Recently unveiled in Budapest, the Antro Solo looks to be another promising venture into the ultra mpg realm of passenger vehicles. This 600 pound, carbon-fiber prototype vehicle seats 3 passengers and is powered by several different fuel systems. For longer hauls, the vehicle will utilize a flex-fuel combustion engine/electric hybrid system. For shorter trips, the vehicle runs on battery power. The batteries are charged by solar panels that are positioned in the roof of the vehicle. Feeling the need for some exercise? The Antro Solo is also equipped with pedals so that passengers can power the generator. (When they ask, “Are we there yet?” You answer, “Keep pedaling!”) Estimated highway fuel efficiency- 150 miles per gallon. The company is looking at 2012 release date for mass production and current estimates for the purchase price are around $18,000 US.
Japanese manufacturer, Genepax is unveiling it’s prototype vehicle that converts water into hydrogen. The heart of this process is a membrane electrode assembly which breaks down water into hydrogen and oxygen. Genepax claims that one liter of water can generate enough power to move the car at a speed of 80km/h for up to an hour. The company is estimating that once production of the vehicle begins, the cost of the current $18,500 vehicle will be closer to $5000 US dollars. True zero emissions, hmmmmm.
There are others who are saying that the water-powered car is nothing new, and in fact Genepax is doing nothing more than raising false hopes. Take a look at what is being reported at Treehugger.com
We are going to see a number of electric vehicles entering the marketplace in the next few years, as well as plug-in hybrid models. Many are offering extended range and highway speeds, so they will become attractive to a market that previously wouldn’t seriously consider these vehicles. One often asked questions goes something like this: “while the vehicle itself might not emit pollution from the tail pipe, the electric power plant certainly did produce noxious emissions, and how does this compare to a standard vehicle?”.
It turns out that this is not an easy question to answer. Power companies typically generate power from a variety of sources, including everything from dirty coal to clean solar power, as well as wind, natural gas, hydroelectric, nuclear, and others. So depending on your given company’s mix of power generation, the emissions will be different. Some electric companies offer the consumer a choice. Here in Southern Oregon we can choose a “Blue Sky” plan, which means that all of your power will come from “clean” sources. Obviously this doesn’t mean that the actual power going to your house is from clean sources, but it does mean that your power company will increase the proportion of the alternative energy sources that it uses accordingly.
One interesting concept in power generation is the “smart grid” or “smart charging”. This idea is based on the concept of selectively charging electric cars while the demand on the gird is low, such as in the middle of the night. It turns out that power companies don’t generate power on demand. They currently have no way to store extra power and they cannot quickly and easily increase power, so they operate on predicted demand levels, generating an excess to make sure there is not a partial power outage. The down side is that any power that is not used is wasted. As you can imagine, they do not have a giant battery bank sitting around to store excess power. As a result, during low demand times there is more power wasted. If we can charge electric cars during these down times, we can have very little overall increase in emissions, since this would be consuming power that is generated and otherwise not used.
Overall, I think electric vehicles charged with solar and wind power are probably the best thing going. For most consumers, though, this might not be a realistic option. Choosing a clean power plan from your utility (if offered) coupled with charging during low demand hours is a good strategy to make sure your EV or plug-in hybrid produces low emissions. Oh, remember I mentioned that utilities don’t have giant battery banks…well there is even a concept to use all of these plugged-in electric vehicles as a giant battery bank to store power for the grid in the event of an emergency.
In the last few weeks, I’ve read at least 10 magazine and newspaper articles about the rising cost of food, and the evil culprit: biofuels! I listened to a radio segment on NPR that blamed biofuels for the rising costs of tortillas in Mexico.
I am not hear to claim that the production of corn and soy based biofuels has not contributed to rising food costs, but there are many other reasons for the sudden increase in prices. Pressure from China and India, high fuel prices, a dramatic surge in commodities investment because of our recession, and other factors have all contributed. Somehow these media stories fail to mention that the corn and soy used for biofuel production is almost entirely used for livestock feed, yet it is blamed for high rice prices and the cost of tortillas made from different types of corn. We have had a surplus of corn production in this country for years and we continue to pay farmers through subsidies so they will not plant soy and corn. In short, food prices have, and will continue to be a result of complex geopolitics. The pressure from ethanol production has no doubt had some impact on the price of cattle feed and indirectly on some foods, but to a much lesser degree than is being promoted by the media.
We are all suffering as a result of the high fuel prices and recession in this country, and global warming has the potential to cause harm that we have not yet realized. What is critically important now is to have a balanced and rational approach to reduce CO2 and the use of petroleum in order to curtail global warming and calm the rapid rise of fuel costs. To do that, the use of electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids using cellulosic E85, high-mpg clean diesels using algae-biodiesel, and the use of algae-biodiesel and bio-CNG in heavy duty trucks, ships, and trains, makes for an attainable and exciting goal in the very near future. In the mean time, the use of corn-E85, soy-biodiesel, and petroleum-CNG enables us to move to the infrastructure now and create the demand that will support the new industry, instead of waiting to build the infrastructure, waisting critical years in the process and potentially undermining the entire program.
We desperately need public support for a diverse and effective alternative fuels program in the transportation sector, understanding that nothing is a silver bullet and that all have some short term hurdles and costs. I hope we can work together towards that end, and I hope everyone will consider the true data carefully when forming an opinion about the food vs biofuel question.
Members of the GreenCar Depot team attended the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute convention held in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 10-14th. This annual gathering showcases the newest technology being developed for alternative fuel vehicles. While primarily aimed at the fleet and industrial side of the vehicle market, there were many exciting and innovative changes for consumer users as well. Of particular interest was the growing number of electric vehicles (EVs) coming into the market. Bryon Bliss, VP of Sales and Marketing for Phoenix Motorcars spoke to attendees of the need for EV manufacturers to address consumer concerns around safety and range between charges. Are soccer moms and metro commuters willing to drive smaller, slower EVs? Or are people waiting for the highway-speed, full size sedans? Check out the conference at AFVI.org.
