Automotive X-Price

Take a look at the X-prize foundation, Automotive X-prize at www.progressiveautoxprize.org. The X-Prize foundation is the organisation behind the Ansari X Prize.

"The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is a prize from the X PRIZE Foundation to encourage the creation of a new generation of viable, environmentally-friendly vehicles. Teams compete for multi-million-dollar cash prizes by designing and building super-efficient marketable vehicles that will achieve 100 MPG (2.35 liter/100 kilometer) or its equivalent." - wikipedia.org

Sales of hybrid cars rise 38%

Research group says more options, familiar technology help drive sales; Toyota's Prius leads the pack.

Subaru Plug-in hybrid

Sign the petition to make subaru produce a plug-in hybrid. http://www.petitiononline.com/subarupi/petition.html

Nice boat...

Electric Aircraft

Found this on Times Online. A conventional light aircraft powered by an electric motor. The aircraft flew for 48 minutes for 30 miles around the southern alps. I think we will see more airplanes like this soon, since battery technology is improving rapidly.
If I had the money I would definitely convert my favourite airplane, the Quickie, to electric power. Since the Quickie is so fuel efficient and doesn't need a large engine I think you could go quite far if you filled it with modern batteries.


<-- The Quickie

Biofuel powered jet

I like this guy and I think this might work, at least if the price of oil keeps rising and the price of biofuels starts to drop. The idea is to use biofuels produced from algae to power jet airliners. Take a look for yourself.

Jatropha business in trouble?

According to the Swazi Observer, the British biodiesel company D1 Oils is closing all their refining operations in the UK after running up a £46m annual loss. D1 Oils is one of the largest biofuel companies in the world with operations in many African countries and in India.
Read more about this here or at the company homepage.

Algae Biofuels

This technology makes it possible to use the CO₂ from a power plant twice by using it to grow algae which can then be used to produce biodiesel or other biofuels. Seems like a good idea, and even better if the power plant was burning biomass.

Ocean power on the rise

I have been reading more and more about wave- and tidal power in the news lately and there seems to be a bunch of new companies out there with various designs for harnessing the power of the sea. One of the most promising designs is the pelamis wave energy converter. Three Pelamis machines are currently being installed in the first commercial wave farm, on the coast of Portugal. The system will have a capacity 2.25 megawatts. I'm not going to explain how this machine work but you can read about it at wikipedia or at PelamisWave.com

Green Supercars

You may have heard of the Tesla Roadster, an american all-electric supercar capable of 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds. Now it seems as though the British are working on a similar concept, the Lightning GT. Check it out at www.lightningcarcompany.com. The Lightning GT seems to offer similar performance as the Tesla with an acceleration of 0-60 mph in 4 seconds. One major difference, apart from the superior design of the lightning, is that the Lightning uses four wheel-motors with regenerative braking. These motors are the same type as those used in the Volvo ReCharge concept launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year. If you have $300,000 burning in your pocket the company are currently taking reservations for the 2009 delivery.

Chinese all-electric car

Chinese automaker BYD Auto plans to mass-market an all-electric car in China according to The Wall Street Journal. The company claims that the vehicle could go up to 300 km on a full charge. The company has also developed a plug-in hybrid capable of going 100 km in all electric mode.
BYD Chairman Chuanfu Wang said that the all electric car would hit the Chinese market around 2009 or 2010. He also said that the company plans to market both models in North America and Europe although he didn't elaborate.