US Climate Action Report to UN Projects 4% Growth in Total US GHG Emissions to 2020
From 2005 through 2020, total US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are projected to rise by 4% under a “with measures” scenario (but without a cap-and-trade program and other complementary policies), from 7,109 Tg CO2 Eq. to 7,416 Tg CO2 Eq., while the US GDP is projected to grow by 40%, according to the fifth National Communication on US climate change actions submitted by the US Department of State to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The report projects that transportation-related CO2 emissions will drop 1.5% to 1,853 Tg CO2 Eq. from 2005 to 2020. This calculation, as with the other energy-related sources of CO2 emissions in the report, is based on updates of the US Energy Information Administration’s AEO 2009 report. The transportation calculation noes not include the implementation of the new national light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas standards (earlier post) or other coming regulatory measures.
<!––>The projections represent a “business-as-usual” scenario that incorporates major policies in place as of 31 March 2009, including the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) and ARRA, as well as a number of other federal and state measures. In this sense, the “business-as-usual” projections equal the “with measures” scenario called for under the UNFCCC Guidelines for Annex 1 Communications.
The submission of the document, also called the US Climate Action Report 2010, is a requirement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The US submits a National Communication to the UN every 3-5 years. The United States released previous Climate Action Reports in 1994, 1997, 2002, and 2006…(more)
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http://www.greencarcongress.com/2010/06/car-20100603.html#more
The Future of Trucking: Pike Research Forecasts 300,000 Medium- and Heavy-Duty Hybrid Trucks and Buses Worldwide by 2015; 63% CAGR
Pike Research forecasts that worldwide sales of medium- (MD) and heavy-duty (HD) hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric trucks are will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 63%, with sales of almost 300,000 vehicles during the period from 2010 to 2015.
While North America is currently the leading region for hybrid trucks, Asia Pacific will take the lead in 2011, driven by growth in both Japan and China, according to the report. Pike Research forecasts that the United States will remain the largest singular market for hybrid trucks and buses between now and 2015, followed closely by China.
Within the past couple of years, manufacturers have significantly increased their development of hybrid electric and hydraulic hybrid drivetrains for the medium- and heavy-duty truck segments. These hybrid vehicles promise a reduction in fuel consumption between 5% and 50% depending on design, which will help reduce costs and emissions, making hybrid trucks more and more attractive for fleet managers… (more)
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Palladium/Iron-Platinum Core/Shell Nanoparticle Catalysts Promising for Practical Fuel Cell Applications
Chemists at Brown University have synthesized novel core and shell palladium/iron-platinum (Pd/FePt) nanoparticles that use far less platinum yet perform more efficiently and last longer than commercially available pure-platinum catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in hydrogen fuel cells.
In testing, the current density generated from a 5 nm core/1 nm shell Pd/FePt nanoparticle (NP) was around 12 times higher than that from a commercial platinum catalyst. The 5 nm/1 nm Pd/FePt NPs had no noticeable change in morphology after the ORR test and 10,000 potential cycles and the core/shell structure was maintained. These nanoparticles, the researchers concluded, are promising new catalysts for practical fuel cell applications.
<!––>The oxygen reduction reaction takes place at the fuel cell’s cathode, creating water as its only waste. The cathode is also where up to 40% of a fuel cell’s efficiency is lost, so “this is a crucial step in making fuel cells a more competitive technology with internal combustion engines and batteries,” said Shouheng Sun, professor of chemistry at Brown and co-author of the paper published online 24 May in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Article Source: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2010/05/brown-20100526.html#more
The New Battery: CODA to Site Automotive Li-ion Battery Manufacturing Facility in Ohio Pending DOE Loan
CODA, a California-based electric car and battery company, plans to build an automotive-grade lithium ion battery system manufacturing facility in Ohio. CODA is considering several sites within Ohio for the facility, which could employ more than 1,000 initially. Construction of the facility is contingent upon finalizing an incentive package with the state of Ohio and the approval of an application for a Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan (ATVM) to be submitted soon. Lio Energy Systems, a joint venture between CODA and Lishen Power Battery, would operate the facility. Lio Energy Systems currently operates a one-million square foot facility in Tianjin, China with the production capacity to produce more than 20,000 battery packs per year. The proposed facility in Ohio would replicate this facility. CODA will be the majority and control shareholder of the US venture. CODA is slated to begin delivering its all-electric car in the fourth quarter of this year and anticipates that it can deliver more than 14,000 vehicles to customers by the end of 2011.
Article Source: Green Car Congress
Obama and Automakers Looking for Even Tougher Fuel Economy Regulations in 2025
Just about a month ago U.S. automakers, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency — working in coordination with the White House — adopted landmark regulations to relatively quickly raise the average new car fuel efficiency to 35 mpg by 2016. That process took a year to accomplish, but it represented an amazing shift on the part of automakers to lower their resistance to such a national program of emissions and fuel economy regulations… you might even say they were giddy about it.
Over the last year, not only have the automakers embraced the concept of a national program, they've beenpushing for even higher fuel economy standards in 2017 and beyond. To me, this is truly astounding. And just today, the two federal agencies and automakers got together at the White House to put their money where their mouth is and begin the process of addressing fuel economy and emissions regulations through 2025.
<a href="http://gas2.org/2010/05/21/obama-and-automakers-looking-for-even-tougher-fuel-economy-regulations-in-2025/-8039″ target=”_blank” style=”color: rgb(42, 93, 176);”>(more…)
Clean Diesel: A New Era of Green Cars
Whatever notions you have about diesel cars, forget them. Long gone are the days of smelly, black plumes of smoke, noisy engines, slow acceleration, and sometimes-finicky operation. Diesel technology has evolved significantly in recent years, making diesel cars a strong green transportation option.
Modern diesel powertrains are quiet, clean, smooth, reliable, powerful, durable and economical. A diesel vehicle will usually cost more than a comparable gasoline vehicle, but the diesel engine’s more robust design means that, with proper maintenance, it should last considerably longer. Plus, some clean diesel cars qualify for a federal tax credit. For more information, see 2010 Clean Diesel Cars, Trucks and SUVs, and visit www.fueleconomy.gov.
For generations, diesel power has been the best choice for work-intensive applications, with no other engine delivering as much stump-pulling power. What’s evolved is how the engine compresses and ignites the fuel to propel the vehicle — a change that has capitalized on diesel’s inherent advantages while virtually eliminating the traits that previously made diesel dirty.
Diesel enthusiasts now contend that a diesel car delivers fuel economy on par with that of a gasoline-electric hybrid, and also offers a better driving experience. (See Clean Diesel: Greener Than the Prius? to find out how clean diesel vehicles measure up with gasoline and hybrid vehicles in mpg, price, greenhouse gas emissions, annual fuel cost, and more.)
How Diesels Are Different
Aside from using diesel fuel rather than gasoline, diesel engines operate in a fundamentally different way than gasoline engines. A diesel engine doesn’t have a spark plug to ignite the fuel/air mixture in the engine. Instead, a diesel engine ignites its fuel via the heat created when the fuel/air mixture inside the cylinder is compressed sufficiently. These high-compression engines are controlled by the timing and duration of the fuel injection events rather than by the firing of spark plugs, as with gas engines.
It used to be that you could tell the difference between a gasoline engine and a diesel engine just by the sound. But the latest clean diesel cars — even those with four-cylinder engines — are quiet and smooth, with only a hint of the old telltale diesel clatter when they’re driven at certain speeds or under certain conditions. Luxury diesel models are nearly silent.
Diesel automakers have used two technologies to deliver better, sleeker performance: turbocharging and direct fuel injection. Audi and Volkswagen’s clean diesel designation, TDI, stands for turbocharged direct injection. Modern injectors meter fuel quite precisely, injecting diesel fuel into the combustion chamber as many as seven times for each power stroke of the engine. By adding injections at different times — rather than injecting the fuel all at once, as was formerly the case — diesel engines run smoothly and quietly. This also increases fuel economy and lowers tailpipe emissions.
Another rub against older diesel cars was that they were slow, with lethargic acceleration that sometimes made freeway merges challenging. That’s no longer true. New diesel cars have a bit less horsepower than their gasoline counterparts, but they make up for that with more torque. Think of torque as the get-up or pulling power of the engine, which impacts how the vehicle accelerates. Diesel engines deliver significant power at low revolutions per minute (rpm), whereas most gasoline engines deliver their best power at higher rpm. So with a diesel vehicle, abundant torque is available right off of idle. Torque is partly why modern diesels are not only powerful, but also fun to drive.
What Makes Diesel Clean
What triggered diesel’s recent evolution was the 2006 federal mandate that all highway-grade diesel fuel sold in the United States have sulfur content of no more than 15 parts per million. Ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel allows automakers to incorporate more sophisticated aftertreatment devices in the cars’ exhaust systems. Previously, high levels of sulfur in diesel fuel would have poisoned the advanced catalytic converter needed to scrub out pollutants. Modern diesels that use these devices are truly “clean” diesels — meeting even California’s emissions standards, which are the strictest in the country.
To publicly demonstrate just how clean and soot-free modern diesel cars are, auto industry representatives hold white handkerchiefs to the tailpipe while the engine is running. Minutes later, the white hanky is still white — not a trace of soot or other emissions. This is made possible by catalytic converters designed to reduce emissions, a particulate filter and, in larger engines, a final catalyst that uses a small amount of ammonia from an injection of urea solution to minimize nitrogen oxide emissions. The diesel particulate filter is an innovative device — it literally traps harmful particulates, then burns them off, producing carbon dioxide and water vapor. See our How Clean Diesel Works diagram for a visualization of this technology.
The Advantages of Diesel
Fuel economy is the primary reason many folks consider diesel. Compared with a similar-sized gasoline engine, a diesel engine delivers about 30 percent better fuel economy, which also means roughly 30 percent less carbon dioxide emissions. While diesel fuel is more expensive than regular gasoline, diesel’s better mileage saves money in the long run. (See Clean Diesel: Greener Than the Prius? for an in-depth look at how clean diesel vehicles measure up with gasoline and hybrid vehicles in mpg, price, greenhouse gas emissions, annual fuel cost, and more.)
Another plus of such superior fuel economy is the increased range between fill-ups. Compared with a gas car, a diesel car requires up to one-third fewer stops at the pump throughout the life of the vehicle.
With the exception of a few poorly designed diesel engines produced by General Motors in the late 1970s and early ’80s (which were basically V8 gasoline engines that had been converted to diesel), diesels generally have a long service life. If properly cared for, it’s not uncommon for a diesel car to be reliable for more than 300,000 miles.
The increasing desire to wean America off foreign oil also plays in diesel’s favor. True, diesel fuel is still a petroleum product, but using 30 percent less of it has a considerable impact on how much we buy. Diesel engines are also compatible with biofuels, which can be derived from domestic sources. Most new diesel cars are certified for use with B5, a mix of 5 percent biodiesel and 95 percent petrodiesel. B20 (20 percent biodiesel) is an option in some diesel cars that are more than a few years old. While automakers would like to allow the use of higher blends of biodiesel, there is currently no universal standard for biodiesel that would allow sophisticated engines to be tuned to accept different blends.
Clean Diesel Options
Chrysler, Ford and General Motors have diesels available in full-size, heavy-duty pickup trucks. Over the past few decades, the rising popularity of these trucks has made diesel fuel widely available such that it’s no longer necessary to go to a truck stop to find a diesel pump.
As for clean diesel cars and SUVs, the pool of options is growing, with German automakers leading the charge. Volkswagen currently offers a clean diesel version of its Jetta model (30 city mpg, 42 highway mpg), which is available as a sedan or station wagon. (See “The Volkswagen Jetta: How Does 58 MPG Sound?” below.) The Volkswagen Touareg SUV is rated at 18 city mpg and 25 highway mpg. Volkswagen has also reintroduced a diesel version of its Golf hatchback (30 city mpg, 42 highway mpg).
The Q7 SUV from Audi (17 city mpg, 25 highway mpg) is now available in the United States. Also from Audi is the smaller, superefficient A3 hatchback (30 city mpg, 42 highway mpg), which was recently named the 2010 Green Car of the Year by Green Car Journal.
Both BMW and Mercedes-Benz now offer clean diesel technology in their upscale sedans and SUVs. BMW has the sporty 335d sedan (23 city mpg, 36 highway mpg) and X5 SUV (19 city mpg, 26 highway mpg), while Mercedes-Benz is offering its BlueTEC clean diesel engines in its GL350, ML350 and R350 SUVs. (See our 2010 Clean Diesel Cars, Trucks and SUVs chart for much more information on these and other diesel vehicles.)
Asian automakers Honda and Nissan are eyeing the American diesel market as well. Expect Honda to unveil a clean diesel version of the Accord in the future.
Most major automakers already sell diesel models around the world. In Europe, where fuel prices have been much higher for many years, diesels are generally more popular than gasoline cars. See What Drives the Demand for Diesel? for more on the Europe/United States diesel divide.
Clean diesel cars are likely to grow in popularity, particularly if gasoline prices remain unstable. While they can be a bit more expensive upfront, a diesel will offer a higher resale value when it’s time to trade. Best of all, diesel cars offer superior fuel economy and durability. Not only is clean diesel here to stay, it enriches green car options for everyone.
The Volkswagen Jetta: How Does 58 MPG Sound?
Volkswagen didn’t like the way its 2009 Jetta TDI performed in the EPA mileage tests (29 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway). So the automaker had an independent lab test the Jetta’s fuel economy, and it calculated a rating of 38 city mpg and 44 highway mpg.
But to really illustrate just how efficient the Jetta TDI can be, Volkswagen asked the husband-and-wife driving team of John and Helen Taylor to use their fuel-efficient driving techniques to set a Guinness world record for mileage. The Taylors drove a course that covered the lower 48 states, totaling more than 9,000 miles. They averaged 58.82 mpg — an amazing 7 mpg better than the old record.
When I put numerous tanks of ultra-low sulfur diesel through a 2009 model, with a conservative driving style, I was able to average an mpg in the high 40s to low 50s. My best effort yielded nearly 55 mpg. Even if you drive this car without regard for fuel economy, mileage rarely drops below 40 mpg. Plus, with the Jetta’s 14.5-gallon fuel tank, it’s possible to push 600 miles of steady freeway cruising before refueling.
But fuel economy isn’t the Jetta TDI’s only strength. This car is a roomy, five-passenger sedan with a large trunk. It’s fun to drive, too, thanks to tight, responsive handling.
The 2010 Jetta TDI is priced at $24,510 (including destination fee), and qualifies for a federal tax credit of up to $1,300.
Article Source http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Transportation/Clean-Diesel-Fuel-Economy.aspx
YRC Worldwide Enters Into Note Purchase Agreement for $70 Million in New Capital
Proceeds to Satisfy Remaining 2010 Note Obligations;Remaining Proceeds to Provide Working Capital
OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Feb 11, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ — YRC Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq: YRCW) today reported that it has entered into definitive agreements with investors who have agreed to purchase $70 million in new unsecured convertible notes in a private placement. The company will use the proceeds from the issuance of these new notes to satisfy its remaining 2010 note obligations, with any excess proceeds available to be used for general corporate purposes. The new notes have a term of four years with an interest rate of 6%, which is initially payable in shares of the company's common stock.
The company expects the transaction to be fully funded into an escrow at closing to satisfy each of the company's two maturity obligations in 2010. The closing of the sale of the new notes is subject to a number of conditions, including the conversion of the company's preferred stock into common stock. The company expects that the closing would occur shortly after shareholder approval to increase the company's authorized shares to permit the preferred stock conversion. The company is seeking this approval at the upcoming special shareholder meeting on February 17, 2010. Upon approval, the company would issue the new notes in two tranches. The first tranche, $49.8 million, will be issued and funded out of the escrow at closing. The proceeds of the first tranche will fully satisfy the remaining maturity of the 8 1/2% Guaranteed Notes due April 15, 2010 (the "USF Notes"). The timing of the issuance and funding of the second $20.2 million tranche is conditioned upon the conclusion of the litigation involving the disputed put rights for the outstanding 5% and 3.375% contingent convertible notes that were not tendered in the recently completed debt-for-equity exchange. The company intends to continue to vigorously pursue removal of the put rights, and, if the company is successful, the remaining $20.2 million will become available to the company from the escrow for working capital purposes; otherwise, the escrow will fund the proceeds to satisfy the 5% contingent convertible notes that exercise a put right on August 8, 2010.
"We are pleased to announce this important step to satisfy our remaining 2010 note obligations," stated Bill Zollars, Chairman and CEO of YRC Worldwide. "Upon the closing of this funding, our management team will be able to focus on operational improvements without the financial overhang related to these debt maturities that have concerned our customers in recent months. Both the company and our customers will be able to put this distraction behind us with the completion of this financing."
The new notes will be convertible into shares of common stock at an initial conversion price of $0.43, reflecting a premium to the common stock price implied by the volume weighted average price of the company's Class A Preferred Stock over the last ten days and since its inception. Under certain conditions, the company may, at its election, force early conversion of the notes into common stock. Furthermore, upon any conversion of the notes, the company will make an additional payment amount in shares of the company's common stock equal to the value of the remaining interest payments calculated through maturity. The maximum number of shares of common stock that can be issued upon conversion, for restricted interest, for make whole premiums or otherwise is limited to no more than 19.9% of the company's common stock as of the date the company first issues the notes. To the extent any shares of common stock are restricted from being issued to holders in respect of this limitation, they will not receive any cash or other consideration in lieu of shares.
Private Placement of the Notes
The convertible notes offered in the private placement have not been registered under the Securities Act or state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This notice shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words "will," "expects," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The closing of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including (among others) shareholder approval of the increase in the number of the company's authorized shares, which, in turn, would permit the conversion of the company's Class A Preferred Stock into company common stock, other usual and ordinary conditions to closing and, with respect to $20.3 million of the new notes, a determination of the outcome of the company's litigation with respect to its outstanding 5% and 3.375% contingent convertible notes as described above.
YRC Worldwide Inc., a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., is one of the largest transportation service providers in the world and the holding company for a portfolio of successful brands including YRC, YRC Reimer, YRC Glen Moore, YRC Logistics, New Penn, Holland and Reddaway. YRC Worldwide has the largest, most comprehensive network in North America, with local, regional, national and international capabilities. Through its team of experienced service professionals, YRC Worldwide offers industry-leading expertise in heavyweight shipments and flexible supply chain solutions, ensuring customers can ship industrial, commercial and retail goods with confidence. Please visit yrcw.com for more information.
SOURCE YRC Worldwide http://investors.yrcw.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=444346
