Pretty nice overview and insight into the Chevy Volt over on the Atlantic Online. Most of this will be old news for anyone following the development of this plug-in series hybrid, but there are some good nuggets in there for everyone.
One of the things the article does very simply, is clearly define what the Volt is. This is important since a lot of the mainstream media get in wrong when describing the Volt. As the author defines it, the Volt "if it meets specifications, will charge up overnight from any standard electrical socket. It will go 40 miles on a charge. Then a small gasoline engine will ignite. The engine’s sole job will be to drive a generator, whose sole job will be to maintain the battery’s charge—not to drive the wheels, which will never see anything but electricity. In generator mode, the car will drive hundreds of miles on a tank of gas, at about 50 miles per gallon."
The author's take, after meeting with several key players in the development of the Volt is that "battery glitches have reduced the odds of GM’s having the Volt in showrooms by late 2010, but advances in the underlying technology have increased the odds of its producing the Volt early in the decade. In other words, delay on the order of months is looking more likely, but delay on the order of years is looking less likely. I’d also guess that the car’s sticker price will be higher than GM initially hoped, maybe north of $35,000."
Switchgrass, a resilient, high-yield grass native to North
America, has been drawing a lot of attention lately thanks to the president giving
it his imprimatur in his 2006 State of the Union address.
This might just be more than political rhetoric because Switchgrass
(also known as Tall Panic Grass) could become the biofuel of our dreams.
Recently, in fact just last week, the BLM announced a moratorium on all new solar power projects on Federal land, citing the need for further environmental impact studies. We even talked about it in a recent blog post on solar power.
Now, the BLM has announced it was going to continue accepting solar energy applications for solar power plants on BLM land.
“We heard the concerns expressed during the scoping period about waiting to consider new applications,” said BLM Director James Caswell, “and we are taking action. By continuing to accept and process new applications for solar energy projects, we will aggressively help meet growing interest in renewable energy sources, while ensuring environmental protections.”
Although the BLM needs to move carefully in granting any type of project on federal land, this is great news for renewable energy and solar power specifically.
After a steady stream of news out of Washington this past year that ethanol was going to cure all our woes, it's refreshing to hear some rational thoughts to the contrary. Written by the Co-Directors of the International Forum on Globalization (www.ifg.org), the authors make some good points about the pitfalls of looking for biofuels to cure our dependence on oil noting that "corn-produced ethanol and many of the other biofuel varieties are leading us down a path of unsustainability as they continue to impact fragile ecosystems, threaten biodiversity, concentrate corporate power and increase inequities in rural communities."
I think a move away from corn based ethanol is an absolute necessity and sources like switchgrass and other cellulosic materials can provide a much more sustainable system of supply. Ultimately, though, it is like the authors say, " "the answer must involve renewables plus significant efforts toward all-out conservation, efficiency, reduced consumption and "powering down" of energy use."
Interesting article from Der Spiegel on the dangers of wind power. The article claims that as the use of wind power continues to grow, the number of accidents have also grown as well as the number of mishaps and maintenence problems.
A wind tower toppling over in the middle of a field doesn't quite seem to pose the danger that global warming does, but I do see their point. I see the advantages of wind power vastly outnumbering the problems and I imagine as the technology improves we'll see some of these difficulties overcome.
Automotive X PRIZE (AXP) announced that it was funding a competition with a prize greater than $10 million for a car that is capable of obtaining 100 miles per gallon in real-world driving and conditions.
"We invite the world's best and brightest minds to look at this independent, high-profile competition as a way to make a difference for generations to come," said Mark Goodstein, executive director, Automotive X PRIZE. "In the spirit of grand competitions throughout history - including Lindbergh's historic flight across the Atlantic 80 years ago - we expect that the Automotive X PRIZE will bring about change and innovation for the benefit of everybody. This competition will help level the playing field and capture entrepreneurial, scientific and technical energy to bring about viable cars that consumers want to buy."
More information and guidelines can be found at http://auto.xprize.org.
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) today announced that the U.S. ethanol industry set annual production records in 2005. During this time, it has produced just under 4 billion gallons (3.904 billion gallons) and averaging nearly 255,000 barrels of ethanol production daily, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The month of December also set production and demand records. Ethanol production in December rose 5,000 b/d from the previous month to 280,000 b/d. Demand skyrocketed to 310,000 b/d, breaking the old record of 297,000 b/d.
For more information, visit the Renewable Fuels Association website at: www.ethanolRFA.org.
Wind energy refers to the power that is extracted from the wind via wind turbines or windmills. As the technology in this field evolve, the cost of wind generated electric power continues to fall and the efficiency continue to increase. It has been estimated that the cost to produce energy from wind was nearly five greater in the late 1990s than in 2005. This is linked to more efficient wind turbines couples with larger multi-megawatt turbines that are becoming more mass produced.
Switchgrass, a resilient, high-yield grass native to North
America, has been drawing a lot of attention lately thanks to the president giving
it his imprimatur in his 2006 State of the Union address.
Automotive X PRIZE (AXP) announced that it was funding a competition with a prize greater than $10 million for a car that is capable of obtaining 100 miles per gallon in real-world driving and conditions.
Wind energy refers to the power that is extracted from the wind via wind turbines or windmills. As the technology in this field evolve, the cost of wind generated electric power continues to fall and the efficiency continue to increase. It has been estimated that the cost to produce energy from wind was nearly five greater in the late 1990s than in 2005. This is linked to more efficient wind turbines couples with larger multi-megawatt turbines that are becoming more mass produced.