Q: Due to this breakthrough technology (Live Extraction) and some of the others you’ve recently announced, how soon do you think you’ll be able to use this technology to produce algal fuels at a commercial scale?
A: Due to the lag in actually building large scale projects, the ability will come long before the fact. Also, we won’t build or produce ourselves, but instead we will provide technology and devices, and help design, build and maintain these sites. The next step is a pilot plant which could occur as early as next year.
Professor Daniel Sperling Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California Davis visited The Daily Show last week to discuss hybrids, advanced batteries, alternative fuels, transportation policy and more. Sperling’s bookTwo Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability was published by Oxford University Press in January 2009.
The vehicle, with a high powered clean-diesel engine capable of running on biodiesel, will display a robust collection of world-class technological and design enhancements, including an ergonomically correct cockpit inspired by jet fighters.
The Carbon ‘E7’ – the temporary program code used until the law enforcement community selects a vehicle name – represents the next generation of law enforcement technology as the first vehicle in history designed and engineered from the ground up and bumper-to-bumper specifically for law enforcement operations.
Click the image above to hear Richard Branson, head of Virgin Atlantic Airways, talk about his commitment to develop “clean fuels” for aviation. Back in 2006 Branson said he’d put 100% of Virgin’s future profits, or $3 billion over the next 10 years, into fighting global warming. That includes $1 billion earmarked for alternative fuels, including a proprietary “Virgin fuel” developed for cars, trucks, trains, and of course, aircraft.
Learn more from the Washington Post interview above…
Electric and hybrid electric car manufacturer Aptera has been turning heads since the first announced their space-age looking Typ1 prototype. The sub $30,000 electric version of the Typ1 has a range of 120 miles and is expected to be ready for limited release later this year.
Take a look at the latest video from Aptera, a guided tour of their factory:
I happened across this video on algae biofuel today: a company I’ve never heard of, Valcent Products, claims they can grow algae to produce oil yields of 100,000 gallons per acre. That’s the upper range of estimates I’ve seen for algae production—an absolutely phenomenal amount of oil—which Valcent attributes to their ‘high density vertical bioreactor’ system. Check it out (more video after the jump):
Put six-gallons of water in your fuel tank and drive anywhere you wish. The only thing you’ll need to replace, is a bit more water.
Last May, I wrote about Jim Hunt, a student at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois concerning his plasmatic induction system that turns water into hydrogen gas to fuel your vehicle.
Today, the system works, and Jim is looking for a company to manufacture and market his invention. His patent is secure, the system is proven and now ready to produce. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s the first time a plane powered by a hydrogen cell has left the ground with a pilot at the controls. Boeing said there’s still a lot to do before hydrogen fuel cells will power commercial airliners. As the technology progresses, Boeing says traditional jet fuel will be phased out as renewable sources take its place.
Not everyone is waiting until 2010 to get their first plug-in hybrid. As I reported previously, Hybrids Plus out of Boulder, CO, is offering conversions for the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape hybrids, turning them into 100 MPG+ superstars.
I’ve collected a little more background on Prius hybrid hacks, and a few more resources. Check out this video, which should give you a good feeling for what getting 100 MPG would be like: Read the rest of this entry »
For under $30,000, you will soon be able to buy an electric car with a 120 mile range, or a plug-in hybrid that gets 300 miles-per-gallon.
Sound like a fantasy, but this one could be coming to a dealer near you. Slated for release in late 2008, the company Aptera will be offering the initial limited release of their fully electric model Aptera Typ1, and the 300 mpg plug-in will follow in 2009.
Trying to learn how to make biodiesel, or interested in seeing how it’s done? It always helps to get a visual, and you may not be aware that there are currently enough biodiesel videos on YouTube to develop an entire college course on the subject. I’ve thrown out a representative sample, just to give you an idea of what’s available.
You’ll notice a lot of these videos utilize a homemade biodiesel reactor called the “appleseed” reactor. This is the simplest and cheapest way to build a biodiesel processing facility in your garage. The plans for it can be found here.
I can’t believe his mother lets him do this in the kitchen, and where are his gloves?! (I have a particular affiliation for the video, though, since I had the same old truck.)
I don’t know if this is truly a step forward in clean car technology, or just something for James Bond and Aquaman fans, but Swiss car maker Rinspeed will debut the sQuba, a fully submersible electric car, at next month’s Geneva Auto Show.
Gas 2.0 digs into the viscous world of biofuels and the fast-paced transit arena, exploring the technologies and substances that are the future of transportation.
Trying to learn how to make 
