Mercedes-Benz is Going Green By 2015!

In less than 7 years, Mercedes-Benz plans to ditch petroleum-powered vehicles from its lineup. Focusing on electric, fuel cell, and biofuels, the company is revving up research in alternative fuel sources and efficiency. Mercedes is looking into electric vehicles, both battery powered and fuel cell powered. Not only are models in development, but we’ve also seen the company making steps towards their zero petroleum goal right now, from better cabs in London to Li-Ion battery improvements. Commercialy available zero petroleum vehicles will be available starting in 2010.

While this is an impressive announcement, I'll wait until I hear more details before I get downright giddy. I do think we're starting to see a fundemental change in the attitudes of the automakers as a whole. We are starting to see degrees of seperation between the auto industry and big oil. It would appear that a huge lobbying war in Washington is underway as the two industries jockey to get favorable legislation. In one sense, we live in exciting times where the business landscape is changing, but the other side of that is the slow and agonizing process of change, inhibited by the unwillingness of old businesses to sucumb to the new ones. In the end, nothing much will really change. It's just a re-shuffling of wealth and power at the top of the food chain that has no financial benefit for the average person.

EcoGeek - Technology for the Environment

Hungarian Moped Car Gets 150mpg!

Hungary is not the first place that comes to mind when thinking about cutting edge green vehicles, yet. If the creators of the Antro Solo have their way, the country will be synonymous with green machines by 2012. The Antro Solo is a solar, human and gas-electric hybrid vehicle. It looks like nothing else out there, and has a fuel efficiency of more than 150 miles per gallon

Inhabitat : Antro Solo gets 150mpg

I'm pretty sure that I don't want to spill out of a bar at 2:30am, in the middle of February, when it's 2o below zero to find out I need to peddle my car home.

All jokes aside, this is a novel approach to maximizing efficiency. The choice of materials and blending of technologies could prove to be a blueprint for others looking to squeeze every ounce of energy from their products in a green friendly manner.

Run Your Car on Sugar and Booze!

The EFuel100 MicroFueler offers an opportunity to brew your own ethanol. For a $10,000 investment you can have your own ethanol distiller right at home. Feed it sugar, water and yeast and the machine will distill enough ethanol to run your vehicle. The machine also seves as your pumping station. According to their website, the MicroFueler will have paid for itself after only a year and a half.

It will take between 10lbs to 14lbs of sugar to produce 1 gallon of ethanol. The MicroFueler is capable of producing 5 gallons of ethanol per day once fermentation is complete.

Imagine how much you could reduce your carbon footprint by running your own ethanol in your Prius or other hybrid vehicle. And you wouldn't have to give your cash to all those greedy oil bastards! Just look out for the greedy sugar bastards....

EFuel100, Earth's First Home Ethanol System, a Product of E-Fuel Corporation

Is 100mpg an Attainable Goal?

It would seem the race is on to be the first comany to come up with an affordable vehicle that can achieve 100mpg fuel economy and emit less than 200 grams of greenhouse gases per mile. The bar has been set by the X Prize Foundation and they have ponied up a prize of $10 million dollars for the winner. One of the main stipulations is that the vehicle must be affordable to the general public. It's good to see that they realized that a $400,000 green vehicle doesn't do anybody any good if the average joe can't afford to buy one.

It would appear that the competition is heating up and there are a wide range of entries that will make this an interesting competition to watch.

While many of the competitors are focusing on hybrid-electric designs, there are many that are exploring improvements to existing diesel technologies that burn far cleaner than todays inefficient diesel engines. EcoMotors and Transonic are two companies who may soon be teaming up if they are not already. Both companies are working on 100mpg diesel tecnology, while being funded by the same venture capitalists.

With any luck, the automotive industry will be watching this competition closely to bring some of the technology that emerges to the consumer. Even the people that don't win could provide significant innovation that would lead to cleaner, greener vehicles.

I will certainly be watchinhg this competition to see what develops from it...


Company promises 100 mpg engine CNET News.com

A Way to Generate Your Own Power

A Lister CS (cold start) engine is a diesel engine that can deliver great power for very little cost. These engines are build to run for decades, I’ve read about some that have been running 24/7 for over 40 years! And the required maintenance is very low. These engines run at low speeds of 600 – 1000 RPM, making them less noisy than regular diesel generators.

This is an interesting read, and would seem to be a viable alternative if you have an ample supply of veggie oil... Imagine the other uses that a system like this could have?


self sufficient life » Generate your own power

Christmas With The Sproutifarts

It's my whole-hearted belief that this game is destined to be a Christmas Classic! Thanks and a shout out to my friends at b3ta for the heads up on this gem....






Christmas With The Sproutifarts - A game of skill and bad smells.

Motorhead Messiah Does What Detroit Said Couldn't be Done!

“Check it out. It's actually a jet engine," says Johnathan Goodwin, with a low whistle. "This thing is gonna be even cooler than I thought." We're hunched on the floor of Goodwin's gleaming workshop in Wichita, Kansas, surrounded by the shards of a wooden packing crate. Inside the wreckage sits his latest toy--a 1985-issue turbine engine originally designed for the military. It can spin at a blistering 60,000 rpm and burn almost any fuel. And Goodwin has some startling plans for this esoteric piece of hardware: He's going to use it to create the most fuel-efficient Hummer in history.

Jonathan Goodwin is the type of person that used to be swallowed up and put on the dusty shelf by the Big Three. His ingenious inventions would never see the light of day...just like those innovations from the Tucker Automobile. Traditionally, Detroit could afford to not implement new ideas. If it cuts into the bottom line, it simply wasn't done. With the competitive nature of the auto industry, the Big Three can no longer bury their heads in the sand...Read on about Jonathan Goodwin for an incredible story about an innovative American.

Motorhead Messiah

A car engine that gets 100 miles per gallon!

Transonic is coming clean with its ambitions: it is working on a fuel injection system that will let liquid fuel cars get 100 miles a gallon.
And an engine equipped with Transonic's technology will be able to run on gas, ethanol or other types of fuel without help from batteries. In other words, a car with a Transonic-assisted engine would get as good or better mileage than a plug-in hybrid.

Transonic's goal: a car engine that gets 100 miles per gallon Tech news blog - CNET News.com

Why $5 Gas Is Good for America

"So what's a price-shocked, carbon-afflicted highway jockey to do? Keep driving. In fact, drive more. The longer gas stays expensive, the higher the chance we'll see alternatives. Put that pedal to the metal. And smile when you see a big black $3 or $4 out in front at the gas pump."

Spencer Reiss- Wired.com


This article does well to point out the fact that it will get worse before it gets better. That's good....right?

Why Gas Is Good for America