DfT Acts On Co2

Today sees the launch of the ActOnCO2 government (Department for Transport) website designed to give car buyers on-line data on the lowest CO2 emission cars available on the market.This site at
www.dft.gov.uk/ActOnCO2 provides a listing of the lowest CO2 rated cars in each of the What Car? defined categories provided.This is tied into a colour-coded new car labelling scheme introduced in July 2005.The message being reinforced is low emissions equals low cost motoring, as a general rule.The information provided is in easily read tabular form for each car category ,and is derived from easy drop-down lists.You have to know what you are looking-for in type of car.It is not the most visually appealing presentation.

Sources of easily accessed information to cut down CO2 emissions are always to be welcomed, whether people will flock to use this particular facility only time will tell.There is a danger of information overload today, and as with all communications it is not always what is said that is paramount but what is actually heard by the target audience.

Overall,the site promotes sensible new car buying combined with a drive for smarter motoring - Smarter Driving Tips

Toyota's hybrid races into history

Back to the cutting-edge of racing cars!Last month, I reported to you(June 12th) the historical first bio-fuelled car win in a major British motorsport championship by the Aston Martin DBRS9.Following fast on the heels of my earlier report comes word of the Denso Toyota Supra HV-R which made history ,the weekend before,by winning the Tokashi 24-Hour race.With this feat,the Toyota became the first hybrid to win a competition.

Last year ,Toyota entered its first hybrid for the Tokashi.The Lexus GS450h made a creditable 17th place in the race.Based on the Supra GT raced in Japan's Supra GT events,this year's Toyota entrant took first spot.The Toyota engineers see such races as a development test bed for their production cars- the Toyota Prius uses a hybrid system- to achieve a lighter more efficient product.

Helping the Supra HV-R's hybrid system along were two technological advances.Firstly, instead of rechargeable batteries, a quick-charging capacitor system was incorporated.This was reckoned to be better suited to the repeated acceleration and deceleration necesssary under race conditions.Secondly,two electric in-wheel(front) motors, and one rear axle-mounted electric motor, enabled greater recovery of energy on deceleration and braking at high speeds.

The frequent technological advances which will continue to feed back into the production of cars for sale to the general public are extraordinary and exciting for future greener motorists.

Paul and Dom talk green cars on the One Show

Today I follow the theme of last Wednesday's post.Paul Clarke, founder of the Green-Car-Guide, took the opportunity on the BBC1 The One Show to talk to Dom,one of the show's team, about the relative mileage performances of three types of green car available to buy in the UK.To view this tv video segment,you should click here to go to
Green-Car-Guide.com

When Dom used less gas than Dim in the tv fuel CO2t challenge

Always good to see a general interest tv programme (BBC1 ,The One Show, 7 pm this evening) giving a slot over to fuel efficiency and low emission cars. Especially when that programme has as a guest, green car expert Green-Car-Guide's Paul Clarke.
First up in the programme we saw 'twin' brothers, Dom Littlewood (real) and Dim Littlewood (false character).

In identical cars doing the same distances, Dom (the sensible one) demonstrated how to drive efficiently - no heavy loads, no speeding, and so on. Dim showed how it should not be done - not checking out competitive petrol prices, driving with side windows open, speeding, driving with heavy boot loads,and so on. Dom proved over his dim brother that his expenditure on fuel was half that of his brother's. Good tips for all for saving money by greener driving .

Now in his turn,Paul explained to Dom the mileage benefits to be gained out of three green cars. First up was a hybrid (60 mpg),second the electric car (600 mpg), and third the bio-power car which can run on bio-ethanol (33 mpg). All three had good credentials as low emitters, but in terms of other features buyers look for in a car there were differences of cost to purchase and what one might call style features. One drawback of the bio-power is the lack of ethanol refuelling pumps in the country, but this is expected to change with demand. Still the message was well received. Dom eventually accepted that a flashy gas guzzler sport car was not for him and chose instead a ...bike? Presumably, because the economy would be greater depending on how far his little pumping legs would take him. 'til next time,then. Happy motoring.

You May Soon Be Able To ZAP!Your CO2 Car Emissions

Last week or two, we have been looking at the currently available, and therefore in production, sub-120 g/kms. So for a moment, lets go back from the sublime to the 'cor blime'(or is it?) and look across the 'pond' at what is coming round the corner in the world of the electric car.

ZAP! (above image from ZAP! site) is constructing the ZAP-X electric SUV possibly to come out in US at the end of 2008.Simultaneously,Zap are working on a sedan derivative of the ZAP-X. This version is expected to achieve a top speed of 100 mph and 100 miles on one charge.The intriguing aspect is the target price:$30,000. The SUV's price is still to be agreed.If,it goes into production (there are many sceptical on likely price-see below)this will be no mere run-about.At 350 miles to the charge - 10 minutes to top-up- the ZAP-X is expected to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 4.8 seconds, its 644 bhp delivering a top speed of 155 mph from its all-wheel hub motors.By any stretch, this is a high performance crossover electric car.Its credentials were enhanced when Zap enlisted the talents of Lotus Engineering to produce the lightweight aluminium body design and strong chassis. Will it work commercially and deliver- we'll have to wait and see. Pretty though!

Accordiing to CNET News,Ian Wright at Wrightspeed,a motor startup, is building his own dream electric machines.He has decided,though, to concentrate his energies on concepts for super cars likely to cost above $100,000 . His X1 prototype will only ever be a concept from which to develop future production cars. In his view, say CNET News," You can't make cheap electric cars.You can now make good cars,but not cheap ones."

The price debate rages around the lithium-ion batteries essential to the electric car.Again ,let's wait and see if Zap have done their sums right when they take to the road with the SUV (and the sedan?)as a product for sale.

If you wish to follow the story why not go to the ZAP! site for further details.

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

Renault sign in with eCO2

Using the expertise gained in Brazil producing the FlexFuel adaptations of the Clio and Megane, Renault is to introduce into the UK for sale the 1.6 litre 16v Megane Hatch E85,at the end of this year.

This is Renault's first UK launch of a bioethanol car and is part of its commitment,called eCO2,to produce environmentally-friendly vehicles for whole of life, including end of life recycling.In the challenges facing manufacturers to reduce CO2 emissions, Renault believe biofuels will have a major role.For More about bioethanol (E85)

The New Peugeot Urban Move is a 107+2

Continuing the theme of sub-120 g/km performers, my post today is about a new Peugeot 107 special edition model. Why 107+2? Well, it emits a mere 109 g/km. It is another in the unsung hero class of sub-120s that are expected to be exempt from the London congestion charge if Ken Livingstone's proposals go through for next year.

Although a petrol, this C1 ,with a top speed of 100mph, has a possible combined consumption of 68.8 mpg from its 1.0 litre engine, and clearly demonstates what can be squeezed out of the 'old conventional' ( or non- hybrid) cars. Already a sales winner the 107 Urban is enhanced in the Urban Move model with many extras, including air conditioning and rev counter. This,though, is a small and light 3- and 5-door car, but at £7,995 it represents excellent value.

Peugeot continues to build on success with the 207 SW

The 207 is a best selling car in Europe. In its new estate, it will continue to be highly economical (at 60.1 mpg for the two 1.6 litre HDi diesels,which will be environmentally-friendly with a CO2 emission rating of just 125g/km.)

Although not quite in the sub-120g/km club, this new model will still appeal to customers who are looking for a little more space and lower carbon emissions. This 207 SW will provide more headroom and interior space from the same wheelbase as the 207 five door hatchback, yielding an extra length of 119mm and height of 38mm.

New cars join the sub-120 g/km CO2 Club
Here are three new cars available to buy now, which each produce less than 120g/km of CO2.At this level of carbon emissions all three cars beat the 130 g/km 2012 target set by the European Commission.

• Skoda 1.4litre TDIPD (80bhp) 120 g/km
• Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 CDTI 75 P5 119 g/km
• Mini Cooper D (64.2 m.p.g) 118 g/km

Benefits for this level of carbon emissions, briefly:

• tax disc reduced cost to £35 (£115)
• in 2008 proposal to eliminate London Congestion Charge
• 40% taxpayer to save £237 p.a. in 2008/09

Further details on these cars can be found on Green-Car-Guide.com

New Saab 9-3 range flexes an engine

The new Saab 9-3 range introduces more powerful (and economical) diesel and petrol engines.Importantly, a BioPower flex-fuel engine will continue to be available with this range.
The BioPower option will be capable of delivering 200 hp running on bioethanol E85 fuel.

With styling , said by Saab to have been inspired by their award-winning AeroX concept car (good to see great ideas eventually being turned into reality), the new range has a sporty feel. And, at the heart of the new cars sits the new state-of-the-art all-wheel drive system, the Saab XWD ,or 'cross-wheel drive'. Fully automatic, the system is designed to optimise handling and stability in all driving conditions.

Although I enjoy seeing the eco- friendly concept cars coming through to be 'aired', and ,also the progress of the now several cars in production running on green energy, it is to the improvements in the 'old' engines and technologies we can still turn ,where further and significant gains can still be achieved in reducing carbon emissions in the short term over the next few years, before the commercial introduction of electric, fuel cell, hydrogen driven cars and their like. As an example, the Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon with a 1.9-litre four cylinder diesel is projected as having a fuel consumption of 47.9 mpg.

So,it is the many diesel,petrol and hybrid models currently being produced, that are already achieving or closing-in on the carbon emission targets of 120 g/km, which I shall be looking more closely at over the next few weeks. We're still looking for efficiency and performance in reducing emissions.

You can find more technical and performance detail of the new Saab 9-3 range of cars at Green-Car-Guide.com

New biofuel with the power of petrol?

As well as energy efficient and well designed cars, I am always interested in what is going to power them in the future.So,from Amyris Biotechnologies, we possibly have an emerging alternative to petrol, which it is said will provide more energy than ethanol, although its basic production material is the same as for ethanol production in Brazil :sugar cane.

Assuming the world can produce enough sugar cane without exploiting the poorer countries and 'starving'global food production of essential arable land, can Amyris deliver, or is this just another good idea that will not work, or make any difference to the challenges facing us? John Melo, Amyris's chief executive clearly thinks his nearly petrol product will do the job.He expects his product to be in full production in 2010.

According to The Sunday Times (May 27, 2007),Amyris is a small biotechnology company based on the edge of Silicon Valley,and has many influential financial backers,including the Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation.The biofuel product however was discovered during work to find a cost effective treatment globally for malaria ( the purpose for which the investment had initially been made i.e. to bring "innovations in health and learning to the global community").

So what is this process all about? The clue is the use of microbes. Amyris claims to be "developing a large-scale fermentation process to renewably produce biofuels."

Time will tell if Amyris's work adds to the sum benefit from the many solutions that will eventually be required to meet our fuel requirements and help produce less harmful green house gases.One to watch.

timesonline
Amyris Biotechnologies

(c)Copyright.CFM(Services)Limited and M P Ryan.All rights reserved.

Aston Martin Bio-fuels its way into British Motorsport History

A bio-fuelled Aston martin DBRS9 became the first of its kind to win a major motorsport event in Britain.Driven By Lord Drayson and Jonny Cocker,the DBRS9 based on the DB9 roadcar won the British GT Championship leg at Snetterton, earlier this month.The car now leads the Championship.Lord Drayson said this showed that with a bio-fuel there need be no compromise in performance.The car which has, like the DB9, a six cylinder V12 engine, was built for Lord Drayson by the Prodrive-run Aston Martin Racing Team. Much more detail can obtained from Green-Car-Guide

The problem of how to bring more green cars quickly to the market was highlighted at the Eco-Friendly Vehicle Exhibition 2007. One of those presenting at the Exhibition was David Roberts,Chairman of Prodrive,and new owner of Aston Martin. He believed motorsport to be a solution,providing a showcase for new green technologies.His recent win in the bio-fuelled Aston Martin strongly supported this contention.

H2O OR NOT CO2, THAT IS THE ANSWER(TO CLIMATE CHANGE)?

With apologies to the Bard for a rather poor parody of one his most famous quotations.
On the serious message ,we can now realistically start to look to using hydrogen rather than carbon,for zero emissions motoring.I say start because BMW has developed a series 7 Hydrogen car that drives like an ordinary petrol series 7.Indeed the Hydrogen 7 can operate with either a conventional engine or its hydrogen drive,changing from one to the other at the press of a button. We are some time away from this being a regular production car: although it clearly works okay, there are still technical hurdles (reducing the weight of the fuel tank holding liquid nitrogen for instance), avilability of supplies (one hydrogen 'pump' in UK at present ,for example! More coming on stream soon). It is still one of viable mid-term viable alternatives to the petrol engine.Its energy input sourced by water,and producing only water as an output, has got to be like finding the Holy Grailor, similar.

Tonight at 8 pm ,there is a screening of Tonight With Trevor McDonald on ITV with some coverage and insight into this extraordinary car and its development;also, a look to the future of other green fuels ,and a 'race' across London with green cars ,are expected be featured.

Another One Million Target - This Time Its the Hybrids

Having posted last the one million annual target set by Ford for its highly efficient new range of diesels, Toyota have announced that the Prius will be profitable by 2010 when the number produced of its groundbreaking green cars will reach one million annually.Toyota expect to bring out a new Prius in late 2008 or early 2009.A first will be the introduction of a lithium-ion battery. Though not confirmed ,it is believed in the industry that the battery is ready for production.Toyota is determined with its powertrain to satisfy customer demand for cost savings and to meet green issues.

Further details at Green Car Guide

In US Diesels and Hybrids to slug it out for green and commercial supremacy

UBS/Ricardo research suggests that by 2012 diesel may have overtaken hybrid in the US as the preferred technology for cars of an acceptable price and also meeting the required standards on gas emissions.The research points to a trend leading to diesel(1.5 million units) and hybrid cars (1.2 million units) combined representing 15% of the light vehicle sector of the automotive industry, by 2012.In Europe diesel is already top-dog.

This trend will have supported the decision by Ford to invest £130 million at its Dagenham facility to produce a new line for its low carbon 1.4 and 1.6 litre Duratorq TDCi turbo diesel engines - an annual output of 1,000,000 by 2009 is the target.

Reducing total car emissions will continue to require a mix of products using many different solutions.Diesel is probably not going to meet all the criteria in the long run, and we shall continue to see in these lec posts for some time to come,reports of the many twists and turns of progress, as manufacturers strive to the find acceptable and sustainable alternative fuels and innovotive technologies.

A Ford Fiesta fitted with a new Dagenham 1.6-litre engine produces 116 grammes of CO2 per kilometre.Getting there.

The Iconic Mini Just Got Greener

As promised, here is the retro image from a brochure that I happened to have in my attic for many years (I also have a 'cutting' from the Liverpool Echo showing the Everton players Joe Royle and Alan Ball in 1989 in front of an opposition goalmouth - as now,Everton was a good side then). In the late 60s, it was more your Led Zeppelin and leaded petrol than climate change and reducing carbon emissions, but style and good design have always been attractive, and we are to be blessed with a new range of minis forty years later which are both stylish, cool and with low emissions.

Classic Morris Mini Mark II Moments from the Attic

When emptying my loft recently, I came across a brochure which must have been there since 1968/69.It is a colour folder ,11'X 8"folded,22"X16" unfolded,on The New Morris Mini Mk II,full colour illustrated.Why is this of any interest? Well ,apart from the fact that it is now a very collectible item ( two copies are currently on eBay for sale), it is also a great lead into the latest generation of minis which are soon going to wow customers. These latest minis will clean-up with a revised engine range and technological revisions, when production starts in August 2007. The mini hatch Cooper D (seen above)will have CO2 emissions of 104 g/km and return an incredible 72.4 mpg.

This astonishing performance will be achieved without recourse to alternative fuels or hybrid technology- a low emission car is a low emission car,after all.

If you would like even more details of the revised mini models,these can be found at the Green Car Guide where there is a test drive report.

If you would like to see more about the grand daddy of this iconic family of motor cars, I am posting a picture from the brochure next.

Act Now On CO2 You Can Save Money By Greener Driving


low emission cars is supporting the government initiative Act on CO2 details here

Over at the Green-Car-Guide you can benefit from Free Driving Tips


You can also take a look at the most environmentally friendly cars currently available to the UK motorist to buy. The Guide will help you to understand what is on offer. It's fun,too!

Biofuels V Food : The Great Global Challenge?

There is talk of the inflationary effect of rising food prices in some developed countries notably the US,UK and New Zealand , driven by the diversion of corn products into alternative fuels for our cars. In the US, for example ,food costs have risen by 7% ,in the first quarter of this year.However,the bottom-line is we need low emission cars.

For corn you can read: soya bean,rapeseed,flaxseed , sugar cane and other renewable crops that can be used for producing the alternative fuels to oil products, like petrol and diesel. All these crops need to grow somewhere. Sometimes, but not always, crops for renewable energy can be grown in areas ,or on land ,not previously used extensively for agricultural purposes. However, when the underutilised capacity has gone ,this is when the serious decisions have to be made. Biofuels or food? Corn for food consumption or for the manufacture of alternative fuels.This is economics on the front line. Supply and demand will rule the day.


Deforestation (in Brazil), or the switch from cereals to ethanol production in the US , will probably continue apace as vast areas are cultivated to meet the demands for ethanol production. I shall be looking in more detail into the Biofuels v Food Challenge in future as part of the whole complex debate about the future of propulsion for cars. In the meantime I have found some relevant useful information at WIMS (see its blog post for 21st May)

If we need low emission cars, we must continue to look at all the options for powering them.
This may help to encourage the commercial development of (say) electric or hydrogen cars.
We must also not overlook the major immediate improvements that can (and are being) made to the performance and emission reduction of petrol and diesel driven cars.

In my next post we pick-up on a government initiative to encourage us to drive 'cleaner'.

Some BMWs just got even greener


BMW's launch of the revised models of both the 1 series and the 5 series, reminds me that reducing the level of total emissions from cars significantly rests not on any one solution but a balanced use of many solutions.For example, the conversion of all cars to biofuels is not the total answer to removing the car's contributory threat to climate change. I am interested in the current 'biofuels versus food' debate ,but this is for another day,soon. What BMW demonstrate is that a great deal can still be done to improve the performance of petrol and diesel cars of quality,significantly reducing emissions and increasing fuel consumption.

The 1 series is:

• now available in a 3 door version;and
• the 118d (the lower powered 2 litre diesel engine) can yield over 60mpg
• and CO2 emissions of just 123g/km
• this means emissions cut by upto 21% and fuel consumption by upto 24%

So, BMW believe that more environmental benefits can be teased out adopting its 'Efficient Dynamics ' system to describe the improved energy efficient innovations and rear-drive approach.

If you would like more information on the 1 series (and also the 5 series), for different engine sizes, petrol or diesel etc., you should go to the Green Car Guide site.