By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 23, 2007
WASHINGTON — The cars, SUVS and pickups people will buy in the years ahead are likely to use less fuel, and many will rely on ethanol or household electricity instead of gasoline.
The energy legislation pushed through the Senate this week provides a road map to the future, demanding higher automobile fuel economy, mandating huge increases in ethanol as a motor fuel and supporting more research into building “plug-in” hybrid-electric vehicles.
While Senate Republicans complained that the bill does nothing to increase domestic oil production, Democrats said that’s because the nation must move energy policy away from its heavy reliance on oil.
The Senate bill requires automakers to increase fuel economy to 35 mpg, about a 40 percent increase over what cars, SUVs and small trucks are required to achieve now.
By ANGELA CHARLTON, Associated Press, June 20, 2007
LE BOURGET, France — Boeing, Airbus, and dozens of airlines that fly their jets are jumping on the environmental bandwagon, touting “green” technology at the Paris Air Show and pledging to spew less noxious fumes into the planet’s skies.
So far, though, growth in worldwide air travel is outpacing industry progress in reducing aircraft emissions. And it was chiefly high fuel costs and fear of government-regulated emissions cuts _ not concerns about global warming _ that inspired the sector’s efforts to pollute less.
Air travel is growing at about 7 percent each year, according to industry trade groups. Meanwhile, technological developments are boosting airplanes’ fuel efficiency by about 1 to 2 percent a year. Also, since airlines keep aircraft for decades, tomorrow’s “clean planes” will be flying alongside fuel-guzzling craft of a generation ago.
Environmental groups say the only solution is to fly less _ an alternative no one at the air show was eager to discuss.
“Not flying is simply not an option,” said Airbus chief operating officer, Fabrice Bregier.
Instead, manufacturers are racing to make engines that burn less fuel more slowly, experimenting with ways to dilute fuel and reduce leakage, and trimming weight of hulking jets by using lighter composites instead of standard steel.
Read the whole AP story on www.chron.com.
Scuderi Technology Applicable for Airplane Engines
In November 2006, the Scuderi Group secured patents for what promises to be the world’s first air-hybrid internal combustion airplane engine.
The engine recaptures and stores energy in the form of compressed air. Through its design, the Scuderi Air-Hybrid Airplane Engine can recapture energy normally lost during cruising and deacceleration at landings.
Read more about Scuderi airplane engine technology on airhybridblog.com.
From TerraDaily.com
THE HAGUE - Jun 19, 2007 - China for the first time spewed out more carbon-dioxide emissions last year than the United States, a Dutch government research body said Tuesday.
“China’s 2006 carbon dioxide emissions surpassed those of the USA by 8.0 percent,” the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (MNP) said.
In 2005 US emissions were up 2.0 percent compared to China. The MNP said the figures were based on its own preliminary estimates derived from recent energy and cement production data.
Industrial processes and the burning of fossil fuels — oil, gas and coal — are the main causes of carbon-dioxide emissions. Of the industrial processes, cement production is one of the principal sources of greenhouse gas, the MNP said. In 2006 China had a 44 percent share in global cement production, it added.
Published in June 2007, “Hybrid Cars Market Outlook” provides extensive research and objective analysis of the global hybrid car industry. In 2006, hybrid vehicles had the limited presence in the world, but the technology has potential to register itself as the mainstream one. The only limiting factor in wide acceptance of hybrids is their high cost.
Key Findings:
By Andrea Quong, June 15, 2007
Alternatively powered cars are hot, but Nevis Engine Company isn’t ready to give up on the dowdy—and dirty—internal combustion engine.
The Italian startup, which said Thursday it raised seed funding, aims to reinvent the hundred-year-old engine with new technology it claims can nearly double the fuel efficiency of conventional engines and reduce emissions …
… [M]aking the internal combustion engine to be ultra-efficient—and thus less gas-guzzling and polluting—is Sisyphean task that no one has yet been able to accomplish. Aside from the sheer cost of developing and testing a new engine, there are innumerable potential project-killers—everything from safety issues to reliability factors.
Venrock-backed Transonic Combustion in Camarillo, California, and the West Springfield, Massachusetts-based Scuderi Group are also working to improve upon conventional engines.
