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GM sparks buzz about 2010 release of Chevy Volt

14 08 07 - 08:11 Send this article to a friend






GM sparks buzz about 2010 release of Chevy Volt

Washington - Picture a car that eliminates those costly trips to the gas pump.

Not even the trendy, environment-friendly hybrid cars can do that, but the next generation of fuel independence might be only a few years away.

With a worldwide tour of its prototype of the Chevy Volt, an electric vehicle
set to be released in 2010, General Motors is amping up public curiosity about the car that can run entirely on the charge from a standard 120-volt outlet.


GM sparks buzz about 2010 release of Chevy Volt

Washington - Picture a car that eliminates those costly trips to the gas pump.

Not even the trendy, environment-friendly hybrid cars can do that, but the next generation of fuel independence might be only a few years away.

With a worldwide tour of its prototype of the Chevy Volt, an electric vehicle
set to be released in 2010, General Motors is amping up public curiosity about the car that can run entirely on the charge from a standard 120-volt outlet.

"A lot of people are never going to use gas with this car," said Bob Boniface, director of GM's E-flex systems design. He explained the concept car to passersby, attracted by the vehicle's sleek exterior, outside the Ronald Reagan Building on Pennsylvania Avenue Friday morning.

Using a lithium-ion battery to power its electric motor, the Chevy Volt will give commuters a 40-mile drive range before the battery needs to be recharged. GM estimates that 78 percent of commuters travel 40 miles or less in their round-trip travels from home to work, Boniface said.

However, commuters don't need to have their eyes glued to the odometer. The Volt is equipped with a "range-extending power source" - a small internal combustion engine and a 12-gallon fuel tank attached to a generator - that kick in to recharge the battery as needed.

The generator can recharge the battery using gas, ethanol or bio-diesel and gives the car an extended range of up to 640 highway miles without plugging into an outlet or refueling, Boniface said.

GM does face one large hurdle before the rubber hits the road - production of a lithium-ion battery large enough to power the car, Boniface said. The company is working with battery manufacturers, but it's that technology that's preventing the cars from reaching the market any sooner.

Unlike the Tesla Roadster, an electric sports car expected to hit the road late this year with a price tag approaching $100,000, the Volt is expected to cost about $30,000, a GM spokeswoman said.

"That's in the range of a lot of regular cars, and the design of this is high end," said Paula Fyne, 56, of Stafford, Va., who stopped to look at the car. She is retired and doesn't commute but said her husband still travels into the city. "The higher the gas goes, the more something like this is appealing."

John Bradshaw, 46, of Nuevo, Calif., was touring the city with his wife and two sons when they came upon the Volt.

"I like the savings," Bradshaw said. "If we can get away from the fossil fuels at all and end our dependency, we could avoid another war."

A union carpenter, Bradshaw drives a Ford F-250 pickup truck, and his wife owns a Chevy Tahoe, but he thought the Volt was very practical looking and said it "would make a great commuter car."

The Volt has a streamlined, innovative appearance, despite being a four-door sedan that can seat five. Folding down the back seats creates a spacious area for cargo. GM partnered with General Electric to outfit the Volt with exterior parts, including the roof and a rear deck door, made of a lightweight plastic treated with an Exatec coating that gives it the shine and scratch resistance of glass, Boniface said.

"Current hybrid cars on the market look sensible and are comfortable, but we wanted to create a vehicle people wanted to own, to motivate people to be part of the solution," he said.

Appealing as the Volt's exterior is, it was the vehicle's economic practicality that grabbed Diana M. Barker's attention. She stopped driving the 40 miles from her home in Tooele, Utah, to the brokerage firm where she works in Salt Lake City when gas prices soared beyond $3 a gallon, instead relying on an "express bus" that takes more than an hour.

"I love it," said Barker, 50, of the car. She was visiting Washington with her son and daughter. "In Utah we commute great distances, and this is exactly what we need."



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Hydrogen-generating technology shows advances in development of clean energy carrier

Thursday 30 August 2007 at 07:25 am


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Hydrogen-generating technology shows advances in development of clean energy carrier


AEN News





W. Lafayette, IN - Ongoing research at Purdue is showing advances in hydrogen-generating technology with a recent breakthrough aluminum and gallium alloy that contains more of the aluminum which breaks water molecules down, releasing the hydrogen gas for power generation.

The technology produces hydrogen by adding water to an alloy of aluminum and gallium. When water is added to the alloy, the aluminum splits water by attracting oxygen, liberating hydrogen in the process. The Purdue researchers are developing a method to create particles of the alloy that could be placed in a tank to react with water and produce hydrogen on demand. more

Western States, BC to cut greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent

Saturday 25 August 2007 at 05:34 am


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Western States, BC to cut greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent






Reno - British Columbia, Canada has joined California and four other Western States in agreeing to cut greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 as part of an initiative to curb global warming.

Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon agreed in February to a plan to cut greenhouse gas emission levels by targeting a level those states believed they could achieve. Those states along with the British Columbia province of Canada today announced that target. more

USDA global conference on biofuels begins in Minneapolis

Wednesday 22 August 2007 at 2:40 pm


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USDA global conference on biofuels begins in Minneapolis

AEN News



Washington - Scientists, economists and policy experts representing
government and public institutions from more than 40 countries are
meeting at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Global
Conference on Agricultural Biofuels: Research and Economics in
Minneapolis, Minn., August 20-21, to exchange the latest information
on economic and technological opportunities in bioenergy.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/meetings/Biofuel2007/

Several USDA agencies, the Agricultural Research Service, the
Foreign Agricultural Service, and Rural Development and the
University of Minnesota are sponsoring the conference. more

Hurricane Dean, the first Atlantic hurricane of the season heading toward the Gulf of Mexico

Sunday 19 August 2007 at 10:50 am

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Houston - Hurricane Dean, the first Atlantic hurricane of the season, was heading toward the Gulf of Mexico Thursday with wind speeds of 80 MPH this morning and could reach a category 4 storm level by the time it reaches Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. more

US Automakers Misleading the Public about Benefits of Stronger Fuel

Saturday 18 August 2007 at 06:01 am US Automakers Misleading the Public about Benefits of Stronger Fuel


Well, you can never understand the logic behind (formerly) the big three's
decisions regarding CAFE standards because it defies all logic! Other than the fact that they are so beholden to big oil and special interests, they would have us believe that they can't accomplish the new proposed standards and thousands will lose their jobs. Scare tactics don't work
Simply enough, there is no longer any reason (technical or otherwise) not to be able to produce an affordable plugin hybrid vehicle for the masses. Advanced battery technologies have been delayed more for contractual, patent litigation, special interests and corporate b.s. rather than the know how to get the technology in to rechargable vehicles.

Let's face it..Toyota and others are leaving u.s. auto co's in the dust as
they ramp up full scale production of fuel efficient vehicles.
Sad indeed.


The Union of Concerned Scientists has a good item on this here. more

Pollution-seeking miniature leaping robot debuted

Friday 17 August 2007 at 2:57 pm Send this article to a friend





Pollution-seeking miniature leaping robot debuted


AEN News


New York - A small robot capable of leaping like a flea to cover vast areas of ground was debuted which sniffs out pollution. The insect-like robot was developed to detect mercury poisoning in the ground and leaps from place to place the way fleas or frogs jump.

The robot measures 10cm long and weighs 80g and can fit easily in the palm of your hand. The inventors debuted the pollution-seeking robot in Switzerland during a symposium. more

Book shows life on Earth without humans

Friday 17 August 2007 at 2:25 pm

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Book shows life on Earth without humans



By Jess Davis

Washington - The scenario the whole of humanity disappears one day, leaving worldly possessions, buildings and trash behind.

What happens next is the subject of a new book, "The World Without Us," by Alan Weisman, a journalism professor at the University of Arizona and a science writer.

It's an implausible situation, but gives a fresh take on the environmental challenges Earth faces because of human actions.

"If we theoretically wipe people off the earth, we have a much clearer vision of what's here without us," Weisman said in an interview. more

Peanuts could become next celebrity biodiesel fuel

Friday 17 August 2007 at 09:28 am

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Peanuts could become next celebrity biodiesel fuel

Washington - With lawmakers pushing hard to pass legislation that would benefit the developers of biofuels, most of that action has focused on corn with any new resource quickly jumping to an almost celebrity status if there is any merit to its use as an alternative fuel crop. Now, peanuts could be doing just that, says the USDA's Agricultural Research Service.

Peanuts could become next celebrity biodiesel fuel

Washington - With lawmakers pushing hard to pass legislation
that would benefit the developers of biofuels, most of that action has focused on corn with any new resource quickly jumping to an almost celebrity status if there is any merit to its use as an alternative fuel crop. Now, peanuts could be doing just that, says the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. more

Ban Ki-Moon sides with EU leaders over climate change

Wednesday 15 August 2007 at 4:36 pm Send this article to a friend






Ban Ki-Moon sides with EU leaders over climate change


New York - UN Attorney-General Ban Ki-Moon sided with European Union leaders Tuesday over climate change, urging decisive action on a global scale to combat the challenges it poses.

"We cannot continue with business as usual," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a General Assembly meeting on the issue at UN Headquarters in New York, citing the findings of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which affirmed earlier this year that global warming is directly linked to human activity. more

When the oil dries up there's still solar, says Algeria

Wednesday 15 August 2007 at 2:51 pm

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New York - Algeria looks to develop solar energy as an export resource, knowing that its reserves of oil and natural gas will one day dry up.

It was an idea being considered by Algerian planners for years but now work has begun on the construction of its first solar power plant at Hassi R'mel, 260 miles south of Algiers, the capital. The solar plant will be a hybrid, using both sun and natural gas to generate 150 megawatts. Of that, 25 megawatts will come from giant parabolic mirrors stretching over nearly 2 million square feet, which is roughly the size of 45 football fields.

The solar hybrid plant is the first of its kind and is expected to be online by 2010. In the future, Algeria hopes to generate enough solar power that it can export 6,000 megawatts to the European market by 2020, which would be equal to a tenth of current electricity consumption in Germany. more

GM sparks buzz about 2010 release of Chevy Volt

Tuesday 14 August 2007 at 08:11 am Send this article to a friend






GM sparks buzz about 2010 release of Chevy Volt

Washington - Picture a car that eliminates those costly trips to the gas pump.

Not even the trendy, environment-friendly hybrid cars can do that, but the next generation of fuel independence might be only a few years away.

With a worldwide tour of its prototype of the Chevy Volt, an electric vehicle
set to be released in 2010, General Motors is amping up public curiosity about the car that can run entirely on the charge from a standard 120-volt outlet. more