All About Alternate Fuel Vehicles (AFV)

Natural Gas Leads the Pack with the ‘Cleanest Engine’ Garnering Both U.S. EPA and CARB Certification to 2010 Emission Standards
Diamond Bar, CA, Aug. 13, 2007
Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/

The California Natural Gas Vehicle Partnership(CNGVP) announced today that one of its most active industry members Cummins Westport Inc. received certification from both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for its ISL G heavy-duty natural gas engine. The certification from these two agencies is noteworthy as it designates this engine as meeting 2010 standards of 0.2g/bhp-hr oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and 0.01 g/bhp-hr particulate matter (PM). The emission standards set for 2010 are significantly more stringent than those set in years past due to the need to address the reduction of harmful emissions from heavy-duty vehicles which contribute to greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
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Source: The Salt Lake Tribune, August 6, 2007
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6555418

Utah State University officials say they are happy with the school’s fleet of nine natural gas-powered buses. But the school is getting rid of seven natural gas-powered trucks. The Herald Journal newspaper reports today that USU first began using both types of vehicles in the 1990s. But USU’s director of business services for the facilities department, Eileen Campbell, says problems with the trucks began almost immediately. The did not prove reliable, and the tanks took up a lot of room in the truck beds. Campbell also says just putting natural gas in the trucks was time-consuming, anf touchy: if the fuel was put in too quickly, air would get into the tank.
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By IEEE-USA / 8 Aug 2007
Source: FirstScience.com
http://www.firstscience.com/home/news/chemistry-physics-and-materials-sciences/
symposium-to-focus-on-commercializing-plug-in-hybrid-electric-vehicles_34836.html

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles could greatly reduce U.S. gasoline consumption and carbon emissions if adopted on a large scale.  IEEE-USA is co-sponsoring a symposium on the technology and policy challenges of commercializing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington on 19 September. “Plug-in Hybrids: Accelerating Progress 2007” will bring together leaders in the manufacturing industry, electric utilities, universities, national laboratories and non-profits to explore what is needed to accelerate commercial use of plug-in vehicle technology.
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By Mike Dennison, Gazette State Bureau
Helena, MO /August 16, 2007
Source: BillingsGazette.com
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/08/12/news/state/28-biodiesel.txt

While some in Montana still hope to land the big ethanol plant, the alternative fuel’s younger, smaller brother - biodiesel - may be the one that wins the race here, development officials say.  “We’ve been telling people that in Montana, biodiesel will have more legs than ethanol,” said Evan Barrett, the state’s chief business officer. “There are a number of biodiesel plants trying to ramp up.”
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Source: PRMinds.com press release / 7 Aug 2007
http://www.prminds.com/pressrelease.php?id=4554
Biofuels are renewable fuels that are predominantly produced from domestically produced biomass feed stocks or as a by product from the industrial processing of agricultural or food products

Bharat Book Bureau, a leading market information aggregator has put forth a report ‘Biodiesel Market Potential 2007 ‘(www.bharatbook.com)  Biofuels are renewable fuels that are predominantly produced from domestically produced biomass feed stocks or as a by product from the industrial processing of agricultural or food products, or from the recovery and reprocessing of products such as cooking and vegetable oil. Biofuel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum fuel to create a biofuel blend. It can be used in conventional healing equipment or diesel engine with no major modification. Biofuel is simple to use, biodegradable, non-toxic and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics. Ethanol and biodiesel are the most widely recognized biofuel sources for transport sector.
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by Julia Connors, Daily News
Summit County, Colorado /July 22, 2007
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070722/NEWS/107220071

When Seth Bounds started his car service in Summit County nearly three years ago, he felt a sense of environmental responsibility. So he named the company “Green Limousines” and decided to try his luck running the fleet on biodiesel. He’s used it ever since. “It’s how we lead our personal lives,” Bounds said. “It’s how we run our business.”  Bounds’ cars are often in Denver and other areas on the Front Range where biodiesel is readily available, making it easy to fill up. But up here in Summit County, public pumps don’t carry biodiesel. “It’s really hard for personal drivers to make that jump,” he said. “There are a few people in the area who are interested, but they have to go to pretty extreme measures to get it.”
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By Harris Blackwood, The Times Gainesville
Source: Gainesville Times
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20070819/localnews/191652.shtml

Chevrolet is offering vehicles that run on Ethanol 85, as well as gasoline or a combination of both. Ethanol is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline and is made from corn or other grain products. The price of corn is riding high. The result is higher prices for everything from poultry feed to cornflakes. A demand for corn for use in ethanol fuel production has sent corn prices from less than $2 a bushel in 2006 to more than $4 a bushel today. “Corn prices are through the roof,” said Billy Skaggs, Hall County extension agent.
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By Hiral Vora
Mumbai, Jun 22, 2007  (Additional reporting by Rina Chandran)
Source: Reuters-India
http://in.today.reuters.com

Indian energy firms are stepping up spending on compressed natural gas (CNG) infrastructure to meet soaring demand from vehicle makers, but poor facilities may hamper gas adoption in the near term, analysts say.  India ranks fifth in the world for vehicles running on CNG, which is half the price of petrol or diesel.  But CNG is offered at only about 1 percent of India’s 35,000 retail outlets, in sharp contrast to neighbouring Pakistan where CNG is widely used and on offer at nearly 1,400 gas stations.
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Katharine Murphy, June 6, 2007
Source: The Age.com.au
http://www.theage.com.au/news/2007/06/05/1180809518701.html

DRIVERS are continuing in significant numbers to take refuge from high petrol prices by switching to cheaper LPG.  A national scheme encouraging motorists to convert their cars to gas is still experiencing extraordinary demand, with government spending now almost double the original budget.  The Age revealed late last year that the scheme was in danger of blowing out because of huge demand, with applications at between 300 and 400 a day.
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Seoul, Korea, 4 June 2007
Source: Chosun.com
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200706/200706040014.html

Hyundai Motor said on Sunday that it will release an LPG hybrid in 2009. The Avante LPG Hybrid will combine an LPG engine with an electric motor in the popular midsize sedan. It will be the first Korean hybrid car for consumers.  Hyundai reckons the car will use only 30 percent of the fuel consumed by the existing Avante since it will have an estimated fuel efficiency of 19 to 20 km per liter and run on LPG, which costs half the price of gasoline. Production of Hyundai’s hybrid versions of the Verna and the Pride, test models of which are currently being used by the government, will be suspended in 2008. “We plan to release an LPG hybrid before a gasoline hybrid because there are sufficient LPG fuel facilities and we have the advanced technology. A gasoline hybrid will be released by 2010,” a Hyundai Motor official said.
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