Cow poop is a leading contributor of nitrous oxide and ammonia into the atmosphere, adding heartily to global warming. Cars, as we all know, provide their own fair share of noxious fumes to the environment. But a British team of engineers and racers is working on a way to kill two birds with one stone (metaphorically of course) by developing a race car that can run on cow poop.

Realizing that most technology found in our daily drivers was often first developed for the race track, Oaktec has announced plans to develop a manure-powered rally car, giving all new meaning to the phrase “This car runs like crap!” [ed. note: cow farts and burps contribute far more GHGs than poop, but hey, you gotta start somewhere]

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As detailed in the just released August issue of Consumer Reports magazine, out of a crop of 22 small hatchbacks and wagons, the Insight — Honda’s much-touted all new Hybrid — came in 21st on the road test with one of the worst performances CR has seen from Honda in longer than many of the editors at the venerable publication can remember. The only car in that group to fare worse on the road test was the Dodge Caliber.

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Eco-driving technology might help keep people from losing patience–and interest. 

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Here at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca I take the Andretti Hairpin and learn to accelerate in successive turns. After accelerating uphill, I enter “The Corkscrew” where I cannot see the sharp downhill turn to the left until I am in the middle of it. As I get into this sharp turn, I need to prepare for the sequence of curves that immediately follow.

Yes, it’s a corkscrew.

I try to remember the coaching that I received. Hold the steering wheel with something less than a death grip. Breathe. Look ahead — but looking ahead at the top of the Corkscrew I only see blue sky. Looking ahead to my future, I only see darkness.

The 2009 BMW 335d that I am driving handles beautifully, offers more turbodiesel acceleration than I care to try, and I can personally guarantee you that the brakes work — well.

After three laps, I exit the track, park the BMW, remove my helmet as I leave the car, and resist kissing the ground in front of “real” drivers. I have been invited to test drive new vehicles with the Western Automotive Journalists, even though I write about green cars and clean transportation. I long for yesterday.

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Earth Day takes place this April 22nd.

As a green leader or entrepreneur, the day begs the question, what will you be doing?

In a mad public relations world that anchors on events as a tangible “touch point” in lieu of diving into the messier (and harder to track or control) world of ‘awareness’, Earth Day is one of many symbols (i.e. polar bears) we use when speaking to some of the starker and concrete practices of the planet’s ecological anxieties.

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At the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, Audi announced that their Clean Diesel A3 TDI would be available in US by early 2010.

The Audi A3 is by far one of Europe’s cleanest and most fuel-efficient cars, and Audi is hoping the car will kick some major Prius butt. Pitching the car as a hybrid-fighter, Audi is pairing it off against both the Prius and the Honda Insight.

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Honda CR-Z lightweight hybrid sports car. Photo: Honda

After talking with Mr. Yamamoto about supercapacitors, I moved on to discuss the possibility of a manual transmission on future hybrid vehicles. He said that it would not be difficult to put a manual transmission into an Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) Hybrid system.

Even though the current Civic hybrids have no option for a manual transmission, a manual transmission was offered on the first generation of that car. The reason the current Civic Hybrid has a continuously variable transmission (CVT) is to increase overall fuel efficiency by automatically letting the system choose the most efficient drive ratio.

While you could potentially get a much better fuel efficiency with a manual transmission if you practice “Ecodriving,” the efficiency would go down significantly if you choose lower gears more often or drove more aggressively.

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As I mentioned in part one of my interview, Honda first introduced the ultracapacitor with the J-VX concept. The J-VX ultimately led to the original production Insight, without the ultracapacitor. Honda also used the ultracapacitor technology on the FCX models (pre-Clarity) for years.

Honda developed their original ultracapacitors, and improved them during the period of FCX development and explains more about it on their web site.

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Four-door sedans continue to be popular vehicles for fleets and individuals because they offer the right amount of space for 4 or 5 passengers and enough cargo space for a taxi. With reduced greenhouse gas emissions becoming a priority for fleet managers and millions of conscientious consumers, finding new sedans that fit the bill can be confusing.

The following 10 four-door sedans have the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per mile of any vehicles available for volume commercial sale in 2009. In many cases, they also have the best fuel economy. Most are already selling in quantity. In a few cases, I am betting that the manufacturer will sell 1,000 of them to fleets by the end of 2009.

Buying these clean cars often gives fleets tax breaks and special funding opportunities.

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I’d like to thank all the readers who responded to my previous article with questions I could pose to Mr. Yamamoto. I’d also like to thank InsightCentral.net members for responding to that article too! I really appreciate your input, and apologize for taking so long to write this article.

After talking a bit about Green Options Media, Gas 2.0 and Insight Central, the very first question I asked him was about the possibility of using an ultracapacitor in a future Honda hybrid. More than ten years ago, the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) power train was first introduced with the J-VX concept and was originally developed with an ultracapacitor instead of NiMH batteries.

Mr. Yamamoto explained that Honda engineers have researched ultracapacitor technology in the past but that the technology, although promising, is still too new and has several challenges to overcome. In the end, Honda decided to go with NiMH batteries on the first generation of Insight in consideration of mass production and quality control.

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Honda will start selling the 2009 Insight in Japan this Spring with a price targeted under 2,000,000 yen ($22,325). Honda has previously announced the new Insight will go on sale in the US at a price starting under $18,500.

Additionally, a new sporty hybrid based on the CR-Z concept will be introduced in 2010, and Honda is considering mid- and large-size models in the hybrid line up.

Honda also will develop a small diesel engine and plans on introducing an electric motorcycle two years from now.

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I will have the opportunity to interview Honda Chief Engineer Mr. Yoshio Yamamoto this Saturday. If you have any questions about Honda’s hybrid cars, post them below!

I met Mr. Yamamoto today while visiting the Honda booth at the Eco-Products 2008 Exhibition. Displayed was the new Honda Insight concept, which is close to the production model. I loved driving my 2000 Honda Insight and am excited about the next generation. Mr. Yamamoto and Assistant Product Manager Mr. Hatano were happy to hear from a former first generation Insight owner.

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With the world focused on fuel economy, advanced car design seems to be converging around one point in space. And I do mean, literally, a point in space — a point sometimes seen flying over Roswell, or crashing in the Bermuda triangle.

Regardless of what you think about this type of design, it begs the question: do cars need to look like alien spacecraft to get decent fuel economy?

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