All About Alternate Fuel Vehicles (AFV)

London, June 26, 2007
ANI Correspondent, Daily India.com
Source: http://www.dailyindia.com/show/152444.php/

Greek scientists have found a way to safely store hydrogen fuel in nanoscropic scrolls of carbon for use in future cars and portable devices. They have found that by adding impurities to rolled up sheets of carbon, it is possible to control how tightly the scrolls wind up and hence, how much hydrogen they adsorb.   As part of their research, George Froudakis of the University of Crete and his team carried out computer simulations to see how the hydrogen uptake of carbon nanoscrolls could be affected by adding quantities of different alkali metals.  These impurities cause the atomic distance between the layers of a scroll to vary.
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Darrell Hughes, Detroit Free Press Business Editor
Detroit, June 27, 2007
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070627/BUSINESS01/706270341/1002

Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally told reporters Tuesday at a youth car repair competition that he envisions a future with many more varieties of hybrid vehicles.  “Hybrids will continue to play an important part in energy independence and security, and global warming,” Mulally said. “The hybrids we’re looking at now are petrol and electricity. But over time, I can also see hybrids with diesel and electricity, and also hydrogen and electricity and petrol.”
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ExecDigital June News / June 26, 2007
Source: Energy Digital.net
http://www.energydigital.net/U.S.-hybrid-electric-vehicle-fuel-savings-estimates_721.aspx

Hybrid electric vehicles have saved close to 230 million gallons of fuel in U.S. since 1999, according to U. S. Department of Energy.  “Sales of hybrid electric vehicles have increased an average of 72 percent a year for the past five years and in 2006 the average fuel economy based on new EPA estimates was 35 miles per gallon for new hybrid models sold in the U.S,” says Kevin Bennion, an U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) vehicle systems analysis research engineer.
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Ethanol, methane or LPG? Too many fuels will put the brakes on EU emission cuts
Mark Milner and David Gow in Brussels, The Guardian / June 26, 2007
Source. Guardian UK - Busines
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2111329,00.html

The euro may have given Europeans a single currency to spend across borders but EU travellers could yet face a new and unfortunate reminder of Europe’s diversity, this time at the fuel pump.  As pressure grows to promote greener motoring in the battle against climate change, different countries are turning to different fuels. Sweden has made great strides with ethanol, others are turning to compressed natural gas (CNG), mainly methane, or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Many carmakers are looking at hydrogen, seen as the holy grail of clean fuels, though critics argue it may prove to be as elusive as the chalice of Arthurian legend.
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Las Vegas, 25 June 2007
Source: Ford Motor Company press release
http://www.prdomain.com/companies/F/FordMotor/newsreleases/200762641993.htm

Ford Motor Company’s demonstration fleet of ethanol-fueled hybrids is ready to go to work on the streets of Las Vegas. Today, Ford’s Joe Castelli, Director of Commercial Truck, handed over to Southwest Gas the keys to an E85 Escape Hybrid, which will be used in customer service applications.  The first three E85 Escape Hybrids were delivered to the Department of Energy, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition (GEC) in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. A total of 20 Ford E85 Escape Hybrids will be delivered to select fleet customers in six states, staking Ford’s claim to another important industry first. These are the world’s first hybrid vehicles capable of operating on blends of fuel containing as much as 85 percent ethanol. Ethanol is a renewable fuel that can be produced from American-grown corn.
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Source:Duncan Graham-Rowe: New Scientist  25-June-2007
Journal reference: Nano Letters (doi:10.1021/nl070530u)
http://www.fuelcellsworks.com/Supppage7513.html

The thorny problem of how to store hydrogen fuel safely for future vehicles and portable gadgets could be solved by simply storing it in nanoscopic scrolls of carbon.  Scientists in Greece say they have found a way to make so-called “carbon nanoscrolls” store more hydrogen than any other material.  By adding impurities to rolled sheets of carbon in detailed computer simulations, they found they could control how tightly the scrolls wind up and, hence, how much hydrogen they adsorb.
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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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Kansas City, Mo, June 25, 2007
Source; presszoom.com
http://presszoom.com/story_134840.html

Three Kansas City area federal agencies added new Saturn hybrid vehicles to their fleets Monday. Two vehicles were delivered by the federal General Services Administration (GSA) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 office in Kansas City, Kan. One is for EPA and one for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in Kansas City, Mo. A third will be added to the GSA fleet in Kansas City, Mo. (more…)

Source: Presszoom.com / June 7, 2007
http://presszoom.com/story_133705.html

Perth’s taxi fleet is turning a shade ‘greener’ with new incentives to encourage more environmentally friendly vehicles on city streets.  Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan said a $15,000 grant and a 20 per cent reduction in the lease rate would be available for up to 10 full time taxis which met the fuel efficiency and emission standards of  petrol-electric hybrid cars.
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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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