Mazda Motor Corp has a hydrogen-powered minivan coming to Japan for lease beginning next March.  The minivan will have hydrogen-combustion and an electric motor. Mazda is the Japanese affiliate of Ford Motor Co. The company received permission from Japan’s transport ministry to test the Mazda Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid. The Premacy is known as the Mazda5 overseas.

The minivan has a generator-powered electric motor and a rotary engine. (And, the Mazda goes ummm…). Emissions are water vapor only. Lease costs will be Y420K ($3800)/month! I think, I’ll take a his and hers.

BMW AG is Germany’s attempt to develop a fuel-cell system. Electricity is generated through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. Honda’s Clarity will be available for lease in the US next month. Both cars have zero-emissions.

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Sony has a new flat-panel TV that consumes less energy with out compromising image quality. The Bravia KDL-32JE1 will go on sale on July 30th in Japan, overseas markets are undecided. The TV goes for Y150,000 ($1,400). The TV uses just 82 watts of energy compared to a comparable model that is $90 less which uses 125 watts.

Sony said energy savings were achieved by using a brighter back light and better filtering. The box uses an LCD display and HD broadcast features. Old boob tube types use 70% more energy. Each new Sony TV will reduce CO2 emissions by 79kg (175lbs)/year…or about what six cedar trees consume. (The things people can figure out.)

The green TV will save about Y4,300/year, meaning buyers can get their money back for buying a higher priced box in about 2.4 years. Sony says, “We think ecology is going to become an important standard that consumers use in choosing products.” We think so, too.

The animal rights group (PETA) voted Faye Wong Asia’s Sexiest vegetarian woman. Faye Wong is known as the “heavenly queen” or “diva of Asia”. She beat out Maggie Q who starred in “Mission Impossible III” with Tom Cruise.

Wong was born in Beijing and starred in the “Chungking Express.” She has been featured on the covers of Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire. That would make her a friend to animals but not trees, eh?

Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachan won the award for Asia’s Sexiest Vegetarian man.

PETA does its darnest to use celebrities to attract public attention. Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington posed naked for posters saying, “I’d rather go naked than wear fur.” Hmm, I wonder if we could get Wong to do the same.

Beijing has a national ban on the use of ultra-thin plastic bags as part of its “habit revolution.” The until now free super-thin plastic bags have been replaced by thick plastic bags that must be bought for about ¥10 ($1.50). Or, shoppers can bring their snazzy green tote bags. Because it is so hard to determine the thickness of a bag with the naked eye, China’s Ministry of Commerce has instigated the use of “checkers” (not the game) to determine a bag’s thickness.

We wonder, can they really measure the thinness of a bag? In any event, this is a big step in not being wasteful. Especially when there are tens of millions of people not using umpteen plastic bags a day. Add to Beijing southwest China’s Yunnan province will also ban plastic bags beginning January 1, 2009. Good job, China!

“Hey you! You with that plastic bag. Bring it over here so I can use my handy dandy plastic bag thickness checking micrometer.”

“Uh, okay.”

“Yo, dude. This bag is too thick. You get a verbal warning. Next time, it’s the lethal injection van for you.”

source

Those living in New York should be really happy this summer, because the Department of Transportation is planning a 6.9-mile car-free path from the Brooklyn Bridge to the 72nd street entrance of Central Park.

Three Saturday mornings in August (the 9th, 16th, and 23rd) for six hours the streets will belong to those that want to “Play. Run. Walk. Bike. Breathe.” The experiment is called “Summer Streets”.

The “Summer Streets” campaign which was inspired by the Ciclovia festival in Bogota, Columbia, is a full-fledged summer activity program, with dance, fitness, and yoga classes on tap.

“The length of Summer Streets is what makes it amazing. This connects communities who don’t have parks to those who do. It also connects people from Prospect Park to Central Park,” said Wiley Norvell, of Transportation Alternatives. “I want to make sure to help New Yorkers make the most of the opportunity.”

There are already people griping about the campaign, saying it will affect their business negatively: “They’ve got to be kidding,” manager and owner of the League of Mutual Taxi Owners Vincent Capone told The Sun. We need these kinds of campaigns guys. Forget about your personal interests for a couple of days, it’s not that big a deal, eh?

Good initiative New York, we want more!

This kind of initiatives really get us rolling on the floor and wagging our tails.

The Brazilian Câmara dos Deputados is preparing a bill that will actually ask people to plant trees when they have fees to pay. The law is trying to recover the rainforest and offset the country’s carbon emissions.

We’re talking about fees concerning marriage, divorce, buying a new car or real estate transactions.

• getting married is 10 trees (additional 25 trees if you are divorcing later)
• buying a new car is 20 trees (light-duty van goes for 40 trees while a heavy duty is 60 trees)
• selling a house is 10 trees
• selling a business is 20 trees

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics estimated that about 65 million trees would be planted per year under the proposed rules.

Apparently everything we do, harms the environment and though I do not agree with this concept, planting trees – no matter the reason – is a great solution to living a healthier life with a cleaner environment. Don’t you think?

[Source: Globo] (Image by Craig Jewell)

Neste Oil will invest about $1 billion to build a new biomass-to-liquid diesel plant in Rotterdam, Netherlands that will manufacture NExBTL renewable diesel fuel. The goal, 800,000 tons per year by 2011. Palm oil, rapeseed oil and animal fats will be mixed to make a high-quality diesel fuel.

Neste already has two such plants, though smaller, in Finland and Singapore.

(GreenPeace demonstration against Neste Oil diesel containing palm oil: rainforest destruction and climate change in diesel tank)

NExBTL fuel is supposed to reduce total life cycle C02 emissions by 40-60% as compared to regular diesel fuel. The company is also researching the use of non-food vegetable oils, wood waste and algae to make diesel fuel.

“Where do you buy gasoline, Alex?”

“I buy mine at the Piggly Wiggly Gas Mart, Bill. How about you?”

“My car runs on buffalo chips.”

Sooner or later, we are going to figure out how to make replenishable fuels without cutting into the food supply. It’s just a matter of time.

[Source: Neste Oil]

Image by Greenpeace Finland

There’s got to be a better way. There’s got to be a better way. Repeat after me. There’s got to be a better way. At least two more ‘better ways’ have taken a step forward in the past couple of days.

Germany’s Robert Bosch GmbH has agreed to work with South Korea’s Samsung SDI Co to develop the next-generation batteries for hybrid cars. Bosch is the world’s top parts maker and Samsung is, um, Samsung. In a 50-50 joint venture, the two giants will spend some $500 million over the next five years to improve on the lithium ion battery for hybrids, then sell them to GM, Ford Motor, Hyundai and any other takers.

In short, they will spend the next five years chasing Toyota and Nissan. Toyota is working with Matsushita Electric and Nissan has formed a partnership with NEC Corp.

The goal – bring down the costs of the hybrid car battery and in turn bring down the overall costs of the more eco-friendly cars. Presently hybrids go for as much as $5000 more than their gasoline counterparts, they are better on the environment but not the wallets of consumers. That’ll change.

Meanwhile, Honda Motor Co is even farther ahead with the launch of the Clarity hydrogen-fueled car for lease in the United States.

Source: Nikkei (sub req)

Giant car maker Honda is set to release its new zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the FCX Clarity, in the United States starting in Southern California and expanding rollout as fuel cell stations are created. Using just hydrogen and electricity, the output is obvious: only water and none of the gases believed to induce global warming.

First customers to look into that direction, probably trying to set a trend, are actress Jamie Lee Curtis and filmmaker husband Christopher Guest, actress Laura Harris, film Fn Jon Spallino and Jim Salomon.

The Japanese automaker is expecting to lease a “few dozen” units this year and about 200 units over three years with prices of $600 a month for a three year leass, which includes maintenance and collision coverage. At least that’s in California! Not a very bad deal, I’d say.

According to the company, Honda FCX Clarity has a 270-miles per tank range, with hydrogen consumption equivalent to 74 miles per gallon and pretty good specs, reaching up to 100 miles per hour.

“This is indeed a historic day for both Honda and American Honda – a new chapter in our nearly 50-year history in America,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of America Honda Motor Co. “It’s an especially significant day for American Honda as we plant firm footsteps toward the mainstreaming of fuel cell cars.”

Biggest drawback in taking the new Honda FCX Clarity mainstream is the lack of hydrogen fuel stations and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, has called for a statewide network of hydrogen stations. However, things are slow!

A couple of days ago Clean Energy announced partnership with General Motors Corp to open a hydrogen station in Los Angeles. Can you imagine the lines that will form to fuel your new Honda? Or Toyota, who recently announced their FCHV hydrogen car.

It’s a fierce battle and the winners are people like you or me, right?

Here are a few more pictures:

Japan is testing a generator for the home that runs on fuel cells. It started in 2005 at the Prime Minister’s residence but now has grown to some 3,000 households.

Japan, being the energy-poor nation that it is, is desperate to find energy elsewhere and fuel cells can run on hydrogen extracted from hydrocarbons, natural gas, bio mass, water, even rubbish to create methane. No CO2 is emitted, a side benefit is a steady supply of hot water and the machine is silent.

Japan has almost no natural energy of its own and must rely on imported crude oil and the country’s ability to produce energy efficient appliances.

Energy giants, Nippon Oil, Tokyo Gas, Sanyo Electric, Toshiba, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and even Toyota Motors is behind the push to make the fuel cell system more affordable. The current cost – Y2 million ($19Kish). The goal is to have the price quartered by 2015, and I really think they can do it.