All About Alternate Fuel Vehicles (AFV)

GM is aiming to reclaim the lost mantle of automotive technology leadership from foreign auto makers
by Jeremy Cato,  Los Angeles, CA, December 13, 2007
Source: Globe and Mail
http://www.globeauto.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071212.wh-GMmain-1213/
GAStory/specialGlobeAuto/home

Byron McCormick — slightly balding and with glasses — looks just like your grandfather. This seems reasonable enough because he is a grandfather. And those grandkids have made him a true believer.  “I didn’t think about it with my kids and they’re grown up now. But I look at my grandchildren and I think to myself, the decisions we make today are going to directly affect them when they’re my age, say in 2050. We have to do this, to make these changes,” McCormick says over lunch at Electric Drive University.
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Paul J. Henderson, The Times,  December 07, 2007
http://www.canada.com/chilliwacktimes/story.html?
id=6d96f897-def8-4f6d-9e03-f1870dc69e61

With concerns on the rise over air pollution in the Fraser Valley, the City of Chilliwack took a step at Monday’s council meeting towards cleaning things up a little.  Council agreed to a staff recommendation to switch all city vehicles including fire department units currently fueled with petroleum diesel over to a biodiesel blend fuel.  “This is a very good idea,” Mayor Clint Hames said of the move at Monday’s meeting.  “I want to congratulate staff for going in this direction,” said Coun. Mel Folkman.
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By James Menzies
Victoria, B.C. Nov. 29, 2007
Source: TruckNews.com
http://www.trucknews.com/issues_TN/ISarticle.asp?id=76985&story_id=&issue=11282007&PC=TN

The government of B.C. has invested $500,000 towards greening the province’s fleets.  The money will go towards the Green Fleets B.C. program, which aims to reduce emissions from vehicles of all kinds and improve air quality.
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By Pat Sherman,November 16, 2007
Source: SignsonSanDiego.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20071116-9999-lz1mi16green.html

For North County residents hoping to rack up green mileage, the demand for alternative fuels surpasses the supply. Finding the stuff can be difficult.  Oceanside businessman Bill Cox owns a branch of 1-800-Got-Junk, which hauls trash from homes and businesses to a landfill or recycling center. When the Vancouver-based company invited its franchise owners to operate one of their trucks on biodiesel for a six-month test, Cox jumped at the chance.
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By Dee-Ann Durbin, BusinessWeek,
Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 14, 2007
Source: BusinessWeek.com
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8STQLN80.htm

Honda Motor Co. said Wednesday it will begin leasing its new FCX Clarity hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered car to a limited number of Southern California drivers this summer. Honda wouldn’t say how many vehicles will be leased. The company plans to offer a three-year lease with a $600 monthly payment. The low-slung, FCX Clarity sedan was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show.  Honda also is developing a home fueling station that uses a home’s existing natural gas supply to produce hydrogen. The automaker now has such a fueling station on its research and design campus in Torrance.
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Sharon Terlep / The Detroit News /Nov. 14, 2007
Source: Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071114/AUTO04/711140411

General Motors Corp. will make Chevrolet, its best-selling brand, the center of an urgent attempt to cast the automaker as a progressive, environmentally friendly company to consumers worldwide. GM, in an uphill battle to cultivate a green image, will use an appearance today at the eco-centric Los Angeles Auto Show to prove it has the products and technological know-how to back up Chevy as an Earth-friendly brand. “In the past, we haven’t told our story as well as we could,” said Larry Burns, GM’s vice president of research and development. “And this is a competitive game.”
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Oct 20, 2007
Source: Energy Bangla.com
http://www.energybangla.com/article_det.asp?aId=774

4th International Conference & Exhibition CNG Conex 2007 will be held on 17-18 November 2007at Karachi Expo Centre with the objective to promote CNG as an alternative and environment friendly fuel in the Country and promotion of CNG conversation of heavy vehicle especially urban transport to protect environment. The Conference & Exhibition will be inaugurated by Federal Minister of Petroleum and Secretary Petroleum is expected to be Chief Guest at the concluding session. This was stated by Naeem Qureshi Chairman Organizing Committee Malik Khuda Buksh, Chairman CSOAP A. Sami Khan President CNG Dealers Association at a joint press Conference at a local hotel.
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by David Miles, 29th October 2007
Source: Motortorque.com
http://motortorque.askaprice.com/news/auto-0710/huge-growth-in-green-vehicles-during-2007.asp
Sales of ‘alternatively fuelled’ vehicle in the UK grew by 82 per cent in the first nine months of 2007 and the forecast from The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders is they will amount to around 17,000 sales in total this year.  It might not sound many when we consider the UK’s new car market this year will be over 2.3 million vehicles. In 2006 UK sales of such vehicles totalled fewer than 10,000 units so the growth to an expected 17,000 registrations is significant. Registrations of such vehicles year to date are 13,387 against 7,350 for the same period last year. (more…)

By Cesar C. Villariba Jr., Inquirer,
Manila, Philippines, 12 Nov 2007

The first fleet of “Clean” buses is now rolling on the roads of Metro Manila. Marked “Hapi Bus,” the colorful vehicles have been plying the Manila/Cubao to Laguna/Batangas routes since Oct. 24 in a campaign to promote clean air in the heavily polluted metropolis.  Each capable of ferrying a maximum of 55 passengers, the buses run on compressed natural gas (CNG) supplied by the Philippines’ own gas fields off Palawan. Using energy from compressed natural gas results in zero toxic gas emissions and, thus, a clean air environment, says Nicky Hidalgo Jr., vice president for public relations of KL-CNG Bus Corp.
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Alana Herro, November 5, 2007
Source: WorldWatch Institute
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5438

Passengers riding on certain buses in Scotland will soon be able to trade in their used cooking oil for reduced fares. The oil will be recycled to power a fleet of eight buses that run on 100-percent biodiesel as part of a trial initiative by Stagecoach, one of the United Kingdom’s largest bus and coach operators, to reduce carbon emissions. “This innovative project is a great opportunity for our customers to play their part in saving the planet by recycling household products that would otherwise go to waste,” said Brian Souter, Stagecoach group chief executive. “I’m sure the idea of cheaper travel in exchange for the used contents of your chip pan will capture people’s imagination.”
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