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Hybrid Vehicle Nears 100-mpg Barrier in Rally

A specially modified hybrid-electric Honda Insight achieved nearly 100 miles per gallon (mpg) over a 150-mile course last weekend, falling just short of the “100 MPG Challenge” at the National 2005 Tour de Sol. The 17th annual Tour de Sol – billed as “a sustainable energy and transportation festival and competition” – was held May 13-16 in Sarasota Springs and Albany, New York, and featured more than 60 hybrid, electric, and bio-fueled vehicles.The Tour de Sol also featured a 500-mile Monte Carlo-style road rally, which was won by a Honda Insight that averaged 79 mpg, a Toyota Prius that averaged 61 mpg, and a biodiesel-fueled Volkswagen Passat that averaged 77 mpg. Other innovative vehicles at the Tour de Sol included two biodiesel-fueled hybrid vehicles and a biodiesel-fueled DaimlerChrysler Smart vehicle that achieved 67 mpg. And actually, there was one vehicle at the Tour de Sol that achieved better than 100 mpg, but that was because of an electrical boost: Valence Corporation and Energy Control Systems Engineering modified a Toyota Prius to carry a high-capacity lithium-ion battery pack charged with 9 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Their “plug-in” Prius achieved 102 mpg over a 150-mile course. While a number of homemade electric vehicles […]

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A Dormitory Experience Like Few Others: Sustainable

The 500 undergraduates living in the University of South Carolina’s new West Quad residence hall will enjoy a dormitory experience like few others. that’s because the 172,000 square-foot, $30.9 million residence hall, being hailed as the world’s largest green dorm, is as resident-friendly as it is environmentally responsible. And the construction cost was about the same as a similarly sized non-green residence hall.“At the beginning of the process, everyone was scared to death, having heard of 15% cost premiums for green buildings,” says Michael Koman, the university’s environmental program manager. “We debunked the myth that green buildings cost more.” The building is expected to receive a LEED-Silver certification. The facility uses 45% less energy and 20% less water than similarly sized residence halls. Reflective light shelves in the windows, a green roof on part of the facility, high-efficiency washers and dryers, low-flow plumbing fixtures, a 5 kW hydrogen fuel cell and a solar heating system for hot water are all elements of the facility’s water- and energy-efficient design. Residents are rewarded for being energy efficient as well. Each suite has its own temperature control and students can evaluate their suite’s electricity use on monitors in the lobbies. Residents that reduce […]

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Senate, DOE Takes Action on Renewables

A new section has been introduced to the US Senate’s energy bill that would provide loan guarantees to companies that build new “clean energy” projects. Written by Sen Pete Domenici (R-NM), Congress’ top nuclear power advocate, and Sen Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), one of its biggest renewable energy supporters, it would establish an Energy Loan Guarantee Fund to aid carbon capture and sequestration projects, coal gasification and advanced nuclear plants, renewable energy facilities, and efficient electric transmission and distribution technologies. In another development, the Senate Energy Committee adopted an amendment to the energy bill which establishes a renewable fuels standard (RFS) of 8 billion gallons by 2012. Offered by Sens. Jim Talent (R-MO), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Ken Salazar (D-CO), the amendment passed on a strong, bipartisan voice vote. The amendment establishes an RFS that begins at 4 billion gallons in 2006 and increases to 8 billion gallons in 2012. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) added an amendment to count each gallon of cellulosic ethanol as 2.5 gallons toward meeting the RFS. In addition, she inserted a provision to set aside up to 250 million gallons of RFS demand for cellulosic ethanol beginning in 2013. Under the program, if […]

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