"Green Granny" Joyce EmeryMy guest today is Joyce Emery, a resident of Ames Iowa, and a young senior who is walking her talk. Joyce has two websites, Green Granny and Green Seniors. She talks about her websites, what it’s like to get on a bicycle after several years, and about owning an RV that goes nowhere.
You can meet Joyce here…
Saturn VUE Hybrid: Image source: BusinessWeek.com
Last week, I gave you some of my initial impressions of the Saturn VUE hybrid that GM loaned me to test out for a few weeks. On Tuesday, I turned the keys back over to the company that handles press cars for GM. I enjoyed my time giving the vehicle a spin, and look forward to the release of the 2008 model, which will incorporate the "dual mode" hybrid system that GM created in partnership with DaimlerChrysler and BMW.
I mention the release of the new version because it occured to me this past week that the 2007 VUE Hybrid, while an impressive vehicle, is a "mild hybrid": the electric engine helps power the gasoline motor so it doesn't burn as much fuel, and keeps systems operating when the gas engine shuts down at a full stop. This is helpful in terms of achieving higher fuel efficiency than the standard model (and the VUE Hybrid does get the best highway gas mileage of any SUV); the dual mode system (which will also be available in the Chevy Tahoe and the GMC Yukon) will be much more similar to a full hybrid like the Toyota Prius. The dual mode system will include:
I bring all of this up to say that I think the '08 model will be worth waiting for. According to GM, these features will increase fuel efficiency by 45%, making the VUE competitive on gas mileage with many smaller cars. And, of course, GM has also promised a plug-in model in the near future (though the company has not specified a date for it).
Greenhouse gas emissions by leading industrialised nations have accelerated since 2000 and several countries are performing worse than the United States which opposes a U.N. pact for curbing global warming, U.N. data shows.
The palm-fringed islands of the South Pacific offer vacationers an alternative to sunbathing and swimming — grim lessons on the effects of global warming, delegates at a conference in Belize said.
Filed under: Hybrid, Hydrogen, Ford
The plug-in hydrogen vehicle that didn’t almost kill President Bush (i.e., the Ford Edge with HySeries Drive) is cruising around Vancouver, Canada as part of Ford’s mission to showcase he world’s first drivable fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle with plug-in capability. The hydrogen Edge is being displayed on the trip alongside what Ford calls the “most technologically advanced production vehicle,” the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid.
You can read more about the vehicle itself at the links below or in the press release after the jump, but if you’re in Vancouver and see the HySeries Edge, now you know that this is the first time the concept vehicle has been on the streets in Canada. Anyone catch any pictures?
Gallery: HySeries Edge
Related:
[Source: Ford]
FORD SHOWS VANCOUVER EDGE WITH HYSERIES DRIVE, WORLD’S FIRST DRIVABLE PLUG-IN FUEL CELL VEHICLE
Vancouver, May 30, 2007 – The Ford Edge with HySeries Drive, the world’s first drivable fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle, hit the streets of Canada for the first time in Vancouver Wednesday as part of a trip to showcase the advanced research vehicle alongside its most technologically advanced production vehicle, the new hot-selling 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid.
The Ford Edge with HySeries Drive combines an onboard hydrogen fuel cell generator with lithium-ion batteries to deliver a combined city/highway gasoline equivalent fuel economy rating of 5.9 L/100km (41 mpg) with zero emissions. For those who drive less than 80 km (50 miles) each day, the average jumps to more than 3.0L /100 km (80 mpg).
It is built on a flexible powertrain architecture that will enable Ford to use new fuel and propulsion technologies as they develop without redesigning the vehicle.
The new HySeries Drive[TM] powertrain featured in a Ford Edge uses a real-world version of the powerplant envisioned in the Ford Airstream concept unveiled in January at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. In late January, the Edge with HySeries Drive hit the road and has accumulated more than 8000 real-world km (5000 miles).
The plug-in hybrid is powered by a 336-volt lithium-ion battery pack at all times. The vehicle drives the first 40 km (25 miles) each day on stored electricity alone, after which the fuel cell begins operating to keep the battery pack charged. This provides another 320 km (200 miles) of range for a total of 360 km (225 miles) with zero emissions. Individual experiences will vary widely and can stretch out the time between fill-ups to more than 640 km (400 miles): drivers with modest daily needs would need to refuel only rarely, drivers who travel less than 80 km (50 miles) each day will see fuel economy well over 3.0 L /100 km (80 mpg), while those with long daily commutes will see somewhat lower numbers as the fuel cell must run a larger fraction of the time.
The Ford Edge with HySeries Drive can travel at speeds of up to 136 km/h (85 mph). An on-board charger (110/220 VAC) can refresh the battery pack when a standard home outlet is available, making the concept a true plug-in hybrid.
When the battery pack is depleted to approximately 40 percent, the hydrogen fuel cell – supplied by Ford partner Ballard – automatically turns on and begins generating electricity to recharge the batteries. Like a conventional automobile, the Ford Edge with HySeries Drive will go until it runs out of fuel – in this case via a 350-bar hydrogen tank that supplies 4.5 kg of useable hydrogen.
The HySeries Drive name is derived from the powertrain’s structure: a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered series hybrid drivetrain. This highly innovative approach reduces the size, weight, cost and complexity of a conventional fuel cell system by more than 50 percent. It also promises to more than double the lifetime of the fuel cell stack.
This flexible powertrain architecture enables the use of new fuel and propulsion technologies as they develop and become available without the need to redesign the vehicle and its control systems.
Certainly, many significant technical hurdles need to be overcome before a vehicle such as the Edge with HySeries Drive can become a reality. Fuel cell vehicles remain expensive, costing millions of dollars each. And the single biggest hurdle to plug-ins remains the cost of lithium-ion batteries. Much work also needs to be done to make fuel cells more durable and to create a hydrogen infrastructure.
Hydrogen Part of a Broader Effort At Ford
Research into hydrogen, including the Ford Edge with HySeries Drive, is part of Ford’s overall effort to address the challenges of climate change and energy independence. Ford is moving ahead with a range of technology solutions simultaneously, including vehicles such as the Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid, hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen internal combustion engines, ethanol, clean diesel and refinements to gasoline fueled engines and advanced transmissions. Some of the technology, such as that seen in Ford’s lineup of hybrid vehicles, represents near-term approaches. Other technology, including hydrogen fell cells, must be viewed as a long-term option.
Ford began working on hydrogen technology in the early 1990s. Ford’s first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, released in 2001, was based on a lightweight aluminum sedan body, which also was used in the development of the company’s first hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine.
The company currently has a fleet of 30 hydrogen-powered Focus fuel cell vehicles on the road as part of a worldwide, seven-city program to conduct real-world testing of fuel cell technology. The fleet has accumulated more than 800,000 km (500,000 miles) since its inception. With this fleet on the road, a great deal of information that can be integrated into future fuel cell vehicle propulsion systems is being generated in different local environmental conditions.
Having the fleet outside the confines of Ford Motor Company also has allowed the team to gain valuable feedback on servicing vehicles in the field. As a hydrogen infrastructure is developed and implemented for the fleet at each location, lessons learned are being generated to ensure that the customer and hydrogen fueling interface is seamless and customer friendly.
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.
Filed under: Emerging Technologies
There are thousands of landfill sites around the world filled with hundreds of millions of tires. Unfortunately used tires have been notoriously hard to recycle until now. They have been ground up and used as an aggregate in road surfaces or for flooring but sixty-five percent of annual rubber production is used to make new tires. The vulcanizing process chemically changes the rubber and makes it unsuitable to reuse in new tires.
British researchers may have found a way to make the previously vulcanized rubber adhere to new rubber so that it can be reused. By grinding up old tires and then treating them in an ionized oxygen plasma chamber they have been able to get the carbon bonds to break and adhere to new rubber particles. Once that happens the rubber can be reprocessed in to new tires. Similar process have been tried before with chlorine or flourine but using oxygen is definitely less risky.
[Source: New Scientist Tech, thanks to Howard for the tip]
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.
Filed under: Ethanol, GM, AutoblogGreen Exclusive
GM’s group vice president for Global Powertrain and Quality, Tom Stephens, spoke yesterday at the US BioEnergy ethanol plant in Woodbury, Michigan. Earlier, we brought you a video of some folks from US BioEnergy on how the plant and company operate. Now, here’s GM’s view on how to use all that ethanol. Stephens cites the two biggies – energy independence and less CO2 released into the air – as reasons GM is supporting ethanol so much (see, for example, this post and this one), but he makes it clear that hybrid/PHEVs and then EVs and hydrogen vehicles are the way of the future.
Give Tom a listen here.
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.
Academy-award nominated Japanese animator Koji Yamamura has created this tiny, beautiful story about a Japanese headmaster who saves a whale, returning a debt for having been saved from starvation after the second world war. The 2-minute film took him 5 months to make and comprises 1700 drawings.
You can read more about Yamamura here.
Photo credit: MyGo-PasadenaInspired by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s new GREEN LA climate change action plan, announced earlier this month, I’ve decided to take a look a big element of life in LA: transportation. As any Angeleno knows, ridiculous traffic and poor air quality have a huge impact on our overall quality of life here in So Cal (Mountains? I don’t see any mountains!) But what’s included in the plan, and what are our options in the meantime?
In the works
According to Nancy Sutley, Deputy Mayor for Energy and the Environment for the City of Los Angeles, “LA hasn’t spent a dime in 15 years on expanding freeway capacity.” Really? I hadn’t noticed.
Fortunately, the city has worked to expand and green public transportation, used by over a million people every day. Working towards the elimination of diesel buses by next year, the MTA sports the largest fleet of natural gas buses in North America. Even better, expansions to the light rail and subway system are also planned, including the unlikely Subway to the Sea project that entails expanding the Metro Red line underneath Wilshire Blvd. 15 miles to the ocean. The project would take 15 years at a cost of $5 billion, but would provide public transport for one of the most heavily traveled routes in the city. If it happens.
Is there a more eco-friendly way to package milk besides plastic jugs and gable-top cartons? A UK company seems to think so. Greenbottle is a new two-part milk packaging system that was recently test-piloted in Asda supermarkets during a one-week trial. The bottles quickly sold out.
Designed by Martin Myerscough from Framlingham, Suffolk, the bottle consists of a pulped recycled cardboard outer (think cardboard egg cartons) and a corn-based bioplastic bag liner. After the milk is gone, the bioplastic bag can be removed and composted, and the outer shell can be recycled or composted.