A remarkable new study predicts that at least 14 million electric cars will be zooming around the US by 2020, and reckons that EVs could account for a startling 75 percent of all light-duty miles driven by 2040.

The ambitious claims form part of an in-depth study, called the Electrification Roadmap, backed by a coalition of business leaders including Nissan, FedEx, Coda Automotive and Coulomb Technologies.

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“When we look at the parks and we look at the United States and we examine the whole idea of democracy, I think that the park experience is an exploration of the idea of freedom.”

-Shelton Johnson, Park Ranger

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With the historic passage of climate legislation through the House of Representatives, many concerns have trickled forth. Does the climate legislation do enough? Will it even work? Does it have the right aim? With the issuance of similar concerns have come proposed solutions and substitutions. The republicans have proposed that 100 nuclear power plants be built by 2030 in place of the proposed cap-and-trade climate bill. I’ve recently written two articles on the Republican “solution” to both the climate and economic crises. And today I’m writing more.

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) announced his own personal blueprint for the nation’s recovery. He began by re-stating the Senate Republicans’ plan that would replace the cap-and-trade legislation passed by the House, which includes building 100 nuclear power plants within 20 years, the encouragement of electric cars for conservation, offshore exploration for natural gas and oil and doubling energy research and development to make renewable energy cost-competitive.

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More money was distributed today by the Department of Energy. 141 million dollars to be more precise. This time Hawaii, Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico, the Northern Mariana Islands and Texas will play beneficiaries of the Recovery Act.

As a part of the Department’s State Energy Program, which has been apportioned $3.1 billion, states and territories propose plans to prioritize energy savings, create or retain jobs, increase the use of renewable energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And that’s where this $141 million will be going. Each state receives funding according to its needs (population based), with Texas receiving more than half of the allotted $141 million dollars. They will receive $87.5 million.

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US-based car-share giant Zipcar Inc. has launched its first ever Electric Vehicle Pod, featuring an all-electric Citroen C1 and a Plug-In Toyota Prius. The vehicles, among the most efficient and technologically advanced on the road today, can be hired by the hour for a fraction of the cost of owning one.

The company figures that EVs are ideally suited for early, large-scale use in Zipcar’s car sharing platform since the average Zipcar trip lasts just under four hours and less than 25 miles, well within the range of a typical EV.

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On an historic day which proved America’s spirit during the Revolutionary War, the spirit of America was again proved. As news came that Nevada’s unemployment rate hit a record high of 11.3 percent, Senate majority leader Harry Reid addressed the people whose roles are instrumental in helping America survive: CEOs of renewable and clean energy businesses from around the country, several Fortune 500 company leaders, labor union representatives, environmental leaders, renewable energy trade association representatives, and community college presidents.

While the opposition may have changed from the battle at Bunker Hill, the spirit of revolution remains. America is looking forward. Tired of the oppressive reign which the world of oil has had, we are beginning, now more than ever, to fight back, to free ourselves.

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Nissan has announced plans to launch the large-scale production of electric cars and batteries in the United States, with a massive 50 billion Yen ($516 million) facility in Smyrna, Tennessee.

The site will be capable of knocking-out an impressive 50,000 to 100,000 EVs by 2012, with investment possibly DOUBLING to 100 billion Yen (more than $1 Billion).

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With the spotlight shining on clean energy, the stage has been set for the U.S. to rid itself of a harmful addiction to foreign oil. The stars are aligned and the cards have been dealt. Soon we’ll have kicked the dirty habit, right?

Sarah Palin seems to think so. Perhaps you’ll remember her proposal to tap the natural gas supply found under the pristine Alaskan wilderness. As Governor of Alaska she “fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history . . . a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence.”

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China has announced plans to take on the US head-to-head in the race to develop low emission vehicles, with a massive $2.2 billion investment in electric cars over the next three years.

The news comes hot on the heels of President Obama’s announcement of a whopping $2.4 billion investment in electric vehicles in the United States.

The Chinese government hopes that the investment will help the country to make 500,000 all-electric and hybrid vehicles a year by 2011 - and encourage organizations like city governments and airport taxi firms to enjoy subsidies of more than $70,000 on fleets of new vehicles.

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Italian car company Tazzari has announced plans to launch its Tazzari Zero all-electric vehicle in the North American market next year.

The all-electric 2 door super mini (video) weighs in at a tiny 542 kilograms (around 1,200 lbs), leaving it capable of achieving 100 km/h (62 mph) in a nimble 5 seconds, with a top speed of 80 km/h (50mph) (more pics after the jump).

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Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed battery cells capable of charging in under a minute, an astonishing 100 times faster than a regular rechargable battery.

The breakthrough could revolutionize electric car battery technology and pave the way for ultra-fast charging electric vehicles in as little as two years.

The discovery came when MIT researchers Byoungwoo Kang and Gerbrand Ceder found out how to get a common lithium compound to release and take up lithium ions in a matter of seconds. According to Ceder, the compound, known as lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), has a crystal structure that creates “perfectly sized tunnels for lithium to move through,” allowing the team to reach “ridiculously fast charging rates.”

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“Buy American” might be noble Obama-esque policy for America but the rest of the world is not excited by it.

The U.S. Congress approved a $787 billion plan to jump-start the world’s biggest economy last Friday, stipulating that public works and building projects funded by the stimulus use only U.S.-made goods, including iron and steel. Many major steel producing countries, such as China, Brazil and Russia, will essentially be blocked from selling their products for use in construction and energy projects being paid for under the program. (CNN)

The Beijing Ministry of Commerce has raised the warning flag on rising global protectionism, saying policies such as the “Buy American” move passed by the United States Congress could exacerbate the economic crisis. The overseas edition of the People’s Daily, the newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, said the requirement was dangerous protectionism, and said that more such steps may come. China’s official Xinhua news agency on the weekend already slammed the “Buy American” requirement as a “poison.” (Reuters)

Now is risking a global trade war part of Obama’s plan? ‘Stimulus‘ is a noble word but it appears to have a completely different connotation with regard to the rest of the world. Obama suggested in his inauguration speech that America would extend a hand of friendship to the rest of the world but how does he propose to do this by alienating other countries with his economic policy?

Image credit: New Counter Culture

Now if the natural gas and land depletion aren’t enough to get you thinking; the water consumption is heinous. It takes two to four barrels of water to produce one barrel of bitumen (which is what they are really after). The used tailings are then stored, unusable, in tailings lakes, which have potential negative effects on the health of the environment and the population surrounding the contaminated area.

Oil Sands Facts

Climate Change
· Alberta’s greenhouse gas regulation does not require real reductions in emissions from oil sands operations.
· Oil sands production is much more greenhouse gas–intensive than conventional oil production.
· Oil sands are the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
· Continued increases in greenhouse gas emissions show that Canada’s commitment to address climate change falls far short of what’s needed.
· Large-scale carbon capture and storage for oil sands emissions is currently a distant and uncertain prospect.
· Companies are allowed to switch to burning dirtier fuels as a source of energy for oil sands extraction — further increasing greenhouse gas emissions from the oil sands.

Water Impacts
· Oil sands mining uses two to four barrels of water for every barrel of bitumen produced.
· Oil sands companies are not required to stop withdrawing water from the Athabasca River, even if flows are so low that fisheries and habitats are at serious risk.
· Capping toxic tailings waste in end pit lakes with water is an unproven and risky concept.
· For over 40 years, oil sands mining companies voluntarily managed tailings on their own, in the absence of concrete government regulations.
· Tailings lakes seep toxic waste. It is uncertain exactly what is seeping, how much is seeping and what ecosystem components are affected.
· Tailings lakes house compounds known to be acutely toxic to aquatic organisms.
· Reclamation of tailings lakes has not yet been demonstrated.

Boreal Forest Impacts
· Alberta’s oil sands underlie one-fifth of the province, and development is already planned for more than 79,000 square kilometers.
· The Athabasca Boreal Forest will not be restored to its native state following mine closure.
· Oil sands mining reclamation standards are weak and lack transparency; only one square kilometer of land has been certified as reclaimed to date.
· The security bonds that are supposed to protect Canadians from costly environmental liabilities may be inadequate.

Perhaps Alaska’s natural gas store will help America achieve oil independence. But it is going to take strong regulations to stop the spread of “the most destructive project on earth.”

Photo Coutesy of Suncor Energy

Map Courtesy of Enbridge Pipelines

Head past the break to view the video.

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The United States has overtaken Germany to become the largest producer of wind energy in the world, generating enough capacity to eliminate the burning of 91 million barrels of oil per year.

According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), US wind producers enjoyed another record year of growth in 2008—the third in a row. The country now has an installed wind power capacity well in excess of 21,000 megawatts (MW), enough to supply electricity to over 5.5 million American homes.

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HP teams with U.S. based Boston-Power to create the first line of eco-friendly laptops.

In the race to come up with newer eco-friendly laptop solutions HP has not only led the way, but helped achieve a few firsts in the process, according to a recent Boston-Power press release.

Not only will HP be launching what it calls its new “Enviro” series of notebooks, but it will also be teaming with Boston-Power to be the first manufacturer to bring a product of this type to market.

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that, as a result of its enforcement actions, U.S. companies will spend a record-breaking $11.8 billion on pollution control and projects to clean up the environment this year.

The EPA calculates that the moves will result in a best ever reduction in pollution of 3.9 billion pounds per year, nearly four times the reduction achieved during 2007.

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In a landmark case, the US Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the US Navy can carry out sonar training exercises off the southern California coast, without safeguards designed to protect whales, dolphins and other marine mammals.

The decision is a major setback for environmentalists, who had hoped the Court would uphold an earlier injunction by a federal judge requiring the navy to take precautions while undertaking submarine-hunting exercises. Environmental groups originally launched the lawsuit claiming that the use of sonar can injure or even kill a wide range of marine species, including sea-lions and endangered blue whales.

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Earlier this month, pilots Carol Sugars and Douglas Rodante made history by becoming the first flight-crew to successfully fly across the US in a plane predominantly powered by biodiesel.

Of the total 2,486 miles flown from Reno, Nevada to Leesburg, Florida, 1,776 miles were 100% biodiesel-powered. The remaining 710 miles were powered by a 50/50 mix of biodiesel and standard jet fuel.

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Governor of New Jersey since January 17, 2006, Corzine wants the Garden State to triple the total amount of wind generated power that it plans to use by 2020. This would bring its total up to 3,000 megawatts, measuring out to be 13% of New Jersey’s total energy, and enough energy to power anywhere between 800,000 and just under a million homes.

This comes just days after the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities announced that it had chosen Garden State Offshore Energy (GSOE) as the preferred developer for a 350-megawatt wind farm off the NJ coast.

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“As far as the Copenhagen process is concerned, my personal assessment is unfortunately fairly pessimistic … things have moved forward in an extremely difficult way and the progress achieved is extremely limited,” Yu says.

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