Filed under: Diesel, MPG, Ford, European Union, UK

Ford has everything ready to start selling the new Fiesta in Europe next Fall. Prices start at €11,700 for gasoline variants, and €13,700 for diesels (prices shown are for the French market). If you want 5 doors instead of 3, you have to add €500 to the sticker price. Six different trims(Ambiente, Trend, ECOnetic, Ghia, Titanium and Sport, or Zetec S in the UK) and six powerplants (4 gasoline and 2 diesel) will be available.

All gasoline engines produce CO₂ under 140 g/km and start with two 1.25L options, with 60 or 82 hp. An available 1.4L is good for 96 hp. All three have emissions ratings under 135 g/km. The sportiest version has a brand new 1.6L four-cylinder rated at 118 hp that achieves 41.6 mpg (US), while keeping CO₂ emissions at 139 g/km. Regarding diesels, there's a 1.4L good for 68 hp as well as a 1.6L with 90 hp, producing CO₂ under 110 g/km. The ECOnetic version further improves the car's consumption level to 62.5 mpg (U.S.) and boasts CO₂ emissions of 98 g/km.


[Source: Autoplus]

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Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Manufacturing/Plants, Toyota, Japan

There's more than one way to paint a car. We've featured models with cans and brushes, the option of going sans paint entirely and we've even seen electricity generated from leftover paint fumes. Of course, automakers strive for the highest paint quality possible. The processes they come up with are often very time-consuming and cover many different steps, so it's not all that surprising that Toyota would find a way to both streamline and green up the process a bit. At its Tsutsumi plant in Japan, which is already equipped with solar panels and a rooftop garden, the automaker is currently testing its new "3-Wet" system, which cuts down one entire drying oven. According to Toyota, a 15-percent reduction in energy can be realized using this new process, which is substantial, considering that it estimates as much as 24 percent of the total energy necessary to create one of its cars comes from the painting process.

[Source: The Detroit News]

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels

We've gazed at OHM's line of electric bikes already this year, and now we find a review by an automotive writer for The Wall Street Journal. David Patton tested the entry-level machine from the company, known as the XU450. The 450 stands for Watts, which the electric motor is able to deliver for short bursts. The rear hub-mounted motor can sustain a constant 250 Watts and the lithium battery is good for up to seventy miles, depending on how much pedaling the rider is willing to endure. Interestingly, the motor won't power the bike unless the rider pedals, so there are no free rides. Still, the top setting allows the motor to provide 200% more power than the rider is offering.

While we like the idea of electric bikes, the costs are going to have to come down before mainstream acceptance is likely. The XU450, for example, retails for a heady $2,195. Higher-specification models cost even more. Plus, its fifty pounds are quite a bit to lug around, as can be seen when you watch the video pasted after the break.

[Source: The Wall Street Journal]

Continue reading WSJ tests the OHM XU450 ebike

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Mitsubishi, Subaru

The Japan EV Club drove a Mitsubishi i MiEV and a Subaru R1e from Tokyo to Hokkaido in the week before the G8 summit, for their "Challenge and Charge" event. Now they are sharing stats about the cars' electrical consumption and CO2 emissions and comparing them to a (presumably) typical Japanese gasoline car.

The poster in the photo summarizes the EV stats for the entire trip of 858.7 km ( = 533.57 miles):

* 85.65 kWh used
* 35.12 kg CO2 to produce the electricity ( = 77.43 lbs.)
* Fuel cost: 1,713 yen ( = $16.94)

In comparison, on the bottom of the poster are a gasoline car's stats:

* 75.3 liters used ( = 19.89 gallons)
* 174.6 kg CO2 produced by the ICE ( = 384.93 lbs.)
* Fuel cost: 12,956 yen ( = $121.34)

Thanks to Yanquetino for the tip, translation, everything.
[Source: Japan EV Club]

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Filed under: Biodiesel, Citroen, Peugeot

The Morrisons supermarket chain in the UK are now offering B30 biodiesel at 50 of the filling stations it operates. The blend of 30 percent biodiesel and 70 percent petro-diesel is one of the highest commercially available concentrations that is actually approved by an automaker. Peugeot and Citroen have certified all the diesel vehicles it has built for the past decade for use with B30. An estimated 1.5 million HDi models from Puegeot/Citroen are warrantied for use with the newly available fuel. The biofuel component of the fuel being offered by Morrisons is comprised of equal parts waste vegetable oil and rapeseed (canola) oil. Ford has not determined whether the diesel engines that it has jointly developed with Peugeot are capable of operating safely on B30.

[Source: AutoCar]

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Filed under: Cars and Transportation

Jason Bateman will be pulling up to the red carpet in a hydrogen Beemer and Jamie Lee Curtis is rocking a hydro-Honda, but it'll likely be a while before you and I are cruising the strip in Hindenburg Specials.

A new report says that it will at take least 15 years for any auto manufacturer to bring a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle to the mass market. What's more, that estimate assumes government subsidies of around $55 billion dollars to help the project along.

The main obstacles to rapid adoption of hydrogen technology for cars are high cost and lack of an existing fueling infrastructure. It's estimated that fuel cell vehicles produced in low volumes probably cost around $1million to $2million each, which explains why they're being leased rather than sold outright.

What can we learn from the report? Well, if we want to get a handle on our energy/global warming crises, we're probably better off focussing on hybrids and plug-ins for the immediate future and looking at fuel cells as a long-term solution.

via [Discover]

 

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Filed under: GreenTech, Alternative Energy

It's a pretty well-known fact that France is a world leader when it comes to nuclear energy, but what you probably haven't heard is that France actually built the world's first tidal power plant in 1966. Ironically, the "barrage" style La Rance plant has been criticized for year for damaging the environment -- still, they had the right idea.

Just this week, France's state-run power company Electricite de France announced plans for France to update is wave-harnessing capacity. Just off the coast of Brittany -- that's in France's northwest, if you were wondering -- EDF officials have begun a project to install 3-6 new underwater turbines by 2011 -- hopefully kicking off France's expansion into wave power.

Contrary to what you might assume, hydro-electric dams like the one used in France's first La Rance power plant, are generally damaging to the surrounding ecosystem. Instead of going with a dam concept, the new project will consist of free-floating turbines, anchored to the sea floor -- similar to what PG&E is doing in California.

EDF has yet to select a contractor to build the $42M tidal project, but they have said that they expect it to generate somewhere between 4-6MW. Compare that to La Rance's 240MW and you can see that the new project is designed as a pilot program. According to the EDF's Caroline Muller, "We are going to make some studies to check whether this kind of electricity production is viable, and reliable."

[via Earth2Tech]

 

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Filed under: Food, Health, Activism

World Vision UK is a religious non-profit that addresses social injustice and poverty around the world. Recently, the posted to YouTube a new marketing campaign on water. It's the creepiest thing I've seen in a long time. Subtlety is not at play here.



In case you couldn't make it to the end of the video, World Vision is not criticizing developed nations for the vast quantities of water their residents use. Rather, this campaign is an effort to encourage donations to various water projects in Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. World Vision writes that 1.1 billion people drink, bathe and cook with dirty water.

 

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Filed under: Tips, Fitness

Eco-conscious hikers and campers live by the motto, "Leave no trace." This means leaving the area you traverse in just as good - if not better - condition as when you first came upon it. It's even the name of a center for "outdoor ethics," a nonprofit that promotes ethical, safe, healthy hiking and camping, and teaches people how to take care of the outdoors.

The organization has some helpful suggestions for how to enjoy your excursions while being mindful of the world around you. These tips may be old hat to experienced hikers and campers, but everyone can use a refresher course when it comes to the environment. Some of the tips that Leave No Trace offers?

• Preserve the past: examine, but don't touch, rocks, plants, and other natural objects. Don't introduce any non-native species, and don't build any structures or dig trenches.
• Good campsites are found, not made. When you get to a campsite, keep it small, and "pack out" (bring with you) ALL trash, litter, and waste (this includes toilet paper and hygiene products). Deposit solid human waste in holes dug 6 to 8 inches deep at least 200 feet from water, camp, and trails. Be safe by storing all food and waste securely.
  
• Avoid loud noises (screaming, yelling), stay on the trails, and be mindful of your fellow hikers and campers.
  
• Never approach or feed wildlife. And if you can't control your own pet, leave them at home.
  

 

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The issues raised on the Nuclear Deal (also popular as the 1-2-3 Deal) are however not purely environmental. Though the deal is said to strengthen India ’s energy independence, sovereignty and autonomy by putting an end to the sanctions that seem to have crippled the country’s nuclear efforts, political parties opposing the deal have raised concerns

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