No Carbon cars

Last week was a particularly busy week for green issues.So,I cannot let time go by without some comment on taking the car out of carbon.Some geezer bid at a charity do £1.1m for a Bugatti Veyron (not very green).He could have bought two Koenigsegg CCXR which run on bioethanol (much better - but £531,000 each- ouch!)This is a green super car in production and on the market.

Going back to cor blimey,the German manufacturer Loremo will be producing in a couple of years a car more in my price bracket- the Loremo LS , powered by biodiesel, is expected to cost just short of £8,000. With an amazing consumption of 165 mpg claimed, the down side for some maybe the acceleration at 60 mph in 20 seconds.A GT model,a little dearer at around £10,000 may do 60mph in 9 seconds. This ultra lightweight car with low-drag design (that is part of the secret to its consumption credentials),looks very good (above)and the wait could be worth it.Green motoring does not look likely to be too boring in the not to distant future. The Toyota FT-HS,Chevy Volt,and the Tesla Roadster, all featured at some time on low emission cars are eagerly awaited- in the next few years,although currently they are looking rather expensive, and the most successful engine and fuel technologies are still being worked on to achieve the winning products in terms of performance,style and affordability.

Bio production powers ahead in Europe

Total European production of bioethanol in Europe was 71% higher in 2006 than 2005,having risen to 1,525 million litres, according to figures released recently by the European Bioethanol Fuel Association (eBio). This makes a total increase of 143% in production of this fuel since the beginning of 2004.

Eleven European countries currently produce ethanol, and more are expected to join them as demand for the fuel increases with the European Commission's 2010 looming target: 5.75% of fuel used for transport is to come from renewable sources.

Today, I decided to remind myself how the ethanol production process worked and found on the ebiosite this informative link

Do you have ideas to communicate greener motoring messages? Want to get them off your chest?


On 7th March, I posted details and link for the LowCVP marketing challenge. This is by way of reminder that marketers,students and industry stakeholders have until closing date of 16th May to submit their completed entry forms for this competition.

This competition was given great impetus from the then recently announced European Commission's important new proposals to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from new cars and vans sold in the EU. A panel of 12 senior advertising and communications industry executives will judge the entries and the winning work will be viewed at the LowCVPs annual conference to be held on 28th June.

Effective communication is, of course, vital in the movement towards significant reduction in carbon emissions. Participants can enter any of the following six categories:

• Low carbon Fuels
• Responsible vehicle use
• Smarter driving
• Responsible low carbon business transport
• Low carbon passenger cars
• Low carbon vans

Further information can be found on the CARS NOT CARBON competition here
and here

Toyota's Lean (and now Green)Production Machine -the Story

Back in January, I featured the Toyota FT-HS hybrid sports car. Just one of many examples where Toyota is leading the world in green technologies, and it is likely to continue to lead. This certainly comes as no surprise to me now, as I come to finish a book about the phenomenal rise of Toyota in world class car manufacture.



The book entitled : "The Machine That Changed The World" reads a little like a recently discovered success story. It was, in fact first published in 1990. So, as I curled up in front of a warm fire , thus fending-off the still lingering chill of an early spring evening, I found myself surprised to be absorbed by a management classic on best manufacturing practice rather than a mystery thriller or 'whodunnit'. The surpise, too, was that the Toyota success story chronicled a long history of achievement, and yet, in 1990 (now 17 years ago),Toyota was only half the size of General Motors. The reissued book still stands the test of time as a testament to monumental success. As the book cover blurb says,"Today, Toyota is passing GM as the world's largest automaker and is the most consistently successful global enterprise of the past fifty years."

Essentially, the authors of the book have traced , in full but fascinating detail, the roots of a production system which maximises the creation of value by human effort. It is easy to draw a first impression that the story is all about a titanic struggle between the US and Japan to create industrial excellence and supremacy. This would not be right, and the authors reject the misconception. It is more about the emergence of a global production environment where lean production has taken-on mass production,and won.

So it was that the Americans,Ford and Sloan , created mass production which was emulated in industries beyond automotive. The Japanese,Toyoda and Ohno, built the lean production system, the techniques of which were and are now used by other industries. In 1990, the authors were looking forward to a better world of lean production. In their Afterword 2007, they quite appropriately for a continuing complex study have modified some of their thinking in the years between first publication and now, but they still uphold the lean production system to be the clear ongoing winner. This a great story. You should get this if you are business owner,manager, or student; or you simply enjoy reading how things work in a climate of excellence around the world.The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production-- Toyota's Secret Weapon in the Global Car Wars That Is Now Revolutionizing World Ind

You won't find this green car baby under a gooseberry bush - low emission cars are not new





Continuing the plant related theme for greener motoring ... the Sexy Car Show ,now running at the Eden Project in Cornwall until 15th April, is host to many cars past,current and future which are powered by fuels derived from plants. Although, the drive for greener motoring is a very pressing issue now, cars capable of driving on vegetable oils were around over 80 years ago. The model 'T' Ford, the iconic car from the 1920s ,was able to run on ethanol, or grain alcohol. Ford Motor Company founder, Henry Ford believed that fuel derived from vegetable oils would drive the cars of the future. So, too, did Rudolf Diesel. In 1898, Diesel managed to arrange to have his US patent for 'the internal combustion engine' put into production and the first diesel engines in the US were made. He is reported to have said of vegetable oils that:"such oils would in course of time be as important as petroleum...". What happened?
Everyone, it seems, ran scared of the oil (petroleum, that is) investors. After all, it (petrol) was viewed as relatively cheap and plentiful, and the environmental harm either not known or ignored

Well, Diesel did not see his dream for fuel oils fulfilled, but... For more on the cars and fuels action , you can see reports from the Sexy Car Show here

More gooseberry fool than April fuel?


Biofuels according to Wikipedia ,and others, are derived from biomass- recently living organisms or their metabolic byproducts.

So,biofuels can be made from,for example: corn,soya beans,flax seed,rape seed, sugar cane,palm oil, jatropha,straw, timber,manure,rice,sewage, biodegradable waste,microalgae,hemp ...and gooseberries?

Copyright 2006-2007 M P Ryan and CFM(Services)Ltd. All rights reserved

If you go down to the Eden Project today you're sure of a big surprise...
for interest is growing there in BioPower


At Green-Car-Guide they're saying:

"As well as presenting the first public showing of the Saab 9-3 Convertible BioPower in the UK, and a Saab 9-5 Estate BioPower car at the Sexy Green Car Show, Saab will also be exhibiting the world’s first fossil-fuel free hybrid, the Saab 9-3 Convertible BioPower Hybrid Concept Car. This vehicle’s technology was unveiled in Stockholm a year ago, and is the first car in the world to combine pure bioethanol with electric power on demand, which means that it emits zero fossil CO2 emissions, and was the world’s first hybrid soft-top at the time of its unveiling."

Couldn't have put it better myself.

The Sexy Green Car Show will be open to the public at the Eden Project,Cornwall, from March 30th to April 15th 2007. Admission is free with entry to Eden. It will be open from 10am to 6pm with last entry at 4.30pm.

The Tesla Roadster given an Outing in Norwich today

Those of you who stop by regularly will know that Tesla Motors has for many months been featured to the right hand side of this blog page. For details of the Tesla Roadster, an aspirational and wonderful electric sports car, you can access the link there ,or here.

If you were at the Green Wheels Motor Show today ,held at the Forum in Norwich, you would have had the privilege of seeing a Roadster (for one day only) in the flesh, so to speak. Although being built in the UK, the car is currently not going to be licensed for use in the UK. I understand 100 cars have so far been ordered ,and the first of these will be delivered this year to buyers in the US, at a price of about $100,000 each.

This beautiful car ,though part of the future for green motoring, may not be available here for some time to come. Some of what is available, though, here and now in green cars, can be seen in Norwich until 30th March at the Green Wheels Motor Show, part of the Earth From the Air Exhibition.

BlueMotion coming to the greenhouse

As earlier flagged, the Eden Project in Cornwall plays host to manufacturers,designers,fuel technologists,and the like who will
be attending,many as exhibitors, The Sexy Green Car Show (30th March-15 April).
One of the exhibits at the Show will be the new Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion.

Due to go on sale this summer in the UK,the new Polo BlueMotion is said to produce only 102 g/km of CO2. Consumption is at an amazing 72 mpg.How come? Well,some of it is down to hard compound tyres which reduce rolling resistance. It also has lightweight wheels to increase running efficiency. Reduction in emissions and gains in economy are primarily won from the BlueMotion's three-cylinder diesel engine and optimised gear ratios.

You can have your first glimpse of this potential bestseller ,and many other wonderfully innovative cars ,at the Eden Project from March 30th through to April 15th.

Clean Green Cars joins drive for greener motoring

Last week, another website solely dedicated to greener motoring was launched.The stated aim of the new site(www.cleangreencars.co.uk) is:'to provide clear,easily understood advice about choosing and using cars in a more environmentally considerate way.'

Following a week ,in which the issues of climate change were placed firmly (only time will tell how effectively) centre stage by Gordon Brown with the green measures published in his final budget,we must all hope that the momentum will be maintained towards further and massive reduction in carbon emissions .The continuing development of green technologies for the production of motor cars and fuels,with full government and institutional support,is now seen by most commentators as essential to help protect our environment.

low emission car's mantra is :Love cars?It's your planet.Love it,too!


Copyright 2006-2007 M P Ryan and CFM(Services)Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brown's Budget for a Greener Motoring Future

Dufton Kellner, Chartered Accountants, produced a full Budget 2007 Summary today. Covering the environmental measures, the firm summarises the motoring related ones as follows:

"Road Fuel

From 1 October 2007 the effective excise duty rates for road fuels will be increased by 2 pence per litre. Further announcements were made that the next two years' increases will be 2 pence and 1.84 pence per litre.

The government has announced that the current 20 pence per litre duty differential on biofuels will be extended to 2009/10.

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED)
The government has announced the VED rates for this year and the following two years.

The major change will be increasing the rate for the most polluting band G to £300 in 2007/08 and to £400 in 2008/09. There will be a reduction in the rate of duty on band B cars to £35."

Lesson from No.11: 4X4 = higher road tax

Today, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, laid down his equation to reduce car emissions. In addition to a rise of 2p per litre in fuel duty, he changed the road tax band charges. For the most polluting cars (band G) this will mean increases upto £400. There was an incentive to use more cars in band B where road tax will be reduced to £35. A fuller report on these and other tax measures introduced as incentives for 'greener' motoring to follow...

Saab had asked for something akin to its pre-budget "BioPower Budget" wish-list (a Saab BioPower model shown in London traffic , above left) more at...



Copyright 2006-2007 M P Ryan and CFM(Services)Limited.All rights reserved

Green's In At the Geneva Car Show

Did you miss it? The recent Geneva Car Show? If you did ,here is an opportunity to click to a report of the green cars well featured at the show this year. See a large range of CO2 busting cars that are ,or soon will be , available to buy here in the UK, as well as some very exciting concepts which you will have to wait a little longer to own.

In the here and now, you should look at the Daihatsu Charade (currently the Cuore) soon to be for sale in the UK (from next July, I understand). Affordable at c. £7,000, this car has a petrol engine ,but carbon emissions break down through the 100g/km barrier at 99g/km using its Idle Stop System.

Looking a little further ahead, there is the possible next generation of the ground breaking Prius, Toyota's new hybrid concept , the Hybrid X. Designed by Toyota's European Design centre ED2, the futuristic Hybrid X (pictured above) gives a glimpse of the future for the hybrid synergy drive. The new design incorporates large glass areas and controllable ambience in the car - the better to adjust "the four senses of sight,sound,touch and smell", according to Toyota Motor Europe's executive vice-president, Thierry Dombreval.

So go on, have a look at these and some more ...

Welcome to the garden of Eden!

That's what their saying from rural Cornwell.From 30th March to 15th April this year, the Eden Project is inviting the Public, admission free,to a Show dedicated to 'green' motoring.What the Eden Project describes as ‘the planet’s premier eco-car show’ is attracting the giants from the motoring-world eager to showcase the very latest in ‘green’ driving, alongside innovators in car design, transport leaders and fuel manufacturers.Where better to see how exciting new technologies being used in the manufacture of certain new generation cars, and the development of new fuels to drive them ,are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, than the Eden Project home to the largest greenhouse in the world! You are all cordially invited to find out what's going on.More...

Car drivers should go for a smoother ride

This is the government view. It happens to be our view also, and has been for some time.Please see motoring tips.
The idea is that significant carbon emissions can be reduced by more careful and smoother driving.Unnecessary heavy braking and rapid acceleration cause increased fuel consumption and therefore greater carbon emissions.All costing us extra money.


UK Drivers are being urged to watch out for under-inflation

Recently, at the Geneva Car Show,Director-General of the FIA Foundation,David Ward,stressed the importance of motorists regularly checking their car tyre pressures to ensure that they are correct as stipulated in the car manufacturer's handbook. He says that checking your tyres just twice a month could save lives, reduce motoring costs and cut carbon emissions.The rolling resistance of an under-inflated tyre on the road surface is greater than when fully inflated.Therefore the tyre is less efficient and causes greater fuel consumption,as well as heavier tyre wear,and also results in increased cost and compromises safety to the driver and other road users.

A similar safety message was put out this week by Kwik-Fit.David White,customer services director at Kwik-Fit commented: "Motorists might be fooled into thinking that they can check whether a tyre is under-inflated simply by looking at it.But a smaller, yet nonetheless still significant loss of pressure is not always possible to to visually detect.That's why it is so important to regularly check the tyre pressures yourself,or get an expert check them for you."

So could keeping under-inflation of tyres at bay result in such a significant benefit to the environment and to drivers' pockets? Well,Kwik-Fit say they found that one in five cars checked by them had insufficient tyre pressure.From this it is estimated that a staggering five million car drivers were putting themselves and others at risk.This number equates to the combined total of cars registered in Scotland and Wales.A very significant number contributing to pollution.

Is talk of global warming being caused by CO2 emissions just a lot of hot air?

Did you catch the C4 ITV programme "The Great Global Warming Swindle" last night at 9pm.Vivid opening images of a violent environment ,with widespread serious flooding and hurricane winds, were introduced with a message of comfort for us all:It's not your fault.What the self-serving scientists have been telling you is just not true.

This was full in your face stuff.The CO2 emissions argument, as the prime cause of climate change, was robustly dismissed by several scientists with some snappy graphics in support.Natural cycles in the sun's activity were apparently to blame. Somehow, it all just did not all hang together for me. The view was strongly voiced that the current environmentalists ,contending a man-made explanation for climate change, were nothing more than a number of people of little science forming a consensus,creating jobs for themselves,peddling speculation, and in the process suppressing the rightful aspirations of developing countries.

Key immediate problem issues facing the environment are the ever increasing demands globally for energy and the need to find alternatives to fossil fuels,the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to minimise air pollution and physical environmental damage.Seems a worthwhile cause to me.

In the C4 programme ,no debate was countenanced to challenge its conclusions.I was particularly impressed,though, by the comment of one the guest speakers who suggested that we should not be afraid of CO2 because,after all,we are all made of the stuff. Enough said,I thought.

More Low -Down on Low Emissions and a Marketing Challenge

The Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) has launched a ‘greener’ motoring marketing competition targeting the professional marketing and educational sectors.More...@Green-Car-Guide

The Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership is an action and advisory group, established in 2003 to take a lead in accelerating the shift to low carbon vehicles and fuels in the UK and to help ensure that UK business can benefit from that shift. More...

The Great Global Warming Debate

An upcoming C4 ITV programme(9pm on Thursday,8th March)would have you believe that the above headline should read:The Great Global Warming Swindle - the title of the piece.It would seem the programme's conclusion will brook no argument : The whole movement to ward-off a cataclysmic change in the earth's climate, by seeking to radically reduce the man-made emissions of CO2, is nothing more than a bullying tactic by a bunch of oddballs fronting a global-warming industry.

Let's wait and hear what the programme's makers have to say. For me ,there is a real possibility of the planet's environment being completely ruined by the human race,though probably not in my lifetime.However, what is more worrying and beyond doubt (I don't have to be a scientist to make a valid point on this) is what is happening as a result of human activities here and now, on earth. In China, there are many suburbs of cities and townships where the daily existence for many is a gasping and painful existence much like some English cities of the 19th century Industrial Revolution; or of Pittsburgh ,in the early 20th century ,with its coal and steel industries which generated the choking smog causing the street lights to be turned on at just turned midday every day. Those city workers that could afford a shirt often changed it twice a day, such was the grime in the air.In the UK,quite recently, the provisions of the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968 helped drive away the frequent and appalling city smogs,and so greatly improving air quality. Another example ,is the vastly improving air quality, and therefore quality of life, in Los Angeles, California, where until recently the fug hanging over the city's rush hour traffic was appalling. Man-made pollution is a sufficient scourge to be kept at bay. Unnecessary depletion and waste of natural resources are also to be deplored. We are running out of fossil fuels for energy.What happens next, if we do not have adequate alternative provision?

Climate change resulting from man-made degradation of the earth's environment has to be prevented.And low emission cars supports any steps to reduce carbon emissions.The near quarter of all CO2 emitted in the UK by our motor vehicles is contributing to a desperate situation facing the earth in the long run. Improved air quality and sustainability of energy supplies are in themselves imperatives, and essential for the tolerable future existence of all peoples throughout the world.

Will the C4 programme turn-up real evidence in support of the contention that the 'greening'of motoring,for instance, is a waste of time, and somehow a front for unworthy causes? The recent widely supported Stern report suggests this is unlikely. However,what would be a tragedy is if a theory about the Sun and its changing effect on our climate, should of itself provide an excuse to those political or commercial interests who, for short term gain,or through apathy,will cause a reversal of the trend of continuing to introduce improvements and greater efficiencies in the use of scarce resources,in waste disposal ,and in reducing environmental pollution. Whose vested interests are vying to hold sway now?

More to follow in later posts, after next Thursday.

Oh,and please don't forget the Low Down On Low Emission Vehicles In London,details at the Green-Car-Guide


Copyright 2006-2007 M P Ryan and CFM(Services)Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Environmentally-friendly F1 racing.What on earth is going on?

This does seem a contradiction in terms ,with roaring monsters hurtling round a racing circiut, belching out all those harmful emissions ,and using-up fuel at an alarming rate.Well some things are changing at Honda Racing."We're not saying F1 is 'green',"says John Kingston,Environment Manager, Honda(UK)."But the fans can really make a difference.If just one per cent of the people who watch F1 were to change one light bulb for an energy saving one,this would save 38,000 tonnes of CO2- the same amount of carbon emissions produced by the Honda Racing F1 team over three seasons."

So what on earth are they actually doing to help protect the planet? Well, apart from Honda constantly striving to be innovative in its technolology and its thinking-it is at the forefront of developing a hydrogen fuel cell car-it is actively encouraging fans,sponsors,customers and members of the public to help address global environmental issues.But how...?

Honda are replacing the traditional advertising and sponsorship logos, which for so long have bedecked F1 racing cars. Instead the new Honda RA107 F1 car will have as its complete livery an image of the earth to be built-up of pixels,each pixel to be the name of a member of the public who has pledged to improve the environment by a change in lifestyle and also donate to an environmental charity. This practical and exciting new concept is supported by Honda's existing partners ,who are being joined for the 2007 season by by other leading global brands,including e.g.IBM and Fila.

More...

Premiere Products backs polished performance from Prius

84 year-old company, Premiere Polish Co Limited,is switching its sales fleet of 45 cars to Toyota Prius ,so proving it to be an exception to the old saying that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Cheltenham based Premiere,trading as Premiere Products, manufactures and distributes chemicals and machines for commercial and industrial cleaning and maintenance. Although it has a well established environmental policy,Premiere see the significant move primarily as a cost saving exercise. Also ,having decided to specify an environmentally-friendly hybrid car, the Prius was the only one with the appropriate loadspace. "As a hybrid vehicle, the Prius is reported to be hugely economical in terms of fuel consumption,"said Assistant Managing Director, Andrew Marquand,shortly after taking delivery of the first of the new silver cars."W'ell also make savings on Road Fund Licences,on congestion charging in London and any other cities where it is imposed, and on taxation based on vehicle emissions for the company and for the individual drivers."

For the sceptics who still believe that the benefits of reducing exhaust emissions to help save the environment are not worth having, Premiere's positive experience suggests that the benefits to pocket and company bottom line are certainly worthwhile.Of course here, at low emission cars, we see the move as beneficial on both counts,thus:saving cash and the planet.

Last word to Andrew Marquand:"There's been quite a lot of excitement among the drivers, because [the Prius] is an innovative car and the whole driving experience is quite different."