The classic Volvo box car wasn't exactly aerodynamic. Safe for the vehicle occupants, sure, but not slippery. In the last few years, thought, the Swedes have been working to make their cars more efficient and have rebuilt their wind tunnel to further push down CO₂ emissions and fuel use. The new tunnel is supposed to better recreate the effects of wind on a car moving down the road by giving a better picture of the air flowing under the car.

The tunnel's new fan is made up of nine carbon fiber blades with a diameter of 8.15 meters. Total cost for the facility was 20 million euros, and has already helped reshape the new Volvo C30 DRIVe so it produces three fewer grams of CO₂ per kilometer. Volvo says that this difference means a driver who goes 15,000 km a year will use 45 fewer liters, about one tank, of fuel. That may not be huge on an individual level, but it's not bad for 20 mil. More manufacturer-approved details after the break.


[Source: Volvo]

Automobile races that try to put on a green mantle are seriously nothing new. There's Formula 1, Formula Zero, and ALMS to name just a few. Coming soon (well, in a year) to a country near you (if you live in Denmark) is a new eco-aware speed event called the CO₂ E - Race. At least, that's what we think this this is about. The current website is woefully short on things like details.

What the site does say is that the idea behind the CO₂ E - Race is that all of the vehicles involved must be carbon neutral. The reason for the race (and a car show) is the United Nations Global Climate Change Conference which takes place in Copenhagen next September. I expect we'll know more well before then. After all, getting the word out is part and parcel for these things, no? Thanks to Jacob for the tip!

[Source: CO₂ E - Race]

Until now, Spain was known for having a simple system to tax cars based on CO₂ emissions. It's called "Impuesto de matriculación," which we can roughly translate as "registration tax." However, this tax is paid at purchase and there's no further effect during the life cycle of the vehicle. Spaniards do pay an additional tax on cars called "Impuesto de Vehículos de Tracción Mecánica" or "de Circulación" which is a simple road tax, except that it's paid to municipalities instead of to the he federal government (as in the UK, for instance).

This may soon change. The Spanish Ministry of Economy is readying legislation to instruct municipalities to impose a road tax based on "environmental parameters," that is, CO₂ emissions. The more a car pollutes, the more taxes its driver will pay per year. The current tax rate is based on an old system that uses engine displacement and power. The reform will also require the owner of the car to pay taxes where he or she lives. Some companies have been registering cars in smaller municipalities with reduced car taxes to shave costs. Some cities such as Zaragoza and Barcelona already offer discounts on this tax for hybrid and electric cars.

[Source: El País]

Photo of the European Parliament published under the GNU Documentation License

Ok, I have to admit that this is becoming quite the complicated story. The basics are that the European Parliament intends to limit the average CO₂ emission figures for auto manufacturers. The initial goal was to set the limit to 120 g/km in 2012 and the measure included considerable fines for automakers exceeding these limits. Not long ago, we heard that the European Commission was considering a less restrictive limit of 130 g/km for 2012 and other possible capitulations. Now, Greenpeace is accusing the European Parliament's Industry Commission of suggesting new limits instead: 120 g/km limit for 2015 and 95 g/km for 2020. The final outcome of this new legislation is still pending: It will be decided during the summit of the European Ministers of Environmental Affairs and the European Commission once the European Parliament's Environmental Affairs Commission votes next week.

[Source: Greenpeace via Portal del Medioambiente]

It's become common to hear how big trucks and SUVs are not selling well in the U.S. these days. But it's not just in the States where people are rethinking just how useful a road tank is. Automotive News Europe has a story (subs req'd) on the hit that big SUVs are taking on the continent. Unlike in the U.S., it's not just high fuel prices that are driving the trend in Europe (prices have been high there for a while), but it is the combination of those prices and the new CO₂-based taxes implemented by various governments.

Sales of some models - ANE lists the Volvo XC90 and the Hyundai Santa Fe - are down almost 40 percent compared to last year. Customers may still be looking for SUV capabilities in their rides, but are willing to pack people into smaller, cleaner models. This means that the overall SUV market in Europe is down only slightly, thanks in part to big sales of the BMW X5, which benefits from the marque's EfficientDynamics technology.

[Source: Automotive News Europe (subs req'd)]

Oil sands mining transforms the landscape Photo: David Dodge, Pembina Institute

American mayors attending their annual meeting in Florida this week adopted a resolution that "supports federal legislation that prohibits government use of unconventional or synthetic fuels" derived from CO₂-intensive sources such as oil sands or shales and "encourages" mayors to boycott the use of these fuels in their own municipal fleets. Although it seems to have gone largely unmentioned in the American press, the same can not be said of the Canadian media. There, newspapers and and other media outlets are crammed with articles and editorials denouncing the decision with headlines such as, "Oilsands boycott bad for U.S., premier warns" and "Critics say US mayors ignoring energy reality".

Already on the defensive on the domestic front after the deaths of hundreds of ducks from mining pollution and opposition to the Conservative-led federal governments willingness to sacrifice over a dozen lakes to tailings contamination, advocates for the mega-money oil sands projects seem none too happy to hear criticism emanating from South of the border. Their reminders that China and India would be only too happy to buy their "dirty" oil do seem a little over the top though since the resolution was more of a toothless wish than an actual ban. Text of the resolution after the jump.

[Source: CTV]

My, how the tables have turned. First, it was Germany that was in opposition to stringent emissions standards in the European Union which would have regulated the amount of carbon dioxide a vehicle can emit, beginning in 2012. German automakers tend to make large, luxurious vehicles with big, powerful engines. France, though, did not want to see changes made to the regulations, as its automakers already were close to meeting the proposals and thought it would be unfair to make concessions just for German brands. So, the two countries had a little meeting and came to some sort of agreement which would not go into effect until 2015.

Now, it's Italy that is in opposition to the French and German deal, as Italian automakers also offer rather efficient vehicles. Italian environment minister Stefania Prestigiacomo calls the new proposal unacceptable and feels that it would put the Italian companies at a disadvantage to its competition. We wonder what the final regulations may look like once every country has had its say in what should be done.

[Source: Automotive News Europe - sub. req'd]

It wasn't all that long ago that the auto industry was under fire for its use of ozone-depleting chemicals in its air conditioning systems. To curb those fears, the older R-12 refrigerant was replaced with R-134a refrigerant. Interestingly enough, CO₂, long associated with harmful automobile emissions, is being touted as a desirable natural replacement for the chemical substances used today. In fact, the German Automotive Association has already chosen to use CO₂ as the next source for automotive air conditioning.

Another possible replacement for our current system is being proposed by DuPont and Honeywell. Known as HFO 1234-yf, it is a chemical refrigerant which is less efficient that current solutions. Safety concerns have also arisen regarding the flammability of the new chemical. For these reasons, auto manufacturers are meeting at an event next week in the appropriately hot climate of Phoenix, Arizona in an effort to make some sort of decision on how to proceed. We'll keep you updated.

Scientists challenge today's biggest and most dangerous lie

A few months ago, I was asked to speak to a group of engineers and researchers toiling on high-tech projects under the auspices of USCAR (United States Council for Automotive Research), the umbrella organization for collaborative research among Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. The occasion was an annual luncheon where awards and recognitions are handed out for successes, extraordinary efforts and hard work well done.

Hot news at that time was Toyota's potentially passing GM in global sales...one more major milestone in the woeful declines of General Motors, "Detroit" and industrial America in general. But I noticed no one reporting the pertinent fact that Toyota sells some 2.5 million vehicles a year in its highly protected home market, to GM's next to none. Or that GM handily outsells Toyota nearly everywhere else, including here in the U.S.

Then I saw a cable-news panel of supposedly smart investment advisors attributing Detroit's ongoing woes to inferior quality and fuel economy. These tired, old misperceptions, blithely communicated as facts, provided inspiration for my talk, "Lies and Misperceptions."

Following a brief introduction, I asked the group for a show of hands: "How many believe that import-vehicle quality is better than domestic?" Not one hand went up. "Japanese vs. domestic?" Still none. Good! I cited some proof from J.D. Power and other quality surveys. "Imports deliver better fuel economy than domestics." Still no hands. Excellent! "An 'American' car is one built in America." A scattering of hands. I suggested that an "American" vehicle is one that wears a domestic brand, regardless of assembly location, because it supports U.S.-maker headquarters jobs (not just assembly and sales jobs), and the money it brings stays in this country to support this economy and that American company.

At Witz' End continues after the break.

Based on the calculations of the NEDC (New European Driving Cycle), the ADAC (the German car club) has released its 2008 ranking of green cars sold in Europe. The 5th EcoTest, as it's called, produced a list based not only in the amount of CO₂ produced per km, but also other considerations such as particulates and hydrocarbons. ADAC selected more than 700 cars for its test, with and without air conditioning, and applied the forementioned NEDC numbers to draw its own conclusions.

The results are quite similar to last year's report. The worst model was the Opel Zafira, which got 33 points just like in the previous test. Renault took a downturn, losing 6 of its previous 69 points. Why? The new Clio is much heavier than the old one and lost fuel efficiency.

The big winner is, again, the Toyota Prius, with 89 points and 4 stars, followed by another hybrid, the Honda Civic IMA with 87 points. non-hybrids did well, too: with 82 points the VW Passat Blue Motion fitted with a DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) was third. Fourth and fifth were the Passat's siblings, the Skoda Octavia TDI (with DPF) and the Superb TDI. Sixth place goes to the gasoline-powered Skoda Octavia 1.6 TFSI.

ADAC made clear with the release of this ranking that it is more important to produce low-polluting cars not as niche models, but as mainstream models. Find ADAC's top EcoTest performers and a little more about the points system after the jump.

If it works, this could be great/terrible. Sapphire Energy announced yesterday that they have been able to take algae and mix in sunlight, CO₂ and other photosynthetic microorganisms to make 91 octane gasoline "that conforms to ASTM certification." The renewable gasoline, as Sapphire calls it, contains "high-value hydrocarbons chemically identical to those in gasoline," which could potentially lower gas prices (depending on how much it costs to make a gallon of this stuff) but won't do much for CO₂ emissions from vehicles. One good side is that the algae need CO₂ to grow. The overall carbon dioxide balance was not disclosed by Sapphire, but I've sent in an email to see how much CO₂ the algae need to make the gasoline. It'd be nice to learn this in the early stages, since Sapphire's rubric is "to be the world's leading producer of renewable petrochemical products," CEO Jason Pyle said in a statement.


UPDATE: A Sapphire representative sent ABG this information: "The Sapphire gasoline will be chemically equivalent to current high octane gasoline which means it will have the same energy characteristics (BTU per gallon etc) and release the same amount of CO2 into the environment as traditional gasoline. However every single carbon atom in the Sapphire gasoline is extracted from the environment as CO2, thus the product it will be carbon neutral."

[Source: Sapphire Energy]

A few years back, the European Commission began drafting tough new standards to regulate the amount of CO₂ that vehicles sold in member states could emit -- and its been backing off ever since. While French and Italian company's had no problems at all with the proposed regulations of 120 g/km of carbon emissions, the German brands began protesting. Since then, the Commission has moved the proposals down quite a bit in order to appease the masses. One proposal would have the allowable CO₂ emissions based on the size of the vehicle, which would help the Germans, with their large, heavy and powerful vehicles, skirt around the toughest standards.

Naturally, Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne isn't at all happy about these changes, saying, "This type of nonsense is clearly the result of political pressures that have been hard at work to protect particular participants in the European automotive market. Fiat as a group will not tolerate them and will do everything in its power to protect its economic interests in a manner consistent with the Commission's objective in substantially reducing CO₂ emissions." Because of the sliding curve of the latest proposal, makers of small and lightweight vehicles would be held to a higher standard than makers of large vehicles, which somehow seems rather backwards, wouldn't you say?

[Source: Automotive News Europe - sub. req'd]

Faced with the problems of oil supply and environmental factors, it seems quite certain that many of our transportation options in the future with be powered by electricity. Methods of supplying the necessary electrons are legion but all seem to involve costs and problems of one kind or another. With power from coal, there is not only the well known CO₂ emittance problem, but also incredible amounts of mercury and a host of other poisons that get unleashed upon us and our environment. The popular, though increasingly expensive, natural gas option - while definitely cleaner than coal - is still a fossil fuel which gives off CO₂, NO_x, PM, SO_x, not to mention VOCs. Renewables, while having many benefits, also have their limitations. Hydroelectric dams are habitat destructive, block fish migration and can contribute to releases of methane and mercury. Wind power and solar are intermittent and would require energy storage solutions to be in place before they could supply baseload electricity. The cost of solar is projected to decrease significantly over the coming decade though. That leaves us with nuclear power. See how it fares after the break.

Mercedes F700 concept

Mercedes is not slacking when it comes to building concepts and releasing cleaner vehicles. But, in a fairly standard automotive move these days, while the engineers are working, the executives are complaining about patchworks. Speaking in Switzerland, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said that the variety of environmental regulations around the world are a big challenge to his company and all automakers. Automotive News (subs req'd) cites the EU's goal of having new vehicles meet a 120 g/km limit of CO₂ while the U.S. is focusing its laws on fuel economy. Zetsche described the situation this way: "Our engineers sometimes feel as if they are forced to play European soccer on an American baseball diamond by Japanese sumo wrestling rules." Zetsche singled out moving targets and different attribute qualifications as problems areas. "We're not fighting against environmental regulations. Our ultimate goal is emission-free driving. It's just that this 'patchwork quilt' of regulations doesn't necessarily support us in getting there," he said. Of course, Zetsche's argument would be a lot more convincing if global automakers didn't already sell different vehicles in different markets. They've been working within a patchwork for decades, sometimes one of their own design.

[Source: Automotive News, (subs req'd)]

The Euro 2 emissions standards were put in place for passenger cars in January of 1993. Russia adopted these standards in the fall of 2005, and the limits will soon have a very real impact on vehicles entering - or trying to enter - central Moscow. According to a Google-translated page from Auto Lenta-RU, cars that don't meet the Euro II standards will not be allowed into central Moscow starting on the first of September this year. The reason is to improve the environment in the city - no "congestion charge" wording here. New cars that are made in Russia shouldn't have a problem meeting this level, but early editions of the Zhiguli don't. Since early April, trucks that don't meet the standard were banned from the inner city.

[Source: Auto Lenta-RU, h/t to TheRookie]