Proterra Fuel Cell Hybrid Bus in DoD Hydrogen Energy Cycle Pilot Project
11 July 2009
Colorado-based Proterra LLC, a manufacturer of electric drive commercial transportation solutions (battery-electric and range-extended EVs) from city transit buses to class 4-8 trucks (earlier post), will provide a hydrogen fuel cell hybrid bus (earlier post) for use a US Department of Defense (DoD) pilot project designed to test an end-to-end clean hydrogen energy cycle.
Led by the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE), the pilot project will include all elements of a clean hydrogen energy cycle, including local hydrogen generation via waste water treatment digester gas cleanup and reformation; bulk hydrogen storage, transport and dispensing; and hydrogen load in the form of 19 fuel-cell powered electric forklifts and Proterra’s fuel cell powered bus.
More...
| Comments (3)
| TrackBack (0)
JBEI Researchers Develop Dynamic Visualization Technique to Assess Performance of Ionic Liquid Pretreatments of Biomass
11 July 2009
 |
| Fluorescence images of a stem of switchgrass treated with EmimAc ionic liquid showing the section (a) before treatment (b) 20 minutes after treatment (c) 50 minutes after treatment and (d) two hours after treatment when the organized plant cell wall structure has been completely broken down. Source: JBEI. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), a US Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Center led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a technique, based on the natural auto-fluorescence of plant cell walls, that enables researchers for the first time to visualize dynamically solubilization during an ionic liquid pretreatment of a biomass sample (pristine switchgrass, Panicum virgatum, in the study).
Cellulosic biomass must be pretreated prior to adding enzymes for saccharification of cellulose or hemicelluloses to release sugars for processing into fuel as yields are too low otherwise to be economically competitive. The use of ionic liquids—salts that are liquids rather than crystals at room temperature—to dissolve lignocellulose and later help hydrolyze the resulting liquor into sugars for processing into biofuels, shows promise as a pre-treatment method (e.g., earlier post).
More...
| Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
Magna Steyr to Provide Li-ion Battery Systems for Volvo I-SAM Heavy-Duty Hybrids; A123Systems Cells
10 July 2009
 |
| Magna Steyr’s emerging battery pack portfolio. The heavy-duty line is the first to enter series production. Source: Magna Steyr. Click to enlarge. |
Magna Steyr, an operating unit of Magna International Inc., will produce lithium-ion battery systems for Volvo Group. The battery systems will be integrated into Volvo’s city buses, heavy-duty distribution vehicles and refuse trucks using the I-SAM parallel hybrid system.
Production of these battery systems, which incorporate A123Systems’ 32113 Li-ion cells, will begin in August 2009 at Magna Steyr’s facility in Graz, Austria.
More...
| Comments (4)
| TrackBack (0)
The New General Motors Launches; Lutz “Unretiring”
10 July 2009
The new, downsized General Motors Company emerged from bankruptcy Friday morning. Created from the old GM’s strongest operations in an asset sale approved by the Federal bankruptcy court on 5 July (earlier post), the new GM is built on four core brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. The four brands will offer a total of 34 nameplates by 2010, compared to old GM’s total of 48 in 2008 and 63 in 2004.
The new General Motors Company is primarily owned by the governments of the United States, Canada and Ontario, and by a trust fund providing medical benefits to UAW retirees. Specifically, common stock will be owned by:
More...
| Comments (18)
| TrackBack (0)
Audi’s A4 2.0 TDIe: 4.6L/100km (51 mpg US) and 120 g CO2/km; Stop/Start and Energy Recuperation
10 July 2009
 |
| The A4 2.0 TDIe. Click to enlarge. |
Audi has introduced its fuel-consumption optimized version of the A4 mid-size sedan, the A4 2.0L TDIe, in Europe. Noted by Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management in his talk at the 120th Annual General Meeting of Audi AG in May, the A4 TDIe consumes an average 4.6 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers (51.13 miles per gallon US gallon) and consequently emits 120 g CO2/km.
The A4 Saloon TDIe adopts the 100 kW (134 hp) 2.0-liter TDI engine first seen in A6 TDIe. (Earlier post.) The turbocharged diesel features high pressure common rail injection and incorporates stop/start and energy recuperation systems. Further fuel savings come from grille and under-body modifications to enhance aerodynamics.
More...
| Comments (11)
| TrackBack (0)
Ignite Energy Resources and TRUenergy Plan Direct Coal-to-Liquids and Coal Drying Demo Project for Supercritical Water Technology
10 July 2009
 |
| Ignite Energy Resources supercritical water process diagram. Source: IER. Click to enlarge. |
Ignite Energy Resources (IER), developer of a supercritical water technology, and TRUenergy have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a commercial demonstration plant that will apply IER’s direct coal-to-oil and upgraded dry coal process to the brown coal at TRUenergy’s Yallourn mine in Australia.
IER’s proprietary supercritical water technology (SCW) transforms low-ranked coals, including lignite, directly into higher-valued oils and cleaner coal products. IER’s Hydrothermal Reactor (HTR) technology depolymerizes lignite and biomass by using SCW to cut it directly into oils and upgraded cleaner coal products—i.e., not via an indirect pathway (gasification) as in Fischer-Tropsch processes. IER claims that its process generates 60% less CO2 than the most widely available coal-to-liquids technology and can generate clean fuels from biomass that are carbon negative.
More...
| Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
Requiring Lower Sulfur Marine Fuels Could Reduce Emissions-Related Deaths by Up to 50% Annually By 2012
9 July 2009
 |
| Annual premature mortality for the No Control scenario compared to a “no shipping” case. Credit: ACS. Click to enlarge. |
Requiring ships to use marine fuel with 0.1% Sulfur (1,000 ppm) content within 200 nautical miles of coastal areas could reduce annual premature deaths resulting from emissions-related affects by around 43,500 by 2012—approximately 50% of the 87,000 deaths estimated to occur in a no control scenario (assuming 2.7% or 27,000 ppm S)—according to a new study by researchers from the US and Germany, led by Dr. James Winebrake at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
The study is published in the current issue of the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology.
More...
| Comments (4)
| TrackBack (0)
CALSTART Small Hybrid Bus Working Group Selects StarTrans-Azure Dynamics for National Hybrid Bus Deployment
9 July 2009
 |
| The Azure Dynamics Balance chassis. Click to enlarge. |
CALSTART’s Hybrid Truck Users Forum (HTUF) Small Hybrid Bus Working Group members have selected the supplier team of StarTrans-Azure Dynamics for a 16-plus vehicle national hybrid-electric bus procurement.
The vehicles are 23-foot, gasoline-powered hybrid electric cutaway buses using the StarTrans Senator bus body, Ford E450 chassis, and the Azure Dynamics Balance parallel electric hybrid system with the Ford 5.4L engine and the 5-speed automatic TorqShift transmission. The Azure Balance system includes engine-off at idle and at below 20 mph (32 km/h), while electronically supporting key ancillary functions like air conditioning, power steering and braking.
More...
| Comments (3)
| TrackBack (0)
ReVolt Technology and BASF in Joint Development Agreement for Zinc-Air Battery System
9 July 2009
 |
| Energy densities of different battery technologies. Source: ReVolt. Click to enlarge. |
ReVolt Technology Ltd, a technology company which has developed a rechargeable zinc-air battery (earlier post), and BASF have entered a joint-development agreement to speed the development and commercialization of ReVolt’s rechargeable zinc-air battery system. Revolt’s zinc-air technology offers up to three times the energy density on a volumetric basis and twice on a gravimetric basis of lithium-ion, according to the company.
Under the agreement, BASF will use its expertise in material science as well as electrochemistry to further advance the technology. BASF will supply key component materials and jointly developed subsystem elements necessary for the continued development and commercialization of ReVolt’s rechargeable zinc-air batteries.
More...
| Comments (5)
| TrackBack (0)
New Delphi Powertrain Mounts Use Magneto Rheological Fluids to Improve Performance, Safety and Refinement; Improved Handling of Transient Torque Events
9 July 2009
 |
| Delphi’s new MR Mount is the first technology that allows precise real-time management of all the relevant frequencies created by an automotive powertrain. Click to enlarge. |
Delphi Corporation has developed a new powertrain mount that uses magneto rheological (MR) fluid to change its dynamic rate in real time. MR fluid is a suspension of magnetically soft particles in a synthetic hydrocarbon fluid.
The new MR Mount prevents the build-up of resonance in a system by maintaining control of the mounted mass across all appropriate frequencies. As well as significantly reducing powertrain noise and vibration, the new mount can improve vehicle performance and stability and help isolate the occupants from torque step events such as those generated by start-stop operation.
More...
| Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
Piaggio Introduces Plug-in Hybrid Version of MP3 Scooter
8 July 2009
 |
| The MP3 hybrid. Click to enlarge. |
The Piaggio Group has introduced the MP3 Hybrid, a plug-in hybrid version of its MP3 three-wheeled scooter. With a grid-chargeable Li-ion battery pack, the Piaggio MP3 Hybrid reduces both fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by more than 50%. The MP3 Hybrid has a Euro 3 emissions rating.
The Piaggio MP3 Hybrid incorporates a parallel hybrid drive in which the 124cc combustion engine and a 2.6 kW, 15N·m synchronous brushless permanent magnet traction motor are mechanically and electronically linked and simultaneously supply power to the wheel. The hybrid powertrain offers combined power of 11 kW (15 hp), with combined torque of 16 Nm (12 lb-ft).
More...
| Comments (11)
| TrackBack (0)
Twitter headlines
