roy said:
"I really dislike hi-def in general. Who the heck wants to see every wrinkle on Hugh Laurie's face? The only person who looks better in hi-def is Ev..." [read]
Roger, Gone Green said:
"Words that suggest that green stuff is new or unusual have to go! Here are some suggested alternatives(drop them into everyday speech and watch th..." [read]
said:
"Vent systems are not as carefully tuned as auto exhaust systems, but still shutting a vent off, especially in carefully designed larger systems, co..." [read]
Ken Clive said:
""Green is the new black" is an excuse for all the emo and goth kids to go green, that's all.
"Bush" shouldn't be banned. Although I do thi..." [read]
ian said:
"ok, i found something: approximately 20 miles on a 6 hour charge of full sun (difficult but possible) based on a recent aftermarket option:
<..." [read]
Tricia said:
"Thanks for the great list! I have only just started reading blogs (and blogging) so perfect timing....." [read]
Hertz, the world's largest car rental company, is entering the burgeoning car-sharing market with a new offering called Connect, as first reported in Budget Travel. Connect will first be available in New York City, London, and Paris, and will add 20 additional cities this year, challenging Zipcar's dominance in the market.
Hertz is hoping the car-sharing initiative will boost its eco cred, evident in the heavily green-toned web site. As a more concrete endeavor, this year, Hertz added 3,400 Toyota Priushybrid cars to its rental fleet. Connect will also offer hybrid and the BMW Mini Cooper. The company also says Connect helps the environment by reducing congestion, emissions, and energy use.
Toyota Goes Bold
Even Toyota, the maker of the much revered Toyota Prius, has been unable to escape the fallout from the economic downturn. In fact, Toyota just posted its first operating loss in 70 years, and the company is responding with bold plans for innovative new vehicles. For instance, we've known for a while that Toyota has been planning a solar-assisted Prius (a hybrid vehicle with a rooftop solar panel to help power onboard electronics). Now, however, there are reports that "Toyota Motor Corp. is secretly developing a vehicle that will be powered solely by solar energy." Read on for more.
Ecotricity CEO’s EV is Ready for a Name
When I last posted on Dale Vince, CEO of Ecotricity, and his plans for an electric sports car to rival the Tesla, many readers felt it was another pointless show project, rather than a practical transportation option. But others pointed out that we need the flashy headline grabbing projects in order to introduce the world to EVs, eventually causing the technology to trickle down to the cars the rest of us drive. Either way, Dale’s project seems to be steaming ahead – although I’m not sure the idea of fingerprint recognition will do anything to allay the sceptics. Dale is also looking for help with a name – here’s his shortlist of electric car names so far:
While so many people are working so very hard to help educate kids about environmental issues and what they can do to make a difference, there’s a pair of Canadians who’ve been on the run, literally, since May 4 of last year to raise awareness and educate kids at the same time by putting in a full marathon daily to make their way across the continent of North America as part of their Run For 1 Planet.
Who would have thought that cyclists were fair weather friends and that that bike sales would drop over winter? Many bike shops laid in extra cold weather gear, expecting "legions of new bike commuters." But the recession, cheap gas and the traditional sales pattern for bikes have conspired to make it a hard winter.
According to the New York Times, bike industry analysts say that what bike shop owners perceived as a commuter trend was probably not.
Well folks, another basic function of life has now been taken away from us, as if we were stumps on a log not able to think and function for ourselves. But perhaps Ford is right. Maybe the public has forgotten the art of parallel parking...
Small Cars Selling for Under $10,000
The New York Times has already noted that without a gas tax to keep prices high, small, efficient cars may never take off in the States. And now ABC tells us that this hypothesis may well be correct, with sales of small cars tumbling as oil prices dropped and the economy went into turmoil. But for those of us heretics who don’t believe that gas is going to stay cheap forever, or who listen to the IEA Chief Economist’s warnings of imminent peak oil, now may very well be the time to pick up the small car of your dreams as dealers slash prices in an effort to boost sales:
After the Tesla Model S, Here Comes BYD's F3DM...
It was only a couple weeks ago that BYD's F3DM plug-in hybrid went on sale in China. At that time, BYD still said it had plans to "bring the F3DM to the US in 2010", but that has now changed without much in the way of explanations. Read on for more.
The Amazing Shrinking car
It seems like Toyota has learned quite a bit from building the Toyota iQ (follow link for photos), the "Smallest Four-Passenger Car in the World". But the question really was, if they can fit 4 people in a car that small, how many people could they fit in a car that is still small, but slightly bigger.
It seems like we're getting an answer, because Toyota has unveiled in Japan a 7-passenger MPV that will be about the size of a Yaris (compact car)... Read on for more....
Bush on Bike in Beijing, Reuters via China Daily
George Bush loves his mountain bike, so it should be no surprise that one of the midnight rule changes being proposed by the Interior department is to make it easier for park administrators to open up trails. According to the New York Times, hikers are outraged....
What is the best selling vehicle in America this month? The Ford F-150. Edmunds says:
"Despite all the public discussion of fuel efficiency, SUVs and trucks are the industry's biggest sellers right now as a remarkable number of buyers seem to be compelled by three factors: great deals, low gas prices and winter weather"
Photo of the Ridgefield Fitness Club by Green Revolution.
It is now officially a trend. While human-generated energy has previously been mostly limited to one-off solutions rigged together by inventive tinkerers, at least four gyms globally have now gotten in on the act, using the power from their members pedaling to reduce their energy bills, and in one case, even give back a little bit of the savings to gym goers! Started last year at Hong Kong's California Fitness, the idea of saving energy through human power is spreading. Read on.
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Jeremy Clarkson's Tesla Never Ran Out of Charge
Jeremy Clarkson, presenter of the BBC’s car show "Top Gear," is not known for his love of green motoring. He’s caused lasting damage to precious ecosystems in Botswana, and he trashed the G-Wiz electric vehicle, calling it a “stupid little car”, among other things. (Top Gear was a little kinder to the Honda FCX fuel cell car, though they didn't see fit to look into the downsides of hydrogen...) But what happened when Clarkson came face-to-face with the much touted Tesla? He was certainly impressed with it’s acceleration, and pleased with its handling, but if you watch the segment above, it would appear he was let down by the battery performance – running out of steam on the track. Only one small problem – it turns out he lied…
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Bamboo is a great sustainable fiber which can be used for just about anything. We're talking about underwear, laptops, car door interiors, and car exterior body panels... okay, wait just a darn minute here. If the above video of the “BamGoo” car designed from the students at Kyoto University is anything of what we can expect to see from a bamboo reinforced vehicle exterior, then count me out!...
Photo credit to Macca
Jeff Foxworthy may have top billing when it comes to the You Might be a Redneck jokes, but today we try our hand at our own brand of You Might be a Hypermiler humor. Be gentle, we're not comedians, just die hard hypermilers with obviously way too much time on our hands......
Image Credit: kqedquest via FlickrA Bailout of Sorts for Battery Makers Too?
Though the Big Three will end up getting their much sought bailout, no one-except, apparently, for Congress and the White House-is under the illusion that the Big Three are on firm footing, especially relative to Toyota, Honda, BMW, and others. Part of the reason behind the Big Three's current ills is that they fell so far behind foreign competitors in developing new manufacturing and propulsion technologies. Well, it turns out that America isn't just behind in making new cars, but also in developing the battery technology that will power the hybrid and electric vehicles of the future. In fact, American companies "are five years behind Asians in [their] ability to manufacture the cells.” In order to catch up and overtake foreign competitors, 14 companies have formed an alliance to push for federal funds.
There has been a lot of innovation in advanced battery technology lately. Read on for some of the highlights, and to learn how the new lithium ion battery maker alliance hopes to make America the leader in developing advanced batteries....
With approximately 3.9 million infants dying within a month of birth each year throughout the developing world, and 25 percent of those deaths due to complications of being born prematurely like heat and water loss, a group of innovative engineers at Design that Matters are finding a way to recycle cars into infant incubators and hoping to ensure that millions of kids live to see their first birthday as a result of their efforts.
According to Dr. Jonathan Rosen, a former director at the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) which is now promoting the program, he learned from doctors working in developing countries that no matter how remote the community there always seemed to be a working Toyota 4Runner that around. So the challenge became to “start with a 4Runner and take away all the parts that weren’t an incubator.”
...
Green sites have been commenting on the "energy parasite": Innowattech, including our own Lloyd. The Israeli company has developed a system using energy harvesting piezoelectric crystals to sequester the mechanical energy generated on highways, the runway and the railway.
On December 30th, the company opens its tech to you the public to come see for yourself. ...
Image credit: Car Talk Holiday CardNPR's Motoring Gurus Get Political
I'd love to see greener cars, but I must admit I am no great petrolhead, and rarely follow the motoring media. But I consider NPR’s Car Talk an exception to that rule – not only does it deliver useful, practical advice for the regular motorist, it also manages to be good entertainment (the hosts even crack themselves up!). Tom and Ray Magliozzi are also not averse to dispensing important green info too – often advocating for smaller, fuel efficient cars, exploring whether ethanol is energy efficient etc. This last weekend they even called for an immediate raise in the gas tax – though if our own debate on raising the gas tax is anything to go by, they’ll have stirred up some controversy. Read on for Ray Magliozzi’s eloquent case for why a gas tax would even benefit the average motorist – or click through to Car Talk to hear the week’s full show:
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Photo: Bicing bike sharing in Barcelona, by emprul.
When a project to build a bike sharing system in Buenos Aires was approved last year, locals thought it was going to be another idea that would end in nothing. But it was recently announced that a network of bike lanes has been put to tender by the city government, the first step to bring the system to life, since the streets of Buenos Aires aren't a safe place to ride right now....
Looking Back on Green Transportation in 2008
It's the time for a year-end wrap-up of the green car happenings of 2008. We can't possibly included everything here, but we'll try to cover most of the major announcements. To better organize things, we'll look at them by carmaker, from Aptera to Volkswagen. Read on....
From Henry to Nikola
Fortum, an energy company in Scandinavia, has made the above commercial that contrasts the past of the automotive and oil industry (they make it look pretty grim) with what it hopes is the future: A sleek electric car, in this case the Tesla Roadster, stopped to recharge its batteries at an electrical charging station. Via Edmunds...
Corunna, Michigan is only 90 miles up the road from Detroit; maybe someone should pay a visit and see if they can dig up a scoot-mobile. It is made from scavenged parts, gets 75 MPG and looks really aero. According to a commenter at Modern Mechanix, "Knee action is a suspension type. If I recall, it’s a pair of mechanical arms similar to the human knee joint, with friction and resilience (rubber) in the joint. It flexes and absorbs motion like a spring/shock absorber system." Another noted that it looks "like the Aptera’s great-grandfather!"Modern Mechanix
More high mileage wonders in TreeHugger:The Future is Here: Aptera's Prototype UnveiledMeet Trev, the Two-seater, Renewable Energy Vehicle...
Image source
As Mike wrote a while back, even the Prius can’t save Toyota. On Monday the world's biggest car-maker announced that, in contrast to 2007‘s 2.3 trillion yen operating profit, for the past year the company made an operating loss of 150 billion yen.
Furthermore Toyota confirmed they are freezing the scheduled opening of their new Mississippi factory, which was expected to produce new Prius models for the US market. However, the Australian Federal Government believe their deal with Toyota to build a hybrid Camry plant in Victoria is still on track. They are kicking in $35 million AUD on the proviso that it does proceed....
Not So Secret Anymore
EEStor has been playing the reverse psychology trick on most of us; the less they tell us about their supposedly revolutionary EESU (electrical energy storage unit) based on ultracapacitors, the more we want to know about it. But recently, part of the veil has been lifted when the company was granted a fairly detailed patent. Read on for more....
Mmmm, Delicious Garlic Slush!
Parents will have more trouble keeping their small children from eating snow in the Des Moines suburb of Ankeny. The city is using garlic salt to de-ice its road, thanks to a generous donation by Tone Brothers Inc., a spice producer headquartered in Ankeny. Read on for more details....
Bike Co-ops Offer DIY Mobility
LA may be a car-dependent city, but even there folks are beginning to plan for a post-oil future. From an emerging Transition City Los Angeles through to a thriving LA bike culture, maybe the City of Angels won’t completely fall apart once the black gold stops flowing. Our friends at StreetFilms certainly seem to be impressed with the city’s plethora of bike co-ops, where folks can volunteer their time in return for bike parts, access to tools and expert advice. Check out the video above for an inspirational tour of LA’s Bicycle Kitchen, as well as its various spin offs, and click below the fold for more videos about liveable streets, smart planning and human-centric mobility.
...
the Foster/Aston Martin bus
London has a new Mayor who has started filling some of his campaign promises. One of the main items on the list was the pledge to bring back the iconic and much-missed double decker bus.
The design for the new bus was the subject of a competition with 700 entries. The remit was to create a new design for a bus that would be environmentally friendly, accessible and hearken back to the much-loved Routemaster (as it was called). The old bus had two levels and one could jump on and off at will. Two winners shared the prize: one version by Foster + Partners and Aston Martin and another by Capoco.
...
We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the weekly archive if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.
TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!
Hertz, the world's largest car rental company, is entering the burgeoning car-sharing market with a new offering called Connect, as first reported in Budget Travel. Connect will first be available in New York City, London, and Paris, and will add 20 additional cities this year, challenging Zipcar's dominance in the market.
![[TypeKey Profile Page]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090103171823im_/http://www.treehugger.com/nav-commenters.gif)
Image Via: Steve King
The Amazing Shrinking car
It seems like Toyota has learned quite a bit from building the 
Bush on Bike in Beijing, Reuters via 
What is the best selling vehicle in America this month? The Ford F-150. 
Photo of the Ridgefield Fitness Club by Green Revolution.
It is now officially a trend. While human-generated energy has previously been mostly limited to one-off solutions rigged together by inventive tinkerers, at least four gyms globally have now gotten in on the act, using the power from their members pedaling to reduce their energy bills, and in one case, even give back a little bit of the savings to gym goers! Started last year at Hong Kong's 
Photo credit to 
Image Credit: 
With approximately 3.9 million infants dying within a month of birth each year throughout the developing world, and 25 percent of those deaths due to complications of being born prematurely like heat and water loss, a group of innovative engineers at Design that Matters are finding a way to recycle cars into infant incubators and hoping to ensure that millions of kids live to see their first birthday as a result of their efforts.
According to Dr. Jonathan Rosen, a former director at the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) which is now promoting the program, he learned from doctors working in developing countries that no matter how remote the community there always seemed to be a working Toyota 4Runner that around. So the challenge became to “start with a 4Runner and take away all the parts that weren’t an incubator.”
...
Green sites have been commenting on the
Image credit: 
Photo: Bicing bike sharing in Barcelona, by 
Looking Back on Green Transportation in 2008
It's the time for a year-end wrap-up of the green car happenings of 2008. We can't possibly included everything here, but we'll try to cover most of the major announcements. To better organize things, we'll look at them by carmaker, from Aptera to Volkswagen. Read on....
Corunna, Michigan is only 90 miles up the road from Detroit; maybe someone should pay a visit and see if they can dig up a scoot-mobile. It is made from scavenged parts, gets 75 MPG and looks really aero. According to a commenter at Modern Mechanix, "Knee action is a suspension type. If I recall, it’s a pair of mechanical arms similar to the human knee joint, with friction and resilience (rubber) in the joint. It flexes and absorbs motion like a spring/shock absorber system." Another noted that it looks "like the Aptera’s great-grandfather!" 
Not So Secret Anymore
EEStor has been playing the reverse psychology trick on most of us; the less they tell us about their supposedly revolutionary EESU (electrical energy storage unit) based on ultracapacitors, the more we want to know about it. But recently, part of the veil has been lifted when the company was granted a fairly detailed patent. Read on for more....
Mmmm, Delicious Garlic Slush!
Parents will have more trouble keeping their small children from eating snow in the Des Moines suburb of Ankeny. The city is using garlic salt to de-ice its road, thanks to a generous donation by Tone Brothers Inc., a spice producer headquartered in Ankeny. Read on for more details....
the Foster/Aston Martin bus
London has a new Mayor who has started filling some of his campaign promises. One of the main items on the list was the pledge to bring back the iconic and much-missed double decker bus.
The design for the new bus was the subject of a competition with 700 entries. The remit was to create a new design for a bus that would be environmentally friendly, accessible and hearken back to the much-loved Routemaster (as it was called). The old bus had two levels and one could jump on and off at will. Two winners shared the prize: one version by Foster + Partners and Aston Martin and another by Capoco.
...
