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A longer version of this article is crossposted at GreenOptions.com
I had the opportunity last week to visit General Motors' headquarters in downtown Detroit for an event with the ChallengeX program. ChallengeX is a program co-sponsored by GM and the US Department of Energy. Teams from universities across the US (and one from Canada) were given a stock Chevrolet Equinox to mod for improved efficiency. "Seventeen teams have been challenged to re-engineer a GM Equinox, a crossover sport utility vehicle to minimize energy consumption, emissions, and greenhouse gases while maintaining or exceeding the vehicle's utility and performance."
This is a multi-year program, which has already gone through two years
of evaluations and awards. And, while the initial information I had
about the program was that this was the conclusion of the challenge, I
learned that there is going to be a fourth year to the program, which
will focus on consumer acceptability issues. Afterall, you can fill the back seat with batteries and praise a car's efficiency, but soccer moms are never gonna buy one.
The top three programs for this year's competition were Mississipi State (1st place), University of Wisconsin (2nd place), and Virginia Tech (3rd place). The vehicles went through a multi-day testing at GM's proving grounds, and were judged on numerous criteria. More information about the ChallengeX results can be found on GM's FYI blog.
I talked for a bit with Dr. Andrew Frank, the faculty adviser, and with Terrence Williams, the project team leader for the team from University of California at Davis, who call themselves Team Fate. Of the 17 teams in ChallengeX, only the team from UC-Davis had a plug-in hybrid vehicle. (Unfortunately, a broken clutch kept them from completing the competition, and their vehicle was not one that was available to be driven.) To help demonstrate their vehicle's ability to travel without needing to use it's internal combustion engine, Team Fate had a demonstration trailer with a solar panel for charging their vehicle. Like the Volt, it was designed to be able to travel a reasonable range based on a charge collected from a plug in source (be it a solar PV array on a garage roof or just a grid-tied circuit) and avoid the use of the fueled half of the system altogether.
Several other ChalengeX vehicles were available to be driven (albeit just a trip around the block at GM's Renaissance Center headquarters in Detroit). Most of the teams (12 of the 17 competitors) used biodiesel - a B20 blend - as their fuel. One team which went a bit farther with their entry, however, was the University of Waterloo's vehicle, which was powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, rather than some form of internal combustion engine. (I had the chance to drive that vehicle as well, and that will be covered in a forthcoming article.)
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written by wedding dresses, October 13, 2009
Exxon Oil could cover the cost of 4 or 5 nuclear plants out of their 2008 profits alone, and have change left over! They have $40 billion cash on hand right now. And they are not the only ones with money in the bank.
The reason no-one wants to build a plant is because the process is continuously sabotaged by legal shenanigans. It's agony.
All Congress would have to do is pass the necessary laws to expedite permitting and contruction and deny the endless lawsuits, but how likely is that?
Since they were the ones that passed the ugly laws that allowed and encouraged all the eternal bickering and backstabbing to begin with.
And good reliable technology is there ready to be put in use. Including safe and secure waste storage.
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