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Newsletter n° 27/2009 - July 5 - 11, 2009
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Summary
- Georges Dick died on July 4th in Montecarlo.
- ON Sunday July 19, Direct TV in Electric Motor News with the solar boat race in Avigliana (Turin)
- G8 emissions cut target 'unacceptable': Medvedev aide
- The Plastic Plan: Energy from Plastic Bottles
- Lawmakers eye more tax breaks for natural gas cars
- Ford ECOnetic models support BP's Efficient Driving Challenge
- Lago Maggiore Solar Challenge
- Solar Boat race in Le Bourget du Lac (France)
Videos
- Electric Motor News Issue n° 12 - 2009
- Motor News Issue n° 12 - 2009
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The Plastic Plan: Energy
from Plastic Bottles
Source: Alternative Energy
July 4, 2009. If we try to get rid of plastics altogether from our lives, we know that it is quite impractical. So what is the next best thing? We can recycle plastic in such a manner that it is economical and produces clean and green energy for our utilization.
Industrial designer Chris Allen has come up with an imaginative answer to the problem of plastic litter. He named his project as 'The Plastic Plan.' This project needs millions of plastic bottles along with their caps. We can procure these plastic bottles from landfills and carbon-intensive recycling plants. The next step is to convert these plastic bottles into thousands of cubes that can float on the ocean surface. Now after having thousands of similar these cubes can be joined together to form an offshore structure. This structure's size is akin to three football fields. These structures are stacked one on top of the other.
Now at least we have done one good deed i.e. removed those plastic bottles from the landfills. Now they are floating on the sea surface and they are ready to be utilized as energy producing and storage platform. The core idea is that now an elevated reservoir of recycled material is ready. Now we can use clean and green
energy devices such as solar, solar electric pump, wind, wind turbine pump, or wave/current powered pumps and mount them on this base. The goal is to pump sea water 30 meters or more into the reservoir. Water is pumped into the reservoir by hundreds or thousands of clean energy pumps. Now the same water is released a large 'dam' sized hydroelectric turbines at the foot of the platform. This process uses the fluctuating energy produced by many small solar, wind, wave pumps and converts it into a much stronger more reliable clean energy.
Electricity thus produced will be strong enough to be cabled to shore. From there this electricity can be transported to the existing power grid.
The plan helps in reducing the plastic waste and uses it to create a type of damon the ocean. It also deals with the issues of a decline in water levels in dammed rivers. Chris Allen finds the Gulf of Mexico offshore of New Orleans as the perfect location for the first cluster of islands. Chris Allen believes if we will be able to harness properly and at a scale no one ever thought of, this project may provide answer to the escalating energy crisis and fuel the world with clean, zero-emission energy.
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From left to right: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel
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G8 emissions cut target 'unacceptable': Medvedev aide
Source: Yahoo News - AFP
L'Aquila, Italy (AFP). July 8, 2009. A target set by the G8 for developed countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 is unacceptable for Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev's top economic aide said Wednesday.
"For us the 80 percent figure is unacceptable and likely unattainable," Arkady Dvorkovich told reporters.
"We won't sacrifice economic growth for the sake of emission reduction," he added.
Dvorkovich declined however to unveil Russia's precise targets, saying that releasing them would be premature.
Dvorkovich also said there was no consensus by which year emissions would have to be reduced. "This question is a mystery for everyone," he said.
"The calculations are being done. There are different scenarios," he said, adding they ranged from 20 percent to 60 percent by 2050.
"Discussions on climate are of political nature and are sensitive for everyone," said the aide, within hours of his boss Medvedev apparently signing up to the deal.
"There remains a lot of questions. No one wants to sacrifice their economic growth."
The Russian official was speaking on the margins of a three-day Group of Eight summit in the earthquake-shattered Italian town of L'Aquila.
G8 leaders agreed on the summit's opening day Wednesday to bear the brunt of steep global cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, agreeing to cut overall world emissions by 50 percent by 2050.
At the same time they called on a broader bloc of developed countries to reduce pollution by 80 percent by the same year.
Medvedev's top economic aide also said the target to reduce emissions by 80 percent as compared to 1990 reflected the position of the European Commission but not the G8 as a whole.
Major developed and developing economies face mounting pressure to make ambitious commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions with the clock ticking ahead of the key Copenhagen climate change meeting to set international targets.
"We still have the time to agree our positions before Copenhagan," Dvorkovich said.
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Ford ECOnetic models support
BP's Efficient Driving Challenge
Source: Ford Motor Company
Brentwood, Essex. England. July 10, 2009 - The most frugal Ford Focus models have gone on tour as part of BP's Fuel Efficiency Challenge in the UK.
The Ford Focus ECOnetic, capable of 65.7mpg, can cut motorists' fuel bills by up to a quarter. That's the aim of fuel and driving experts from BP Ultimate who are taking a special eco-driving event to UK regions during July and August.
Ford's ECOnetic range of diesel cars and vans combine simple modifications for improved fuel economy, such as an indicator encouraging timely gear changes, modified engine calibration and aerodynamic changes to reduce drag.
The Ford Focus ECOnetic models being driven by BP's Efficient Driving Challenge participants are fitted with special equipment to analyse driving styles. Volunteer drivers are coached in smooth eco-driving techniques, which can reduce fuel consumption by 25 per cent.
Ford product manager David Calder said: "The Ford Focus pioneered the ECOnetic philosophy that environmental efficiency, desirable looks and class-leading dynamics are compatible in a single car. This combination has attracted awards and industry recognition, and has now been selected as the car of choice for BP's Efficient Driving Challenge."
Sue Horler, BP Ultimate brand manager, said: "The specially developed in-car computer fitted to our Focus ECOnetics reveals the effect of every squeeze of the accelerator and push of the brakes."
With CO2 emissions from a Ford Focus ECOnetic certified at 114g/km, and 98g/km for the Fiesta ECOnetic, both models lead Ford's surging sales of vehicles with CO2 emissions under 120g/km - and accompanying road tax of just £35 per annum.
Registrations of Ford's low carbon sub-120g models increased by over 71 per cent in the first half of 2009 versus the same period last year. The Ford Focus ECOnetic is on sale now priced at £18,145 on the road.
BP's Efficient Driving Challenge moves to Reading on July 28 and Northampton on August 4.
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Lawmakers eye more tax breaks
for natural gas cars
By Ken Thomas, Associated Press Writer
Washington. USA. July 8, 2009. Hoping to spur alternative vehicles, lawmakers want to double the size of tax breaks for buying cars that run on natural gas.
Senators joined Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens on Wednesday to propose legislation that would increase tax credits for natural gas that were created by a 2005 energy law. About 10 million vehicles globally run on natural gas, but only a small fraction of those are in the United States.
"Natural gas vehicle technology is here, and all that's needed is the policies to jump-start the industry to make it flourish," said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who introduced the legislation with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also supports the plan.
Pickens has spent the past year pushing his "Pickens Plan," which includes more investment in wind and solar energy, rebuilding of the nation's electrical grid and replacing gasoline with natural gas in cars and trucks. He said the incentives would help reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.
"We have to get on our own resources," Pickens said.
The tax credits, which can be used to provide 80 percent of the added cost to buy a natural gas-fueled car instead of a typical vehicle, would increase to $12,500 for passenger cars and light trucks under legislation unveiled Wednesday. The tax credits currently stand at $5,000 and are set to expire in 2010.
The bill includes more generous incentives for larger vehicles, typically used in government fleets. It also extends several natural gas tax credits for 10 years and encourages government fleets to add more alternative vehicles.
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