Suzuki/British to Develop Hydrogen-Powered Motorcycle

John Davis

SuzukiExploration of energy efficiency in transportation is no longer just for cars and buses. Suzuki is partnering with British Midlands Based Intelligent Energy to develop a hydrogen-powered motorcycle.

The British Midlands Development Corporation announced that Loughborough Innovation Center based Intelligent Energy and Suzuki have developed the Crosscage, a hydrogen-powered motorcycle that claims to make green driving a reality.

British MidlandsThe motorcycle, which runs in almost complete silence and emits pure water, is a joint venture between British Midlands based company, Intelligent Energy, the UK’s leading commercial developer of Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell technology and the Japanese motorcycle and scooter giant.

Although the technology to build hydrogen-powered and fuel efficient vehicles exists, they carry hefty price tags. Until now, mass-production has eluded the industry and nobody has managed to build a commercially viable motorcycle. The Crosscage represents a huge breakthrough. By combining Suzuki’s capacity for mass-production and Intelligent Energy’s lightweight, air-cooled fuel cell design, the reality of affordable green transportation moves closer to reality.

Intelligent Energy“This is just one of many examples of innovation coming out of The British Midlands,” said Vern Sebby, President and CEO of the British Midlands Development Corporation, ” There are over 3,000 foreign companies operating in the Midlands and many of them are there to partner with our local companies and universities.”

Energy, Hydrogen, Production

Biofuel Producer Honored as “Great Oregonian”

John Davis

sequential.jpgSeQuential Biofuels, maker and seller of biodiesel and ethanol, has been honored as one of five recipients of Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski’s Gold Awards, recognizing “greatness in Oregonians.”

This story from the Portland (OR) News says the award was handed out recently at the Oregon Convention Center:

SeQuential, which opened the nation’s first biofuels station in 2006 on McVay Highway in Eugene, will open additional stations in Portland and Eugene in 2008. The company sells biofuel blends for every vehicle, with no engine conversion required. SeQuential’s products include E10, which can be used in every gas vehicle and decreases carbon dioxide emissions by about seven percent. Its E85 bioethanol, for use in Flex Fuel Vehicles, decreases carbon dioxide emissions by 59 percent. B99 biodiesel is suitable for most diesel vehicles and cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent. SeQuential also sells reduced-carbon B5 and B20 biodiesel blends suitable for any diesel engine.

In addition to reducing carbon dioxide and other toxic emissions into the environment, these biofuels directly displace foreign petroleum. In 2007, Oregon consumers avoided using more than 360,000 gallons of petroleum by using SeQuential biofuels.

The company, which was founded in 2002, also operates the largest biofuels retail network in the region with more than 35 biofuel pumps at independent retailers and 5,000 loyal customers. It is a partner in the SeQuential-Pacific biodiesel production facility in Salem, which will expand capacity from one million to five million gallons in 2008.

SeQuential is in pretty good company with this award. Previous winners include Intel and Nike. Check out the SeQuential crew below. Congrats guys!
sequentialteam.JPG

Biodiesel, E85, Ethanol, News

Rising Soybean Prices Idle Delaware Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

midatlanticbiodiesel.jpgThe high cost of soybeans, brought on by the popularity of biodiesel, has forced another biodiesel plant to stop operations while waiting for prices to subside.

This story in the Salisbury (MD) Daily Times says the Mid-Atlantic Biodiesel plant in Clayton, Delaware has had to quit producing biodiesel:

The Mid-Atlantic Biodiesel facility has the capacity to refine up to 6 million gallons of biodiesel fuel per year. The plant opened in September 2006, but the rising price of soybean oil forced the plant to halt production this spring .

The plant began production with nearly $1 million in state and federal grants and a $5 million loan from the Delaware Energy Office. Company president Martin Ross says the company has kept its loan payments up-to-date.

Ross says soybean oil is currently priced too high to make biodiesel production profitable.

This news comes just about a month after an Evansville, Wisconsin biodiesel plant had to suspend operations because of high soybean prices (see my November 17th post “The Vicious Cycle of Irony”).

Biodiesel

Daryl Hannah Selling Biodiesel El Camino

John Davis

hannahcamino.jpgspecial secret surprise!!!
the baddest assest biodiesel “el camino” ever
with your own b100 biodiesel pump + station!!!

That’s how the ad for Daryl Hannah’s own El Camino (that she says she has driven everyday for the last four years) reads. The eco-friendly actress is selling her biodiesel-powered El Camino AND biodiesel pump and station with easy instructions on how to make biodiesel. You can see the car and an bio-beast.jpgall-terrain, biodiesel vehicle called the “ranch bio-beast” at her web site dhlovelife.com (this is the products main page). Click on the fantasy play things icon (no, not THAT kind of fantasy).

Hannah promises more details on the El Camino, such as price, on December 20th… maybe a green stocking stuffer? I also need to give props to the web site ecorazzi for pointing me toward this story.

Biodiesel

Swedish Bio-Fuel Sports Car

Cindy Zimmerman

“The Future of Things” has a feature on a future bio-fueled sports car called CCXR.

Future CarThe elite Swedish sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg has created a new bio-fuel powered sports car named CCXR. This Limited Edition CCXR is the first homologated car currently in production to reach over 1,000 Brake horsepower, and a top speed of over 400 km/h (250+ mph). In addition, the CCXR is environmentally friendly, as it runs on E85 (bio-fuel). Keonigsegg plans on displaying the new edition CCXR at the Geneva International Motor Show scheduled for March, 2008.

According to Keonigsegg, the CCXR’s performance is even better than that of the standard CCX thanks to the bio-fuel, “the ethanol in bio-fuel has the positive side effect of cooling the combustion chambers, as well as a higher octane value, well over 100 RON, which gives the high power.” The company explains that for this reason, the power reaches up to 1018 hp at 7200 rpm, and the torque can reach up to 1060 nm at 6100 rpm.

Car Makers, E85, Ethanol, News

New Report Puts Food vs Fuel “to Bed”

Cindy Zimmerman

InformaThe price of corn has less to do with the price of food than many other factors, according to an extensive new study by Informa Economics based on 20 years of price data.

The Informa report identifies the so-called “marketing bill”—the portion of final food costs that excludes grains or other raw materials—as a key driver of the consumer price index (CPI) for food, largely due to rising energy and transportation costs. Another significant factor in consumers’ food bills is surging global demand for commodities.

The report finds a comparatively “weak correlation” between corn prices and overall food costs. In fact, just four percent of the change in the food CPI could be attributed to fluctuations in the price of corn. Simply put, growing U.S. ethanol industry is not the cause of food price inflation.

“This analysis puts to bed the argument that a growing domestic ethanol industry is solely responsible for rising consumer food prices,” said Informa Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Scherr. “The statistical analysis plainly details that energy-intensive activities such as processing, packaging and transporting, as well as the cost of labor, have a far greater impact on consumer food bills than the price of grain. It may be politically convenient to blame ethanol for rising food prices but it doesn’t make it factually accurate. As far as Informa is concerned, this
debate is settled.”

The Informa study was funded by the Renewable Fuels Foundation and during a Monday morning press conference chairman Bill Lee commented that “our friends in the food, livestock and petroleum industries have been you could say “super sizing” the impact commodity prices have on food,” and he hopes this report will “be the end of the disingenuous comments from the food and livestock industries about the impact of corn prices and ethanol on food prices.”

Informa press release
Complete study
Reuters story

Ethanol, News, RFA

China Invests in Silverado Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Technology

John Davis

Silverado Green FuelSilverado Green Fuel Inc. has contracted China business development experts to spearhead its “Silverado Asian Business Development Team”. Synergy Management Group Ltd. will serve as Silverado´s portal into North American-Chinese joint ventures.

Synergy represents an extensive network of key China-based contacts. The company’s North America-China, deal-making expertise has assisted a number of other North American companies in successfully accessing the China marketplace. Synergy also delivers ‘Think China’ government and business workshops, and provides corporate mentoring.

Coal represents 90% of China’s primary energy deposits. Experts predict that coal will represent 50% to 70% of China’s primary energy consumption in the coming 30-50 years. China’s total coal reserve is more than one trillion tons.

China’s economic growth represents an insatiable appetite for energy, and creates environmental issues. China’s major coal, oil and energy companies, are turning toward global technologies such as those offered by Silverado Green Fuel Inc. Silverado can respond to enhancing China’s domestic energy output, utilizing China’s abundant coal reserves.

Silverado Green Fuel Inc., the world leader in low rank coal-to-liquid fuel technology, remains committed to America’s energy self-sufficiency, security and domestic energy supply. Silverado is a partner in an upcoming $26 million Demonstration Plant Joint Venture with the State of Mississippi. In the United States, low rank coal represents centuries of domestic energy resources, and is currently a highly under-utilized resource.

Sivlerado says its Green Fuel can be used to power oil-fired power plants directly, or be used as a feedstock for further processing to produce transportation fuels (jet, diesel, gasoline), key agricultural compounds (fertilizers, synthetic petrochemical feedstocks, urea), industrial products (oils, lubricants, synthetics) and even consumer products (plastics, packaging, etc.). The fuel can also be further processed to produce pure, clean hydrogen to power fuel cell automobiles and electric generation (power) plants.

Agribusiness, Energy

Indiana Approves Coal Power Plant

John Davis

Duke EnergyIndiana utility regulators have given Duke Energy the go-ahead to construct a new clean coal power plant. The plant will be constructed in Edwardsport, IN.

If the project proceeds, it will be the first commercial-scale coal gasification power plant built in the United States in the last 10 years. The approximately 630-megawatt plant will use advanced integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology.

“In the Midwest, coal is plentiful and low-cost, and finding ways to burn it cleanly is fundamental to meeting our customers’ demand for power,” said Duke Energy Indiana President Jim Stanley. “The Edwardsport facility could very well be the cleanest coal-fired power plant in the world once it’s completed. It fits Indiana’s energy plan to turn homegrown natural resources into an economic engine and be self-reliant for power. It’s part of our overall plan to meet growing customer needs with cleaner coal technology, energy efficiency, and renewables.”

An air permit is still necessary from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. If that permit is approved, Duke Energy could begin construction early next year and start producing power from the site by early 2012.

Duke Energy says construction of the plant will cost approximately $2 billion. More than $460 million will come from local, state and federal tax incentives. Duke says the plant will provide an average electric rate increase of approximately 16 percent phased in from 2008 through 2012.

Energy, Facilities, Production

Win 30,000 Euro for Energy Efficiency

John Davis

The German EnergyThe Germany Energy Agency wants to promote energy efficiency around the world, so it´s sponoring an international competition for the Energy Efficiency Award 2008.

The award, in its second year, recognizes outstanding projects to increase energy efficiency in trade and industry. A total of 30,000 euros in prizes is available.

The international competition is particularly aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises. If you have invested in innovative, exemplary measures to increase energy efficiency in your company and implemented these measures successfully, then organizers want to recognize you. The deadline to enter is January 31, 2008.

A prize of 15,000 euros will go to the first-place winner, 10,000 euros to the second-place winner and 5,000 euros to third place. The winners of the competition will be announced during the World Energy Dialogue at the Hannover Messe on April 22, 2008.

Energy, Government, International

Toyota Says Fuel-Cell Hybrid a Success

John Davis

Toyota Highlander Fuel Cell HybridThe trek from Fairbanks to Vancouver along the Alaska Highway is more than 2,300 miles long. Toyota says its Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle not only logged all those miles in seven days, but it averaged well-above 300 miles per tank.

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A, Inc., revealed a significant achievement in its ongoing hydrogen-hybrid fuel cell development program at the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show. A recent 2,300 mile trek in a Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle (FCHV) from Fairbanks, Alaska to Vancouver, British Columbia along the Alaska-Canadian (ALCAN) highway confirmed substantial progress in reliability and durability, cold-weather operation and extended range capability of Toyota’s hybrid fuel cell system.

“Beyond the single-tank range capability, this new system was developed to deal with two major challenges to the refinement of fuel-cell power-trains. That is, starting and operating in cold temperatures and standing up to the vibration and harshness of rough road conditions … over a long distance … over a long time,” said Bob Carter, Toyota Division group vice president and general manager.

“Equally important, was to show how the development of Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell powertrains continue to move forward and mature at an impressive pace, far in advance of an infrastructure that will be necessary to support them,” Carter said.

To add a sense of risk and adventure, Toyota engineers planned to accomplish the feat with no practice runs and no pre-trip evaluations. Just get in the Highlander FCHV and drive. If they made it to Vancouver, great; if not, it would be chalked up to research and development.

Toyota adds that the company just began shipping the second-generation Highlander Hybrid mid-size SUV to dealerships, nationwide. The new Highlander Hybrid will the latest addition to Toyota´s hybrid line-up, which includes the Camry Hybrid and Prius Hybrid. Toyota says its hybrid products account for more than a quarter million hybrid sales for 2007 and more than 275,000 total hybrid sales for Calendar 2008.

Car Makers, Energy, Hydrogen, International, Promotion, Racing, Research