Green Options

“Racing is one of the few things that can foster innovation faster than war”, said GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz during a bloggers round-table discussion on the eve of this year’s Geneva motor show. Describing some of the future challenges that will be faced by global manufacturers such as General Motors, Bob lamented the fact that auto racing – a sport with the potential to inspire significant innovation through competition – has become so tightly regulated in order to prevent teams from gaining significant advantages, that from a manufacturer’s perspective it provides little benefit beyond pure marketing.

I wasn’t expecting to be impressed with the new Opel Ampera (the Chevy Volt’s European cousin). In fact, I was convinced I would find something dull, unimaginative and lacking in technical innovation.

But instead, I believe that I’ve actually found the only serious contender to replace the Audi A3 TDI that’s sitting on my driveway right now.
This week GM invited Gas 2.0 to witness the unveiling of the Opel Ampera, to go on sale in Europe in 2011.

A reader elaborates a critique of Red, Green, and Blue: “One look at it [Red Green and Blue] and it was clear that you suffer from the misconception that only liberals care about greenness therefore, we won’t mind your obvious political bias and childish slaps at people like me… ”

Following Sarah Palin’s key speech at the Republican Convention, BBC news asks readers around the world for their reactions. A straw poll of the many hundreds of responses seems to indicate that the majority of those outside of the US are unimpressed, with Palin’s lack of regard for the environment featuring in many remarks.

In today’s world, is it really possible for a family of four to completely eliminate waste and still enjoy a normal healthy lifestyle?

The Strauss family are about to find out as they undertake a Zero Waste Challenge during the first week of September, in an attempt to cut their household waste altogether. The idea first came about following concerns over the impact of plastic bags on marine life, said Rachelle Strauss in an interview with EcoWorldly;

“..In May of this year I read an article about the effects of plastic on marine life. When I showed this to my husband he was clearly shocked and moved by what was happening. From that moment he declared ‘no more plastic bags’ and here we are 4 months later carrying out the idea of reducing our waste to the ultimate.”

Surrounded by water, with strong winds blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean, Great Britain is a blustery place. There’s nothing quite like an invigorating walk along the cliff-tops to blow away the cobwebs.

I was reminded of this on a recent Sunday afternoon visit to the Portland Bill lighthouse on the South coast of England (pictured), since despite the brilliant sunshine one needed a concerted effort to walk headlong into the howling wind. Talking above the constant noise of wind and sea was almost impossible, and local people tell me this is by no means unusual here.

Yet despite being a desolate place with enough wind energy blowing through every day to provide a significant portion of local energy needs, you won’t find a single wind turbine at Portland today. Nor anywhere else along the windy Dorset coast for that matter.

The calls for windfall taxes by campaigners and Labour politicians describing profits as “grotesque” and “indecent” are fundamentally wrong and will increase the price of energy, not reduce it

Formula 1 teams are struggling to implement hybrid power-train technology following several development accidents in past weeks, revealing the challenge of harnessing a new technology at the cutting edge. Following a freeze on engine development, Formula 1 teams are going hybrid from 2009 - additional power output can only be delivered by recovering kinetic energy under braking and releasing at again under acceleration. Whilst hybrid technology is widely proven in road cars, there are challenges in implementing a system that can fulfil the ultra competitive demands of Formula 1, with teams looking to build systems capable of delivering an additional 60 horsepower whilst weighing less than 35 kilograms. Accidents These challenges were aptly demonstrated recently after the Red Bull Formula 1 team factory was evacuated for 2 hours as fire crews dealt with a lithium battery explosion. Following this incident, a BMW team mechanic was hospitalised having received an electric shock from the body of a BMW hybrid Formula 1 car on its return to the pits following a test run.