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Japanese researchers announced several months ago that they've eliminated the need for expensive acids in biodiesel reactors.

"Much of Japan's fabulous rail system is electrified, but for those routes still running diesel-electric locomotives the NE-train is coming. The diesel generator is replaced with two 65 Kw Hydrogen powered fuel cells and a hydrogen tank to power the motors and it stores regenerative braking energy in batteries."

From here.

This more detailed article states it does use regenerative breaking. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/04/post_30.ph p

Well, I first read about it here:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/fuel_cells _for.php

But hey, that's just me. It links to Engadget, though, so maybe that's where you read about it.

The car is built up from a K1 Attack kit, which is a European competitor to the Lotus Elise. The Attack began as a kit car, and they've only recently started selling already-built cars in Europe. The only way to get them in the USA is in kit form. The most immediately noticeable difference between the Elise and the Attack is that the Attack has no roof (and I presume no heat or A/C) and is strictly a fair-weather car. The Attack is far from being able to pass US safety regulations (bumper, crash testing, etc), which is one reason why it's only available here as a kit. Even the more highly-developed Elise needs a regulatory exemption to be sold here. Starting in 2007 we're supposed to see a redesigned Elise that actually meets US standards.

If I'd built the thing, I would have bypassed all the hybrid technology (which is mostly hype, IMHO) and simply dropped a turbo-diesel engine into the Attack. I'm hoping that Lotus might someday build a diesel-powered Elise, that would be interesting (but I've seen no hint that they're interested in doing it). VW have shown something similar in principle, it was their Eco-Racer concept car. But there's no telling whether they will produce it.

As for bio-fuels, I have this to say: ALGAE

It's true that soybeans are not the most efficient crop for making bio-diesel fuel. It's true that growing conventional crops requires burning a lot of fuel (not to mention pesticides & fertilizer) that detracts from your energy yield. And of course they would compete against food crops for arable land. That doesn't mean you can write off biofuel. We've had articles in the past here on Slashdot about growing algae for biodiesel fuel, but everybody forgets so quickly. Tsk.

Biodiesel from algae:
http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html
http://www.greenfuelonline.com/

VW Ecoracer:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/12/vw_ecorace r_pre.php

I hope you aren't drinking your air conditioner water

Peak Oil could be 2005/2006, but remember, just because its peaked doesn't mean economies that can afford to pay for it wont get their fix.

Betting against the bull can hurt, I want to see all these gloomy peak-oilists short sell stock and make billions on the impending downfall peakers predict.

I fail to understand why people fear peak oil and get all gloomy, like humanity will just give up and die out and not find other ways such as:

microbes

nuclear

wind

ocean current

fusion

shale oil

tar sands

mile deep rigs

etc.

the "Solar" category on the Treehugger blog contains tons of solar stories:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/solar/

where, you know, real people have to actually want to buy the stuff you design or you're out of a job...

Real people buy stuff like this? Cause it seems that's what happens to fashion designers get jobs.

His post wasn't crystal-clear, but he's not trying to say the draw from the IR receiver is 1-4W, he's trying to say that the total draw of a set you've turned off is 1-4W. You are indeed correct about that particular component. It is not, however, the source of most of the power draw when the TV is off. Most of that comes from the power supply.

It's not as "off" as you think it is, and his estimate for the total draw when on standby is ballpark correct. Just about anything with a AC to DC power supply like that, even a switching design, is drawing power even when the load is off. Just for kicks, see if you can find or borrow a power meter, and check out your various "off" devices. The total for your house is a stupendous amount of wasted power. Anything with a power supply or a transformer will draw power all the time-- chargers for stuff, the paper shredder you have plugged in in the office, all your "off" computer peripherals (unless you shut off at the power strip), all your home theater crapola, every DC kitchen appliance you leave plugged in, etc... it's a few watts here and a few there, but it's not hard to have a steady 100W draw from things you thought were off. Odds are at least one device in your house will be a "surprise offender," too, with an idle draw that is *unbelieveably* high.

For a simple meter, try kill-a-watt. For an easy way to fix it (besides just a switch), try an intelligent power strip. These generally have one "control" plug that can tell the difference between "standby" and "on". All the other plugs are truly off if the "control" device is on standby. This allows you to have a PC that turns off your printer, USB hub, speakers, etc... or a TV that turns off your receiver, game consoles, dvd player, and so forth. Turning on the key device reactivates power to the other outlets on the strip.

Smart power strips.

Of course, none of this should even be an issue. There's no reason these devices should consume more than a watt when idle, even the ones that need some power for a remote control. But since people aren't aware of it, and electricity is cheap, it's not cost effective to care about it yet.

Regarding aesthetics, remember that there are other turbine designs that don't look like traditional windmills. For example, consider this vertical axis wind turbine. Radical designs like these will decrease the threat to birds and reduce the size of the turbine's footprint.

it took a 10 second google search for "hybrid battery disposal" to find these three results on the first page:

toyota's recycling initiatives
hybridcars.com's FAQ
treehugger.com article with some good resource links

seriously, man, use your noodle.

because of the high quality paper we use, they find they can recycle it and print their newspapers on it and it's cheaper than them making their own paper. It's a billion dollar industry for us.

Yet, the Chinese are adopting innovations faster than the western world (like the super speed trains). Will this mean that the trade deficit will tip even further in their direction?

I heard that paper tidbit on the History Channel and can't find any links that specific, but here are some related ones:

http://www.ban.org/ban_news/Junk_Bond.html

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/04/demand_for _us_r.php

I really liked the "swimming through sugar syrup vs water" experiment. I'd have been a volunteer swimmer for that one. The penguin poo velocity one was neat too. I didn't know about the phenomenon before reading about it there, so the awards are educational. I wonder if it's in that March of the Penguins movie...

I actually posted about it on TH earlier this morning:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/10/sciences_b est_f.php

Treehugger.com has an aritcle on a low emmissions wood burning oven: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/09/glutos_low _emis.php

Unfortunatly not too many people seem to understand what the purpose of this device is. Its NOT to generate hydrogen to add power or replace gas. The hydrogen is acting as a catalyst to improve the burn of the existing gas used in the engine. It provides MORE bang and a cleaner burn. Far more then the engergy of the hydrogen alone. I think the claims are overblown but the fact is well known that it cleans up the exhaust GREATLY. There is a guy who added tanks to his car instead of generating it on the fly. Now onto the price. CRAZY. If it adds 10% more mpg for $7000, its not worth it. I replaced the tires on my car with low rolling resistence ones and got 10% more mpg. That cost me $390 and the existing tires needed to be changed anyhow. http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/090203.html http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_gener ation.asp?article_type=earth&article_path=/earth/e arth041014.htm http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/05/low_rollin g_res.php

When building your robot, just remember to use more of these and less of these. Your body will thank you.

This article makes a great point (for homeowners). You may want to think about investing in reducing energy costs in your house, rather than investing in your transportation (anyway, a car is not an investment; a house is). There may be a larger payback for you - more bang for the buck if you mod your house.

indonesia peat burning emits 1/7th of global CO2

i'm surprised this wasn't mentioned as well.

I remember reading an artical resently about an island with trash(http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/09/well _believe_it.php), the US has lots of trash we should try that.

I saw this quite a while ago on treehugger.com check out http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/06/fedex_furn iture.php

This guy did not "take new" fedex boxes from fedex. He used previously discarded boxes. On other-words ultra-minimal impact on the environment.

For more info: http://freegan.info/

Bad link in the article text. It's here.

Treehugger Link (fixed)

For those who want more, the best links on for intelligent green reading:

WorldChanging.com -- which also has an article about wave power.

TreeHugger, which is already linked in the story.

Dave Pollard, which writes very insightfully about lots of things including environmental philosophy.

Green Car Congress, where you can get the best news about green mobility, cool cars & industrial developments.

IDFuel, which is more about design but covers some of the same ground as TreeHugger.com

FuelCellWorks for all the latest news about fuel cells.

Grist Magazine, for news and a touch of humor, plus lots of interviews.