Bruno Vanzieleghem - Autoblog

Willie Nelson is part of a group investing $5 million to add hotels, a saloon, and a golf course to Carl's Corner, a Texas truck stop-town south of Dallas. Carl Cornelius, who incorporated the town in 1986 so he could sell alcohol in the otherwise dry part of Hill County, is a longtime friend of Willie Nelson, and has been mayor of the town since its inception. Nelson began selling BioWillie biodiesel at the truck stop in 2004. The stop will be closed for four months, with the grand opening plan

While most consumers are now carefully looking at the fuel economy of their next car, legislators are still focusing their efforts on reducing vehicle emissions. While emission standards vary around the world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet the existing and future standards with incremental changes to conventional gasoline and diesel engines. Full hybrids, like the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape, offer fuel economy improvements, and as a direct result, produce lower CO2 emissions. B

Following the announcement of the new tax structure for biodiesel in Germany, European Union administrators in Brussels are being pressured to take action against member nations that fail to promote green fuels. Europe plans to produce enough biofuels to replace 5.75% of its fuel needs by 2010. While Belgium, Italy, and Poland received written warnings from the European Commission last year for failing to

Probably one of the main reasons for a consumer to consider the Mercury Mariner Hybrid is clearly the promise of excellent fuel economy for a compact SUV. The hybrid powertrain delivers a driving experience very much like a traditional gasoline only powered car. The hybrid architecture for the Mariner is very much like that of the Prius. The differences are mostly limited to the size of the gasoline engine capacity, the power of the electric motor, and the battery pack size. To take full advanta

Just as the tax incentives for the Toyota Prius are slowly evaporating, the base price of the car will see an increase as well. Toyota Motor Corp. just announced it will raise the starting price of the 2007 Prius by 2.1 percent. A new Touring Edition version will also be introduced, sporting larger wheels and a stiffer suspension, to help boost sales. The increase in price for the base model is $450, to $22,175, while the Touring Edition will start at $23,070. While sales of the Prius fell 5.9 p

For our second installment of the Mercury Mariner Hybrid review, we'll be spending some more time inside the car, and driving the car. For the average sized family, the compact Mariner SUV should be adequately spacious. Even if you are over 6 feet, and you are sitting behind a tall driver, you should have sufficient space in the car. If you are moving down from a full size SUV, you'll have to leave the second cooler full of your favorite beverages home when embarking on your next family vacation

It seems some car manufacturers haven't seen "Who Killed the Electric Car?" yet, or don't understand some of the negative backlash it might create. The city of Pasadena, Ca, made substantial investments in electric and hybrid cars, trucks and buses, and the infrastructure to support them in the late nineties, in order to reduce air pollution filling the streets. Many city employees have been driving around town in battery-powered cars, with electric charging station

For those of you who aren't intimately familiar with the history of Apple, you are probably thinking the title of this article is for tonight's episode of Ren and Stimpy. But for some, it might make a little more sense. Steve Wozniak, or Woz for short, left Apple in 1985, and has kept himself busy with a variety of projects. During a recent conference at Stanford, Woz announced he plans to drive to the South Pole in a Hummer H1 in 2007. Before you all cry foul about

Dick DeVos, the Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate, wants to position Michigan to become a national leader in ethanol production. In order to achieve this lofty goal, he wants to reduce taxes farmers pay on land and equipment and plans to build an infrastructure to make alternative fuels available to drivers. DeVos, who is in a close race with current Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, wants to cut property taxes on farmland as well as taxes on farm machinery. While DeVos has plans to

The pages of AutoblogGreen generally focus on land based transportation, but we thought we should make you aware of an attempt to break the record for circumnavigating the globe in the Earthrace. Earthrace, a 78-foot boat, looks like a seagoing version of the Batmobile, and is able to cut under waves like a submarine. The twist with this record breaking attempt is the fuel the boat is being run on. The Earthrace is strictly run on biodiesel. The skipper, Pete Bethune, and his wife are strong sup

The first car to show up in the AutoBlogGreen garage for a few days was a 2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, the slightly more upscale cousin of the Ford Escape Hybrid. The Mariner Hybrid didn't earn its spot in the ABG garage because of its luxury features, however. The main reason for us having a closer look at the car is the 133-hp Atkinson cycle inline four cylinder engine, combined with a 94-hp electric motor powered by 250 1.3-volt nickel-metal hydride D-cells. The hybrid powertrain in this Merc

While it is the norm to not have a diesel powered option available for most vehicle models in the U.S. market, in Europe it generally guarantees low sales, especially for mainstream vehicles. Honda eventually broke down and developed a diesel engine for some of their European vehicles, and even a luxury brand like Jaguar is now offering diesel options in some of their cars. Subaru, one of the last manufacturers to strictly offer gasoline engines for all its models, has finally announced it is de

While biodiesel is becoming more and more popular with German consumers and production is rising, the tax break for the fuel has expired. Biodiesel was exempt from the 45-euro-cent petroleum tax imposed on petroleum diesel until this Tuesday, when a new energy law took effect reducing the exemption by nine Euro cents. An additional increase of six Euro cents per liter starting in 2008 will reduce the tax benefit for biodiesel completely by 2012. While biodiesel will still be cheaper in the short

To mark the start of a three-day Georgia Bioenergy Conference starting today in Tifton, a convoy of seven vehicles showcasing hybrid and alternative fuel technologies has been driving across Georgia, arriving in Tifton today. One of the vehicles in the convoy is the bucket truck we mentioned in a previous article, and the convoy also includes a Ford Escape Hybrid, the cheapest car in

The state of New York is planning to build a research and development center to investigate fuel saving concepts such as plug-in hybrids. The R&D facility will be built 20 miles north of Albany, in the Saratoga Technology + Energy Park, and should be operational in 2008. A high-technology Canadian battery manufacturer is the first private company to join the center and Hudson Valley Community College in Troy will provide employee training. The center will focus on new technologies to conserv

While hydrogen promises to be a clean and efficient fuel, the question as to where the hydrogen will come from remains unanswered. One answer to the question is so-called hydrogen farms, which promise to grow the fuel of the future. The Carmarthenshire Energy Agency is planning a joint project with Ireland to produce hydrogen from trees in a series of farms in West Wales. Hydrogen can be created from trees by using microbes to break down the willow into methane and hydrogen gas. The project incl

Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, is worried about global warming, since his business interests cover six continents and deal with transportation through the air and on land. But Branson, being the prolific entrepreneur he is, does not see disaster; he sees opportunity to reinvent the fuel business. Branson is investing in traditional alternatives such as ethanol plants and solar power, but he is also developing a new ultra clean fuel that can power jets, cars and trucks. The fue

While we generally hear about global warming and climate change from scientists, people involved in the financial world should also consider it a major economic issue facing all U.S. companies, according to an article by the Vermont State Treasurer. While the U.S. government declined to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, many U.S. companies have already responded to some of the challenges climate change is posing. Many global companies based in the U.S. have to join in carbon-reduction efforts to comply

A Dutch firm has designed a fuel cell scooter, designed to be powered by hydrogen. The scooter, called Fhybrid, is a completely silent zero-emissions vehicle aimed at inner-city use. The scooter will be powered by a 670 Watt PEM fuel cell, operating at 48 Volt, combined with a 6kW peak power Lithium Ion battery. The working prototype, however, is powered solely by batteries. The battery stores up energy through regenerative breaking. The top speed of the scooter is 65 km/h, and it accelerates fa

A large number of companies have announced plans to introduce diesel engines in the North American market. The majority of these engines are currently offered in overseas markets, and are being developed further to meet the emission standards. One North American manufacturer, who wants to remain confidential for competitive reasons, has made the decision to farm out the production of a diesel engine for the market

A Spanish company, Bio Fuel Systems, claims to have developed a way to breed plankton and turn them into oil. The company was formed this year in eastern Spain after three years of research by scientists and engineers from the University of Alicante. While the company has generated some green colored crude oil created by the phytoplank