Green Energy News | August 26, 2001

August 26, 2001 – Vol.6 No.22

ENERGIES... week of August 26, 2001

CARBON DIOXIDE STICKER SHOCK. New cars sold in the U.S. have a federally mandated fuel economy sticker plastered to the side window for car shoppers to peruse. Theoretically, as a way to encourage the purchase of more fuel efficient cars, consumers are supposed to look at those stickers, be shocked at the dismal fuel economy and beg the salesman to show them the more fuel-efficient model. Often there isn’t one.

The stickers have been there for years, but given the declining overall fuel economy of the nation’s fleet, people are ignoring the window-warnings or not exercising their control in the marketplace and demanding more fuel efficient cars. Not buying the fuel-hungry ones would send a clear message to automakers.

Ireland has taken the window-warning concept a few steps further. Each new car must display fuel economy for an urban, extra urban and combined driving cycle as well as its carbon dioxide emissions. Further, to help consumers make a responsible choice, dealers must post a comparative listing of fuel economy and CO2 emissions in their showrooms. Fuel economy and CO2 information per vehicle must also appear in advertising and promotional literature.

A brochure with fuel economy and emissions information on all cars sold in Ireland - Guide to Passenger Vehicles CO2 Emissions and Fuel Economy - is available on the Internet. The brochure also lists the ten least CO2 emitting cars - gasoline and diesel. (Not surprisingly, Toyota’s Prius tops the gasoline list. Honda’s Insight isn’t sold in Ireland.)

What is surprising about the list is how many makes and models - with near identical counterparts in the U.S. - are available in Ireland with smaller, more efficient, engines than those offered here. Efficient diesels too are also offered in many of the vehicles that are otherwise nearly identical to the U.S. version.

And thus a question. Couldn’t the U.S reduce its national fleet fuel consumption by offering the more efficient models available in Ireland (and elsewhere in the world) of the same vehicles we already have? (Passing toxic emissions tests of course.) The energy debate will return to the U.S. Congress this fall. This question should be asked.

The brochure also offers some driving tips for improving fuel economy and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The brochure is available through the Society of the Irish Motor Industry at http://www.simi.ie/ .

EVERYMAN’S SOLAR. An ideal solar power generating product would be one that came in a roll, could be applied as roofing material, and was cost competitive with fossil fuels. To achieve this, new types of photovoltaic technology must be developed including a replacement for silicon crystals used in the majority of photovoltaic solar cells sold today.

One possibility that has been explored for years, is the development of thin film solar cells made from organic materials. Researchers at the University of Arizona Optical Sciences Center have received grants from the U.S Department of Energy totaling more than $1 million to pursue this technology. Their effort will be to develop self-assembling, self-organizing, highly-ordered molecules that will become efficient thinner-than-paper transporters of electricity. In short, they are working toward the development of a viable, mass marketable, organic solar cell - ultra-low-cost solar power for everyone.

From a technical standpoint, organic solar may not be too far away. Already organic electroluminescent (Organic EL) displays - a technology with many similarities to organic solar - are widely used. The display in a cell phone is one EL example. Visit University of Arizona news at http://www.uanews.org/ , the Optical Sciences Center at http://www.optics.arizona.edu/ .

WORLD WIND WATCH. Possibly the world’s most challenging wind project yet will take place at the bottom of the world. The Australian Antarctic Division has received the go-ahead to build a nearly one-megawatt system at the nation’s Mawson Station.

Katabatic winds - air flowing downhill from the continent’s high plateau - will feed the Enercon turbines. The reliable, gravity induced winds have been clocked as high as 300 kph (186 mph). Antarctica is considered the best wind resource on the planet. The frigid climate, too, contributes to the wind power engineering challenge at Mawson.

Now, energy for heat and electricity for the base comes from diesel fuel, which through spills and emissions, creates the potential for environmental damage. This wind project will help Australia adhere to an international mandate that the continent must be keep pristine. Powercorp PTY Ltd of Darwin has been contracted to build the wind facility. Visit the Antarctic Division at http://www.antdiv.gov.au/ .