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Administration Announces Weak New Mileage Standards

Amidst rising oil and gas prices, the Bush Administration yesterday announced its new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for light trucks. Environmentalists say the proposed rule changes will do nothing to help American motorists at the pump, nor will they reduce America’s dependence on imported oil. The new standards appear to raise the current light truck standard of 22.2 miles per gallon (mpg) in model year 2007 to a fleet-wide standard of 24 mpg by model year 2011. However, the new standards actually exempt vehicles weighing from 8,500 to 10,000 pounds– such as the Hummer H2, Ford Excursion, and some models of the Chevy Suburban– all vehicles that achieve very poor mileage due to their size. Environmentalists argue that the Bush Administration should make use of the latest in automotive technology and establish a more stringent fleet-wide average standard. Ironically, General Motors is already producing a vehicle in China that achieves 43 miles per gallon. “Instead of harnessing America’s technological know-how to require light trucks and autos to meet a 40-mile per gallon (mpg) average standard,” said Anna Aurilio, U.S. PIRG legislative director, “the Administration has proposed a pathetically weak increase in light truck miles per gallon standards and […]

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Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:August 24, 2005

News and Events U.S. Green Building Council Launches LEED for Homes New Tool Helps Fleet Managers Evaluate Hybrid Vehicles Carbon Nanotubes Show Promise for Solar Cells, Other Devices Spain to Build an 11-Megawatt Solar Power Tower Anti-Neutrinos Shed Light on the Source of Geothermal EnergySite NewsLabs 21: Labs for the 21st Century Energy ConnectionsReports: High Gas Prices Changing U.S. Consumer Behavior News & EventsU.S. Green Building Council Launches LEED for HomesThe U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which has set the standard for commercial green buildings through its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system, is currently launching a one-year pilot project to demonstrate a new LEED rating system for homes. The LEED for Homes Rating System is a voluntary program that will recognize and reward the top 25 percent of green homebuilders. New homes built to the LEED standards will be designed and constructed to use less energy, less water, and fewer materials. The LEED homes will also provide improved indoor air quality through improved controls of pollutant sources and better ventilation and filtration systems. Builders in 11 states plus the Northeast region are participating in the pilot. See the USGBC press release and the LEED Rating System […]

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UltraCell Corporation Announces Portable Methanol Fuel Cell System

UltraCell Corporation announced a new fuel cell power source for portable electronic devices that has twice the energy density of lithium batteries. UltraCell’s reformed methanol fuel cell (RMFC) technology uses a micro reformer to generate fuel-cell-ready hydrogen from a highly concentrated methanol solution. This new portable power system has the power density of a hydrogen fuel cell but uses readily available, low cost methanol fuel in a compact package. Weighing just 40 ounces, the power unit is about the size of a paperback novel. The technology was developed by as a prototype for the military. This original system, the XX90, was designed for up to 45 watts of continuous power. Subsequently, the U.S. Army’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) awarded UltraCell a contract to accelerate its development of a more compact portable system to run at 25 watts. This new power source is being developed for commercial use as the UltraCell25(TM) and will be available in 2006 for professional, industrial and mobile computing applications. Its name for the military will be the XX25. UltraCell’s micro reformer technology is designed to work in a user-friendly package that, with the push of a power button, self starts and feeds power […]

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