Alternative Fuels & Propulsion
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Bloomberg Predicts another OIL Crash with NO Recovery, Maybe Many of us are excited with the big drop in oil prices and finally gas prices retreating to below $2 a gallon in many places around the US. Some here on Cheers and Gears even feel that alternative energy auto's are a waste of time or should not even be bothered with. So it was with interest when I saw this story on Bloombergs web site. Another Oil Crash Is Coming, and There May Be No RecoveryThe focus on this is that with Tesla in 2017 and Chevy later this year, 2016 beginning to sell 200 Mile, $30,000 auto's, other Auto OEMs …
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Electric NASCAR Dreams by Bill Nye The Science Guy Over at the INQUISITR web site, they posted their story about Bill Nye the Science Guy. Bill says that NASCAR is holding back the auto industry by relying on old technology. The races run engines using carburetors, getting about 2-3 MPG and sending a ton of Green House gas into the atmosphere. Bill is quoted as follows: “We could convert all of our race cars to electricity – right now – and show the public exactly what electrons can do. And most significant from my point of view, everyone in the crowd, every race fan, would want an el…
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com EV Car Owners Allowed To Use Bus Lanes in UK Cities UK DOT has given the top 8 cities funds to install electric chargers, preferred parking spots and advertise in a bid to encourage citizens to turn in their petrol auto and move to EVs. The biggest benefit is EVs are now allowed to use the dedicated Bus Lanes all over even if they are a single driver. According to "the guardian" the UK sees this as their solution to meeting the carbon budget and cut the illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution that chokes British cities. England's government give £5,000 to buyers of Electric autos.…
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So the building I work in took away 4 spots on the 1st floor of parking for gas auto's and installed chargers and designated them EV only. I decided to keep an eye on them, empty all day, not a single EV in the spots. Wonder how much we will loose to dedicated EV only parking with chargers before we see this take off and they are always full? Will the Chevy BOLT drive more use of dedicated EV parking and chargers? How about all the other members here, have you seen more and more regular parking converted to EV only parking with chargers?
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com El(ectric) Camino EV Conversion Howdy all, so I have been hanging out looking into what the EV conversion crowd has been doing out at diyelectric car forums. http://www.diyelectriccar.com/ This site has a great assortment all focused on taking any type of auto or kit car and building it as an electric auto. You will find DIY Kits, DIY Plans, DIY Projects, you name it, they pretty much cover it. A very die hard group of people about having the world run on electric motors. For Camino, I thought he would love this project. A guy bought an old ElCamino and is converting it to electricity.…
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Toyota converting auto transportation fleet to CNG. Nov 23rd 2015 Toyota Corporation released a media announcement that they would start with their first CNG auto hauler as they moved to be greener in transporting their green fleet of auto's to the dealers. CNG Auto Hauler Toyota worked with Peterbilt and Cottrell to build the first of many to come. This is a Peterbilt 365 day cab tractor with an 11.9L ISX 12 G Engine by Cummins modified for CNG operation. This is a 9 car hauler with 90 gallon capacity of CNG, two type IV carbon fiber 45 gallon tanks, one on each side of the truck…
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Fast Facts Some of the terminology and acronyms you will find when researching electric vehicles may seem confusing. Here are some definitions that will help you better understand the literature you will find. EV - Electric Vehicle - A vehicle that is propelled by a motor powered by electrical energy from rechargeable batteries or another source onboard the vehicle HEV - Hybrid Electric Vehicle - An EV that combines an internal combustion engine with an electric propulsion system. The charge on the batteries is maintained through the normal operation of the engine PHEV - Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle - An HEV that incorporates a separate battery sys…
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Alternative Fuels & Propulsion in the News So the news has had some interesting stories this past few weeks in regards to GM and Honda getting closer as they co-develop Hydrogen auto's and self driving: http://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/honda-and-gm-seek-to-expand-partnership-on-hydrogen-fuel-cells-and-driverless-vehicles/8525101/?utm_source=WW+Clean+Cities+News+Digest+--+October+20%2C+2015&utm_campaign=WW+Clean+Cities+News+Digest+--+October+20%2C+2015+&utm_medium=email According to the story, 2020 is the year that both GM and Honda will release for public purchase Hydrogen au…
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Washington State EV Registrations by County. Here is the map of recent registrations in washington state by county of EV auto's. As you can see, this year has been a bumper year as more and more people embrace EV auto's in Washington. Do you think this is being seen around the country also?
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com This the Future of Performance Pony Cars? So much has been discussed and debated about the V8, Turbo 4 and 6 cylinder engines as well as Supercharged 4 and 6 cylinder engines that it makes one think what would a performance Pony car be if it was pure electric? Zombie 222 EV Mustang Blood Shed Motors is building what they believe is the ultimate tire shredding Mustang and they can do it for any of the pony cars. You can purchase what they call the Apocalyse Class package. All eletric twin 11" motors/controllers drive train LiPo Prismatic Pouch High Tech Systems Racing Battery 40…
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com 404 Mile Electric Thunder Fish That Could, Maybe? Frankfurt Motor show was the release point for Thunder Power, a Taiwan company that has made money in many things electric including RC auto's. Now they have moved forward with the first true tesla competitor showing off their Thunder Power auto and race car and plan to start sales first in Europe 2017, then China 2018 and finally the US 2019. The auto will come in two flavors, a 230 kW(308 bhp) or 320 kW (430 bhp) versions. They will use a 125 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. The sedan was designed by Zagato, an Italian design house known…
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Le Supercar to battle Tesla, Financed by Chinese Billionaire! Seems Frankfurt auto show is on an EV roll out as multiple companies show off their auto's and some especially interesting designs come from the electric auto segment. Thunder Power showed off their near production ready 4 door sedan and EV Racer car a cross between Speed racer and Fanboy racer game crowd. Now we have LeTV Billionaire announcing that he has hired 600 individuals from Tesla, BMW iCar, and GM's Volt groups to create from scratch an all new EV auto that will top what Tesla and others have shown to date. 200 if …
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com FCA & Ford Working with Argonne National Laboratory on Blended CNG-Petrol Auto's Many questions can be asked far more than answers but Argonne National Laboratory has partnered up with FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) & Ford to study the tricky challange of blending CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and Petrol or regular gas in a Direct Injection engine. The goal of this project is to decrease petrol use by 50% and increase over all efficiency and power density by 10 percent. Many are familiar with Bi-Fuel auto's such as GM's Bi-Fuel Impala, Trucks and other converted Bi-Fuel auto's …
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Chevy Adds 3500HD Chassis Cab to CNG Lineup GM anounced quietly back on 5-7-2015 that they would be adding their Silverado 3500HD Chassis Cab Bi-fuel truck to the CNG lineup. This truck will be available in either 2WD or 4WD and comes with a 24.5 gallon CNG tank and a 23.5 Petrol tank. They have launched this new bi-fuel option with Southern California Gas Co who will take delivery of 5,000 trucks between now and the end of the year. Southern California Gas has committed to making their fleet CNG by 2020 per the Press Release. These CNG trucks will come with GM's standard 5yr 100,000 mile warra…
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Oregon DOT starts first in Nation Charge per mile program! The new MyOReGO program kicked off July 1st with a 1.5 cent per mile charge for driving on Oregon roads. This new program allows people to sign up and receive a credit for state gas tax paid at the pump. Quoting per their web site OReGO covers the following: OReGO volunteers will pay a road usage charge for the amount of miles they drive, instead of the fuel tax. The OReGO road usage charge is set at 1.5 cents per mile. Volunteers will get a credit on their bill to offset the fuel tax they pay at the pump. Volunteers will have thei…
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com New Chargepoint Express 100 has RPH of 100 miles - Wave of the Future? Chargepoint has released their newest charger for Home to Commercial use, the Express 100. This charger is a first in the industry with a rating of 100 miles RPH or Range Per Hour charging. The unit is a 24kW output fast charging unit capable of a 100 mile charge in an hour. The unit is compatible with all OEM EV autos. The slim design is a wall mount unit that can install anywhere. This unit has the ability to truly make road trips in an EV possible with current EVs today. Chargepoint Express 100 units are being i…
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com News Reports GM to Announce Secondary Use of VOLT Battery's! According to the wall street journal, yesterday GM was set to announce a secondary use for the VOLT batteries. According to the story, the 17 kWh battery that GM builds for the VOLT has a cost between $5,100 to $8,500 dollars. According to GM Media, the First generation batteries are now to be used in a second life from helping to keep the lights on and equipment running in IT data centers to bat houses and Duck nesting box's for endangered species. According to GM, the first generation VOLT battery at the end of it's useful l…
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440 mile Washington Cascade Scenic Loop Highway is EV-ready G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Washington state department of transportation announced yesterday that the Cascade Scenic Loop highway, considered to be one of the top 10 drives in North America is now EV-ready. Governor Jay Inslee joined other city and state representatives at Pybus Public Market to announce the kickoff of this drive that can be done in pure EV mode. Driving this 440 mile loop through the cascade mountains and lakes of Washington emission free will enhance the beauty of the state and preserve the outdoors for future generations to come. WSDOT f…
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Found this interesting story on a New Taxi that Singapore has created to help reduce green house gas and clean up their cities. Taxi can go 200km or 125 miles on a single charge and recharges 100% in 15 min. Full story here http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/transport/story/made-singapore-electric-taxi-charges-fast-goes-the-distance-20150512
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We have all heard the pluses and minuses of using of using corn to create automotive fuel, but what if using corn as a basis for fuel was the right idea and the issue was that we went about it the wrong way? At Virginia Tech, a team of researchers have discovered a new way to to make hydrogen fuel from the parts of the corn plant not used for food; the stalks, cobs, and husks. By using these waste parts the researchers have removed one of the large objections to corn fuel; using food as a fuel source. Hydrogen fuel from plant sources is not new. However the Virginia Tech team has found a different method that breaks down two most common plant sugars, xylose and glycose,…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Tesla Model S Has YOU COVERED! REALLY? Tesla sent out the following email this week about how they have you covered with electric charging stations all over North America. Yet while the Email touts their Range assurance and Trip Planner to have a successful pure EV road trip, I was asking myself is this really true? Tesla Email The Tesla has you Covered web page tends to state the following numbers. 90% of owners are within 175 miles of a supercharger station. 96% of owners within 175 miles of a supercharger or destination charger. Tesla states that while most cars d…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com 2015 Vehicle Buyer's Guide Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy The U.S. Department of Energy has released their Clean Cities 2015 Vehicle Buyer's Guide. This covers the following types of auto's; Propane Natural Gas (CNG) Biodiesel Electric Hybrid Ethanol Flex-Fuel In this guide you will find the following information to help one make an informed buying choice. The guide starts off by covering Fuel Economy, Energy Impact, Smog Scores, Greenhouse gas Emissions just to start. Once you have gone over that information, you then have a section that covers Auto cost a…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com BMW i8 Cool or Poor Engineering Choices? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTNKiTrX0Vk BMW Technicians go over the BMW i8 on how to open the doors and the hood in the You Tube Video above. This made me just go WOW as questions flooded my mind on how in my own opinion this is poorly engineered. In reading the posted comments, it would seem many think like I do. From the comments on BMW is starting to be like Apple, you have to pay them to do anything even basic like fill washer fluid to the most common broken item is the manual door release if your fob release fails to work or you …
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Loves Truck Stops, 99 cents per gallon CNG fueling! Loves truck stops posted to their web site the announcement of 5 new CNG fueling centers that now offer CNG Fast Fill at only 99 cents per gallon. San Antonio, Texas – I-35, Exit 144 Rockwall, Texas - I-30, Exit 70 Katy, Texas – I-10, Exit 737 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – I-40, Exit 166 Amarillo, Texas - I-40, Exit 74 Loves now offers CNG Fast Fill fueling at 11 truck stops. They started off with what they call the Texas Triangle with CNG fast fill available in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. They now have pushed up into …
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Electric Conversions, Worth it? The electric movement is on and anyone that loves the auto industry and stays abreast of what is going on tends to keep an ear to the ground about all forms or power trains. Many here know that I am all about CNG, a much greener cheaper form of energy and one I believe is the next logical step away from normal gas. But this is not about CNG, but conversions to electric. Cities all across America are pushing for delivery trucks to change to CNG or Electric. Public transportation to go CNG or Electric and any and all ways to reduce air pollution from the st…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Duke Engines – Time for a NEW FORMAT? A 5-cylinder Axial engine at 1,000cc size begs the question: Is this the future of motorcycle and auto engines or just a wild idea like the Mazda Rotary? Duke Engines has been playing with outside the box engine design for some time. They play in the markets of Marine with inboard and outboard engines to aircraft and AC generators. They recently are using their Axial engine design to play in the Range Extender market for hybrid auto’s with a thought of the VOLT style car, electric driven auto with a generator to produce electricity for long…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Tesla Roadster 3.0 and 400 mile range reality? Tesla gave a late Xmas present to electric advocates on December 26th 2014. Roadster 3.0 was posted covering the following top 3 topics: 1. Batteries, 2. Aerodynamics and 3. Rolling Resistance. Tesla talks about the how their battery from 2008 was revolutionary in the auto industry and while it was good then and up till now for their current S sedan, lithium ion battery advances have pushed them to get 31% more energy from the same size battery pack. This new cell now gives approximately 70k Wh in the original battery package. Tesla th…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Hyundai i30 CNG Wagon Launches Lucky for us there are alternative ways to find out information even when a corporation chooses to not post information about a great release on their web site. NGV Journal attended the Paris show presentation, Hyundai Senior VP and COO for Hyundai Motor Europe introduced the new i30 CNG wagon for Europe. i30 CNG has the following specifications: New 1.4L T-GDI engine 86kW (115HP), Torque 206Nm (152lb ft) from 1500rpm 7 speed Dual-clutch transmission Powertrain meets the strict Euro6c emissions standard that goes into effect in 2017, 3y…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Zero Emission Auto's, are they truly Greener than Gas? Many people here know me as a CNG person. Some will say electric is greener than CNG and Gas. We know CNG is cleaner than GAS, but is pure electric truly greener than CNG or gas? I have talked about how much CO2 is produced during the battery building stage for these pure electric cars. I have also pointed out that in places where Coal is used for creating energy, electric is dirty compared to CNG or Gas. Yes living in the Pacific Northwest, Washington has an abundance of Hydro and wind power, so Electric cars are very …
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Ledcor Converts Fleet to CNG http://www.ledcor.com/news-events/news/2014/october/ledcor-to-own-one-of-canada-s-largest-natural-gas Using FortisBC's incentive program, Ledcor has committed to taking 200 CNG Ford Transits to replace their service fleet. Currently they already own 15 Class 8 LNG trucks giving them 215 alternative fuel vehicles. Scott Lyons, COO Ledcor Technical Services states; "We estimate we'll reduce our annual fuel costs by about 30% and reduce our green-house-gas emissions by approximately 23% or 2,000 tonnes of CO2e per year. Ledcor states the CNG auto'…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com In looking at my other love , BIG RIGS, I came across this video online and found more info from Walmart about their new WAVE Semi. http://blog.walmart.com/the-future-of-fleet-efficiency Walmart has teamed up with Peterbilt, Great Dane Trailers and Capstone Turbine to create a modern 21st century Semi. The new Carbon Fiber truck is 20% more aerodynamic than a standard semi and with 6000 trucks on the road daily, this alone reduces fuel use by a large factor. The great thing about the Turbine motor is that it can run on Diesel, LNG, CNG or Bio-Diesel. The all in one vehicle syste…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Reviewing other green sites, I came across this story by Green Car Reporters about their experience with a Chevy Volt and Tesla in the same household. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1094260_life-with-chevy-volt-3-years-35000-miles-later-its-over To quote the story: "After three years of ownership, I've concluded that the Volt is a splendid vehicle. It's the only electric car I recommend to virtually everyone who asks." The writers story about never wanting to own an American auto and trying to buy a Nissan Leaf and ending up with a Volt is good reading. His first year of …
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Tesla Elon Musk extends Auto Warranty to 8yrs unlimited miles It is a good thing to drop into the Tesla Blog every so often as you pick up things that make you go Hmmmmmmmmmmm! Infinite Mile Warranty On August 15th 2014, CEO Elon Musk posted that the Warranty on the Drive unit would now match the Battery pack. So retroactive to the beginning, all Tesla's will now have an 8yr, unlimited mileage warranty on the 85kWh motor and battery pack. Musk states that this should have been the standard warranty from the begining and that the electric motors are more reliable than a more…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Toyota i-ROAD EV So in looking around at what other EV auto's were being talked about, I found Toyota has a 3 wheel bike that is enclosed called the i-ROAD. Powered by two 2kW 2.7HP motors using lithium-ion battery pack good for a range of 26 miles of inner city driving. EV.COM states that according to Toyota, the 2016 world wide version will have a 31 mile range based on an average speed of 18mph. The following video shows the i-ROAD in use around Toyota City. What are your thoughts, does the i-ROAD have a chance of making it in a global market?
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Harley Davidson E Bike! ~ PROJECT LIVEWIRE ~ The Experience Tour! The week of June 23rd Harley Davidson will introduce its first electric bike. A company known for its big loud touring bikes and iconic brand plans to become a leader worldwide in developing technology and standards for electric vehicles. At an invitation only event in New York, Harley will show off its handmade demonstration models. The company will then take the bikes on a 30-city tour to allow people to test drive the bikes and provide feedback. This tour will allow Harley to refine the bike …
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com IIHS Small Auto, Electric & Hybrid Crash Testing all over the Board! http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/49/6/1 The recent IIHS testing of Electric and Hybrid auto's show just how far we have to still go to have safe small auto's. The video shows just how wide a difference there is in surviving a crash. The Chevy volt and Ford C-max were the only ones to receive an acceptable rating. Compare this to the Ultimate Nissan Leaf that received a poor rating in the latest crash tests. This also goes for a widely popular Mazda, Mazda 5 which received a poor rating. …
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Tucson Fuel Cell Leases Start! Hyundai started today leasing the Tucson Fuel Cell CUV in California. These leases include fuel and maintenance for 36 months. The first one rolled off the lot according to Hyundai this morning. 36 – Month Lease $2,999 due at lease signing $499 a month The Tucson is rated at 265 mile range on a tank full of Hydrogen. It takes 10 minutes to fully fuel the Tucson compared to current EVs that can take from 30 min with a level 3 charger to 14 plus hours on a 110V charging system. California is allowing those with Fuel Cell auto’s to use the HOV lanes.…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Volt, the best selling Hybrid? Chevy Volt, Vauxhall Ampera, Opel Ampera, Holden Volt: four names yet one car sold worldwide. EV.com claims the GM quadruplet to be the best selling hybrid vehicles in the world (follow the link for more details). Based on GM’s data, an average Volt owner drives 900 miles between filling up the gas tank. This compares to many Prius web sites as well as Toyota’s data that shows the Toyota Prius owners driving an average of 450 miles between filling up the gas tank. The Volt has an MSRP of $34,185, after the federal tax credit ($7500) you end up with a selli…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Oregon has officially sent out notice to the world that their first public large scale fueling station is open and the official opening is June 11th. This allows drivers to get from Canada to Baja California on pure CNG only now. Not only does this reduce oil consumption, but since this is also a Redeem station, it is using recaptured methan from biowaste and trash.
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Wednesday 4th of June, NAFA (National Association of Fleet Administrators) had a Green Lunch Buffet to cover the upcoming changes to the pacific northwest. They covered the newest public CNG stations opening this year including a major station that will serve the public and truckers in Oregon on I5 as well as 3 new stations for Seattle. These stations will offer both LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) to the public. Washington State who has the largest ferry fleet in the nation is building 4 new ferries which will run on LNG with the goal over the next 5 years to conv…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com BMW's launch of the i3 and i8 meant the end of life for most of the BMW pre-production EV's that were launched in 2010. One car sharing service got 70 but the bulk of the auto's were crushed since they were tagged as pre-production and not certified for resale. Strange how we do not hear people crying out about the BMW's auto's but then maybe since BMW had their production versions ready to move these people to unlike GM with the EV1's it is getting little attention. I am sure there are still a few Teary Eyed leasers who had to return their ride but can now at least buy a more luxury golf …
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com It seems like yesterday or about 2 years ago when Toyota announced the RAV4 EV to the world. At this time they announced a 60 million contract with Tesla to produce powertrains for the RAV4 EV. Full story: http://editorial.autos.msn.com/listarticle.aspx?cp-documentid=1169602 Fast forward to Oct 2013 where Elon Musk in speaking his mind calling Hydrogen powered cars 'bullsh$t'. http://editorial.autos.msn.com/blogs/post--elon-musk-calls-hydrogen-powered-cars-bullsht?_blg=3 Earlier this year, Toyota made news when they stated they would discontinue the RAV4 EV. A joint project that had a …
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com It seems the dirty laundry of other car companies is coming to light as people dig into the history of the EV movement. GM joined the lawsuit with other automobile manufacturers and oil industry to successfully kill the early laws that California passed to promote electric vehicles. In turn, GM killed its EV1 project. All the bad publicity surrounded the death of the EV1 ignores so many other automobile manufacturers which also worked to kill off the EV movement of the nineties. As GM took the brunt of the heat for shredding all its EV1 autos, Honda also silently killed off its Honda EV Pl…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Chevy announced this past week the pricing on the bi-fuel 2015 Chevy Impala. Starting price of $38,210 including the $825 destination charge before tax, title, license, dealer fees and optional equipment. 2015 bi-fuel Impala comes standard with a hardened 3.6L V6 engine and a combined range of 500 miles. 150 of the 500 mile range being CNG. Warranty is the standard 3yr/36K miles bumper to bumper and 5yr/100K miles power train. Further Details at GM: http://media.chevrolet.com/media/us/en/chevrolet/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2014/May/0506-impala-pricing.html
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com AGA Systems Anounced this week that they were given their EPA certification for Direct Injection CNG Conversion kits for the 2014 Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain. Either of these CUV's can be converted to be bi-fuel running on petrol or cheaper CNG with the 2.4L DI Engine. On CNG These Compact CUV's achieved a certified 33mpg. Interested in their system get more info here: http://agasystemsinc.com/ Additional news, MGM Resorts in Las Vegas is running the first Pure CNG fleet of Escalades. These ESV's had their petrol tanks replaced with CNG tanks and run in stock form on the GM 6.2 Liter V…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Ever here of BYD? Do not feel bad if you do not know this 38 Billion conglomeration business that is based out of China and builds everything from Solar panels to electric auto's. Warren Buffet owns 10% and has stated he feels they will be a major player in the the world wide push to Electric Autos. So why would people easily forget all the rage that Tesla is you might ask? Try an Electric Bus that will travel 155 miles on a single charge. That is right, BYD bought a defunct RV manufacturing plant in California and is ready to roll off the first pure electric bus that will be delivered to …
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com 2015 GM Bi-fuel CNG pricing! This week GM released the 2015 pricing for their Bi-fuel options on Silverado and Sierra 2500HD and 3500HD trucks as well as the Chevy Express and GMC Savana Cargo and Passenger Vans. Chevy and GMC Trucks Bi-fuel CNG option starts at $9500 for the option. Chevy and GMC full size vans can be purchased with the CNG option in a 3 tank ($10,825) or 4 tank ($12,090) configuration. GM Warrants the Bi-fuel auto's on their current 5 year or 100,000 mile powertrain warranty which ever comes first. These auto's are serviced at all dealers nationwide in the United State…
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2014 Honda Civic CNG Models Honda has for the longest time led the market with their single OEM built Honda Civic CNG car. 2014 brings the release of two models to the CNG family. Honda Civic CNG Sedan 5AT MSRP $26,640 Honda Civic CNG Navi 5AT MSRP $29,290 The 2014 model comes equipped as follows: The standard model features premium cloth seats, upgraded internal trim over the 2013 models. The Premium adds leather seats, heated seats, heated side mirrors and a six speaker audio system. Standard across both models is a new 7-inch Touchscreen display audio head unit that allows users to pinch, swipe and tap just like a smartphone to access audio, phonebook, media, ve…
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In the Midwest and Northeast a shortage of propane gas is impacting millions of homes and businesses in rural areas beyond the reach of utilities. http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/54128520/#54128520 The polar vortex has caused price increases over 46% as a second polar vortex hits the midwest and east coast. This hits home for those that feel Propane as an alternative green fuel is causing prices to equal gas if not go higher. As an alternative green fuel that many had turned to in the 80's and 90's and with a cold winter causing homes to consume more propane than is being manufactured, does it make sense that this fuel still be a green alternative? Does it m…
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G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com EPA Apps and Tools for Alternative Energy The EPA is working hard to allow people to find Alternative Energy stations via their first smartphone app. Support from the Energy Department, the Alternative Fueling Station Locator app provides information on more than 15,000 stations across the country. This was developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The app allows users to select multiple parameters such as if the station is open to the public, what form of payments they take, hours of operation, address, phone numbers, etc. This app allows for the search of the following fue…
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.cheersandgears.com On Friday November 15th, the Obama administration and the EPA acknowledged that the Bio-Fuel law championed by both parties in 2007 is not meeting expectations and that the US has hit it's limit for now. Against strong lobbing by the Ethanol to resist cuts, the EPA has proposed cutting the amount of fuel in 2014 that must be blended by 14%. Will this drop corn prices? Increase or decrease refined petrol cost at the pump? Reduce maintenance on auto's? Cost jobs in certain sectors? Sounds off on how you feel about the Ethanol blends! Give your positive and negative feedback on how you feel about this…
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com Gaining little attention in the main stream news but giving a nice bump in stock price to Chrysler, GM, Honda, Fiat and a few energy companies. Chrysler showed off a new RAM 2500 that had a pair of CNG tanks that are in the shape of lungs storing CNG in many different compartments. The new tank design in the RAM truck gave it a 255 mile range on CNG. With the 35Gallon Petrol tank, this now gives the RAM Bi-Fuel Truck a 745 mile range when configured in Bi-Fuel form from RAM. The longest range currently available from an OEM for a CNG/Petrol Truck. The idea is it would allow the ease of making various sha…
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5 Reasons Why You Should Switch to Compressed Natural Gas According to the Natural Gas Vehicles for America, there are now over 120,000 vehicles in the United States that run on compressed natural gas. Around the world, there are now more than 14 million natural gas vehicles or NGVs. And these numbers will continue to rise as compressed natural gas increasingly becomes the alternative fuel of choice. But what made almost 14 million vehicle owners all over the world decide to choose CNG vehicles over traditional? Let’s take a look at 5 of the best reasons why compressed natural gas should be your choice too. Compressed natural gas is ECO-FRIENDLY? Engines running on CNG…
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Perceptions and Concerns about Diesel, Electric, Hybrids and Plug-in Hybrids. G. David Felt Alternative Energy writer for www.CheersandGears.com In todays auto industry, it is becoming more and more an issue of cost and long life that people will consider moving to new technology. Yes we all have a friend, family member or know of someone that jumps on every new gadget that comes along. Yet, what would it take to have a person change from their traditional petrol auto to a Diesel, Electric, Hybrids or Plug-in Hybrids? Here is just some of what was found by this survey: Shoppers top motivators for moving to they types of autos: Better Fuel Economy 70% Gas savi…
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CNG Safety CNG is one of the safest vehicle fuels available, CNG is safer than gasoline. According to the Federal Transit Administration. Data collected over time has demonstrated natural gas vehicles to be safe in actual operation. Based on a survey of 8,331 natural gas utility, school, municipal and business fleet vehicles (NGVs) that traveled 178.3 million miles on CNG: • The NGV fleet vehicle injury rate was 37% lower than the gasoline fleet vehicle rate. • There were no fatalities compared with 1.28 deaths per 100 million miles for gasoline fleet vehicles. • The collision rate for NGV fleet vehicles was 31% lower than the rate for gasoline fleet vehicles • Th…
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An electric car hasn’t reached your garage, but a natural gas-fueled vehicle might By Steve LeVine | Quartz – 1 hour 1 minute ago Over the past dozen years, there’s been a 23% surge per year in the number of natural gas-fueled vehicles on the road, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency. That suggests natural gas-fueled vehicles may catch on in a way that fuel cells, hydrogen and batteries have failed. The number of natural gas-propelled vehicles around the world increased to 16.2 million by mid-2012, up from 1.3 million in 2000. India and China’s gas-propelled vehicles totalled 2.7 million vehicles together as of mid-2012, up from 16,000 in 20…
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com Since the 90's people in both the public and private sector has stated America needs to have a Solid Energy Plan. One that gets us off the hook to importing oil from other countries and allows us to have a cleaner place to live. A plan that can make things efficient without taking such a huge chunk of money from peoples paycheck. Going back to the first Oil Scare of the 70's and the attempt from American auto companies to supply efficient Pinto's, Mustangs, Camero's, etc., the US has had a Band Aid approach at best to how we deal with our Energy Consumption. Here in the 21st century you find pure e…
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http://www.cnbc.com/id/100537924?__source=xfinity|mod&par=xfinity
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com Wednesday, February 13, 2013 So January of 2013, the gov passed the Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012. There are many different benefits for various groups, but the nice focus on this is the tax credits for Alternative Fuels. Taxpayers may claim a 30-percent credit for the cost of installing qualified clean-fuel vehicle refueling property to be used in a trade or business of the taxpayer or installed at the principal residence of the taxpayer.209 The credit may not exceed $30,000 per taxable year per location, in the case of qualified refueling property used in a trade or business and…
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So a little Birdy from GM Fleet made a comment to me and when I pushed she said she could not comment on future product. What was it she wispered to me you ask? I made the comment in talking with this individual who over sees the Pacific NW Fleet sales that I would love to buy a Diesel or CNG Suburban as Gas powered versions just do not do it for me. Her comment was just wait till the roll out of 2014 models and your wish will come true for Bi-Fuel. So I pushed her if this was an Impco product like their Bi-Fuel Trucks and she clamped up with the no comment on future products. So I am now thinking that since the 6.0 V8 in the Suburban is no different than the trucks a…
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By G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com Friday, December 21, 2012 BRC Fuelmaker / CugoGas announced two new Phill Home CNG Fueling models and American Made Fast Fill CNG Stations. BRC Fuelmaker/CugoGas looks to jump start the market for CNG (Natural Gas) powered cars and Home Fueling appliances by introducing two lower priced models of their Phill Product line as well as introduce Local Manufactured Fast Fill Stations in a Container that will drive down the cost of building a Fast Fill natural gas public fueling station. Press Release on Page 2 At the Dec 10th Las Vegas distributors meeting, BRC Fuelmaker rolled out to attendees two n…
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I was over at a local 24-hour diner and I spotted something on the placemat. An ad for a new local CNG refueling station open to the public. I wish them luck. Their slogan: The Green Gas of Home http://www.cngofnewholland.com
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Increasing numbers of US customers are turning to alternative fuel vehicles, according to the latest research from Mintel, which shows that sales are up 73%, with nearly 440,000 hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electrics sold thus far this year. The rapid sales growth in hybrid and electric vehicles makes the segment the fastest growing in the US for 2012, supplanting the still fast growing, compact car vehicle segment. http://www.itsinternational.com/sections/general/news/us-drivers-turning-to-alternative-fuel-vehicles-says-research/?goback=.gde_2195876_member_197951202 Read the full but short article and sound off, do you agree with what is stated or not and why?
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http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/11/natural_gas_vehicles_are_coming_to_pennsylvania.html
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com Wednesday, November 07, 2012 Tax Payer supplied Charging stations. Are we getting our money’s worth? Recently, a newly expanded Park and Ride by my house went live with charging outlets for 20 cars having been installed at the Mountlake Terrace park-and-ride lot at 236th Street SW and I-5. A dedication "plug-in" ceremony was held Saturday a few weeks ago even though completion of the place happened back in May. Each of the 10 stations is equipped with two outlets. One is a 120-volt, "level 1" outlet that charges a car from empty to full in 16 to 30 hours, depending on the type of vehicle. The other i…
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In today's society with not just the US, but World wide unemployement affecting everyone's quality of life, what could get at least the US to jump back into putting people to work and raise the life standard of the average worker? Forbes put out this great article by Stan Barton: The Surprising Obama Trade: Natural Gas http://www.forbes.co...ember_189605545 To quote the story: "A policy to take advantage of the natural gas abundance will have a “New Deal” type influence on infrastructure construction and manufacturing, and it will provide cheap energy to fuel growth in many sectors. Cheaper than oil per BTU, natural gas would have long-range systemic benefits for i…
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com November 6th, 2012 There are multiple reasons for why American needs a true step to the next generation of fuel for the transportation industry and this article does a fair job of reviewing Electric, Hybrid and NGV or CNG auto's. Read the full story here: http://seekingalpha....ember_182477519 It is an interesting comparison piece that does mention the Volt out of context with it's proper place in Auto History but still a worthwhile read. Sounds Off on what your thoughts are on this? View full article
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com September 25, 2012 Alternative Energy, what is the logical next step for America Part III? Join me as I write about the various forms of alternative energy and how I see them stacking up in today’s market place. Hydro, Geothermal and Wind While excellent in being renewable energy for use by homes and businesses, Hydro, Geothermal and Wind lack the ability to drive an auto by itself. When combined with alternative forms of creating energy, these three renewable forms of energy can truly make a difference. Hydropower, water powered cars or hydrogen/oxygen powered cars using 100% water as fuel is rea…
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Alternative Energy, what is the logical next step for America? Join me as I write about the various forms of alternative energy and how I see them stacking up in today’s market place. Green Fuel Ethanol / BioMass Touted as the answer to our high gas prices, ethanol is an alcohol based fuel derived from fermenting and distilling crops that are broken down into simple sugars.Ethanol fuel is mainly produced in the US by a company called Archer Daniels Midland, an agricultural giant with years of experience and investment in the Ethanol industry. This industry is supported by Billions of approved tax dollars and the legal requirement that Oil Company MUST …
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com August 22, 2012 Alternative Energy, what is the logical next step for America Part II? Join me as I write about the various forms of alternative energy and how I see them stacking up in today’s market place. Green Fuel Solar The holy grail of the auto industry would be to have all autos have a body of solar panels that can create and store the energy and then use it to power the auto and all internal devices. The first solar car race was in 1983 a trek from Perth to Sydney Australia. In the 1987 race the GM Sunray car completed the 3010km trip with an average speed of 67kmh setting…
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GM may eat hybrid cost Goal is to make technology affordable for consumers Jamie LaReau - Link to Original Article @ Automotive News - July 9, 2007 - 12:01 am DETROIT - General Motors might absorb some costs of a Two Mode hybrid transmission in its full-sized trucks to make the technology affordable to consumers, product chief Bob Lutz says. The automaker plans to have at least three hybrid transmissions and offer as many as a dozen hybrid models in the next few years. The Two Mode system, which has two electric motors that assist the engine, would be the premium system, Lutz said. The cost of that system is more than $10,000, sources close to the program say. Nea…
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http://news.yahoo.com/whos-cancer-agency-diesel-fumes-cause-cancer-160516338--finance.html "LONDON (AP) — Diesel exhaust causes cancer, the World Health Organization's cancer agency declared Tuesday, a ruling it said could make exhaust as important a public health threat as secondhand smoke." Read and Sound off, Do you agree?
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This roadblock must be removed: http://gas2.org/2009/07/31/natural-gas-conversions-could-cost-a-couple-hundred/
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddwoody/2012/02/22/new-enzyme-could-make-cellulosic-ethanol-competitive-with-fossil-fuels/
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Met up with my buddy yesterday, learned he bought a '77 Citicar (one of these, tho not this nice: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Citicar.jpg/250px-Citicar.jpg), so I was poking around on the net and came across this interesting freak. It's got highly unconventional proportions and it's apparently fast as hell, so I find it mildly interesting:
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Kirby Wilbur, seperation of church and state I watched, maybe 1/2 of it, very good. Talked about everything in context, the 1, single time Jefferson wrote those words in that order. Talked about Jefferson's bible. Gave many quotes. discounted Thomas Paine and another's views, but said Paine was a magnificent speaker. One good quote or paraphrase of it, It takes many internal chains to have few external chains. order requires morality, when order breaks down,people call for government increases, this causes a reduction of freedom/liberty.
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Link: http://detnews.com/article/20110828/AUTO01/108280310/1148/auto01/Scientists-create-biofuel-from-old-newspapersScientists create biofuel from old newspapers First birdcage liners, now fuel. Scientists at Tulane University have discovered a new use for discarded newspapers — one that can turn yesterday's news into the alternative fuel of tomorrow. Their research has hit upon a bacterial strain that chomps away at the cellulose in old newsprint, turning the organic material into butanol, a bio-substitute for the gas tank. The strain is the first bacterial microbe found in nature that produces butanol directly from cellulose, a material found in all green pla…
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BOSTON -- Energy researchers at M.I.T. are unveiling their latest masterpiece this weekend -- a race car powered by chocolate. Candy isn't the only tasty treat keeping the car together. The vehicle features a soybean seat and a steering wheel made of carrots. The engine is powered by beef, salmon and chocolate. The car’s U.K. creators said it’s the first sustainable Formula 3 race car. “We wanted to show some academic research in an unconventional manner. So putting together sustainability with motor racing isn’t a natural fit but we managed to do it,” said energy researcher Kerry Kairwan. The car can race speeds at up to 175 mph and runs about 30 miles per gallon. T…
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Sundrop Fuels believes it can combine wood chips with sun power to make gasoline and diesel fuel. http://www.portfolio.com/business-news/2010/01/29/sundrop-fuels-looks-to-combine-sun-wood-chips-for-gas/?ana=e_pft check the link to read page 2
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Never seen commercials ... Seen commercials ... This one says available 2009 ...
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http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/14/paul-sr...-mys/#continued Badass bike. Lousy reporting. You decide.
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http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=15878 now, who will adapt this as a mass produced engine tech.... sounds promising
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http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/fi...ited-states.php Interesting synthetic diesel article Chris
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[source: MotorAuthority] Electric Supercharger Offers Diesel Efficiency for Gas Engines Less Carbon Emissions Compared to Similar Gas and Diesel Engines Existing hybrid technology uses electrical energy stored in a battery to power an electric motor connected to an internal combustion engine, but there are other ways of harnessing electrical energy to help save fuel. Engineers in the UK have developed a new system where electrical energy can be used to drive a supercharger and boost performance. Conventional superchargers are powered by a belt connected to an engine. As more power is dialed up, the supercharger draws more an…
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If you subscribe to the "Global Warming" Hypothesis and will like to purchase a low CO2 emitting vehicle because you believe that the current but of global climate change is abnormal and androgynous, and want to do your part to change, that skip this post. This is about the economics of Hybrids, not their affinity to the aforementioned environmental activism rally cry. Mild Hybrids -- 11.2 years to break even on investment The Mild Hybrid uses a overpowered alternator motor or a similar arrangement to create an ~2mpg (based on Chevy Mailbu numbers) advantage over a conventional engine by shutting down the engine while idling, and for a small amount of power assist and…
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I'm excited about the Volt and the technology it brings. However, how much will that 40 mile electric range be reduced when it's below 0? It was colder than -40 where I live this week, batteries get very weak. Anyone have hybrids that lives in a cold climate? How to they do?
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http://www.american.com/archive/2008/novem...nergy-delusion/ Chris
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http://biodieselreport.com/
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Linkity As the election ends, Gingrich says the real energy challenges begin. By Daniel Stone | NEWSWEEK Published Nov 1, 2008 During the presidential campaign, voters have heard endless talk about the candidates' plans to overhaul U.S. energy policy. Starting this week the winner will begin working to enact that vision—and, in the process, he'll confront the political and budgetary challenges that have constrained previous presidents from making the country more energy independent. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich understands these challenges better than most, and in a new book, "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less," he outlines his ideas for how America should …
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Linkity "Big oil is behind ethanol's bad press" Posted Oct 29th 2008 at 11:47AM by Xavier Navarro Filed under: Etc., Ethanol, European Union "Big oil is behind ethanol's bad press." That's what Javier Salgado, CEO of Abengoa Bioenergy, one of Europe's leading ethanol producers, said in an interview published in Econoticias. Salgado took on more than big oil as he counteracted all the negative press ethanol is receiving from all sides. First of all he, claimed that biofuels were not responsible for the rise in food prices, given that prices have now come down yet we are using more biofuel than ever. His opinion is that the rise in oil prices was to blame. He even s…
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Leaked World Bank Report AFP Biofuels have caused world food prices to increase by 75 percent, according to the findings of an unpublished World Bank report published in The Guardian newspaper on Friday. The daily said the report was finished in April but was not published to avoid embarrassing the US government, which has claimed plant-derived fuels have pushed up prices by only three percent. Biofuels, which supporters claim are a “greener” alternative to using fossil fuel and cut greenhouse gas emissions, and rising food prices will be on the agenda when G8 leaders meet in Japan next week for their annual summit. The report’s author, a senior World Bank econom…
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Pontiac Grand Prix - Diesel! and in great shape!
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click here This is a simple to understand explanation (with additional material at the end of the story) of Solar Thermal Energy.
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http://www.economist.com/science/displayst...ory_id=11529364 In search of forever As a source of power for cars, fuel cells have been a disappointment. For laptops and mobile phones, they are just about to take off METHANOL is nasty stuff. Careless distillation in many a backwoods still has caused it to blind the imbibers of “alternative” alcoholic drinks. Yet it has its uses, and one of them may be to restore fuel cells to their oft-vaunted role as the power packs of the future—but with a twist. The main role that has been discussed for fuel cells over the past few decades is as replacements for the internal-combustion engine. Their actual use may turn out to be …
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion...,0,481881.story
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The astounding rate of new breakthroughs and trail blazing innovation in alternative fuels really has me believing that this push may have finally reached critical mass. That the momentum for this change is now self-sustaining and demonstrates how a motivated America is a force to be reckoned with. As these technologies come on line in the field and competition heats up, we may really be on our way to a new age. Perhaps the information age will be supplanted (and supported) by an "Energy Age" that could affect life in no less dramatic way than did the industrial revolution. Thoughts?
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http://www.ethanol.org/news/index.php?newsid=30
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This isn't exactly an alternative fuel item, but a high mpg vehicle related thread. In the pursuit of highly efficient cars, the focus is on electronics. Motors, actuators, batteries, fuel cells, generators... on and on. What might pay off on a broader scale, however, is simply materials. Materials like carbon fiber, among others, can be made to be strong and rigid, comparable if not better than traditional materials used in structural, body, and trim parts, and at a much lower weight. The downside of course is cost, but many of these materials do not yet benefit from economies of scale. So, how about a car such as the following: +Cobalt-sized car, 4-door, 4-5 p…
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Hydrogen & Electrolysis, A crappy combo... or is it? We all know that the "hydrogen economy" has a long way to go in a lot of areas before it is viable: - development & reduced cost of fuel cells (for stationary and automotive use) - standardization of hydrogen storage, transportation, and transfer (fueling) - development of hydrogen sources Regarding the development of hydrogen sources, there are a number of sources being studied, including bacteria and plants that may create hydrogen as a natural product, superheating water in nuclear plants, stripping hydrogen from fossil fuels, and various others. Then there is electrolysis. I and many others h…
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In New York Scientists are are having a cobference on those who belive it is FALSE. The scientist said the South Pole is the biggest its been in a long time the North pole the last two years has been growing. Glenn Beck is covering this on his TV show it would be good to watch it.
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