Life Alternate » Transport

Hybrid Cars Stepping up the Juice

Wispa — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 09:26:48 +0000

The Toyota Pirus series of hybrid cars have been extremely popular since their introduction in 1997. The combination of gasoline and electric has offered a stepping stone to full electric vehicles.

Toyota along with the other main players, Nissan and General Motors are leading the push in Hybrid Technology although it would appear that Toyota is way out in front. The company hopes to achieve world wide sales of 1 million hybrid cars a year by the middle of the decade.

Hybrids have the advantage over pure electric vehicles in they lack the need for the expensive and often heavy batteries. Having the gasoline infrastructure already in place is an added bonus.

With that advantage Toyota are introducing newer models to the Pirus family. Increasing the economy rating and offering more room on the insides.

Also on the cards are plug-in hybrids. These like the fully electric car will allow charging of the internal battery from any place that has an outlet.

Hybrid cars are an extremely good option until technology and infrastructure for electric vesicles matures and become and viable option to gasoline cars for everybody.

While ultimately our town and cities would be so much better with less cars on the road, having cleaner and more efficient cars is a step in the right direction.

Amtrak Rolling out Greener Trains

Wispa — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:33:19 +0000

The Railway giant, Amtrak, is going a bit greener with new trains. The company has ordered 70 new electric locomotives to replace some of its aging fleet.

The new locomotives will be replacing 64 trains some of which are older then 30 years. The Electric Locomotives will feature regenerative breaking. This will allow the recapture of some energy from the breaking mechanisms and can be reused to power the vehicle.

Delivery is expected to start in 2013 with the locomotives operating between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in addition to routes between Washington and Boston.

Amtrak have commissioned Siemens AG to build the Electric Locomotives which are based on a design which Siemens already sell in Europe.

Airlines Looking to Biofuel as Fuel Costs Mount

Wispa — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:33:53 +0000

Airlines are looking to alternative energy forms as an alternative to using Aviation-gas. The leading contender is to use biofuels derived from organic material.

The idea of using organic material to produce biofuel for aircraft is becoming widespread and many airlines are approaching the idea with enthusiasm.

This is an area that I am not comfortable with. Using arable land that could be used to grow food crops to produce biomass that can be turned in to fuel is not an ideal situation. As well as rising prices of fuel, food stocks are becoming more expensive and in some places rare. Shifting fields to grow corn for fuel and not corn for food is the wrong direction.

One alternative is to use waste biomass and waste food, although we should also be quite ashamed at the amount of good edible food that is thrown away. Mass such as grass cuttings and the old Christmas tree are the idea sources of waste that can be converted. Although just how much of this material can be sourced is a problem itself which might keep the cost high and limit the quantity of biofuel produced.

The price of oil is a large factor in looking for alternate sources of fuel. Apart from the inevitable rising costs which are sure to happen in the coming years, the increasing variability of the price each day made it more difficult to plan for the long term.

Piston Engine Aircraft Polluting the Skies

Wispa — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:18:32 +0000

Propeller driven aircraft flying about our skies are emitting pollution in to the environment. The aviation fuel used by these aircraft still contains lead which being airborne can spread over a wide area.

All those aircraft combined can account for nearly 50% of the Lead pollution in the USA. This can rise to dangerous levels around local airports where these little aircraft are more common place.

Older piston engines still need leaded fuel for performance and while newer aircraft can run on lower levels of lead in the fuel there are still a lot of aged aircraft still flying.

Removing the lead from fuel has already been achieved for cars and they have been driving around lead free for over a decade. A Cars lifespan can be measured in under ten years and most have been replaced with environmentally friendly models. The life of an aeroplane can be much longer and we can expect them to be flying around for many more years.

The lead pollution is specific to piston engine aircraft but all aircraft still produce carbon and that is another problem in itself.

Quiet Electric Motor Cycles for Police

Wispa — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 09:54:53 +0000

Electric motorcycles have been overshadowed with their bigger brothers, Electric Cars, taking the headlines. In fact these smaller modes of transport might be more suited to battery power.

In larger vehicles like cars and especially SUV’s and truck, most of the energy used is to make the car move rather than the passengers. This is quite a waste even for renewable energies. The motorcycle removes a lot of that excess weight and keeps more of the power to get from “here to there”.

The California Police are not slow at catching criminals and now they are not slow at adapting to new methods of transport. The Scots Valley Department are patrolling the streets using the two wheel electric transport from Zero Motor Cycles.

Called the Zero DS, these bikes will have a range of 50 miles between charges which will be ideal for those short patrols. If the need arises, they can quickly get the scene of any emergency at a speed of 67 miles per hour.

Sanyo Increases Lithium-Ion Battery Production

Wispa — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 07:46:47 +0000

The Japanese Electronics Giant, Sanyo, is ramping up its production of Lithium-Ion batteries for the Automobile market. Having just recently completed work on the construction of a factory in Kasai, Japan, Sanyo is already opening new production lines.

The new assembly lines at the factory will increase the out put of batteries by 150%. Currently 2 lines are in operation and with the addition of 2 more lines, along with increased efficiency in production, Sanyo will be one of the leading producers of batteries.

As car makers start to produce more models that are Electrically Powered the demand will increase and in the long run this could see prices ultimately drop. This in turn will make those clean Electrical Vehicles much cheaper for the consumer.

Currently the Kasai factory produces around one million battery cells each month. With an investment of 15 billion Yen, Sanyo will be positioning itself as one of the leaders in automotive battery production.

Lithium-Ion batteries are made from Cobalt and are somewhat more recyclable and less toxic than other forms of electrical storage.

Sonex Electric Powered Aircraft Makes First Flight

Wispa — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 09:05:22 +0000

Aircraft powered by electricity are not new and have been around for a number of years, some of these have even been solar powered. All of these have been of limited use and mostly as a proof of concept. This all changes with the development by Sonex Aircraft of a usable aircraft.

The company has been building small recreational aircraft, these are the little one or two seat planes rather than something the size of a Jumbo jet. With the development of the N270DC aircraft, which is a variation of their Waiex design, they have have taken a path that might lead practical aircraft that do no use Oil.

The first test flight occurred in December with a short hop along the runway which is always a good idea before any aircraft takes to the skies.

The aircraft is currently powered by a 54Kw single engine mounted on the front of the aircraft. Keeping the juice flowing is a 14.5KWh battery made from a lithium polymer. Much the same material that is used in all modern batteries and used in the soon to be common Electric Cars.

Using a bit of mathematics with the battery capacity would give a flight time of around 15 minutes. This would be using full power in situations such as performing aerobatics or climbing to a high altitude. Normal use the engine would be using much less electricity and as a consequence the flight time would be much higher.

Further developments in the battery power pack could see this extended to hours of flying time and that could give you a range of a few hundred miles.

There is no need to point out the benefits of electric aircraft. The cost of powering the aircraft, compared to using fossil fuels would be cut dramatically. But overall with large aircraft still using kerosene the overall reduction would be small.

The benefits of less localized pollution are a bonus to everybody. Lastly but just as important, they are oh so quiet. It might be quite a while before Electric Aircraft are comparable on performance, but this is surely a step, however small in the right direction.

Electric Car Nissan Leaf Entering Market

Wispa — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:34:07 +0000

Nissan’s Electric Vehicle is about to enter the market in Japan and in the USA. This month we can expect to see the Zero Emission vehicle on our streets alongside their soon-to-be-redundant gas guzzling polluting combustion engine driven cars.

One hurdle that can cause the New Electric Cars problems is recharging. The combustion engine car has had decades upon decades to create an infrastructure of Gas Stations around the world. Any new gas powered car that comes on the market already has this available.

For Electric Cars the “Charging Stations” that are used to top-up the batteries are still not as commonplace and this will slowly be overcome as the number of cars increases.

Nissan dealers in Japan are kick starting the charging by providing over 2,000 charging station some of which can “Quick Charge” your new Nissan Leaf’s battery to 80% of its full capacity around 30 minutes. That’s about the time needed to grab a coffee.

It’s still not as quick as just topping up a gas tank. On the other hand Charging Stations can be practically anyplace. Anyplace you park your car could be used and are already are. Many workplaces are installing charging points in their parking lots and as a double green factor a few of them are solar powered.

As of today I see the price of oil is starting to rise again and this is going to be soon costing you more as fill up. If you think of how far you can drive on each gallon and compare that to the Leaf’s equivalent of nearly 100 miles per gallon then you can see an obvious benefit in your pocket.

Roll-out in European markets is expected to follow in 2011 and will be available worldwide by 2012. Other car makers are following with their own Electric Vehicles and I’m sure we cam make an accurate prediction that by 2020, or sooner, most cars on the road will be electric.

This change will have quite long reaching benefits both locally in less pollution, cleaner environments and much quieter cities and towns. Globally we could see less oil politics and the problems associated with it.

Your next car does not have to be a Nissan but there is a good chance it will be Electrically Powered.

Lufthansa Airbuses on BioFuel

Wispa — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 06:21:21 +0000

The German Airline Lufthansa is commencing scheduled flights using aircraft powered by BioFuel. Flight will start in 2011 and will be the first airline to use the alternative fuel source on commercial routes.

The Flights will be short internal routes between the cities of Hamburg and Frankfurt and will be flown by an Airbus-321. The initial trial will last for sic months commencing in April.

The twin engine Airbus will powered by two fuel sources, One engine will operate as normal with aviation fuel and the other with the new BioFuel. This will enable the Airline to conduct a long term test on the viability of the fuel and any affect it may have on the engine.

A Finish based company, Neste Oil, is supplying the fuel which is a mixture of aviation kerosene and oil derived from biomass.

PlanetSolar Takes to the Seas

Wispa — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 16:10:09 +0000

The PlanetSolar Yacht has started a global trip around the world and hopes to complete the voyage using nothing but renewable energy.

Starting its journey in Monaco, a little principality resting on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, the catamaran powered it`s way across the Atlantic Ocean. All this was done using Solar Energy.

The vessel is covered with Photovoltaic Solar Panels which charge up on board Lithium Ion batteries. This ensures that energy should always be available for cloudy or night time use. There is nothing more dangerous than a boat without power drifting about on the ocean.

The boat is owned by, the German Entrepreneur, Immo Stroher who has said that he has a vision of solar power being used more frequently on the ocean.

If you would like a Solar Powered Catamaran just like PlantSolar then it would cost around US$17.5 million. Quite a large sum for most of us but we can still use solar on much small pleasure craft within our price range.

We wish the Captain and crew of PlanetSolar and a safe voyage around the world on Clean Solar Energy.