By John Ivanko •
June 18, 2009
Sonex, a national leader in providing affordable high performance kit aircraft, is developing a concept Waiex E-Flight Electric-Powered plane.
I caught up with Mark Schaible, Marketing Director for Sonex, at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) AirVenture last year, the largest aircraft event on the planet. The EAA AirVenture is held in July and early August every year in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, at the Wittman Regional Airport.
“That’s our goal,” says Schaible, surrounded by the entire family of kit aircraft, including the Sonex Sport Trainer, Sonex Sport Acro and Xenos Sport Motorglider. “Keep ahead of the marketplace with an electric airplane. Someone is going to do it, so it might as well be us. We have made a lot of progress and are working very hard toward first flight [with our Waiex E-Flight Electric Powered aircraft].”
By Nick Chambers •
May 21, 2009
Listening to NPR’s Morning Edition yesterday, there was a segment in which some environmentalists lamented Obama’s new fuel economy standards as being a small drop in the bucket for what needs to be done to solve our climate problems.
While this is true, two comments made by Harvard University Professor, Robert Stavins, during that segment struck me as weird and based in something less than reality — a kind of academic fantasy if you will. At the time, I was driving and the comments slid out of my mind. But last night an old friend from college brought it up again in a Facebook thread and it got me thinking more in depth about it.
By Amanda Peterka •
May 20, 2009
Obama’s auto emissions standard is a landmark success in improving fuel efficiency. But American consumers haven’t yet bought into the idea of a fuel-efficient car.
By Joe Mohr •
May 11, 2009
This quick and painless 15 question quiz will shine an LED light on your environmental personality. Do you think you are a Planetsaver? Find out below.
1. Cycle:
a.motor b.bi c.water
2. Take:
a.more b.a seat c.action
3. Vehicle:
a.SUV b.C-A-R c.B-U-S
4. Media:
a.TV b.radio c.book/mags
5. Bikes:
a.for kids b.for exercise c.for most trips
By Robin Shreeves •
April 6, 2009
Two years ago when we bought our Prius, my then second grader had an idea. He thought that everyone should have to give up their old cars and buy a hybrid. That, he believed, would solve the global warming problem that he was so worried about. Someone in Washington has stolen my son’s idea.
The New York Times reported last week that President Obama embraces “cash for clunkers” a government sponsored incentive program that would offer Americans cash for trading in their old, inefficient vehicles for new fuel efficient cars. The program would help both the environment and the ailing auto industry.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that one of the reasons that we bought our Prius was because my husband’s company was offering a $5000 bonus to anyone who bought a vehicle that got 35 miles a gallon or better at the time. There was also a tax rebate - I believe it was $1800, don’t quote me on that figure, but we didn’t know about that when we made the decision.
By Scott Cooney •
April 3, 2009
GHG emission standards by states will drastically alter the climate change debate and landscape.
By Nick Chambers •
March 27, 2009
What does a Tesla Model S really cost to operate? Crunch the numbers and the results may be a bit surprising.
By now we’ve all heard about the new four door, seven seater (5 adults + 2 kids), all electric eco monster from Tesla — the Model S. We’ve seen the pictures of the gorgeous beast and we’ve had our chance to let the lust settle.
But the thing that’s been bothering me, and surely many of you, is that it still feels like Tesla is making cars with a decidedly un-populist bent. Tesla has been claiming for a long time now that their business plan is to start with the high end market, make some money, learn some lessons, and subsequently release cars that the rest of us can afford — using that money and those lessons to get there.
By Jerry James Stone •
February 10, 2009
Volkswagen’s launched a new brand: BlueMotionTechnologies.
It houses all of Volkswagen’s best eco-friendly tech. It currently includes a new start-stop system, regenerative braking, SCR catalytic converter and the NOx storage catalytic converter.
By Tom Schueneman •
February 6, 2009
Obama to critics calling the modernization of the federal fleet of vehicles as “pork”: Are you serious?
By Joe Mohr •
February 6, 2009
When it comes to green spending the Right is wrong about “pork”.
By Amiel Blajchman •
February 2, 2009
A few months ago Cleantechnica reported on the new Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan’s graphical display known as SmartGauge. Now Ford has released a video showing the interactive display in action.
Probably the coolest part of the video is where it shows how the driver will get instantaneous driving habits feedback by displaying how efficiently he or she is driving. The gauge does this through a constantly changing display of green leaves — the more green leaves on the display, the better you’re driving. For the less creative among us, that same information can also be displayed in a history graph (fuel economy over the last ten minutes). This is a nice, non-intrusive way to help promote good driving habits and maximizing a driver’s fuel economy.
Video after the break (skip to minute 2 for hybrid-specific graphics and display).
