Thursday, September 16, 2010

Gas 2.0

Gas 2.0

Not a Road: is BP to Blame for This Massive Fish Kill?

Posted: 16 Sep 2010 10:14 AM PDT

What seems to be a serene country road (above) is actually a massive Gulf fish kill.  Fish kills are common along the Gulf of Mexico, where dead zones pop up almost every year – but these fish kills have typically been limited to a single species of fish.  What you see above, however, is a broad die-off of dozens of species, including – if a local Louisiana news station is correct – a whale.

This is the surface of a Louisiana waterway, covered with hundreds of thousands of dead fish, crabs, eels and stingrays… even a dead whale.  The scope of this huge dead zone in the gulf is raising alarms with Louisiana governmental officials like Billy Nungesser, who distributed the photos above to local media this morning.

Nungesser believes the die-off may be related to the BP oil disaster this summer, but some scientists fear we’ll see more dead zones like this as an influx of oxygen-consuming, oil-eating microbes (often used as part of a chemical dispersement to consume water-borne oil particles) enter the gulf.

For the record:  there is no proof (yet) that the BP oil spill is to blame for this particular fish kill, but no matter what the cause, it’s Grade-A nightmare fuel – and I, for one, can’t think of a more ringing endorsement for alternative fuels than photos like these.

SOURCE:  Yahoo, via Jalopnik.

Lightweight Car-Building Material Can Cut Weight By 15%

Posted: 16 Sep 2010 10:07 AM PDT

Weight is the enemy of fuel economy, and over the past 20 years cars have gotten heavier and heavier. Consumers, as well as the government, are to blame, as we demand more safety features and infotainment out of our cars. Add that to all the sheet metal necessary to skin a car, engines, transmissions and everything else and you’re talking about one heavy contraption.

A new material, called Inrekor, is not only as strong as current car chassis, but is substantially lighter too, and 100% recyclable. Is it too good to be true?

The material is being produced by a company of the same name and developed by Stewart Morley, who says that a major marine and auto manufacturer has already shown interest in the material. Inrekor uses a material called AAPRO, which is a propylene-based foam sandwiched between thin sheets of aluminium. A test chassis made from Inrekor was as sturdy as those chassis’s made from conventional material that earned a five-star rating from the Euro NCAP safety test.

Inrekor claims that a typical family sedan chassis made from Inrekor instead of traditional materials could save 300 kg, or over 600 pounds of weight. That is a few mpg’s at the end of the day, and the Inrekor material is supposed to be 100% recycable too. Best of all for car makers, it is cheaper to produce too. Sounds like one of the few products that is an all around winner.

So will anything come of it?

Source: AutoCar

New Ashwoods Motor Makes Any Van a Stop-start Hybrid

Posted: 16 Sep 2010 09:57 AM PDT

UK-based Ashwoods Automotive has introduced a new bolt-on electric drive system that converts ICE-only commercial vans into stop-start hybrids, cutting overall fuel consumption by as much as 25%, depending on a vehicle's driving cycle.

Ashwoods’ hybrid system consists of an electric motor/generator and the company’s Intelligent Power Pack Module (IPPM), which contains the li-ion battery and electronic control unit.  A motor controller and other miscellaneous electronics and controls complete the product, which communicates with the car’s factory electronics through the on-board diagnostic (OBD) port (standard on all cars).

This isn’t a pie-in-the-sky concept, either:  Ashwoods claims to have delivered 130 of its Hybrid Transit vans public fleets, with customers as diverse as Riverford Organics and the councils of Camden, Coventry, Gateshead, Hackney, Islington, Leeds and Liverpool – and Ashwoods’ leadership in UK hybrid tech has been recognized by some of the OEMs, as well, heading up a consortium that includes Citroen, LifeBATT and SevCon to develop a new generation of hybrid drivetrain systems.

Ashwoods’ hybrid system and stop/start modules are supposed to be suitable for most light commercial vehicles, including Ford’s excellent Transit.  Aswoods claim either system can be installed by a competent mechanic in just a few hours, and that these systems will not affect the vehicle's OEM warranty … though you should probably definitely check in with your local dealer before the install (just to make sure).

SOURCE:  Green Car Congress.

Upright “Seats” The Future of Air Travel?

Posted: 16 Sep 2010 09:53 AM PDT

I do not care for flying for a number of reasons. Mostly though, because I find the seats too small, the cabin too cramped, the the bellowing of jet engines quite distracting. I’d really rather drive than fly, though I realize that isn’t always an option. Airlines have been hit hard by the economy, and they are always trying to figure out ways to squeezing more passengers on to a plane.

Still, seating can’t get much worse? Right?

Wrong. Behold, the “SkyRider.”

Squeezing people in to just 23 inches of front-to-back seating space, the SkyRider mimics a horseback saddle. Horseback saddles, as you may or may not know, are not designed as much for comfort as they are for keeping you on the horse. Sure, you can sit on a saddle for eight hours; the question is, do you want to?

I already don’t fit into plane seats, and while I imagine this might slate in as a budget option, I’m a pretty cheap guy. I just doubt my shoulders or my legs could fit comfortably, and if it is a long flight, I might end up turning incoherent and violent. I think I’d rather be stuck with standing-room only, like Ireland’s RyanAir is proposing.

Would you seriously consider sitting in these seats?

Source: USA Today
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