There is a lot of confusion and disinformation circulating today about seeds and the ethics of their commercial sale.  Actually a healthy, commercial seed industry is critical for agricultural sustainability.  Because seeds are such a fundamental component of the sustainability of our food supply, this area deserves careful thought and accurate information even if you are never going to farm or even garden. I’ll try to address some of the modern “myths” about this.  I’ll talk about “farmer-saved seed,” and “hybrid seed.” In a later post I’ll talk about “GMO seed,” and the mythical “Terminator Technology.”  But first a little history.

Seed-bearing plants start showing up in the fossil record ~350 million years ago, first as gymnosperms like cycads, conifers… and eventually, flowering plants (angiosperms) like most of the living plants today.  Other than pine nuts and sea weed, I can’t think of any crops that are not angiosperms (Contest! - 5 virtual sustainability points to someone who can come up with another non-angiosperm crop plant)

Jarrod Diamond’s wonderful book, “Guns, Germs and Steel” talks about how the initially accidental and later intentional collection and planting of seeds is what made human civilization possible - the move beyond the hunter/gatherer state that happened about 10,000 years ago in the “fertile crescent.”

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I’ve always found most body kits to be silly. Side skirts, fender flares, and front splitters usually do little more than add weight and make a slow car look like it’s trying too hard to go fast. But every now and then a good, clean body kit can improve the appearance of a car, and if done right, even improve its aerodynamic properties.

Hybrids seem to be especially popular to make body kits for recently, with both the Toyota Prius and Ford Fusion Hybrid receiving different takes on body enhancements. Toyota is taking the game a step further with its Aerius body kit which offers subtle improvements to the exterior without negatively affecting the drag coefficient.

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In recent years, GM stuck the SS badge on more cars than it didn’t. For a long time the Super Sport moniker meant something, but sticking it on a turbocharged HHR delivery wagon did nothing to improve the General’s image. In a bit of an acknowledgment that maybe they went too far with the SS badge, GM has dumped many of these mistakes recently; currently the only vehicle with an SS badge is the Camaro.

So what does any of this have to do with Gas 2.0? GM’s vice-chairman, Bob Lutz, did not rule out the possibility of a Volt SS. Furthermore, the rumor mill is reporting that GM has given the green light to the Volt-based Cadillac Converj, a concept car that debuted earlier this year.

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I am extremely vocal on the topic of electric cars, especially when it comes to their performance potential. Instant torque is very, very fun—to say the least—and makes a lot more sense on the racing circuit than internal combustion engines (at least in short bursts). Makers of high-end exotics are starting to pick up on this trend, though Ferrari is (as far as I know) the first supercar maker to confirm it will be adding and electric-hybrid to its lineup.

Of course, they claim this is to improve handling and not fuel efficiency. But hey, I’ll take what I can get from the prancing horse.

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Ever feel like a sucker? Well right now, you should. After taking billions in bailout loans from the Federal Government, promising a half-million electric cars on the road by 2013 and even going so as establishing an electric vehicles program, Fiat-owned Chrysler has renegged on pretty much all of its electric car promises after axing the ENVI program.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who saw Chrysler’s revised vehicle lineup last week, but it still feels like a kick in the gut.

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Are you a petrohead with a conscience? Someone who likes the thought of owning an electric car but put off by the weedy sound of today’s offerings?

Well, for those of you who want to blend eco-cred with the engine roar of a Lamborghini, the wait may be finally over. New technology developed by Lotus and hi-fi whizz Harman Kardon will enable drivers of hybrid and electric cars to select the engine noise of their choice - from a beefy V8 to the swoosh! of the Enterprise at warp speed.

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As an undergrad in college, I had the privilege of twice attending the annual Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas. SEMA is mostly known for wild, outlandish, and powerful versions of street cars; it isn’t the kind of place you go to find people discussing fuel efficiency and hybrids.

But 2009 is a year of reckoning and big changes are afoot in the auto industry. One sign of the times: M&J Enterprises has brought to this year’s SEMA a Ford Fusion Hybrid equipped with an aero body kit to reduce drag.

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Canadian province Ontario is to introduce green-coloured licence plates, available only to drivers of plug-in hybrids and battery-powered electric vehicles.

Sounds like another gimmick? Well, here’s the deal - vehicles sporting the new green plates will be able to drive in the province’s dedicated carpool lanes until 2015, even if only one person is in the vehicle.

Speaking about the initiative, Transportation Minister Jim Bradley said, “The McGuinty government’s plan is to have one out of every 20 passenger vehicles on Ontario’s roads an electric vehicle by 2020.”

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One major obstacle on the road to widespread acceptance of electric cars is reliability. Electric cars are still relatively new ground, and anybody who has ever gotten a cellphone wet or left a laptop in a car during a hot summer day (guilty on both counts) knows that electronics are very sensitive to the elements. Apparently, they are also sensitive to potholes.

One of the “lucky” few who were given an Electric Mini to test out—the founder of GM-Volt.com found out just how sensitive when the Mini came to a dead stop in a construction zone after hitting one such pothole.

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Indiana-based Bright Automotive has released some pretty impressive performance figures for its technically (and aerodynamically!) slick new IDEA cargo van. Aimed primarily at delivery fleets and in-town rental companies, the freshly-upgraded guppy promises to shave operating costs by thousands of dollars per year, per van.

More pictures, an official company press release, and my own opinions (that nobody asked for) after the jump.

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Yamaha

Did it work? Maybe!

More about the seemingly production-ready HV-X hybrid concept—including video—after the jump…

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According to CEO Carlos Ghosn, unlike its other Japanese rivals, Nissan has made a strategic decision to cede the standalone hybrid wars to them and will not make hybrid-only models such as Toyota’s Prius or Honda’s Insight.

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Subaru’s AWD Hybrid Concept Car

Based on comments made at the Tokyo Motor Show by Ikuo Mori, president of Fuji Heavy Industries (the company that makes Subarus), Subaru is well on their way to releasing their first gasoline-electric hybrid in 2012.

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I don’t normally get excited about hybrids. They’re pretty humdrum if you ask me, and I was into performance vehicles way before I was into alternative fuels. The Prius is boring, the Fusion is just a Fusion, and the Insight and downright ugly.

But Honda seems to have been listening, having announced that the aggressively styled CR-Z concept hatch will make it into production as a 2011 model for Japan and America. This is a hybrid car I could actually see myself driving.

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Chrysler is arguably in the toughest shape of the Big Three Detroit automakers, both financially and with its future lineup. You can point plenty of fingers at reasons why, including the lack of effective, fuel efficient vehicles, but Chrysler was once considered the most innovative of the big three, always thinking big while breaking the bank.

One little-known car from the annals of the Auburn Hills automaker is the Patriot, a purpose built hybrid electric race car that was to use turbines and natural gas to achieve purported speeds of 200 mph.

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One deft criticism of electric cars is that they lack ambient noise to warn others of their impending approach. This is especially worrisome for the blind or elderly, and even early hybrids like the Prius are criticized for being too quiet in a world weened on engine noises. Then there are those of us who demand a growling engine as part of the automotive experience.

But that may all change in the not too distant future, as hybrid or electric cars may come equipped with artificial engine noises. You may even be able to customize the tunes coming out of your automobile.

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Volvo C30EV on the road.

This post was written by Andrew English and originally appeared on the Popular Mechanics website.

In this rough economic climate, it appears Volvo has weathered the storm. In September, Ford’s Swedish car-making arm, Volvo, showed a 16 percent sales increase over last year—one of only nine automakers to do so. And the Swedes are showing a firm embrace on the latest environmental technologies, even if the company doesn’t quite have the wherewithal to put them all into production right now.

What will be in European showrooms next year is the plug-in hybrid V70 wagon with the capability of traveling 31 miles in electric-only mode. We’re going to have to wait for the battery-electric C30EV coupe, but Popular Mechanics was given a preview drive of both recently.

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A group of University of Kansas students have rigged up a 1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle to run on a mix of biodiesel and battery power.

The team, calling themselves the Ecohawks, claim the quirky hybrid is capable of getting 50 MPG from a series of 10 lead-acid batteries and a biodiesel generator.

Performance-wise, although quite cool looking in a retro kind of way, the car isn’t exactly what you’d call a speedster, topping out as it does at a leisurely 30 mph.

That doesn’t seem to bother team-leader Prof. Chris Depcik though, who told reporters, “We have driven it around and reached approximately 30 mph, but this was more of a proof-of-concept drive without pushing the boundaries. We are currently getting the vehicle into road-ready shape to be driven safely in order to determine these values.” (More pics after the jump).

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BMW’s Simple concept–which kinda looks like a Stealth Bomber with training wheels–is a hybrid trike that gets around 120 mpg.

The Simple (which stands for Sustainable and Innovative Mobility Product for Low Energy consumption) does 60 mph in just under ten seconds and has a top speed of 125 mph. The car weighs just over 900 lbs and has a super low drag coefficient of 0.18.

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This one may offend you more sensitive types as “ironic” or not green at all. But the fact is, the world needs bulldozers. Lots of them. But until now, anyone seeking a hybrid bulldozer was out of luck. But Caterpillar, the prolific maker of construction equipment has announced that for 2010 they will be selling the D7E, a diesel-electric bulldozer.

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