Chevy’s Volt


Forget the current breed of hybrid, the Chevy Volt is a new approach. It’s got a 3 cylinder 1.0 liter turbocharged gas (E85) engine attached to a 53 KW generator, batteries that store 16KWh, and a 120KW (160hp) electric motor. The gas powered motor is not attached to the drivetrain, only to the generator. The range on pure electric is 40 miles, when the generator kicks it, it extends to 640 miles. It plugs into standard 110v power for recharge. If only they’d stop trying to make things look futuristic and just make a sensible car design with this power train, I would think they’re on to something…


Technorati Tags: Electric | Car | Hybrid

You know fuel prices are going up and carbon emissions standards are tightening when we return to a prior age to harvest technology. Now admittedly, the picture above isn’t your garden variety xebec (great scrabble word btw,) but it is interesting that the hybrid technology of the 19th century is making a comeback.

This kind of reminds me of kite surfing technology wed to a cargo ship. Pretty different than the prior implementations that combined coal burning steam engines with traditional sailing ship technology. I’m looking forward to seeing one of these things pass by my window.


Technorati Tags: Sailing | Ship | Hybrid

Audi R10 Racing Diesel


When Rudolf Diesel patented his compression engine (air is compressed, the temperature rises, fuel is injected and ignites without a spark) I doubt he ever envisioned cars like the Audi above. The current generation of diesels are powerful and increasingly green as their emissions are treated. Combine that with Biodiesel fuel, and you’ve got a winning combination. Here’s an interesting article about this topic.


Technorati Tags: Diesel | Racing | Biodiesel

Agriculture is one thing this country has done well historically. It turns out, without a huge amount of hassle, we can use that agricultural prowess to “grow” our own fuel. Sound crazy? Perhaps, but something that’s happening today. In 1999, 500,000 gallons of biodiesel was produced in the US. In 2005, the volume was around 75 million gallons.



So what is biodiesel (mono alkyl esters) anyway? It’s a product of vegetable oil, methanol, and lye put through a process called transesterification. This yields usable fuel and a glycerin by-product. Turns out, it’s pretty trivial to produce on your own, there are many step by step guides, but this one is the clearest and most complete in my opinion.

Biodiesel works in any standard diesel engine and can be (and is) mixed with petrodiesel to get different properites. For instance, biodiesel is more viscous than standard petrodiesel and is more temperature sensitive (if you’re in the cold, you want a bio-petro mix most likely.) This fuel is for sale in retail locations with ratings like B20 (20% bio) to B100 (100% bio.)

With the crunch on fossil fuels, wouldn’t it be great if we could simply grow our way out of this mess? Here’s a great FAQ on the fuel.