Green Energy News | November 5, 2000

November 5, 2000 – Vol.5 No.32

ENERGIES... week of November 5, 2000

THE FUTURE OF TRANSPORTATION. Even though much cleaner and more efficient motor vehicles are promised for our future, greener technologies will do nothing to alleviate chronic traffic snarl and gridlock on the roadways.

Aware of this concern and others, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is hosting the Sustainable Mobility project, an effort to bring together experts from business, labor, academia, government and non-government organizations to discuss possible scenarios for transportation on our planet. Among the topics of discussion will be urban planning, climate change, resources, roads, public transportation, public health, employment, motor vehicle technology and emissions, as well as the growing need for modern transportation in developing countries.

Nine companies are initially involved in the Project - BP, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM, Michelin, Norsk Hydro, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Toyota and Volkswagen. The Project plans to issue a final report - Sustainable Mobility 2030 - by 2003, with an interim report by 2002. Visit WBCSD at http://www.wbcsd.org/ .

SIMPLE CARS. Do people need large, expensive and complicated vehicles to run errands or perform basic tasks? Certainly the growing interest in Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEV) will be discussed in the above project.

The California Energy Commission along with the City of Sebastopol, a Holiday Inn and Zapworld.com are co-funding a $120,000 project to demonstrate the use of NEV’s for everyday use in Sebastopol. Zapworld, which supplies cars built by Global Electric MotorCars (GEM), uses them to shuttle employees and supplies between five locations within the city. The City has begun using the NEV’s to read water meters - estimated to save $100 a week in fuel costs. The Holiday Inn uses NEV’s to shuttle guests, is planning a solar charging station and is considering offering NEV rentals.

NEV’s have become a new federal category for vehicles to encourage their use in inner cities. The cars are limited to roadways with a maximum 35 mph speed limit. NEV’s can have a top speed of 25 mph and must have automotive grade headlights, seat belts, brakes, and a windshield. Visit Zapworld at http://www.zapworld.com/ , GEM at http://www.gemcar.com/ .

EVERYDAY FUEL CELL VEHICLES. DaimlerChrysler has introduced its latest experimental fuel cell vehicle, the NECAR 5. In doing so the practical issues of fuel cell vehicle operation are being addressed.

The new version now runs on methanol reformed by an on-board processor into hydrogen. The company admits that developing an infrastructure to distribute hydrogen would be too expensive. Ambient temperature methanol would be pumped like gasoline and would be produced from natural gas. However, DaimlerChrysler hopes methanol would eventually be made from biomass feedstock.

The NECAR 5 also sports 50 percent more power - 75 kilowatts - from one Ballard Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack giving a respectable top speed of 90 mph. The entire fuel cell drive system, with reformer from Xcellsis, fits in the underside of the car.

Ballard has also introduced an experimental 3 kilowatt Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC). Installed in a one person demonstration vehicle, the DMFC is PEM technology operating on methanol without a fuel processor. Visit DaimlerChrysler at http://www.media.daimlerchrysler.com/ (click Europe), Ballard at http://www.ballard.com/ and Xcellsis at http://www.xcellsis.com/.