Top Gear is one of my all-time favorite shows. It never ceases to provide laughs and good entertainment while simultaneously managing to actually deliver useful content as well. My only gripe with it is that here in the States, we are always at least one season behind. So, while season 14 starts up on BBC in Britain, we’ll be lucky if we see the start of season 13 by February on BBC America.

That lag especially sucks right now because in episode two of season 14, which just aired in Europe, the Top Gear crew has built themselves a “car to save the world”—the Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust. Due to the fact that BBC in Britain restricts video viewing from their website to Europeans, I can only bring you a mish mash of bits and pieces of the episode from youtube… but even without the full episode, there are plenty of laughs to be had.

Cheers and enjoy.

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As the fastest land animal on Earth, the cheetah is a beast often referred to in metaphors, and studied for its movements. Humans, as you may have noticed, have something of an obsession with speed. Many of us won’t give up that obsession, no matter how much climate change may endanger our future. Did I mention humans are stubborn as well?

Thus the quest for a fossil fuel free future brings about a lot of interesting, outlandish, and outright weird ideas. This one is one of the weirdest, and yet it may actually have a future of sorts. Its a tricycle designed to mimic the movement of a cheetah… and, apparently, it works.

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Some of you may not be aware of the intricacies of the British parliamentary system, but one of its stranger quirks is something called the House of Lords - an amalgam of hereditary aristocrats, ageing bishops and a range of other assorted oddballs.

Over the years (centuries), this ‘upper house’ has cultivated something of a reputation for eccentricity - but the latest outburst from Conservative Lord McColl takes the biscuit. In order to tackle the safety risk posed to pedestrians by quiet electric cars he suggested the following proposal:

“My Lords, does the Minister accept that there might be a simpler solution? When I purchased one of these cars a few years ago, my wife, being very practical, said that the answer would be to put on the front of the car a small Swiss cowbell….”

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OK, I know this isn’t strictly the type of car that you’re used to hearing about on Gas 2.0. For starters, you can’t even drive it. But, with Christmas looming just around the corner, I couldn’t resist writing about this funky little hydrogen fuel cell-powered remote-control car.

Called the H2Go, this is a toy car aimed at teaching kids about alternative energy in a fun and exciting way. Forget falling for the classic disappointment of (duh) forgetting the batteries and having to wait till the shops open, this little number runs on a combination of solar and zero-emission hydrogen.

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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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Cops based near Oxford in the UK have revealed that they are unable to to use flashing blue lights on their new electric car - in case it drains too much power from the battery.

The Thames Valley police force is testing out the £20,000 ($33,000) Mitsubishi iMiev in an effort to improve its environmental credentials. Apart from this quite obvious setback, they have been pleased with the silent, emission-free car, capable of travelling 100 miles on a single charge (with the lights off).

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According to EPSRC funded researcher Dr. Kerry Kirwan with the University of Warwick, the car is not just environmentally friendly, but also fast boasting a top speed of 135 mph and can go 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds. Oh, and did I mention it’s turbo charged to give it more torque?

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If artist and designer Jameson Klug has his way, his “City” concept might be coming to a city near you. Klug’s City starts life as a fun and exciting motorcycle, before transforming into the highly responsible and space-efficient, rickshaw-style vehicle above.

Is this a case of having your cake and eating it too?  Find out more, after the jump.

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Originally envisioned as weighing just 50 pounds, and with a pullout drawer to extend its length for sleeping; inventor Paul Elkins‘ camper was designed for maximum efficiency. It had to endure winds of 60 mph, heat of 100+ degrees. And it’s not merely fuel efficient. It uses no fuel at all.

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Garage-Built Car Gets 105 MPG, Cost $2,500 To Build

Frustrated with the price of filling up his Toyota, Jory Squibb built the Moonbeam. It has been to the Altwheels Festival in Boston twice and has traveled over 10,000 miles. It is powered by a 150 cc gas engine and carries two passengers “if they are on good terms,” he says.

15 Students Turn A ‘76 Porsche Into A Fully Electric Car

The car was converted into a electric vehicle using 18 U-Charge® XP Lithium Phosphate batteries…and 15 MIT students. The electric version has similar driving performance to the original vehicle, with the added advantage of regenerative braking. It has a range of about 100 miles on a full charge.

Hybrid Trike Uses Diesel, Electric, And Pedal-Power

The Tri-Hybrid Stealth is a two seat, 3-wheeled vehicle that is powered by a diesel engine, an electric motor and the driver’s legs. For reals. It’s also the first hybrid trike to offer exclusive hand controls and an automated extendable seat for handicapped drivers.

Biomass Powered Truck Runs On Wood And Cardboard

Dave Nichols , a 42-year-old home builder and auto shop owner from eastern Connecticut, modified his 1989 Ford F-150 pickup truck to run on wood, leaves, cardboard and other “biomass” with a fuel system that he says expels virtually no pollution. Dave’s entry was the only truck in the competition.

Diesel-Powered Trike Built Almost Entirely Of Aluminum

The super-light Roopod, built by an Industrial Designer from western Massachusetts, is powered by a 2-cylinder diesel engine. Inspiration for the car came when he realized his V-dub weighed 3,000 pounds. “For every gallon of gas that I put in, 90 percent of it is being used to drive the car, and 10 percent to drive me, and that’s just stupid,’’ he said.

Three-Wheeled Green Grand Prix Winner

Built by Bill Buchholz, the Dirigo is a three-wheeled diesel two passenger vehicle that has a top speed of 72mph and does 0-60 about 30 seconds. It recently won its class in the Green Grand Prix, averaging 90 MPG. Um, can you tell it was designed by boat builders?

Gaia, The 300 MPG Trike

Built by Ken Fry, he says the vehicle will deliver 300 mpge with an electric range of about 30 miles and a top-speed of 90 mph. How? Well the car only weighs 540 pounds.

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…this is the very last straw: “A classic example of vangenieering, is being sacrificed at Galpin Ford in Los Angeles. For what? A Ford Focus? We must let people know of the horrors. If you see a great vehicle being sacrificed take a picture and post it here. We must bear witness to the atrocity.”

Jalopnik is a site for the auto-world equivalent of Fashionistas, and the CARS Carpocalypse is hitting them hard. For the most part its devoted readers are putting a very brave face on it. But the agony:

“I saw a mid 80’s El Camino get traded in. I… I didn’t cry. I know it wouldn’t want to be looked at with misty eyes of mourning.”

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I just want to pre-empt this post by saying I’m not a fan of pedaling. I always look awkward on bikes. Personal preference.

But I know there are millions of people out there who enjoy cycling (they always seem to get in my way on the road) and that there are plenty of people who would bike to work if they could. Inclement weather, distance, and rough terrain are probably the biggest factors in why most people don’t bike to work. For those of you still considering the trek, there is the Goblin Aero…and as awkward as it looks, these guys might be  on to something.

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I’ll admit, never saw this one coming–using Mountain Dew as fuel. It surely makes the Mountain Dew Game Fuel much more appropriate!

Inventor Paul Patone has created the GEET (Global Environmental Energy Technology) Fuel Processor. A mod that allows you to run your car on about 80% water. Or possibly, just a nice cold Tab.

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When I was nine years old - I just knew something along just these lines was in our futuristic future!

My Jetpack: finally! Here it is; invented by German aerospace engineer Alexander Boeck, and first seen (by me) in the Chinese Olympics. Here, finally, on sale in stores near you, at $269; is that new high tech transport!

I am so down for casually commuting to work at 25 miles an hour, and striding nine feet at a time, and loping gracefully along with the occasional leap over a short building or two.  All while looking like some kind of robotic gazelle - - and one that is two feet taller than me!

And the carbon footprint of this amazingly delightful form of transport? It’s Zilch!

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Those folks at Nissan have been keeping us busy lately, but the latest development really is a first - an air-conditioning system specifically designed to mess with our brains!

Earlier this week the Japanese number three announced the development of a new “Forest AC” air conditioning system, “which systematically controls cabin temperature, ventilation, aroma and humidity to create an optimal interior environment.”

But there’s more, the system is based on the results of a research study on the effects of aroma on human mental activity meaning it can “influence the physiological state and senses of the driver and passengers.”

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Gills Onions is the largest fresh onion processing plant in the world. The company has more than 15,000 acres of farmland and 300,000 square feet of processing and warehousing facility. Gill was looking for ways to reduce his costs in his farming operation when he began to experiment using the juice from his onion crop in Oxnard, California to create the energy to run his lighting and refrigerators. The result was the creation of an Advanced Energy Recovery System (AERS).

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In a macabre When Life Deals You Lemons - Make Lemonade kind of news item: Researchers are considering that perhaps we could safely reuse radioactive land: to grow crops for biofuel.

Growing food is still too dangerous in southeastern Belarus because the region is still so contaminated by fallout from Chernobyl that crops grown there cannot safely be eaten by humans for hundreds of years, until the radioactive isotopes decay.

Yet 1.5 million mostly older people have not left, and some are in fact growing some grain on the contaminated land anyway. The radioactive material concentrates in roots and stalks, which they just plough back into the ground after harvesting. As a result; the soil is still almost as contaminated now as it was after the accident.

Things could not be much worse there than they are now and the Belarus government is open to new ideas. So when an Irish company had the idea of remediating the soil by planting a biofuel crop, Belarus was more open to the idea than you might imagine:

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It’s hard being an environmental celebrity, especially when you are Royal too. People want to see you, but that can mean racking up a lot of carbon miles.

So Prince Charles had his Aston Martin converted to run on bio-ethanol made from aged English wine, and his Audi, Jaguar, and Range Rover all run on what the English call old cooking fat.

In the US we call this reused cooking oil because that’s much hipper and greener sounding, and marketing is everything.

So now Prince Charles is driven in the royal Jaguar that runs on homemade biodiesel and, for a little variety; in the Land Rover or the Audi, in a carbon conscious fashion.

But what about his airplane travel? Well…

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Don’t laugh.

This started as just another ho-hum, run-of-the-mill, zero emissions, homemade solar powered EV.

But, sensibly, noting the enormous contribution of the wind turbine in the “snout” 400 watts at 28 MPH, night or day! Joe Rush, the inventor plans on adding a second wind turbine! This would bring the total on-board electricity supply  to nearly 1 KW. Well, at least when it’s traveling at 28 mph, it would.

Perhaps following the findings of that Federal study which recently found that wind power is the second most cost-effective investment for Federal renewable energy dollars, right behind geothermal power Joe Rush is simply utilizing the free energy generated by simply being a moving vehicle: wind, from which he creates the first wind powered EV.

Unfettered by the slow-moving decision-making procedures of giant auto companies (some of which will no doubt still be trying to sell us gas guzzlers even while our poor planet enters it’s second Eocene) Joe is able to nimbly head back to the drawing board for this radical revision. A second wind turbine will be added.

But where?

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