Scientists know how to make fuel from prairie grasses growing on marginal land. They know how to make fuel from fast growing trees with root systems that extend 25 feet into the ground, sequestering carbon emissions and enriching the soil. The problem is making cellulosic and algal fuel in large quantities at costs that compete with fuels from petroleum such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.
Companies that were once darlings of Wall Street have gone bankrupt. Dozens of ethanol plants have closed as oil prices dropped. Many promising second generation plants cannot get built due to lack of project financing. People with the money see the risk as too high. There continue to be zero commercial scale (20-million gallon per year and bigger) cellulosic ethanol plants, despite past glowing press releases that declared that they would now be running.
Zipcar today announced FastFleet by Zipcar, a new service that enables government and other fleet managers to save money, reduce risk and promote sustainability. With FastFleet, for the first time, fleet operators may leverage the same technology that powers Zipcar’s consumer fleet. Washington, D.C., which is the first city in the country to adopt the system, estimates it has saved more than $300,000 during a four month pilot of FastFleet.
Test drives reveal that 2010 hybrids and other fuel efficient vehicles deliver better performance and fuel economy. Drives include the Honda Insight, the Ford Fusion Hybrid, and the MINI Cooper Convertible.
A central transportation hub in California is the Diridon Station in San Jose. In ten years, the Diridon Station is likely to see high volumes of travelers as high-speed rail shuttles people to and from San Francisco in 30 minutes. Intermodal transportation is likely to include light-rail, bus rapid transit, zero-emission buses, people-movers, and electric vehicles.
Walking up to the new Nissan Electric Vehicle prototype car, my first surprise was getting into the right hand front seat. This car was only one of two in existence and driving in Japan is like the UK, on the left side of the road.
According to the latest figures published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its “Electric Power Monthly” report released on March 24, 2009, non-hydro renewable sources of electricity enjoyed double-digit growth during the past year while coal, natural gas, and petroleum experienced notable declines and nuclear power remained stagnant.
The Clean Fleet Top 10 Low Carbon cars of 2014 include a parade of electrified models, mostly small except for the large and expensive Tesla Model S. A variety of models give the carbon-conscious buyer several different models to choose from.
It is common to see trains with four locomotives moving over 100 cars and 15 million pounds of weight. 15 million pounds moving downhill could be converted to clean renewable energy instead of heat lost in braking.
No one has more at stake in the emerging climate crisis than today’s youth. Scientists have proven that greenhouse gases are accumulating in the stratosphere at record levels. As the earth heats, a billion people cannot get enough food and clean water. This twelve year old boy writes from an area that increasingly suffers from draught, wild fires, and homes lost to a rising ocean.