Transportation Technology

Till now we have battery operated cars or hybrid cars. Hybrid cars reduce your gas consumption and air pollution. If you are using battery operated cars, you can’t drive on the spur of a moment. You have to PLAN and recharge the batteries. Otherwise your vehicle will carry you for a few miles and then it will stop and you will be stuck somewhere you don’t want to. You also have to compromise on the size, space and speed of the car. And since you are using a storage device in the car, you have to fear and respect that too. No Comments

Frontiers for electric vehicles have changed: 10 years ago or even more recently it was almost impossible to consider an electric solution for all-terrain purposes, now on the market we see new products with highly improved performances. Pioneer in this field is the Italian company Alkè (www.alke.com) who invested research and time to develop the new ATX E range of high performance electric vehicles. They have been able to provide electric utility vehicles that face till 40% slopes (with RID version engines), sandy and icy grounds, loading capacity of 500-1000Kg and towing capacity of around 2000-3000Kg. 1 Comment

KinergyPower is a new form of alternative energy which is also an example of distributed generation. KinergyPower was invented by two brothers Stefanos and Dimitri Horianopolous in Greece in 2002. Their system uses a series of hydraulic pistons to absorb the kinetic energy from the motion of traffic and transform it into hydraulic pressure. This pressure powers a hydro-generator unit which produces electricity. KinergyPowerUSA was established in September 2005 and is based in Bedford, NY. It is headed by a management team that includes local Westchester business executives Demetri and Susan Papacostas. 11 Comments

A dual mode road/rail vehicle is being tested in Japan by Toyota and its truck-manufacturing division Hino Motors. The bus bridges the gap between road and rail with 4 rubber tires for road use and 4 steel wheels for riding on rails. It can hold 25 passengers and is based on the Toyota Microbus. The bus has been in service in Japan for the past 18 months, and there are plans to produce a newer version by June of 2008. Hino spokesperson Kenichiro Baba has stated that the bus "is expected to be another step toward more practical use of the dual mode vehicle." This could be the mass transit vehicle of the future for Japanese commuters. No Comments

Here's another flashy concept that uses solar energy for transportation: the solar speedboat! Unlike the solar sailor we talked about earlier, the Dutch MK1 prototype is designed to travel at speeds up to 30 knots! In 2006 the Delft Technical University Solarboat Team raced the speedboat to first place in the Nuon Frisian Solar Challenge. The 10 meter long lightweight boat has a carbon fibre body and an 80 kilowatt motor powered by 14 square meters of solar panels. The boat is obviously not designed for utilitarian purposes, but it is a positive step toward further development of solar technologies. Watch the video to see it in action! 1 Comment

California based company Green Vehicles recently began selling an affordable $20,000 electric car called the Triac. The small but efficient 3-wheeled car has a range of 120 miles and can travel up to 70mph on the highway. Charging the lithium-ion batteries that power the 20kw electric motor takes about 6 hours, and there is an optional capacity boost battery pack available that extends the range by 20% (why not include it with the car?). The Triac comes in 8 different color combinations and is available from the dealership in San Jose. See the company website for more details. 7 Comments

With oil prices crossing the $135-dollar barrier the alternative energy company executives are really rubbing their hands in anticipation. In just May the oil prices have risen 20% and consequently the stock markets are panicking big time. Rising raw material costs, if not tackled in time, is definitely going to trigger an economic slowdown. On the contrary the stocks of alternative and renewable energy companies are hitting new highs with: ABN AMRO index of renewable energy stocks has climbed 9.5%. 5 Comments

General Electric and the C-MAR Group recently announced plans to work together on the development of hybrid engine technologies for tugboats, in an effort to offer lower costs for customers and while lowering carbon emissions. The tugboat platform builds on current hybrid technology projects for locomotives, city buses and off-highway vehicles. These hybrid technologies are all part of GE’s ecomagination initiative. Ecomagination represents the company’s commitment to develop new environmentally friendly technologies and products to solve our toughest environmental challenges. No Comments

For the past several months the San Francisco Public Utility Commission (SFPUC) has begun picking up used cooking oil from restaurants and businesses for free in an effort to find fuel alternatives for its municipal fleet. The city hopes to expand the grease recycling program (called SFGreasecycle) to include small-scale household pickups and eventually power all city vehicles on biodiesel, including public buses and fire trucks. The oil is picked from local restaurants by SFPUC trucks, dropped off at a transfer station, filtered, transferred into a multi storage tank settling system, then decanted for three days. The oil is then sold to a biodiesel plant using bulk transport tractor-trailer pickups. 3 Comments

The soaring oil prices and the rising level of awareness among the masses regarding the rapidly deteriorating environmental conditions are compelling many car makers to switch over the developing hybrid cars. There are already more than one million hybrid vehicles running on American roads (May, 2008). Big car companies like GM and Toyota have already made big strides in this direction. In fact GM is cutting down on producing and marketing its behemoth gas-guzzling trucks and focusing more on lighter, fuel-efficient cars. The number one selling hybrid car is Toyota's Prius. Incidentally, Toyota is far ahead in the race for producing hybrid cars. 5 Comments

Canadian Inventor Ben Gulak of BPG-Technologies has developed a wild new green motorcycle that uses gyro technology to stay upright on its two side-by-side wheels. Acceleration is controlled by leaning forward to go faster, and leaning back to slow down. The gyro tells the ECU how much to accelerate and that in turn delivers the proper amount of current to the electric motors, one for each wheel. Weighing in at a mere 129 pounds, the 'bike' has a top speed of 25mph and a battery life of 2 1/2 hours. The bike was recently unveiled for the first time at the 2008 National Motorcycle Show in Toronto. 3 Comments

The government of California is backing an initiative between the Linde Group and Waste Management to build a liquefied natural gas facility that will produce clean liquid fuel from landfill gas using minicipal waste incinerators. The facility is expected to open in 2009 and will produce up to 13,000 gallons of fuel per day. The ground-breaking project will be the largest of its kind and will enable California to tap into a valuable renewable source of clean energy while greatly reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. 4 Comments

The Scuderi Group will be presenting a scale plastic model of their highly anticipated split-cycle air-hybrid engine during this week's Engine Expo 2008 in Germany. The company plans to display a demonstration model of the valve train at the show. The computer models that the Scuderi Group are using to develop the Air-Hybrid Engine are producing concrete engineering results that work as expected when prototyped. The new engine is expected to increase fuel-efficiency by 1/3 in regular gasoline engines, and have even greater efficiency in diesel engines. 1 Comment

Recently we posted an article announcing the production of a portable solar charger for airplane avionics. At the end of that article we asked if you thought airplanes could one day be powered by solar. Since then we discovered a whole slew of existing solar airplane concepts and projects that we thought we'd share with you. Click through the following links to visit the related websites. At the bottom of this article you'll find another opportunity to vote your opinion and leave your comments about the feasibility of solar powered flight. 2 Comments

Powerenz, a manfacturer and retailer of portable solar power systems in Georgia, has designed a system to help pilots power up their light airplane avionics without having to start the engine. It can power up the aircraft avionics silently, without smoke, and without wasting aircraft fuel. The unit can be used for approximately 90 minutes before the portable battery required recharging. The entire system can be housed in either a heavy-duty tool-carrying case, a military tanker’s tool bag, or in a hard case. 1 Comment

A new hybrid vehicle prototype could make cargo transportation a lot more energy efficient. The add-on system uses a special trailer that provides a power assist on hills and uses regenerative braking technology to recharge the onboard battery system. The system works similar to a hybrid car; the motor generators produce electricity via regenerative braking instead of normal friction brakes, and a bank of batteries can be mounted under the trailer chassis to store this energy. When the truck/trailer combo needs to accelerate or go uphill, electric power flows from the batteries to the motors to provide some or all the power needed to propel the truck. It is one of several potential systems that aim to increase fuel economy and reduce the carbon emissions from heavily polluting tractor trailers. 4 Comments

When you look around today it’s easy to think that the environmentally friendly bandwagon was always crowded with corporations and other types that were clamouring all over each other to prove that they were the only big business giant concerned about the future of the earth. No Comments

Would you believe there exists a company that offers rental cars which are entirely powered by biodiesel? In support of their mission statement to be the "greenest" and "best" rental car company on the planet, Bio-Beetle Eco Rental Cars began their environmentally conscious business endeavor in 2003 with only a single car. The company was not, and still isn't, supported by a major car manufacturer. Powered by biodiesel, each Bio-Beetle has been purchased and developed individually by the founders as funds allow. The founders of Bio-Beetle believed their business venture was a great way to demonstrate environmental consciousness and have, therefore, slowly built the foundation for the only rental car company of its kind available. 3 Comments

I was watching the television on Saturday night and would you believe there was a commercial about alternative energy? I was amazed. Alternative energy education right at home in my living room! As I sat there on the couch staring at what I believed was most likely the next neo-liberal campaign for conservatism, and not a truly educational 30-second bit, I was surprised by the ending comment and commercial sponsor: Chevron. Yes, one of the biggest names in fossil fuels is talking about anything but! 11 Comments

Several companies in the past have showcased their plans to use hydrogen fuel cell technology to power a bicycle. Recently, Chinese company Pearl Hydrogen became the latest company to showcase the idea, at a recent technology convention in Shanghaimart. The 20" wheel prototype weighs 32kg and is powered by a PEM fuel cell and brushless electric motor. The top speed is 25km/hour and the 600L twin cylinder fuel cells have a maximum range of 100km. Some trial orders have already been placed for 20,000 Yuan (about US$2,650). The company is optimistic that their hydrogen bike will be successful enough to begin mass producing bikes for the mainstream Chinese market, for a more affordable 4,000 Yuan (US$530). There are no current plans to ship the fuel cell bicycles overseas. 3 Comments