Volvo’s V70 plug-in hybrid is a prototype of a car that will appear in 2012. (Volvo photo)

Could it be that automakers are finally, irrevocably, going green? Let’s start with Exhibit A, Volvo, which announced today that its “DRIVe Towards Zero” vision would result in “cars entirely free from harmful exhaust emissions and environment-impacting carbon dioxide.” It’s putting $2 billion into the effort through 2014.

Obviously, not all Volvos are green. The company produces the XC70 and XC60 crossovers, which churn out 159 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, and that’s about double that of the 2010 Toyota Prius (just 89 grams).

The naked truth is that Volvos are laden down with safety equipment, and that makes them heavier than most other cars on the road. Safety is great, but weight is the enemy of green performance.

Volvo compensates in other ways. It is studying the market for a C30-based battery electric car. It has the industry’s most thorough commitment to cleaning up the manufacturing process. It operates a range of biofuel cars for Europe. And it has committed to putting a plug-in hybrid on the market by 2012, running on a very efficient diesel engine (burning synthetic diesel). That car would have 123 mpg fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions of just 49 grams per kilometer — yes, much less than the Prius. You can see it on the road here:

OK, a gold star for Volvo, then. We expect Swedes to be green, and many other automakers — including those in Japan, Europe and China (BYD) are making similar moves. But it’s a bit more surprising when American automakers side with the EPA and environmental groups against global warming skeptics. That’s just what happened when an unusual coalition that included car companies and more than 30 environmental groups rose up as one to oppose an amendment proposed by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) that would effectively scuttle a carefully worked-out deal on tailpipe climate emissions.

Recently, I wrote about how gorgeous and sustainable tagua nuts are; a renewable resource from the rainforest, tagua nuts make unique jewelry and accessories that also enable the local people from the Amazon region to earn a fair wage without cutting down acres of forest to plant crops there (once the topsoil is used for agriculture for a few years, desertification sets in, and rainforest is lost forever).

The Andean Collection’s colorful pieces pictured on this page are all made from tagua nuts and according to the site, “In addition to being paid fair wages, our artisans share in the profits of the company as partial owners of The Andean Collection.”

Founded by Manhattanite Amanda Judge, the Andean Collection is not only Fair Trade, but a wholly green company, all the way down to the nitty gritty:

Product tags and marketing materials are printed on recycled paper, and we continually strive to reduce our carbon footprint. In our offices, we take great efforts to conserve resources, including using energy efficient lighting and of course, recycling.

This organic mom has too much to read – newspaper and magazine articles, blogs, books, studies, listservs, emails etc. etc. etc. – and far too little time on her hands to read it all. But now that the organic preschooler is ensconced in school during the mornings, and my next manuscript is (basically) done, I’m taking a moment to do some reading to go with my writing.

The first book on my pile is Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness by Lisa M. Hamilton. It’s not technically a parenting book but I think being mindful and smart about food is one of the most crucial things any parent can do. Hamilton’s book, as the title suggests, falls squarely into the sustainable realm. (Full disclosure: Lisa wrote an essay for my book, The Complete Organic Pregnancy. Though I have yet to meet her in person, she’s a friend of my co-author, Deirdre Dolan.) It is not a light book about how growing tomatoes in your back yard is a good idea, but rather a real book — sometimes gritty — about real American farms and farmers who are doing things a little bit differently at a moment when most farmers are not. …

The Cash for Clunkers program could have done better at upping the fuel efficiency of America’s cars and its results remain questionable, but on the bright side, it does appear that the incentives have lead to a new record for new car MPG levels.

In the month of August, new cars hit an average of 23 miles per gallon, an eight percent jump from August of last year.  American auto companies alone saw an increase of four percent from last year.   Toyota had the highest average for cars sold in August with 26.9 miles per gallon.

As Cash for Clunkers sales taper off, the average may decrease again, but the CAFE standards will hopefully pick it right back up when they go into effect.

via Autoblog Green

The Senate version of the climate bill, updated from the version passed by the House back in June, will be released on Thursday, but a draft has been made available ahead of time.  While similar to the House version, it takes a more aggressive stance on greenhouse gas reductions.

The latest version of the bill calls for a 20 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, where the earlier version called for a 17 percent cut by 2020, but the goal of an 83 percent reduction in emissions by 2050 remains the same.

Another major change is that it allows the EPA to factor in GHG emissions when considering biofuel-related land use changes, while the House version didn’t allow emissions to be considered for the first six years.

Some changes other changes that should appeal to the opposition include more support for new nuclear power and protections for utilities to keep costs in check for emissions permits.

The new draft is 801 pages long and an abridged version is available for download here.  All reports have indicated it faces an uphill fight in the Senate.

via LA Times

Eco Factor: Concept folding bicycle can easily be carried in a car’s trunk.

Industrial designer David Fionik has come up with a concept folding bicycle dubbed Dubike that can be folded into a cube to allow its user to carry it with ease. The bike is designed for urban people who love to ride a bicycle, but don’t want to use it on a regular basis.

Continue Reading »
Eco Bikes: Dubike folding bicycle packs into a cube

Airships are making a comeback with the US military, which could be good news for civilian applications. The military has the deep pockets for research and development, but then, once these ideas are worked out, civilian applications often follow along. So it is for those reasons, and not military boosterism, that we are excited to see that the US Army is planning to deploy an unmanned airship called the LEMV which can spend up to 3 weeks at an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,100 m) with a 2,500 pound (1,134 kg) payload of surveilance equipment by the middle of 2011.

LEMV (Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle) is a hybrid airship which gets most, but not all of its lift from the buoyant volume of the vehicle. 20% of the lift, however, comes from the aerodynamic shape of the craft and from its thrusters. The LEMV is capable of a much longer period of continuous operation than other contemporary unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

The attached video shows trial flights of the Lockheed Martin P-791 prototype which, at 125 feet (38 m) long, was about half the size of the proposed LEMV. The initial Army deployment of the LEMV is to be in Afghanistan. But research applications and disaster relief are just two of the more beneficial uses this technology could be used for in the near future.

via: Slashdot and Gizmodo

Eco Factor: Bicycle light gets powered by electromagnetic induction.

Designed by industrial designer Kai Malte Roever, the PUYL is a bicycle pump that doubles as a permanent illuminating bicycle light that doesn’t need a battery to operate. The patent-pending device consists of a normal bicycle pump, which in this case charges a built-in battery using electromagnetic induction.

Continue Reading »
Eco Gadgets: PUYL bicycle pump doubles as a self-powered light

Algaeus visits the Capitol. Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) was among those saluting. (Sapphire Energy photo)

You can always get press when you travel cross country–walking, bicycling, hopping on one foot, riding a horse, an antique car or–better yet–a green one. That’s just what the media-savvy Josh Tickell, director of the new film Fuel and author of Biodiesel America, just did. He’s just driven cross-country in what he calls “Algaeus,” a Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid running on gasoline fuel made from algae.

Yes, it is possible to make gasoline (and diesel or jet fuel) from algae, or indeed any biomass, from wood chips and sawgrass to sawdust. A variety of big players are working on the technology, and generally agree that is both challenging and promising as raw material for fuel.

Algaeus is not inherently more fuel efficient on algae than it is on standard gasoline, but because the car is a plug-in hybrid conversion (built by Kim Adelman for Plug-In Prius Conversions in San Diego) Tickell can claim incredible mileage: 147 city (when it’s operating on battery electricity) and 52 highway (the Prius standard).

Tickell says that the algae fuel (which came along on a trailer, in big metal jugs) was made by Sapphire Energy, also in San Diego. “We’ve been working with Sapphire for a while,” Tickell said. “We’re really excited about the technology. As with other things, there will be winners and losers with algae.”

The Prius, emblazoned with slogans, made it 3,750 miles across the country, from San Francisco to New York with a stopover in Washington, DC, in 10 days, accompanied by a five-vehicle entourage. Tickell said the algae car yielded “exceptional performance. We exceeded all speed limits.” The conversion is actually capable of 70 mph in battery mode, but the Algaeus team didn’t push their luck.