrators calling for the Senate to get their act together and vote to extend biodiesel tax credits. Fleet Owner cites the December expiration of the credit resulting in biodiesel costing 20% more than diesel. I’ve heard through the grapevine that the tax credit extension and the renewable fuel standard will be two focal points of the National Biodiesel Conference which kicks off in Texas on February 7. Of course, the rival kick-off that day is in Miami and Audi is all over it with their peppy new ad campaign designed to help us all make better choices for the environment. While the “Green Police” sounds like a clever enough ad development concept, the German auto manufacturer really shoulda checked out the other Green Police…those nasty fellas behind executions in Nazi Germany. Oops.
Tagged with: biodiesel • car-sharing • clean energy • emissions • fleet • national biodiesel conference • renewable fuel standard • retrofit • tax credit
