264 Articles
Heavy PHEV developer Odyne partnering up to sell to fleets

Odyne Corporation, developers of advanced plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) technology, have revealed in their financial statements for 2006 that they have established an important new partnership with Nassau Suffolk Truck. Odyne develops proprietary electric and hybrid electric propulsion systems for advanced heavy PHEVs including trucks and buses ranging in weight from 19,501lbs to 45,000lbs GVW (Class 6,7 and 8). Components produced by Odyne include Tr

Advanced Plasma Power technology converts garbage into gas

As recently as January we reported on plasma vaporisation technology capable of turning organic waste material into hydrogen and carbon monoxide, a mixture called synthesis gas, or syn-gas, that can be used as a fuel or as a valuable feedstock in further chemical processes. The company in question then was U.S. based Integrated Environmental Technologies.

Biodiesel group De Beers on-selling unproven algae technology

U.S. biodiesel research company GreenFuel Technologies has licensed its process to produce biodiesel from algae to South African company De Beers Fuel fully two years before it will be ready for commercial application. That's not really so bad if De Beers want to be out in front and are willing to take a gamble on commercially unproven technology themselves.

China's biggest car manufacturer to debut fuel-cell vehicle at Shanghai show

The 2007 Shanghai Auto Show is set to get underway on the 20th of April and China's largest auto manufacturer, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), will be on hand to debut a new fuel-cell vehicle. SAIC, which recently made headlines when it bought the Rover brand off BMW, said that the Shanghai-branded fuel-cell prototype will utilise fourth generation fuel-cell technology developed in-house to pr

U.K. Channel 4 test drives the Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion

Click on the image for a gallery of high-res images of the Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion.

Washington State farmers experiment with canola as biodiesel cash crop

Farmers in Washington State are experimenting with canola for biodiesel production as a new cash crop to supplement existing diary or vegetable crop income. Conditions in Snohomish County, which boasts cool temperatures, moist sea air and good soils, are proving to be so ideal for canola growing that yields are vastly outpacing European norms. Last year Snohomish County farmers averaged 158 gallons / 598 L of biodi

Intelligent Energy teams up with Suzuki to develop fuel-cell motorcycles

Intelligent Energy (IE), known on ABG's pages as the company behind the ENV fuel-cell motorcycle, has announced that they will partner up with Suzuki Motor Corporation on the development

Grupo Cegasa leads fifteen companies to improve hydrogen fuel-cells

Battery manufacturer Grupo Cegasa has announced plans to lead a team of fifteen companies in a four-year co-operative effort to improve upon current hydrogen fuel-cell technology. Two different types of cells will be the main focus of the project; polymer membrane and solid oxide fuel cells. In particular, reducing the cost to manufacture fuel-cells and improving the l

Ecotality begins hydrogen fuel-cell ECObus tour of Arizona

Ecotality, who bill themselves as a researcher, inventor, developer, acquirer, and licensor of proprietary green energy technologies, has partnered up with the Arizona Public Services (APS) to produce the ECObus, a mobile classroom for promoting hydrogen technologies. The 31-seat, zero-emissions vehicle

Hybrid buses with ultra-capacitors roll out in California

Maxwell is already pushing out its newly-released Heavy Duty Transportation module (HTM) 390-volt Boostcap ultracapacitor to industrial and transportation markets including for use in a number of hybrid city buses being rolled out in California. The HTM 390 has been designed to provide scalable, easy-to-integrate, energy storage and power delivery solutions of up to 1,170 v

Suburu unveils new All-Wheel Drive Tribeca at NY Auto Show

Click on the image for Autoblog's gallery of high-res images of the 2008 Subaru Tribeca.

Biodiesel startup Planetary Fuels set for lift off

Planetary Fuels, a Seattle, Washington-based biodiesel startup, has filed to set up their first production facility outside of Seattle which includes the installation of tankage with a combined capacity of 442,000 gallons. The plant should produce around 6 million gallons of biodiesel per annum using crops from local farmers. The company plans to build a series of small scale

Nissan introduces new valve actuation engine technologies

Click on the image for Autoblog's gallery of high-res images of the Infiniti G37 Coupe.

In the Autoblog Garage: Toyota Aurion Sportivo SX6

Click on the image for a gallery of high-res pics of the Toyota Aurion Sportivo SX6

Mitsubishi mistakes worse fuel economy for "economical" with new SUV engine

Mitsubishi has just announced a 2.4-litre, 4 cylinder petrol engine as a new option for its Australian ML Triton SUV range. Joining an existing 3.2-litre common rail diesel engine option which puts out 118 kW / 158 hp of power and 347 Nm / 256 ft-lbs of torque, the new 2.4-litre petrol can offer up only 94 kW / 126 hp of power and 194 Nm / 143 ft-lbs of torque.

Thailand not ready for compulsory biodiesel - Toyota chief

The vice chairman of Toyota's Thai business unit, Ninnart Chaithirapinyo, has been quoted as saying that biodiesel production and quality in Thailand isn't ready for blending mandates, "the government should not compel refiners to mix B100 formula biodiesel in diesel, not until it is ready in terms of raw materials and the standards of biodiesel are improved."

More palm-oil biodiesel plants popping up in Asia

Indonesian corporation Sinar Mas Group is planning to build two massive new palm-oil biodiesel plants for fuel export to Europe and the U.S. The first of the two is to be built on the Indonesian island of Sumatra with an annual capacity of 400,000 tonnes with the second to be built in Malaysia with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year. The plants should both be up and run

Mercedes CL 600 V12 improves fuel consumption by 0.3 mpg

The new Mercedes-Benz CL-Class coupe range which has just gone on sale in Australia isn't aimed at fuel conscious consumers. With a starting price of AUD$308,000 (US$249,400) for the CL 500, basically it's aimed at anyone who can afford one. That said, appearing to environmentally aware, or at least rising-fuel-price aware, must be pene

Ford European Executive Vice President talks global warming

Lewis Booth, Executive Vice President of Ford of Europe and Premier Automotive Group, gave a speech at the New Powertrain Technologies Conference in Amsterdam on March 28th covering many aspects of carbon emissions, global warming, environmental policy and the automotive industry's part to play in all of it. Booth made the point that the automotive industry accounts for around ten percent of carbon emissions but receives mo

D1 Oils getting ready for mandatory B5 in the U.K.

U.K. biodiesel producer D1 Oils is gearing up to supply local oil companies with the biodiesel they will need to meet mandatory a B5 biodiesel blend target coming into effect next year. D1 has pursued a strategy of using jatropha curcas oil as their primary feedstock by esta

Doctoral dissertation estimates 'peak oil' between 2008 & 2018

A doctoral dissertation by Fredrik Robelius of the Uppsala University in Sweden contends that global oil production will reach its peak yield as early as next year before falling into decline. The thesis, which attempts to estimate the largest oil fields' future production, is based on Robelius's investigation of historical oil production, new oil field discovery and global reserves. The world's largest, or giant, oil fields number less than

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