Oil Hits $88 per Barrel!

You thought $80 a barrel was a lot?
Add 10% (LINK)
Better get those batteries fired up or no-one will be driving soon!
Thanks to Nick for pointing it out to us.
Popularity: 1%

Popularity: 1%

New Semiconductor Splits Hydrogen From Water Using Solar Energy

from Angewandte Chemie (International ed.) [1433-7851] Ritterskamp yr:2007 vol:46 iss:41 pg:7770 -7774

This isn’t exactly brand new, but I think very important.
A researcher at the Max Planck institute named Martin Demuth an colleagues have developed a semiconducting material called titanium disilicide (TiSi2). When this material is suspended in water and exposed to sunlight, it splits water [...]

Popularity: 1%

Project Driveway Update

For those of you who might not know, Project Driveway is the name GM is giving to a modestly-large scale hydrogen fuel cell vehicle test it is planning.
For the event, GM will be giving out 100 hydrogen-powered Chevy Equinoxes to selected and fortunate parties in the U.S. located in L.A., N.Y.C., and Wash D.C. [...]

Popularity: 2%

Could This Be the Volt’s Combustion Engine: GM Demonstrates HCCI Motor for 1st Time in Driveable Car

HCCI stands for Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition, and is a new type of combustion engine paradigm. Traditional engines, with which we are all familiar, use spark ignition (SI). In that system, a spark plug fires and ignites the fuel in the combustion chamber forcing the piston to move. In HCCI engines, the [...]

Popularity: 2%

It May Not be the Last Call for Alcohol After All…

Yesterday I wrote a post indicating that GM planned to remove E85 capability from the Volt’s onboard generator. Those of you that were sad, put your tissues away, those who were happy put away your party hats. GM spokesman Rob Peterson has said that GM has not changed to the production plan to [...]

Popularity: 1%

GM May Pull the Plug on E85 Capability for the Chevy Volt

We have some new and unsubstantiated information from anonymous sources that GM has decided to remove E85 capability from the Chevy Volt’s on-board internal combustion engine/generator.
One of the promotional points of this concept vehicle when it was first announced was the E-Flex system. The “E” stands for electricity, we understand the concept of the [...]

Popularity: 1%

FACT: Chevy Volt’s Generator to Start When Battery Power Drops to 50%

We have been discussing the cost of operating the Volt. In particular I have focused on what the electric cost will be to drive the first 40 miles without gas (or E85). We knew the battery holds 16 KWH of energy, but it hasn’t been clear how much of the battery would be discharged [...]

Popularity: 2%

Diesel Volt?

(Either JavaScript is not active or you are using an old version of Adobe Flash Player. Please install the newest Flash Player.)
From the point of introduction of the Volt in January one of it’s strong selling points, after the beauty of the electric engine, is the fact that the ICE could potentially run on gas, [...]

Popularity: 1%

Oil Price Volitility and the Volt

Yesterday, oil prices climbed 5$ per barrel in 7 minutes on speculation of a standoff between the UK and Iran, who captured their soldiers. See story here.
Oil prices once again are touching the 70$ mark. They have gone over $80 previously. Many experts believe that as we start going over the peak [...]

Popularity: 3%

Record Winter Energy Use

On Monday Feb 5th, 13 midwest states set a daily record for winter energy use at 119,206 megawatts as supplied by PJM Interconnection. These numbers are very similar to the peak energy use in summer months, with the idea being more electricity is used in heating homes, and at night. The highest prior [...]

Popularity: 2%

Gas Prices and the Volt

An excellent article can be found here, in the Wall Street Journal about how gas pricing can affect the Volt. We know of course that low prices cannot possibly last as demand is likely at a tipping point for outstripping production.
Popularity: 2%

Popularity: 2%

CO2 Emissions

OK Heres the rundown.
Total US CO2 annual emissions: 6 billion metric tons
Electric Generation: 2 billion tons
Commercial Transport: 1.7 billion tons
Reidential Use: 1 billion tons
Commercial Use: 1 billion tons
Residental Autos: 0 .3 billion tons
These data raise two problems:
1. If everyone in U.S. changed to drive a Volt, the 0.3 billion tons might just be shifted [...]

Popularity: 2%