Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Car Sharing by the People, for the People.
Organizations like Spride Share (who work with City CarShare) are taking advantage of this change in law. They provide hardware and services so that members can sign up their car and make it available for sharing. The location, availability, and rates of the car can be set online by the owner. (More info here.)
A few questions remain - if the car is abandoned or stranded who arranges and pays for it to be retrieved? If the car is stolen who is responsible? Can you choose who can share your car? Still, it is potentially a great way to offset or even negate the costs of owning a car, especially if it is simply sitting in your driveway Monday to Friday.
Sources: Yahoo Green, City CarShare, Spride, New York Times.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Solar Roadways
The team hopes these roadways would replace the existing power grid, and also carry phone lines, internet cables, and TV. If all the roads in the U.S. were replaced with solar panels the energy generated would be enough to cover the annual U.S. consumption three times over.
While questions over the concept's viability remain, the Solar Roadways received a grant from the Federal Highway Administration to build its first prototype in 2009. It is also a participant in GE's Ecomagination Challenge. You can vote for Solar Roadways here.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Earthgarage Interviews an X Prize Contestant
Earthgarage's Sam Rubinoff interviewed Brad Jaegar, Director of Research for Edison2's Very Light Car, a strong contestant in the X Prize competition. Brad spoke about the design and development of the Very Light Car and gave his own personal insight on fuel efficient vehicles.
What is your background? What sparked your interest in creating an ultra efficient car?
Honestly, the entire background of Edison2 comes from motorsports and auto racing industry. The founder, Oliver Kuttner , was a fellow racer and a classic car collector, seller and manager. It was really Oliver that had the dream, he was working on lightweight parts for racing and when X Prize got his attention he wanted to go for the 10 million dollar prize. So, he created Edison2 and pulled a lot of us from the motorsports community and put us to work on this.
How many people were involved in this project?
About 100 people total, that includes contract employees all over the U.S. that we’ve hired for certain tasks. The main group of personal is about 15 in the shop, but the people that have their fingerprints on this vehicle is at or over 100.
Can you tell me a little bit about the philosophy behind the Very Light Car?
It’s pursuing efficiency through lightweight and low aerodynamic drag, which are the only two virtues of platform efficiency. When we designed this we tried to look at the problem holistically. The best answer for any form of powertrain, whether it’s electric, gas, diesel, compressed natural gas, is to have an efficient platform, which is to be lightweight, low aerodynamic drag and little rolling resistance. The energy required to accelerate the vehicle and maintain a speed is what it all comes down to. We started analyzing the EPA city cycle with a range of different platforms, different weights and coefficient of drag with cars that are already out there and we plugged in numbers that we thought we could hit and then saw how it compared to the rest of the vehicles.
This car was submitted as part of the X Prize, a competition that encourages independent breakthroughs in fuel efficiency, what do you think are the obstacles that major car companies have faced in creating a very efficient car?
There are a couple of issues. One is that, in the car industry the companies have become so large and in order to make a profit they rely heavily on different parts from already existing vehicles. So, they may be launching the new 2011 Chevy Malibu. It draws from parts from a previous vehicle or it might have the same air conditioner as a GM SUV and it makes sense from a business perspective, but when you’re really trying to break the mold and come out with an ultra-efficient vehicle it’s hard to do. Another reason is political and some laws and getting caught up in the whole bureaucracy.
Are consumers going to see the Very Light Car in the future?
We hope so. We are talking to a few companies in helping us to carry this forward and we’ll need to wait and see how everything unfolds. We need to see how we do in the X Prize and how some of the business deals go forward.
Where do you see the future of fuel-efficient vehicles? Is it gas, diesel, electric, lightweight or a combination of these things?
I think it’s a combination, what this country needs is energy diversification. So, you’re not going to see the entire fleet of vehicles in the U.S. move to electric. That being said you're going to see electric vehicles becoming more popular. You’re going to see alternative vehicles becoming more popular, running on E85 and biodiesel and compressed natural gas. We are definitely in some interesting times seeing the auto industry being shaken up…there is definitely going to be a transition.
Do you mind if I ask, what do you personally drive?
On the street I drive a 2001 Audi S4. It gets decent mileage, has the six cylinder engine, but it’s a sporty vehicle. You can put the pedal to the metal and have fun with it.
I wish you the best of luck at the X Prize
Thank you.
Very Light Car is Rocking the Xprize
I'm On The Highway To...Canada?
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| Sign Posts for the stations might look something like this. (nissan-leaf.net) |
With a $1.32 million federal grant it plans to build both level-2 charging stations and level-3 stations (in partnership with private firms for the latter). Level-3 charging stations mean that it will only take about 30 minutes to recharge an electric vehicle's battery to 80%. The maximum between each of the level-3 stations is set at 80 miles apart, and with the level-2 stations also available, most electric-vehicles should always be within range of a charging station. That would be a big step in reducing "range anxiety," a key barrier for wider acceptance of EV's.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Greenfrastructure
| The ParkGreen Parking Lot |
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| Micro Park |
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| EV Island |
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| High Line Park. |
New York is an ideal place to start the transition to electric vehicles, as most city drivers go no more than 40 miles a day. The spread of electric vehicles outside of the city poses problems. Viable electric vehicles require charging infrastructure because many people feel anxious about the reduced range. The project in New York, happily, takes a step towards the solution of that problem.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Biodiesel on the Rocks
Biodiesel can be made from a variety of animal or plant products; even algae is being studied as a possible source. Biodiesel is renewable, creates less pollutants and a great way to decrease the environmental impact of a diesel vehicle without having to make drastic changes. Most diesel engines can use biodiesel blends and pure biodiesel with minor engine modifications.
The tax-credit responsible for much of the growth in the industry expired six months ago, and has yet to be renewed. Concerns over the deficit, and the November elections, mean politicians are wary of giving their opponents anything that can be seen as fiscally irresponsible. Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, says he is determined to get the tax credit reinstated. Yet, despite the professed commitment of many in both parties to alternative energy, it looks as if the issue may be tabled until after the elections.
Diesel fuel is significant. It's used in tractor-trailer trucks, barges, trains, and other heavy equipment. For these applications, biodiesel is often the only feasible alternative energy source.




