Shane Addie - Autoblog

Saab pride! Even if you own a Ford or Chevy, you tend to have a sense of pride in the brand, or at least would flat-out refuse to set your left cheek in the driver's seat of your competitor's brand. Therefore, as a Saab owner, I get excited to hear any nifty tidbit of information about the brand, and here's some good news.

British Petroleum (now known as simply BP) has found a way to dodge around a Great Lakes anti-pollution law. The law, written in 1970, set a limit on the amount of waste sludge and ammonia that could be dumped into Lake Michigan, as the level of pollution in the lake was getting way out of hand. A clause in the law stated that if a company was dumping at an amount under the limit, they could not increase their pollution, even if it was still under the primary limit.

What's cooler than a nuclear-powered submarine? That's right, a hydrogen-powered sub. Air Products (Est. 1940) has a lot of projects in the fire, but the late breaking news is that they have supplied the first hydrogen power plant for a submarine in the Hellenic (read: Greek) Navy.

It's my equity firm and I'll cry if I want to. Cerberus Chairman John Snow has hopefully for the time being satiated his craving for whine after his address to the Detroit Economic Club. Apparently he thinks he knows all since he helped design the first CAFE standards 31 years ago. Impressive. He stated that the "one-sided" standards, if passed, will put domestic car companies out of business, cost the U.S. lots of jobs, and make him cry. I added that last part.

Not a very exciting headline, I know, but realize what this means. With the state government offering tax incentives on soybean-based B20 biodiesel as well as E85 ethanol, each retailer can lower their price per gallon by at least ten cents, making the two renewable resource fuels that much more affordable to consumers. That, in turn, makes E85-capable vehicles more attractive to purchase, which then increases the demand for and sales of said biofuel, stimulating suppliers to churn out more go-j

Dual-fuel, the next-of-kin to Flex-fuel, is the new hotness over in Iran. At least, according to Iran's Industries and Mines Minister Ali Reza Tahmasebi, who announced that production of gasoline-only cars would be completely replaced with LPG/Gasoline dual-fuel cars by July 23rd. Annual Iranian auto production is over a million, so this really will be a sweeping change, though questions about the availability of LPG are sowing d

As yet another country clamoring for the lofty goal of being the alternative/renewable fuel leader, India is making some advances. And the goal seems achievable: one million plus hydrogen-powered vehicles on their roads in the next thirteen years. The hardest part is obviously getting a hydrogen infrastructure in place, but the difficulty of the task doesn't seem to faze them.

Cellulosic ethanol is the next step in making a definitive replacement for foreign oil. The reality is becoming ever closer, now in large part due to Range Fuels. The State of Georgia has just awarded them a permit to build the first plant to employ their patented technology to produce 100 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year.

Now here's some forward thinking. Instead of taking the route many states have and focusing on the immediate and obvious problem of fuel efficiency, Ted Kulongoski (my condolences on your name, man), Governor of Oregon, is taking productive action and signing the Biofuel Bill, as it hath been dubbed, at a SeQuential Biofuels station in Eugene, Oregon (that's pronounced Or-e-gun - the locals are real particular about that). The bill doles out tax breaks to farmers and foresters (not the

One of the anti-ethanol arguments running around is that it takes as much energy to produce ethanol as it does gasoline. Thanks to Macon Municipal Utilities and Adkins Energy LLC, another step towards proving that wrong has been made.

As fuel prices rise and environmental awareness spreads, fuel economy - which has always been a priority to a consumer - has gradually risen to the top of the priority list like cream in old milk. Ford isn't pushing its popular F-150 or Mustang as much anymore. Instead, they're touting the facelifted Focus and Escape as competitive gas-misers. GM is shouting to the rooftops that its line of passenger cars are the greatest things since sliced cheese because of their fuel economy.

If you think that the Detroit 3 are the only ones worried about the new CAFE standards, think again. As it turns out, Honda and Toyota execs are supporting a fuel economy bill, but not all parts of the ones proposed. In fact, it almost seems as though they don't want to see their American competition die a legislative death, as Ed Cohen, VP of Government and Industry Relations for Honda North Ame

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First Portugal and Scandinavia, now it's the U.K.'s turn. Tourists, businessmen and collision survivors now have the option of renting green with the introduction of the Toyota Prius to Avis' UK fleets. In addition to being kinder to the environment, the Prius is also exempt from the U.K.'s congestion charge, making it more wallet-friendly.

Arguably one of the best ways to get around a city is a scooter. It requires zero physical effort, very little cost of entry, and very little to maintain and fuel - and in some states, it doesn't even require a special license.

The launch of the new i30 heralds the next market blitz from Hyundai. With each generation of their models, they make such leaps in value and quality, that it's no longer surprising. So, yes, the i30 is a dandylicious C-segment car, and no, they won't sell it to us here in the States. Same story, different company - though it speaks volumes about Hyundai that anyone would have a twinge of jealousy that one of their cars is not part of the selection i