Today, the folks at Green Car Journal, the same folks that just awarded the VW Jetta TDI the Green Car of the Year Award, brought dozens of the greenest production cars and prototypes to the show for press drives. Luckily, I was one of the first in line and had the pleasure of taking a few of these new and innovative cars out for a spin around the block.

First up was Mitsubishi's i MiEV, the tiny electric vehicle based on a current kei car in Japan. Right now the vehicles are in town prior to their being handed over to Southern California Edison for fleet testing, and they were definitely drive ready. Mitsubishi stressed that these cars were production-ready models, though they may undergo a few final tweaks before they hit the market in Japan in 2009.

On to the juicy stuff. The test drive wasn't very extensive, but we did get to go out on the mean streets of LA and mingle with traffic. At first I was a little timid at the possibility of getting stuck at lights in a slow, lazy electric car, but I soon found out that the i MiEV was anything but. I've been in the gasoline equivalent of the car in Japan, and I agree with the Mitsubishi reps that the electric version is definitely the sportier of the two.

While it's hard to compare one car to another, the i MiEV is extremely peppy and can shoot down the street from a stop when you really get on the pedal. However, it also comes with an "ECO" mode and regenerative braking mode that allows more conservative drivers to save energy and extend the vehicle range. Even in ECO mode, where I spent most of the test drive, the car has ample power to keep up with the normal flow of traffic. Then, when you release the go pedal the car seamlessly begins regenerative braking and recharging the battery pack.

The car's handling is also exceptional for its class. Though the call is small and tall, the battery pack keeps the center of gravity low and a tight suspension allows for hard cornering and good response. It was hard to believe all the hype, but when compared to the smart fortwo, the i MiEV is definitely in a superior class of subcompact driving experience.

It's wonderful that the government offers incentives, subsidies and tax credits for using renewable energy, but up until now, there hasn't been a centralized place to find out which of these you might qualify for. North Carolina Solar Center and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council have joined forces to create two new databases for just that purpose.

The Federal Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (FIRE) database lists federal incentives as well as their rules, regulations, policies and incentive summaries for corporations. The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) does the same, but for state, local and utility incentives.

Now, no matter where you live, you can find out exactly what kind of incentive you're entitled to if you're using renewable energy or planning on doing so in the future.

via GoodCleanTech

Fish farms have their proponents and their critics. But whether you're of the view that they provide an important source of protein or you think that fish farms breed diseases, there is one fact that's not under dispute: they have to be moved around every so often. That is because conventional fish farms are set up in sheltered waters but have to be moved once disease accumulates. When that happens, the cages are relocated using massive and carbon spewing towboats which haul the cages from one site to its next location.

Off the shores of Puerto Rico, a test project is underway by researchers with MIT. Scientists with the university's Sea Grant's Offshore Aquaculture Engineering Center are testing a different kind of fish cage: one that can propel itself and not require the use of a massive energy-intensive operation to drag it through the water.

The spherical fish cage, developed by Ocean Farm Technologies, Inc. of Searsmont, Maine, is fully submerged and able to move itself using slow-moving propellers. The 62-foot diameter mesh sphere bobs along in the ocean with electric powered propellers. Initial tests don't show great results. While the cage maneuvers well, momentum and direction were unpredictable. But the future could show improvement if researchers can successfully outfit these self-propelled fish farms with solar cells or wave motion apparatuses to get them moving without the use of grid electricity

Via: MIT,

This morning at the LA Auto Show, Green Car Journal named the Volkswagen Jetta TDI 2009 Green Car of the Year. This is the first time that a diesel has been named Green Car of the Year, and to take the top honors it had to best stiff competition from microcars and hybrids alike. However, you have to keep in mind that the award has only been given since 2005, so it hasn't actually taken that long for a diesel to take top honors.

About the award, Green Car Journal editor and publisher Ron Cogan said, "The 2009 Volkswage Jetta TDI epitomizes what the Green Car of the Year honor is all about. It raises the bar significantly in environmental performance with its EPA estimated 41 mpg highway fuel economy, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and extremely low tailpipe emissions. This is all the more impressive when you consider the Jetta TDI is a clean diesel, achieving the kind of fuel efficiency offered by gasoline-electric hybrids but in a more affordable way."

The car is based on Jetta's 2.0-liter, turbocharged direct injection engine, which is the first from the company to meet 50 states diesel emissions requirements. However, this technology comes at a steep price with the base vehicle costing consumers $21,990 and boasting a reportedly 8 month long waiting list.

The TDI beat out the BMW 335d, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid, smart fortwo to take the final prize. Other notable vehicles like the new Honda Insight Concept were not included in the competition.

National Geographic announced Tuesday that it's creating a line of games for PCs, consoles and handheld devices. The games, like the company's trademark magazine and programming, will feature content with socially and environmentally-conscious themes.

The first game available now on their website is "Herod's Lost Tomb" based on the December 2008 cover story and a related TV program. The game has users finding hidden objects in the king's tomb. The next game to come out this month is for Nintendo DS called "National Geographic: Panda" where players are responsible for taking care of a panda.

Other titles coming in the next few months are "Rain Forests," "National Geographic: Africa" and "Greencity."

Paul Levine, the division's executive, describes the games as "entertainment with substance" and doesn't foresee them being used in schools, but if you're going to spend money on games, it's comforting to know that the organization profiting is known for doing a world of good.

via AP

On the first day of the LA Auto Show BMW Group's MINI division made the world Premiere of their much anticipated MINI-E electric car. While the car is not yet ready to be put into production, MINI will be releasing 500 units on lease to drivers in California and New York in order to study the car's performance in the real world. If you want to sign up for the possibility of getting one of these leases, visit the MINI-E website and sign up.

MINI emphasized that this car was not a mere design study, but was ready to go into production after some important feedback from real life usage and some tweaking of the function of the car. The company also stressed the need for a better electric charging infrastructure in the United States, while at the same time noting that in the case of electric vehicles it was possible for technology to precede infrastructure. This means that although a network of charging stations across the country would facilitate the use of electric cars, the lack of that network doesn't make EVs useless.

To debut the car, the Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles was brought out on stage and taken for a test drive. Unlike many of the other presentations, the MINI unveiling seemed a bit more friendly during the awkward silence when the very long charging cord was being wound up. Then came the test drive, where the Deputy Mayor and her driver drove off stage for about 15 seconds, at which point the presenter asked the audience, "Did you hear anything?"

The obvious answer was no. Even though the MINI-E packs a 150 kW motor, can do 0-60 in 8.5 seconds, and tops out at 95 mph, it didn't make a sound as it rolled off of the stage. To underline the efficiency of their new offering, MINI pointed out that the car could drive 5.5 miles on just 1kW (about 10 cents) of energy. When was the last time you could drive 50 miles for under a buck?

This morning Carlos Ghosn, the current CEO and President of Renault and Nissan opened the LA auto show on a forward-looking note. Nowhere are the pressures of the current global recession and looming gas prices more salient than this year's auto show, and Ghosn didn't ignore that. He began by speaking of the troubled times that most automakers are going through, focusing on the recent downturn and the need for companies to focus on the short term even to survive.

On that note he predicted a consolidation in the automotive market, hinting that at least one of the major manufacturers would be bought out or would merge with another. You may remember that Nissan/Renault already made an offer for Chrysler earlier in the year when the GM merger rumors were still running high. However, without saying anything in specific, he gave the impression that many manufacturers were already on the brink.

In speaking of the long term, Ghosn seemed optimistic that the markets in India and China were about to explode, driving world total vehicle ownership up to 2.5 billion units by 2050 (compared to 600 million currently). Though he did not comment about the future of the automotive industry in such long terms, he remained confident that cars would be the transportation of choice across the world for at least the next 10 to 15 years.

However, responding to economic and environmental pressures, the type of car would have to change. On this point he revealed that Nissan would be rolling out its first electric cars in the United States in a partnership with the state of Oregon in 2010. Because this was the keynote address and not a company press event, details were few and far between, but it's encouraging to hear that Nissan is working with local governments (outside of the typical LA-centric product testing) to make electric vehicles and the associate infrastructure a reality in North America.

With the rise of wind power, many critics have focused on its unreliability and how there's no efficient storage available. Other companies have worked on making the turbines themselves more efficient, but so far there hasn't been a low cost storage solution. Xcel Energy is hoping that their "Wind-to-Battery" project holds that solution.

The company is testing an 80-ton sodium-sulfur battery on a Minnesota wind farm and believes that it can power 500 homes for seven hours when fully charged. The battery consists of 20 50-KW modules that are together the size of two tractor trailers and can store 7.2 MWh.

The project is the first in the country to test the storage of wind power and while 500 homes isn't even a dent in the amount of homes that would need to be powered, it will give the company a good indication of how this type of storage could be expanded if the test is successful.

via CleanTechnica

Greener buildings are an essential element for a greener future. In the United States, buildings are responsible for nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions anually. People spend the majority of their time inside buildings, as well. And the materials and goods that are used for the construction of buildings make up a sizable percentage of the production and transportation that goes on.

The U.S. Green Building Council has been a leader in promoting green building and in raising awareness of the importance of green buildings for a better environment. Through the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program, buildings are recognized for meeting green criteria. LEED offers a system to evaluate the benefits of green building design and encourages practices to increase energy efficiency and decrease the waste of material resources.

At the Greenbuild conference and expo going on this week, the USGBC has announced that the latest version of LEED, called LEED 2009, has been approved by the membership of the USGBC, and will take effect next year. The new version of LEED addresses some of the earlier criticisms aimed at the program, such as the imbalance between points awarded in the rating system and the importance of the various elements and the difficulty in implementing them.

The Climate Group and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative published a report called Smart 2020: Enabling the Low Carbon Economy in the Information Age that outlines how the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector can dramatically cut global emissions and energy costs by 2020.

The report sees the potential for a global reduction in emissions of 15 percent and energy efficiency savings of $946.5 billion through five key components.

1. Smart motor systems: optimized motors and industrial automation
2. Smart logistics: increases in transport and storage efficiency
3. Smart buildings: better design, management and automation technologies
4. Smart grid: better monitoring and management of electricity grids
5. Dematerialization: e-commerce, e-government and videoconferencing replacing physical products and meetings

The report concedes that the growth of ICT will double its carbon footprint by 2020, but it has the ability to cut emissions in other sectors by up to five times that amount.

Let’s get one thing straight off the bat: carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has a ways to go before it convinces anyone that it is a real long term solution. Personally, I think there’s a greater chance of seeing the hydrogen economy develop before we see CCS achieve any real success, and we all know that the hydrogen economy is always ten years away…

Nonetheless, there is reality to contend with. The reality is that there is an ever-increasing demand for more power that is available all the time. For now, at least, we can’t meet all of that demand without resorting, at least a little bit, to things like coal. That being said, let’s take a look at a proposal being made by the MIT Energy Initiative regarding what they call “partial capture” CCS.

Japanese electronics manufacturer Funai has developed an LCD technology that does not require a backlight. Conventional LCDs produce images by shining a light through each liquid crystal pixel, and so the light source is mounted from behind. Funai’s technology, however, allows outside light (sunlight, for example) to enter the LCD and reflect back out. As the light exits, the display lights up as if it were lit from behind.

Funai claims that this reduces electricity consumption to .16 mW per square centimeter – only 1% of the electricity consumed by a conventional LCD. The clarity of the image is reportedly good, and the reflective technology means that this new display is significantly clearer in sunlight, which is normally a challenge with most LCDs.

Commercialization of this screen is aimed for next year.

Via GoodCleanTech, Crunchgear
Image via Creative Commons