The GM Hy-Wire

Originally introduced as the AUTOnomy concept vehicle in 2003, the GM Hy-Wire is an ambidextrous Hyrdrogen powered car in which the driver can sit on either the right or the left side of cabin with the wheel mounted on a motorized track. While it is not likely to enter production in its current state it boasts some interesting innovations that may see their way into the green cars of the future. The Hy-Wire gets its motive power from a process in which the water in its storage tank is ionized to the point that it enters an energetic reaction, with positive and negative ions repelling each other and generating electricity to power an electric motor. The draw of this design as opposed to a traditional electric car relying on a lead acid or solid state battery is that it can be refuelled on the go rather than charged overnight as the current generation of electric cars has to be. Aside from its revolutionary hydrogen drive system, the Hy-Wire boasts an entirely new concept inc car design- the removable chassis. The car operates on a drive-by-wire system, much like a commercial airliner or a fighter jet, so there's no need for a steering column or traditional drivetrain and the majority of the vehicle's mass is below the passenger compartment, greatly reducing the change of a rollover. The entire cabin of the Hy-Wire can be removed and swapped for a different one (i.e. you could have a sports coupe one day and a station wagon the next.)It remains to be seen which technology will be dominant in transportation 10 or even 20 years down the road, but expect hyrdrogen cars to be part of the picture.

Algae Crude

As bizarre as it sounds, algae may be well on its way to providing us with our first truly renewable source of gasoline. Companies like San Diego based Sapphire Energy have been producing "Algae Crude" derived entirely from the substance most commonly known as pond scum for several years now, and the process is only getting cheaper. The algae used for the production of fossil fuels is cultured in large plastic temperature controlled Bio-reactors, where it's fed by an insulin solution in place of sunlight. Algae Crude can be converted into a wide variety of fossil fuel products besides just gasoline, including jet fuel and heating oil, and while it currently costs more by the gallon then traditional fossil fuel its production is environmentally neutral and technological advances in the green energy industry are beginning to make it economically viable. Because the end product is still crude oil there is still the problem of emmisions when it is burned, but the reduction in C02 emissions associated with processing would be so substantial that it may still be worth implementing, if only until a long term solution is discovered. Either way expect to see more about "Algae Crude" in the future as we struggle to find sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel.

Environmental Cartoons

Below is a collection of some of my favorite environmental cartoons:

Differences in Opinion

Below are interviews with presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain on the subject of the green economy and renewable energy. It's interesting to see the differences and similarities in their opinions on the subject- McCain stresses the importance of Nuclear energy and offshore drilling in addition to green alternatives like Solar and Wind, while Obama seems more focused on the green economy as a job provider and economic boon.

Army to Build Biggest Solar Farm in the Country

In a bid to reduce its 3 billion dollar a year energy bill the Army has committed to building a 500-megawatt solar farm in the Mojave Desert to be operational by the year 2013. The array will be the largest of its kind in the United States, outperforming its nearest competitor by nearly 475-megawatts a year. This news comes on the heels of the Army's announcement that it will be establishing an energy council to advance a number of projects aimed at making the Armed Services environmentally sustainable, including plans to purchase 4,000 electric vehicles to replace 800 gas-powered vehicles currently used in maintenence at bases all over the country and converting bio-mass in the form of used cardboard and grass clippings into diesel and jet fuel. Now if they'd just stop killing people we'd be all set.

Facts and figures from the CNET News article "Army plans 500-megawatt solar thermal farm" by Elsa Wenzel

New Solar Panel Design "Cheap as Coal"

Fremont California based Solyndra Inc. has developed a cylindrical solar cell made from a thin photovoltaic film encased in a glass tube that can capture up to 20% more solar energy then a traditional array by collecting light from a larger variety of angles and capturing diffused light. The new shape allows the panels to be laid flat on a roof rather then angled or fixed to a mount, allowing installation in days rather then weeks. Their installation directly onto the roof also means they can withstand up to 130 mile-per-hour winds with no reinforcement and require little in the way of maintenance. There is enough expansive roof space in the United States to power 16 million American homes with the new arrays, says Solyndra CEO Chris Gronet. To put that claim in perspective the same number of homes is today supplied by 38 traditional coal plants.

Facts and figures from Scientific American article "Cylindrical solar Cells Give a Whole New Meaning to Sunroof" by David Biello

Green is the New Red, White, and Blue

New York times columnist and author Thomas L. Friedman speaks at the Aspen Ideas Festival about the Green movement as an economic and strategic imperative for the United States in this century.