All About Alternate Fuel Vehicles (AFV)

Yonkers, N.Y. Consumer Reports, 23 Oct 2008
Also, some domestic models are comparable to top Japanese; luxury European automakers improve
Source: PRNewswire-USNewswire/ EarthTimes
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/consumer-reports-2008-annual-car,592775.shtml

Fuel-efficient vehicles are a very reliable segment overall, European cars are improving, and, on average, Ford continues to build the most reliable American cars. Those are some of the results of Consumer Reports’ 2008 Annual Car Reliability Survey announced today at an Automotive Press Association luncheon in Detroit.   More details, and a list of models with the best and worst predicted-reliability Ratings, will appear first on www.ConsumerReports.org. The reliability report will also appear in the December issue of Consumer Reports, on sale November 4 and in the latest Consumer Reports Cars publication, Best & Worst for ‘09, which also includes predicted-reliability ratings for more than 350 models.
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by Michael Cabanatuan, October 17, 2008
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/16/BAMR139TBC.DTL

Read the glossy magazine ads, watch the slick TV commercials, listen to Hollywood celebs rave about their choice of cars on talk shows, and you’ll get the idea that hybrid cars can save the planet.  Chrysler’s electric drive vehicles are only prototypes so…The Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle (shown here) is the b…The EV1 pioneered electric vehicle technology.  While some of them clearly curb pollution, hybrids aren’t the answer - at least not for everyone. Many folks can’t afford one, don’t like what’s available, or want to drive a car that doesn’t use gasoline and spew smog into the skies.
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By Beth Daley, Globe Staff / March 3, 2008
Source: Boston Globe /Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/
2008/03/03/biodiesel_fuels_show_variation_in_strength/

In the transportation world, it is one of the trendiest ways to fight global warming: Stir a little vegetable oil into your fuel.  Biodiesel is a chemically created fuel from animal fats and vegetable oils that is blended with traditional diesel. The result emits fewer pollutants, such as sulfur, and is thought to be less of a contributor to climate change because it is from a renewable source. Governor Deval Patrick has filed a bill to require diesel fuels and some home heating oil to contain a minimum percentage of biodiesel by 2010. Communities from Keene, N.H., to Cambridge use it when possible in municipal vehicles, such as power snow plows and dump trucks.
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Chris Pedersen, Gauntlet News , March 06, 2008
Source: Gauntlet News, Univ Calgary
http://gauntlet.ucalgary.ca/story/12229

The norms of bar food are greasy fries, a juicy hamburger with grease dripping onto the plate, nachos with tons of greasy meat and chicken wings soaking in oil. Many people eat these delicious foods, but very rarely do people contemplate what happens to the oil and grease when the server takes the plates away. (more…)

by Kamal Meattle, March 09, 2008
Source: FInancial Express
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/
Used-cooking-oil-can-be-a-good-source-of-biodiesel–for-vehicles/282269/

The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Delhi, which is a chapter of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) and the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI), has committed itself to going green before the commencement of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010.
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Albany, February 28, 2008
Source: WalbNews
http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=7944178&nav=5kZQ

The price of gasoline hit another all-time high Thursday in Georgia. Like most drivers, Emma Greene is feeling the pinch.  She says, “Previous trips, before the gas went up, it was affordable. But now I’ve got think twice before I make the trip.”  And she worries the prices are only going to go higher. “I understand by the summer it’s going to be up to $4.00 a gallon. I think we’re going to feel this every time we go out to buy something,” says Greene.

But there may be some good news on the horizon; even though it may take some time before it has a major effect on the majority of consumers. It’s called E85 - a fuel that’s 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.
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Sao Paulo, Brazil, Jan 24, 2008
Source: AFP
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5goQpr15wNPArazFwqOy3z5Lf95QA

Brazil, the world leader in making ethanol from sugarcane, is homing in on Europe’s biofuel market following a decision by the European Commission to combat climate change by reducing the dependency on petrol.  The EU plan calls for biofuels to be used in at least 10 percent of fuels used in transport in the 27-nation bloc by 2020.  For Brazil’s sugarcane industry, the news is seen as a golden export opportunity.
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Solazyme And Chevron Technology Ventures Enter Into Biodiesel Feedstock Development And Testing Agreement
South San Francisco, Calif - January 22, 2008
Source: Solazyme press release
http://www.solazyme.com/news080122_2.shtml

Solazyme, a synthetic biology company pioneering the clean and sustainable bioproduction of fuels, industrial chemicals and specialty ingredients from marine microbes, today announced that it has signed a biodiesel feedstock development and testing agreement with Chevron Technology Ventures, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc.
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By Christine Stebbins, Chicago, 14 Jan 2008
Source: Reuters.com /
Reporting by Christine Stebbins; Editing by Marguerita Choy
http://www.reuters.com/article/GlobalAgricultureandBiofuels08/idUSN1443692020080114

U.S. biodiesel industry growth looks set to stagnate in 2008 given poor profit margins as skyrocketing input costs chill production, the chief executive of an industry trade group said on Monday.  “The economics overall for the biodiesel industry are extremely challenging right now. There’s no question about it there’s been a cooling off what has been some irrational exuberance that has gone on in the investment in biodiesel production capacity over the last two years,” Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, told the Reuters Global Agricultural and Biofuels Summit in a telephone interview. (more…)

By Greg Flakus
Detroit, 14 January 2008
Source: VOA News
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-01-14-voa52.cfm

More than 6,700 reporters from 42 nations are in Detroit for the news media preview of that city’s North American International Auto Show, which opens to the general public this weekend. This year’s show emphasizes fuel efficiency and green technology, but, as VOA’s Greg Flakus reports from Detroit, there are also plenty of big glitzy cars and trucks on display.
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