Grab our RSS Feed
Get our RSS feed via email

Archive for the 'Environment' Category

Mass Fuel Cell Adoption Would Cost $200 Billion and Al Gore Challenges US to Go 100% Fossil Fuel Free in 10 Years

July 17th, 2008 | Posted in: Environment, Grid, Hydrogen with 134 Comments

A new study was just published in which researchers estimated it would cost $200 Billion in research and infrastructure to bring fuel cell vehicles to mass market levels.
The study analyzed the cost of bringing 2 million fuel cell cars to the roads by 2020 and 25 million by 2030. It was determined that to achieve [...]

Popularity: 7%

Posted by: Lyle with 134 Comments

Forget the Volt’s Roof, GM Puts World’s Largest Solar Roof on a Whole Assembly Plant

July 8th, 2008 | Posted in: Environment, Video with 70 Comments

Just while we’re busy discussing whether GM will put a solar roof on the Chevy Volt, and we begin to hear rumors about the next year Prius getting a solar roof option, GM has taken the idea to the next level.
Today GM announced that they have placed a massive solar panel array on the roof [...]

Popularity: 6%

Posted by: Lyle with 70 Comments

Bob Lutz’ Boss Cool on Global Warming Comment

March 11th, 2008 | Posted in: Environment with 33 Comments

Not to beat a dead horse, but this item continues to persist in the media.
As many of you know, Bob Lutz recently was quoted as saying global warming was a crock of sh*t. This resulted in an impressive run of internet and print media discussions, in the end Lutz made it clear that his [...]

Popularity: 3%

Posted by: Lyle with 33 Comments

Will Mass Use of Plug-in Cars Increase Air Pollution?

February 27th, 2008 | Posted in: Environment, Research with 45 Comments

 

We have reviewed and discussed the EPRI study which suggested mass-adoption of electric cars can be handled by the power grid, will result in net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and dramatically reduce U.S. petroleum consumption.
A more recent study by GM suggests E-REV use will reduce tailpipe emissions by 80%.
In the USA Today, two studies [...]

Popularity: 4%

Posted by: Lyle with 45 Comments

Bob Lutz Turns up the Heat on Global Warming

February 14th, 2008 | Posted in: Environment with 103 Comments

By now many of you have probably heard about this. Originally reported in D-magazine is a “closed-door”conversation between GM Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz and several journalists. On the topic of the Chevy Volt, Mr Lutz reportedly called global warming “a total crock of sh-t”.  He went on to say he’s a skeptic rather than [...]

Popularity: 3%

Posted by: Lyle with 103 Comments

Driving the Volt

February 13th, 2008 | Posted in: Efficiency, Environment, Research with 43 Comments

Peter Savagian is an engineer at GM who worked on the EV-1. He recently presented data from his study on the effect of driving electrified vehicles.
The presentation examines and discusses the implication of plug-in hybrid and E-REV utilization.
Per Peter, “GM’s Advanced Propulsion Technology Strategy is to remove automobiles from the environmental dialogue.”, and “another [...]

Popularity: 4%

Posted by: Lyle with 43 Comments

New Study: Using U.S. Farmlands for Biofuel Production will Increase Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions

February 8th, 2008 | Posted in: Environment, Fuel with 69 Comments

Ethanol supply produced from corn grown on U.S. croplands has been increasing and is thought by some as an opportunity to reduce petroleum consumption. Indeed carmakers like GM have been promoting E85 engines, and the U.S. government has been subsidizing farmers to produce corn.
The use of corn ethanol as being net energy positive [...]

Popularity: 4%

Posted by: Lyle with 69 Comments

Audio Interview: Donald Hillebrand, Director of Center For Transportation Research, Argonne National Lab, Part I

Dr. Donald Hillebrand is the director for transportation research at the Argonne National Lab, a pivotal government organization involved in testing and deployment of plug-in cars. He is also a very intelligent and highly insightful man. We had an extensive and interesting discussion which can be heard in the player below the post. [...]

 
icon for podpress  Don_Hillebrand_pt1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Popularity: 2%

Posted by: Lyle with 23 Comments

GM Pushes To Control Electric Utility Rates

August 15th, 2007 | Posted in: Environment, Financial, Grid with 7 Comments

Here we’ve just finished posting about how much it will cost to drive the Volt.  Some interesting comments have come back.  I’m working on getting some more battery specifics and will report back to you very soon.
In the meantime, GM is part of a large coalition of heavy electric users in the state of Ohio. [...]

Popularity: 1%

Posted by: Lyle with 7 Comments

New Government Study Shows PHEV Use Will Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Oil Use

July 20th, 2007 | Posted in: Environment, Research with 21 Comments

Yesterday the Electric Power Research Institute and the National Resources Defense Council released a comprehensive assessment which found that widespread use of plug-in electric vehicles (PHEV) could be expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve ambient air quality.
The 3 key findings:

By 2050, 450 million tons less greenhouse gas would be produced.
The power grid can [...]

Popularity: 3%

Posted by: Lyle with 21 Comments

Build Your Own Plug-in Electric Car

April 11th, 2007 | Posted in: Battery, Electric Motor, Environment with 45 Comments

Sure, wed all like to drive off in an all-new, dealership-supported, warrantied, and well-made GM Volt. But there are folks who dont want to wait until 2010. Indeed the do-it-yourself movement is rapidly underway. As we’ve discussed previously there are a variety of ways to “grow your own” electric car.
There are several [...]

Popularity: 3%

Posted by: Lyle with 45 Comments

E85, Corn, and The Volt

March 31st, 2007 | Posted in: Electric Motor, Environment with 2 Comments

We talk a lot about the electric engine, plugin capability, and lithium batteries when we discuss the Volt. It is time we discussed another very important aspect of the vehicle, the fact that the combustion engine can run on E85.
E85 is a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, not the other way around!
Due [...]

Popularity: 4%

Posted by: Lyle with 2 Comments
Designed and Developed by Twenty Six Media