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GM and JVs Set Sales Record in China in 2008
General Motors and its joint ventures sold 1,094,561 vehicles in China in 2008. This is a record for GM in China and the second consecutive year that its sales in what has become the company?s second-largest market topped 1 million units.
Domestic sales of vehicles from GM?s SAIC-GM-Wuling...
Report: Mazda to Apply Next-Gen H2-Gasoline Rotary Engine in Coming RX-9
Germany?s auto motor und sport magazine reports that the coming Mazda RX-9, due in 2012, will use a future version of Mazda?s RENESIS dual-fuel hydrogen-gasoline rotary engine.
Mazda Motor Corporation has already equipped a version of the RX-8 with a current RENESIS hydrogen engine and began leasing...
PHEV System Manufacturer Odyne Corporation Shutting Down
Odyne Corporation, a developer and manufacturer of propulsion systems for medium- and heavy-duty Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV), is suspending operations.
As disclosed in October 2008, Odyne retained Matrix USA, LLC to explore strategic alternatives. (Earlier post.) These efforts have not...
Progress Energy Florida Contracts for Two New AP1000 Reactors; Will Retire Two Coal-Fired Units
Progress Energy Florida (PEF) has contracted with Westinghouse Electric Company LLC and The Shaw Group Inc.?s Power Group for the engineering, procurement and construction of two nuclear units for a proposed nuclear power plant in Levy County, Fla.
Progress will retire the two oldest coal-fired...
First Availability of ChargePoint Network for Plug-ins
Coulomb Technologies and the city of San Jose, California, announced the first availability of the ChargePoint Network public charging infrastructure for plug-in vehicle owners. (Earlier post.)
Subscribers can sign up for options to fit their lifestyle including a limited time offer ?Basic Access?...
Kawasaki to Produce Gigacell Bipolar NiMH Batteries for Transportation Applications
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| The KHI Gigacell bipolar NiMH stack. Source: KHI. Click to enlarge. |
Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. (KHI) will begin manufacturing versions of the Gigacell bipolar NiMH industrial battery?originally targeted for grid applications such as output smoothing for wind and solar?for transportation...
Eleven Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States to Develop Regional Low Carbon Fuel Standard
Eleven Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states will cooperate to develop a regional Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The 11 states?the 10 members of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) plus Pennsylvania?will work together to create an emissions-performance standard that will eventually...
ISE to Use Eaton Fuel Cell Cathode Blower for H2 Buses in Vancouver and London
ISE Corp. recently selected Eaton?s Fuel Cell Cathode Blower (earlier post) for use in its hydrogen-powered fuel cell buses to be delivered to BC Transit, Vancouver in 2009 and to Transport for London (TfL) by 2010.
Eaton?s Fuel Cell Cathode Blower is an electrically driven version of the...
RTEV Applies for $15M in ATVMIP Funds
RTEV Inc. (Ruff & Tuff Electric Vehicles) has applied for $15 million in low-interest loans under the $25-billion Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Incentive Program (ATVMIP) administered by the US Department of Energy (DOE).
The Department of Energy reported 34 ATMVIP applications were...
Boeing and Ube Industries to Collaborate on Light-Weight Aerospace Materials R&D
Boeing and Japan-based Ube Industries, Ltd. have agreed to work together on development of new materials technology for aerospace applications. The initial focus of the collaboration will be on maturing high-temperature polymer matrix composites intended to reduce the weight and cost of airframe...
Reported Sales of Hybrids Down 42.8% in December, 10% for 2008
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| December sales of hybrids were the lowest for that month since 2004. Click to enlarge. |
Reported sales of hybrids in the US dropped 42.7% in December 2008 year-on-year to 17,698 units?the lowest December figure since 2004, when there were only four hybrid models on the market. Overall light-duty...
Toyota Adds 11 Days to Japan Production Suspension
Nikkei. Toyota Motor Corp. will further cut back its domestic production for a combined 11 days in February and March.
Although it is still working out the details of the plan, Toyota intends to temporarily suspend output at all of its 12 plants in Japan, including four that roll out vehicles. The...
US LDV Sales Down 35.5% in December, 18% for the Year
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| December SAAR was 10.32 million units, down from a 16.0 million SAAR in December 2007. Click to enlarge. |
Sales of new light-duty vehicles in the US in December 2008 were down 35.5% from December 2007 to 896,124 units, according to figures from Autodata. Passenger car sales were down 32.8%...
Husqvarna Shows New Solar/Battery Automower at CES
Husqvarna is showing its new Automower Solar Hybrid at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Solar Hybrid is a fully robotic lawn mower powered by a combination of batteries and a solar panel.
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| Automower Solar Hybrid. Click to enlarge. |
The Solar Hybrid model joins three other...
Study Concludes That Climate Change Alone Could Erode US Improvements in Ground Level Ozone Events Resulting from Reduced Emissions
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| Differences in the average (June-August) MDA8-O3 mixing ratios (ppbv) in the surface layer (984-934 hPa) corresponding to (a) climate change under present emissions; (b) A2 emissions change under present climate; (c) climate change under A2 emissions; (d) B1 emissions change under present... |
REVA Introduces Li-ion EV and Fast Charge Station
Reva Electric Car Company (REVA), the maker of the REVAi electric city car (G-Wiz in the UK) (earlier post) has launched the Lithium-ion powered REVA L-ion in Europe.
Based on the REVAi platform, the REVA L-ion offers a range of 120 km (75 miles) per charge and a maximum speed of 80 km (50 miles)...
US DOE Releases Marine and Hydrokinetic Technology Database
The US Department of Energy?s (DOE) Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program has developed and released a database that provides up-to-date information on marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy in the United States and around the world.
The database includes wave, current, and ocean thermal energy...
GM Presents 2010 Cadillac SRX Crossover; New 3.0L Direct-Injected E85 Engine as Standard
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| The new direct injection 3.0L E85 capable engine in the SRX. Click to enlarge. |
GM presented the new 2010 Cadillac SRX Crossover, featuring a new design and more-efficient engine choices. The new SRX, a mid-sized luxury crossover, will debut at the North American International Auto Show in...
GreenShift Receives $375K State Grant for Algae Bioreactor Development
GreenShift Corporation has received a grant award of $375,000 to further the development of its algae bioreactor, licensed from Ohio University. (Earlier post.)
The funding is provided through the Montana Board of Research and Commercialization, a unit of the Montana Department of Commerce. The...
Volvo Powertrain to Incorporate Clean Air Power Natural Gas Dual-Fuel Technology into Volvo Truck Engines
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| The Dual-Fuel diesel-gas cycle. Click to enlarge. |
Volvo Powertrain has signed a Letter of Intent with Clean Air Power Ltd. to incorporate UK-based Clean Air Power?s Dual-Fuel natural gas technology (earlier post) into Volvo Truck engines. Clean Air Power?s Dual-Fuel application enables diesel...
Report: Suzuki Shelves Plans To Develop Large Vehicle For Global Market
The Nikkei reports that Suzuki Motor Corp. is deferring plans to come up with a larger automobile for the global market and open overseas factories.
Suzuki had aimed to develop a car that would sport an engine of up to 3.6 liters, the automaker?s largest to date, to attract international customers...
Philippine DOE to Accredit 5 Biofuels Plants Within Year
Business Mirror. The Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) will accredit five biofuels-manufacturing facilities within the year. The country?s Biofuels Act of 2006 mandates a 2% coco methyl ester-diesel blend and a 5% ethanol and gasoline blend starting February.
Biodiesel demand was 81 million...
FDK To Begin Mass Production of High-Capacity Li-Ion Capacitors; Automotive and Renewable Energy Applications
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| The EneCapTen large capacitor. Click to enlarge. |
FDK Corp. will begin mass production of its line of lithium-ion capacitors (LIC) as early as spring. The company will install new production lines at its factory in Kosai, Shizuoka Prefecture, with a gradual expansion in monthly output capacity...
Minnesota Legislature to Consider Low Carbon Fuel Standard
StarTribune. The Minnesota state legislature will consider a bill implementing a low carbon fuel standard, similar to the one in California (earlier post), during the coming session.
The bill will target a 10% reduction in the carbon content of passenger car vehicle fuels over 10 years.
The bill?s...
UK Evaluating Intelligent Speed Adaptation Systems for Road Safety and GHG Emissions Reduction
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| Summary results of impact of ISA systems on CO2 emissions. Click to enlarge. |
The UK government?s Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) and the Motorists? Forum (MF) recently issued a joint report evaluating the impact of implementing an Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) system across the...
Devil in the Details: NASA Satellite Joins The Search For Carbon Sinks and Sources
by Jack Rosebro
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| Artist?s visualization of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) in orbit approximately 483 miles above the Earth?s surface. Source: NASA. Click to enlarge. |
NASA is preparing for next month?s launch of its Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO), a 441 kg (970 lb) satellite designed to...
US Department of Interior Opens 190M Acres of Federal Lands for Geothermal Development
The US Department of the Interior (DOI) recently made more than 190 million acres of federal lands available for leasing and potential development of geothermal energy resources.
The approved development scenario, which was analyzed in the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement,...
Hertz Launches Car Sharing Service
Hertz, the world?s largest general use car rental company, in December launched the ?Connect by Hertz? car sharing club, the only global car share club offered by an international car rental company, with neighborhood parking in London, New York City and Paris.
Further cities, as well as...
GM and Chrysler Each Receive $4B in Bridge Loans
GM and Chrysler have each received $4 billion in federal bridge loans. (Earlier post.)
GM received its first tranche of $4 billion from the Federal Government on 31 December. Chrysler received its $4 billion on 2 January.
The US federal government is providing up to $13.4 billion in loans to GM...
DOE to Resume Filling Strategic Petroleum Reserve
The US Department of Energy plans to take advantage of the recent large decline in crude oil prices, and has issued a solicitation to purchase approximately 12 million barrels of crude oil for the nation?s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to replenish SPR supplies sold following hurricanes Katrina...