Transportation

Greener cars for 2010: Here are 11 to watch

Chevy Volt. Photo: Green Right Now

The electric car is almost here. Hybrids abound. Diesel has cleaned up its act. Even conventional internal combustion engines can be tweaked to do a bit less harm to the environment.

A brighter, cleaner future is a mantra at the auto shows this year. Scratch beneath the surface, however, and a different sort of impression emerges: Change may be coming to the automobile industry, but progress is slow — even grudging — and the message can be murky.

Chevy has been hyping the much-discussed Volt, for example. The manufacturer’s new electric car – due later this year – can go up to 40 miles on a single charge before a gasoline engine kicks in to keep passengers from becoming stranded.

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Google Maps adds bike routes

From Green Right Now Reports

If you’re one of the 57 million Americans who ride a bike, mapping your daily commute, exploring new trails, and planning recreational rides should be easier with a new online tool from Google, which has added biking directions in the U.S. to Google Maps.

Google says the feature, announced at this week’s National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C.,  has been the most requested addition for Google Maps. The service includes step-by-step bicycling directions, bike trails outlined directly on the map and a new “bicycling” layer that indicates bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly roads.

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Zipcar gets certified for San Francisco

From Green Right Now Reports

Looking to rent an apartment? Make sure it has all the amenities you’ll need: laundry facilities, exercise room — and a car for occasional long-range errands.

In San Francisco, they are not leaving that last one to chance. The Planning Department mandates that for every 50 to 200 units in a new residential building, at least one space must be made available for a car sharing vehicle.

The idea is that parking for an apartment complex shouldn’t shut out, but should encourage, those who use car sharing. And if the space has got a car at the ready — all the better.

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Yes, that’s a ‘green’ Ferrari

The HY-KERS vettura laboratorio (experimental vehicle). (Photo: PRNewsFoto/Ferrari North America, Inc.)

By Tom Kessler

At the Geneva Auto Show this week Ferrari, a company whose products are normally associated with red, flashed a bit of green. And we’re not just talking about the paint job.

Ferrari’s HY-KERS vettura laboratorio (experimental vehicle) is a hybrid version of the 599 GTB Fiorano that slips in a high-voltage electric motor capable of producing 100 horsepower.  The test car reduces CO2 emissions by 35 per cent.

The iconic company says the hybrid project is aimed at ensuring that Ferrari will be in a position to comply with future CO2 emissions standards, particularly in urban environments. City driving is traditionally where sports cars typically become major fuel hogs because their engines are designed for maximum efficiency and performance at high RPMs rather than the low revs and low engine loads of city driving.

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U.S. car fever waning after a century of growth

In 2009, the number of cars scrapped exceeded the number of new cars sold.

(This article, originally entitled U.S. Car Fleet Shrank by Four Million in 2009 – After a Century of Growth, U.S. Fleet Entering Era of Decline, previously ran on the Earth Policy Institute website. Lester R. Brown is president of the EPI and author of Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.)

By Lester R. Brown

America’s century-old love affair with the automobile may be coming to an end. The U.S. fleet has apparently peaked and started to decline. In 2009, the 14 million cars scrapped exceeded the 10 million new cars sold, shrinking the U.S. fleet by 4 million, or nearly 2 percent in one year. While this is widely associated with the recession, it is in fact caused by several converging forces.

Future U.S. fleet size will be determined by the relationship between two trends: new car sales and cars scrapped. Cars scrapped exceeded new car sales in 2009 for the first time since World War II, shrinking the U.S. vehicle fleet from the all-time high of 250 million to 246 million. It now appears that this new trend of scrappage exceeding sales could continue through at least 2020. (See data.)

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MIT program will help companies develop sustainable supply chains

From Green Right Now Reports

MIT’s Center for Transportation & Logistics will launch the Global LEAP (Leaders in Environmental Assessment and Performance) research consortium at its annual Crossroads Conference on March 25, in Cambridge, Mass.

Chiquita Brands and Lockheed Martin are the first commercial organizations to sign up for this new project to design supply chains that meet the sustainability goals that are redefining the way companies operate. Inaugural members have pledged comprehensive support for the new consortium including a financial commitment, in-kind resources, thought leadership, and active participation.

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Enterprise Holdings will move its fleet of buses to biodiesel

Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board; Dr. Richard Sayre, Director of Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels; and Lee Broughton, director of corporate identity and sustainability for Enterprise Holdings. (Photo: National Biodiesel Board)

Enterprise Holdings has announced that it will convert its entire fleet of more than 600 Alamo Rent A Car, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental airport shuttle buses  in 50 North American markets to begin using at least 5 percent biodiesel (B5). The company said it will immediately convert buses in nine markets to 20 percent biodiesel (B20) as a first step toward the company’s goal of converting its entire bus fleet to B20 over the next five years.

Enterprise Holdings expects to complete the conversion to all B5 by spring of this year, with at least 50 percent converted to B20 by the end of next year. Buses in nine markets are immediately being converted to run on B20 where the fuel is centrally stored and available: Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Raleigh/Durham, San Antonio and San Diego.

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Audi’s ‘Green Police’ hit the funny bone on Super Bowl broadcast

(Photo: Audi)

By Harriet Blake

Audi’s 2010 Green Police commercial during Super Bowl was ingenious and hilarious.

You didn’t have to be an environmentalist to enjoy the plug for Audi’s A3 TDI clean diesel car. In fact, the commercial pokes fun at the extreme measures an environmentally conscious police force might take:

Arresting a customer for choosing plastic over paper at the grocery store; storming a home after finding a battery in the trash collection; arresting a man for possession of an incandescent bulb; swarming a homeowner for a compost infraction; chasing a speedo-clad hot tub user for setting the water temperature too high; stopping a driver for using a styrofoam cup – extreme tactics, no doubt, but too funny.

Of course, the guy with the clean diesel Audi is stopped and allowed to proceed, hassle-free. The commercial’s “Green Police” anthem is a re-recording of Cheap Trick’s “Dream Police.”

If you missed it, check it out here.

Copyright © 2010 | Distributed by Noofangle Media

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GM announces biodiesel-capable pickups

From Green Right Now Reports

GM announced today that its new lineup of heavy-duty diesel pickups will run on B20 biodiesel, which is a blend of 20-percent biodiesel and 80-percent conventional diesel that produces lower carbon dioxide emissions.

The announcement was made at the National Biodiesel Conference in Grapevine, Texas.

GM said its new Duramax 6.6L turbo diesel engine has been substantially revised to include B20 capability, as well as meet strict new emissions standards effective this year. The Duramax will power the redesigned 2011 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickups, as well as the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans. Chevrolet plans to unveil the 2011 Silverado heavy-duty trucks at the Chicago Auto Show on Feb. 10.

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Top states for federal high-speed rail funding

From Green Right Now Reports

California has ambitious rail plans.

California is No. 1 with a bullet … train that is.

When the federal government recently awarded $8 billion for the development of high speed railway projects, the Golden State took the big prize — $2.3 billion. California High-Speed Rail Authority chairman Curt Pringle called the award “fantastic news for California and for our state’s high-speed rail project.”

“It is an award that will lead to the creation of tens of thousands of quality jobs in the near-term and to continued economic strength and enhance our transportation network in the longterm,” Pringle said in a statement.

California, he noted, is closer than any other state or region to building the first true high-speed rail system in the United States.” The federal money recognizes California’s work in partnering with local governments and state legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to put the plan into action, he said.

Here’s a look at the states that were winners, the amount of funding, and a brief description of the projects being funded:

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