Transportation, Green Transportation, Zero Emission Vehicles

Natural gas has been in the news a lot lately, being hailed as the solution to our energy problems on the one hand, and a potential environmental disaster on the other. Let us try to sort out the reality behind this old friend with a new face. Before we start, it might be useful to make a distinction between the natural gas that has historically been collected as a byproduct of oil drilling and the more recently promoted source known as shale gas.

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Undoubtedly sobered by the plight of the Chevy Volt, which recently idled production for five weeks, furloughing 1300 workers in an effort to draw down excess inventory, the Ford Focus EV team has taken a number of innovative steps to avoid a similar plight.

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Two companies may have found a solution, creating drop-in jet fuel from biomass. Not only have the companies created the jet fuel, but the fuel has also passed rigorous military testing.

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The interrelated social, environmental and economic challenges associated with rapid, growing urbanization is bringing some 3,000 experts from around the world together in London this week for “Planet Under Pressure 2012″ conference.

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It looks like GM is playing an important role in the growth of RelayRides, which announced earlier this month that it is expanding its service nationwide. And the question that comes in mind is why GM is doing it? Did the company forget it makes money from selling more cars, not less? Here are four possible explanations for GM’s growing involvement with the peer-to-peer sharing service.

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VW is the second largest automaker in the world and Europe’s biggest. So I was excited to read VW’s recent announcement about investing in cleaner technology.

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There been quite a bit of buzz for several years now about the Tata Motors MiniCAT Air Car, a car that could purportedly run entirely on compressed air. Tata made an agreement back in 2008 with Zero Pollution Motors to market the car in the US by the end of 2009. Then, early in 2009, Tata Motors’ vice-president S. Ravishankar told DNA Money the project was facing difficulties in terms of vehicle range and cooling. Now a report from the Australian web-based The Motor Report claims that the MiniCat will be on sale in India by August of 2012.

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In 2008, Stephen Chu, then Director of the Berkley Lawrence National Lab, said, “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels of Europe.” That was a very sane and rational statement for a scientist, who had been wrestling with the question of America’s energy future for some time, to make. It still is. America desperately needs to reduce her gasoline consumption for any number of reasons including the economy, our national security and the environment. We all know that our fossil fuel dependent economy is not sustainable for all those reasons. And there is no better way to reduce consumption then to increase prices. That has been proven every time prices have gone up. People start driving less and when they go shopping for a car, they actually pay attention to the gas mileage.

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As Harley-Davidson begins to ramp up their sustainability initiatives, it’s unclear how the company will balance the masculine, rebel-like nature of the brand with the pressure to adopt a more conscious, caring approach to conducting business.

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Andy Didorosi bought three busses a few months ago and hopes to launch The Detroit Bus Company next month. Can privatization save Detroit’s bus system?

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Funds came from GM’s foundation, not GM the car company itself. This distinction is important, since in the interests of good governance, Mr Akerson is not permitted to sit on the board of the foundation as well as being CEO of General Motors. The point he wished to convey: GM itself is not culpable in funding climate change denial.

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The Fisker Karma, a high performance luxury plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, broke down in the parking lot of Consumer Reports before they could conduct quality tests on it.

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While smart buildings and campuses show amazing results due to asset management and building improvements that impact energy use, spatial planning and inhabitant safety, smart cities go beyond structural enhancements to impacting urban planning, environment, energy and water, transportation, education, health, public safety and government and agency administration.

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Volvo Group has expanded its partnership with WWF Climate Savers and dramatically increased its commitment to reduce CO2 emissions.

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Ever since Bill Clinton pointed out that, “it’s the economy, stupid,” presidential campaigns have tended to focus on the economy. But now that the unemployment rate is showing signs of improvement, with some experts predicting a drop below 8% by year-end, Republicans and their media allies are scratching around for another issue to frame their 2012 election bid around. What about gas prices?

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When most people think of tourism, they probably don’t think about an industry that can contribute to global solutions for the difficult challenges facing the planet. But they should.

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Right now demand for the Volt is falling short of supply and as a result GM decided on Friday to suspend production of the Volt for five weeks, idling 1,300 workers at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant. It seems like this is a sign GM needs to recalibrate its Volt strategy and value offering, not just manufacturing.

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Contrary to popular belief, humans have failed to address the earth’s worsening emergencies of climate change, species’ extinction and resource overconsumption not because of a lack of information, but because of a lack of imagination, social scientists and artists say.

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The Club of Rome and the Smithsonian Institution’s Consortium for Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet are hosting a symposium on March 1, 2012 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the launching of Limits to Growth, the first report to the Club of Rome published in 1972.

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By Derek Singleton There’s been a steady stream of articles about rising gas prices here on Triple Pundit. Some have looked at what the impacts of higher gas prices will be while others have acknowledged that they aren’t going lower and asked if your business is ready for the “new normal” of high fuel prices. [...]

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Gas prices are up now and while the reasons change every time, this trend is nothing but new, no matter how surprised we are to find the new prices hanging on a sign at the gas station. This is why it’s actually not difficult to see what’s going to happen next. Here are five outcomes to expect in the upcoming months.

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The Obama administration is proposing a new rebate program for electric vehicles.

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My three-year old daughter is one of the newest participants in Bicycle Benefits, a national program that rewards people for biking to participating businesses. Bikers pay $5 for a sticker that adheres to their helmet, which they present at participating businesses for a discount that is determined by each business. My daughter can now save 5 [...]

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Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center released its fourth consumer guide to toxic chemicals in cars. Over 200 of the most popular models last year were tested for chemicals present in the dashboard, armrests, seats etc. These chemicals are responsible to the “new car smell” and are linked to many health concerns. Toxic chemicals inside vehicles are [...]

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The House transportation bill throws a big wet kiss to Big Oil.

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Over several months, many governments and airlines around the world have opposed the European Emissions Trading scheme forcing airlines to buy carbon allowances, but China’s reaction this week is the strongest yet, in imposing a national law placing an outright ban on participation.

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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has come out with a new study that shows the payback period for a new delivery-type electric truck is much shorter than previously thought.

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This March, Chevrolet will start providing customers with information on a number of the environmental features of their vehicles, via “Ecologic” environmental window labels that will initially appear on the 2012 Sonic, the company’s new sub-compact car.

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>NASA has challenged the aviation industry to come up with a new concept for a next generation airplane, and preliminary results indicate the the next generation of air travelers will get to ride in something that looks far more sleek and modern than the current crop of planes.

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Leon Kaye explains that Masdar City does not have it all right, nor should it: at a fundamental level, it is an experiment. And that is why this UAE hub is a leader.

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