DIY fuel efficiency

Sometimes, when it comes to fuel efficiency, you can’t wait for companies to provide the solutions: you just have to seize the bull by the horns. And then you have to bend those horns into a more aerodynamic shape.

Right?

If you’re not into bull bending, though, there are still unique ways of environmentally tricking out your ride. Take this photo gallery of DIY efficiency modifications made to a variety of vehicles. From a motorcycle with an aerodynamic shell to a minivan with a plastic tail, these street-legal creations go to show that even existing products can be turned into energy-efficient ones.

Of course, if you’re not willing to commit the time and engineering expertise required for completely modifying your vehicle, you can still improve your fuel efficiency just by changing your driving habits. There are a host of sources for energy-saving tips in the car, including the Office of Energy Efficiency; provincial government websites, like the BC’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure; and of course our own Canadian Centre for Energy Information.

Still, if you find yourself seized by the urge to seize your own proverbial bull by the horns, and you’ve got the wherewithal to make it happen, why not take a stab at it?

Via Popular Science

Image: Technological University of Malaysia vehicle competes in the Shell Eco-marathon fuel efficiency challenge at Sepang.

A good ride, eh?

If your daily commute starts with a double double, and if the only rims you’re worried about are the kind that roll up, then you’ll be happy to know that the a pair of microbiologists at the University of Manitoba have been trying to fuel your car with Tim Horton’s coffee cups.

Unfortunately, technology still hasn’t progressed to the point that your morning coffee can also be used to fuel your morning commute, but Tim’s disposal coffee cups themselves can be broken down into a shredded mass that resembles cotton candy. With the cups in a form that provides ample surface area for ethanol-producing bacteria to consume, the researchers were about to provides about 1.3 litres of ethanol from 100 Tim Hortons cups. (Assuming you’re just drinking regulars, at $1.39, you’d have to put up $139 for your 1.3 litres, leaving you with the non-too-appealing price of $106.92 per litre.)

Given the fact that edible crops have fallen out of favour as a source of biofuel because we’d rather fuel our stomachs than our cars, it makes sense to begin looking in our trash for alternative sources. Certainly, we’ve already looked to cellulosic materials and other kinds of (smellier) waste. More than proving that one of our national pastimes is also an energy source, these repurposed coffee cups show that there are innovative approaches to energy that are often sitting right under our noses.

But, hey, why not keep it Canadian while we’re at it, eh?

Via Tree Hugger

Flying the friendly (but taxed) skies

In Canada, it’s common wisdom that declaring support for an environmental tax can be political suicide. Stephane Dion’s support of a carbon tax certainly didn’t help him hold onto the leadership of the federal Liberal Party, and BC’s carbon tax originally raised the expected howls of opposition (and its recent increase in tandem with the provincial HST could raise them again). But in a country with one of the highest per capita greenhouse gas emission rates in the world, it seems likely that Canadians will eventually see something along the lines of a price on carbon. Across the Atlantic, it’s already becoming a reality.

Germany, along with other struggling European economies, recently passed a slate of austerity measures to bring deficits down. In this case, it included an eco-tax on air travel designed to bring up to a billion Euros in revenue.

Following on the heels of the UK’s own air travel duties, instituted in 2007, the German tax is stirring controversy as opponents accuse the government of using environmental concerns as an excuse to draw more tax revenue. As the Tree Hugger article linked above notes, other European countries including the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain have already dropped taxes on air travel in response to this kind of opposition, which is hardly surprising — with the world still concerned about recession, environmental concerns are usually trumped. A Canwest poll in March, for example, found that 36 per cent of Canadians listed the economy as their primary concern, versus 17 per cent for the environment.

Money talks, which is why Alberta requires companies who exceed their carbon intensity targets to pay $15 per tonne of CO2 emissions into the Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund, which recently paid out a total of $28.1 million to 30 Alberta companies. We all incur an environmental cost with emissions, and if Germany is any indication, we might also eventually incur a financial one to boot.

Via Tree Hugger

Getting Somewhere With Flying Fish

In Canada, transportation accounts for a full 36 per cent of our total greenhouse gas emissions. Cars, trucks, airplanes and freight trains — they all take Canadians and Canadian goods where they need to go, and almost all consume some form of refined petroleum, which is responsible for 49 per cent of Canada’s emissions.

But there are unconventional ideas on the horizon that could change the way we move around, from natural gas-powered vehicles to jet engines powered by garbage. But some of the future’s vehicles are bound to be weirder than others.

Take, for example, a flying fish being developed by Swiss scientists. Built to mimic the contraction of muscle tissue, this floating, fish-like dirigible would be capable of moving through the air without the aid of a propeller, or the heavy mechanical components of an engine. Quiet and manoeuvrable, it uses electrodes installed along the polymer that makes up the fish’s “skin” to attract one side to the other. The result: a gentle, swimming motion.

At the moment, the 8-metre prototype is only able to move at a slow walking speed, and there are serious real-world considerations of to be taken into account, like sudden winds or other inclement weather. But there’s definite potential in any design that can reduce air and noise pollution at the same time.

The trout-like airship also isn’t the only prototype to suggest an entirely different approach to motion in the vehicles we’re already used to seeing. Kinetic road plates are already being used to capture the impact of passing cars to generate electricity, and vehicles like smart bikes and so-called EcoCabs are adding human locomotion to the power of an electric engine.

While the world waits for its skies to fill with enormous airborne fish to carry us away, though,  Canadians already have a broad selection of fuel efficient cars to improve the way they get around. But now that you know that the future has flying fish in it,  it might be a little harder to get excited about excellent fuel mileage.

Would a trout have a higher km/l ratio than a salmon? Only the future will tell.

Image: IOP/EMPA

Scooter commuter

There are lots of different makes and models of electric motorbikes, scooters, bikes and even skateboards the city commuter can choose from these days. But this bike and battery are made to go.

James South took a gamble and created the Yogo – the UK’s only full production electric scooter with portable battery. The lithium battery is easy to remove (weights about 11 kilograms) and take home for charging. It’s ready to go again, in about an hour. The bike has a range of 35 kilometers between battery charges and tops out at 61 kilometers an hour.

OK, it’s not the fastest or the cheapest scooter out there and styling-wise it’s not a Vespa. But at least you don’t have to find a plug in on the street or run a cord out the window from your apartment. And as Bibi demos, it will put a smile on your face.

Waste not, want not – carbon dioxide as fuel

Transportation accounts for over 35 per cent of Canada’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, so it’s not surprising that when we start talking about reducing emissions, we start talking about our cars. But imagine: what if the cars we drove were actually using the CO2 we put into the atmosphere instead of releasing more? That’s the question that a team of scientists and engineers from a trio of UK universities are asking, and they think they might well find an answer.

Collaborating with the University of the West of England, the University of Bath and the University of Bristol, a team of scientists and engineers are trying to create nanomaterials capable of trapping some of the thousands of megatonnes of GHG released into the atmosphere every year. (Globally, Canada accounts for two per cent of consumption-related emissions.) Once captured, this carbon dioxide could be split into its constituent elements, which could then theoretically be converted into fuel.

Similar to carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies that aim to capture carbon at its point of release, the goal of this research would be to create porous materials capable of lining factory chimneys and trapping carbon dioxide for later use. And while the team’s efforts are currently focused on the nanomaterials capable of trapping the suspect carbon dioxide, it isn’t the first attempt to create make our wasted emissions into useful energy either.

In 2007, scientists at the University of California, San Diego demonstrated a prototype capable of “splitting” carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide (CO) and oxygen.  And while carbon dioxide is toxic, it can be converted into fuel. With other applications including detergent and plastics, making more of wasted emissions simply makes sense.

Turning unwanted emissions into useful products belongs to an entire area of technological development that sees scientists looking for “fresh” applications of waste. And with consumers increasingly concerned about the costs of energy, both financial and environmental, it’s not hard to imagine a market for fuel made from the same emissions we’re trying to reduce. Waste not, want not.

Federal government suspends ecoEnergy program

The Federal Government announced March 31 that it has suspended the ecoEnergy Retrofit – Homes program. The program was designed to encourage homeowners to undertake energy efficiency improvements on existing homes to increase energy savings and reduce greenhouse gases. It consisted of grants up to $5,000 and involved pre-retrofit assessments, retrofits and post-retrofit assessments.

The entire program was originally set to run until March 31, 2011. The government will now only process grant applications from homeowners who have scheduled or completed a pre-retrofit evaluation and who will be completing energy efficiency improvements and post-retrofit assessments prior to March 31, 2011. Such participants must apply for grants prior to that date. However, the pre-retrofit phase is now closed to new applicants.

The suspension of the program came as a surprise. In its March 2010 budget, the government announced an additional $80 million (2.2MB PDF) to support retrofits by Canadian homeowners due to “unprecedented demand”. In total, the Government provided $585 million to the program under the Economic Action Plan.

In a Frequently Asked Questions section on the Office for Energy Efficiency website, the government justified the cancellation by saying “the program is confident that all eligible homeowners who previously entered the program by scheduling or completing a pre-retrofit evaluation will still have the opportunity to apply for and receive a grant.”

The Federal Government will continue to support provincial and territorial energy efficiency for homes.

Go shopping, save the planet

Buying stuff now provides a triple benefit: you own something new, you help the economy recover and you save the planet. Not bad for an afternoon at the mall. AIR MILES® has announced the formation of a new division, AIR MILES for Social Change, designed “to help organizations more effectively inspire socially responsible lifestyle choices among Canadians by harnessing the power of reward miles.”

AIR MILES for Social Change is partnering with government agencies, energy utilities, transit service providers, and non-governmental organizations. According to the news release, these partnerships “leverage the value of AIR MILES reward miles and the program’s reach into more than 10 million Canadian households to create incentives for energy conservation, public transit, waste reduction and other sustainable choices to shift the attitudes and behaviours of Canadians in favour of healthy living and the environment.”

Details about the new program are scant, but “an innovative energy conservation relationship with the Ontario Power Authority is set to be announced in April, 2010. This joint program will help engage Ontarians to take simple conservation actions that will have lasting financial rewards and help fight climate change.”

What’s the greenest vehicle in Canada?

According to Natural Resources Canada’s fuel consumption ratings for the 2010 model year, of the 1,024 cars listed, it’s the Toyota Prius (not withstanding a recent recall of 2004-2009 Prius models and 2010 Prius models). Prius has held that position since 2007.

The Prius emits 1,748 kilograms of CO₂ per year and consumes 760 litres of gasoline in doing so. The second-greenest car is the hybrid version of the Honda Civic, with emissions of 2,070 kilograms of CO₂ per year and consumption of 900 litres of regular gasoline. Rounding out the top three is the Honda Insight with emissions of 2,162 kilograms of CO₂ per year and consumption of 940 litres of regular gasoline. The Insight was the greenest car from 2000 to 2006.

Of course your results may vary, depending on how you drive and where you drive. These estimates assume an annual driving distance of 20,000 kilometres, 55 per cent of which are city driving and 45 per cent highway driving.

As one would expect, nine of the top ten green vehicles are cars. Only the Ford Escape is a special purpose vehicle (the new name for an SUV). Of the top ten vehicles, eight are hybrids. Only two, the Toyota Yaris ( ranked 10th) and Smart Fortwo (ranked 5th), are powered by conventional gasoline internal combustion engines. No diesel-powered vehicles made it to the top ten. In fact the diesels with the lowest CO₂emissions are the Audi A3 TDI, Volkswagen Golf TDI Clean Diesel and the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Clean Diesel, all of which tied for 38^th place with emissions of 3,132 kilograms of CO₂ per year and consumption of 1,160 litres of diesel fuel. These cars were considered the greenest in 1999, prior to the introduction of hybrid technology.

Car	Class	Power	Emissions (kg/CO2/year)	Consumption (L/y)	Base Price ($Cdn)
Toyota Prius	Mid-size	Hybrid	1,748	760	27,800
Honda Civic	Subcompact	Hybrid	2,070	900	27,350
Honda Insight	Compact	Hybrid	2,162	940	23,900
Ford Fusion	Mid-size	Hybrid	2,300	1,000	21,499
Smart Fortwo	Two-seater	Conventional	2,484	1,080	14,990
Lexus HS250h	Compact	Hybrid	2,622	1,140	39,900
Toyota Camry	Mid-size	Hybrid	2,622	1,140	24,900
Nissan Altima	Mid-size	Hybrid	2,668	1,160	33,398
Ford Escape	Special Purpose	Hybrid	2,806	1,220	24,499
Toyota Yaris	Subcompact	Conventional	2,852	1,240	14,750
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So, we’ve covered green. What about affordable? Well, the reason these vehicles produce fewer emissions is that they consume less fuel. So there is a savings in operating costs. As well, there can be a savings in sticker price. Statistics Canada reports the average price of a new car in 2009 was $25,683. Adjusting for inflation of 1.86 per cent, that price rises to $25,770 in 2010. The average price of the top ten cleanest vehicles in Canada is $25,300. The least expensive are the Yaris at $14,750 and the Fortwo at $14,990, the only two non-hybrids of the bunch. The most expensive are the Lexus at $39,900 and the Altima at $33,398. Even the SUV comes in less than average car price.

On the other end of the emissions, consumption and price spectrum is the Bugatti Veyron which emits 10,166 kilograms of CO₂ per year, consumes of 4,420 litres of gasoline and costs about $1.7 million, depending upon options, retailer may sell for less. Operating costs are steep as well. At its top speed of 407 kilometres per hour, the tires last about 15 minutes. However, there’s a built-in safety mechanism. At top speed a full tank of gas only lasts 12 minutes.

e-bike power

Electric is the word when it comes to urban transportation. From C-trains to hybrid cars, there are more ways than ever to get around downtown, emission free. Now motor-assisted bicycles and electric scooters are about to become all the rage. With a new regulation in Alberta, electric bikes may be a more “powerful” option. Users will no longer need a licence, insurance or registration in order to ride one.

Topping at 32km/h, e-bikes may not be right for highway driving, but perfect for running errands in your neighbourhood. In some –not all – cases, they may be suited for your daily commute. Because of the new regulations, many retailers believe you will see more commuters on e-bikes.

While traditional bicycles remain popular, some routes require just a little more juice, like biking uphill or long distances. Despite having more power than a traditional bike, if recharged via renewable provider like Bullfrog Power, it’s still emissions-free.

Electric scooters are gaining in popularity as well. Consumers often report feeling safer on a scooter than a bike, whether motorized or not. This is partly because other vehicles treat it like a vehicle, and partly because it has some car-like features; rear-view mirrors, turn signals and horns.

While generally intended for use within a few kilometres of a city’s downtown area, they are gaining popularity with riders further from the core. There is no question that both e-bikes and electric scooters are strong additions to the plethora of urban electric vehicles.

Vroom!

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