Strange Bedfellows: Lotus helps develop Saudi Arabian green car industry
Considering that around 100% of its gross national product comes from oil, Saudi Arabia wouldn't be your first guess as the location of a burgeoning green car industry. In fact, oil is just about the only industry in this country, though the royal family is interested in establishing Saudi Arabia's own automotive industry. To that end, it's commissioned Lotus and parent company Proton to help build a research, development and test center that can be used by burgeoning Saudi Arabian automakers to produce vehicles that efficiently use the oil on top of which this country floats. Lotus is partnering with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) to get the project completed and populate the center with various engineers. It would seem the hope is that it would be the base on which a fledgling automotive industry could grow in the next ten years. We doubt, however, they'll be working on developing longer lasting lithium-ion batteries. As our friends at AutoblogGreen put it, the goal is "maximizing the use of the available oil in the least damaging way possible." But whatever gets developed will still require oil.
[Source: AutoblogGreen]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike 4:39PM (1/16/2008)
I am ready to eat my green cereal out of my green bowls with my green spoon on my green placemat on my green table on my green floors in my green house made of green lumber and green nails and green insulation and green concrete and green copper and green PVC built by green people working for a green company using green tools and green equipment and green office paper and green office machines.... which equates to more of my green going out of my pocket to make somebody else's account more green so I can feel morally superior to the rest of you.
green this.
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Mobius_1 9:17PM (1/16/2008)
Haha that's a good one!
This "green" thing is really going a bit far and people don't always realize there are things other than cars that burn fuel
Seoultrain 1:48PM (1/17/2008)
mike, green is SOOO 2007. Blue is the new green. So say the idiots in charge of such useless crap.
tankd0g 4:50PM (1/16/2008)
I guess they would know better than anyone when the oil is going to run out.
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Kevin 5:41PM (1/16/2008)
Cool! Can't wait to learn about what Lotus comes up with.
Awesome logo graphic, btw.
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Sandeep 5:46PM (1/16/2008)
Clever move on Saudi Arabia's part- ensures that the country will have some income in a market they currently control by oil, even after it's all gone.
The UAE is doing the same thing- diversifying their holdings to ensure that they are not oil-dependent.
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judd 6:38PM (1/16/2008)
All they need to do is borrow Toyota's technology again and BAM! Instant results.
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Dinger 6:50PM (1/16/2008)
If Saudi Arabia is the seat of Islam, and Islam is the "religion of peace" then why do they have a sword in the middle of their flag?
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Ahmad 7:34PM (1/16/2008)
There is a sword in the flag because sword is heritage to Arab world.
The red in American flag symbolizes blood. Does that suggest America is a bloodthirsty country?
xa7medx 7:40PM (1/16/2008)
This flag represnts only saudi arabia and was creatd by King Abdulaziz 70 years ago. there was no sword in the flag but he added it.
There is two opinions about the sword. the first one: the sword is a symbol for bringing justic, and the second one: The sword is a symbol of the victories of King Abdulaziz.
that's it, it has nothing to do with islam.
judd 7:04PM (1/16/2008)
I hated that flag for awhile. I had to put one together for Flag day. Very traumatizing.
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