Puff is attached near the exhaust pipe of your vehicle. Its color changes dynamically, visualizing the amount of pollution your car is producing. Green indicates the lowest rate of pollution, red the highest.

Modern artists have often tackled environmental and ecological issues head on, such as through incorporating litter and refuse into sculptures, while other artists (such as photo, video and film artists) have sought to document industrial waste and/or have taken strong oppositional/advocacy stances in their works.

In recent years, many artists have sought to move beyond these “reactive”, commentary, and  documentary approaches and create objects and devices that serve practical purposes (if still a bit fanciful in appearance). One such artist/designer is Karolina Sobecka, whose car emissions monitoring device, ‘Puff’ , provides colorful feedback to the car owner on how “cleanly” (or efficiently) he/she is using/burning gasoline.

This author recently contacted Ms. Sobecka and asked her about this device (’Puff’) as well as her other designs, and her artistic/social/environmental goals.

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It certainly is the dawning of a new era in automotive technology when the tiger in your tank becomes a moldy relic of bygone ad campaigns while the humble leftovers from harvested wheat get awards for new sustainable thinking. A. Schulman, Inc.’s AgriPlas wheat straw fiber has just been named a Blue Ribbon Finalist in Environmental Innovation by the Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers, for its application in the Ford Flex crossover vehicle.

AgriPlas’s contribution to the Flex is an injection-molded storage bin and inner lid made of polypropylene and a bio-filler made of wheat straw. Though the application is modest in scope, a spokesperson for Ford’s Plastics Research division sees it as a litmus test of things to come, in terms of increasing fuel efficiency by decreasing vehicle weight.

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The tapering tail is no secret among scientists for improving stability and fuel efficiency. Many high-mileage concept cars feature just such a design to smooth the aerodynamics of the vehicle. Now imagine applying the same concept to container trucks that log more miles in a year than most of us travel in five.

A Dutch public-private enterprise did just that, adding a 6 foot long tail to the end of a tractor trailer truck. The results from two years of testing were a 7.5% increase in fuel efficiency, and thus a similar decrease in emissions.

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Editor’s Note: Corey Weaver is a Ford Technical Expert and EcoBoost’s project leader.

One of the great challenges for automakers today is determining which technology or group of technologies will be the most effective in increasing fuel-efficiency and lowering greenhouse emissions - while still meeting the performance, quality and price car-buyers expect. The array of choices available and under development is significant, ranging from turbo charging, direct injection, six speed transmissions, electric power assist steering, weight reductions, electrification, bio fuels and hydrogen fuel cells.

We know there is a viable future for some of the most advanced technologies, but we also recognize not all of them are market-ready or affordable for consumers. Even advanced technologies take time to gain widespread acceptance. For instance, despite mainstream acceptance of hybrid technology, hybrids remain less than 3% of the market.

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Recently accusations came to light that Nissan and GM to inflate their MPG claims by combining gas and electric mileage so their green rating appeared higher, and in order to ensure that the Environmental Protection Agency  won’t follow in their alleged footsteps, The Society for Automotive Engineers and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are recommending two different rating systems for electric vehicles that plug-in and also run on gas.

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By most accounts, the Obama administration’s “Cash for Clunkers” program is a resounding success. You’ve heard the sound bytes: “good for consumers, good for dealers/the auto industry/the economy, good for the environment.” There was some embarrassing attention focused on the program during its second week as consumer response overwhelmed everything from the dealer interface system to the rebate financing that the government initially allocated.

As the program’s future hung in the balance, some dealers were left holding clunkers without a guarantee that the rebates would ever be paid, and as administration officials promised a hollow-sounding “good faith effort” to pay off all the deals already made, those dealers began to call customers to claw back the new cars or request cash payments to offset the rebate.

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Barnacles, algae and other marine biofilm can reduce a ship’s fuel efficiency by up to 40%, and the U.S. Navy is working on a way to keep its hulls clean without using expensive chemicals.  Up to now, the Navy has been relying on biocides to keep the pesky hitchhikers at bay.  On top of harming marine life, the chemical regime is not ideal for keeping high-performance warships operating at peak efficiency.  The Navy estimates that it spends an extra one billion dollars yearly on chemical biocides and extra fuel, so in addition to pure environmental altruism there are significant tactical and bottom-line incentive to find a better way to prevent biofouling.  In what can only be described as poetic justice, naval researchers are turning to the marine environment itself to find safe, effective solutions to the problem.

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With the fluctuating price of oil, a finite resource, and concerns over CO2 emissions, many energy companies and developers have turned to utilizing biomass as alternative fuel (biofuel). This trend is actually taking two pathways: using biomass to convert to ethanol to power automobiles (which has been around for awhile now), and, converting biomass to electricity to power electric (or hybrid) vehicles (a more recent alternative). The question of which path is most efficient, sustainable, and less carbon-intensive is a vitally important one in terms of this nation’s “energy future”.

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Since its humble beginnings in the 19th century, the sparkplug has been a mainstay of the combustion engine.

Some engineers at Ford, in collaboration with Liverpool University researchers have decided to modernize spark plug technology. Since we’re in the 21st century, that replacement is going to be lasers.

Yes, I said lasers.

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Those of us who don’t live in developing countries might not always remember that the majority of the world still uses biomass-fired cookstoves that produce smoke and other toxins. It’s a serious problem–indoor air pollution kills 1.6 million people yearly. Enter the SCORE (Stove for Cooking, Refrigeration, and Electricity), a $33 cookstove developed by researchers at the University of Nottingham that doubles as an electrical generator.

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Oregon State University Researcher Kaichang Li is already well-known in the research world for developing a non-toxic, soy-based adhesive to make greener plywood for cabinets, so it’s almost no surprise that his next research discovery is along the same lines.

Turning his attention to the materials commonly used as reinforcing fillers in tires — carbon black and silica — Li has figured out a way to use plant products to substitute for these toxic and energy intensive conventional materials.

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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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First we had electric trains. Then electric cars. Now, airplanes.

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].”

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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.

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For American car buyers, though, the landmark agreement will mean an average $1,300 increase in the price of a new car by 2016. And to a car-buying public that hasn’t yet latched onto the idea of a hybrid vehicle, that price increase might be a tough one to swallow.

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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

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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.

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