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In August 2008, Lotus Engineering began work on the “Omnivore” engine, a project that is now in its final stages. By combining three systems–variable compression ratio, two-stroke cycle, and direct fuel injection–the “Omnivore” engine can be run on everything from biofuels to normal gasoline. [via Jalopnik]
The single-cylinder concept engine, on display at the 79th International Geneva Motor Show, heralds the way for greener automobile engines that are lighter, smaller, and more fuel-efficient.
Mike Kimberley, CEO of Group Lotus PLC said: “We are delighted to unveil this major milestone in the development of an engine configuration for a new breed of more efficient multi-fuel engines. The automotive sector is focusing on its environmental obligations to improve efficiency, minimise reliance on fossil fuels and reduce harmful emissions and Lotus continues to be an industry leader through our work on all aspects of future fuels. Sustainable alcohol based fuels have the potential to reduce the overall CO2 footprint of internal combustion engines towards zero and for this reason, need to be embraced as future fuels for road transport.”
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FYI: Lotus manufactures lightweight, high-performance roadsters such as the Lotus Elise {pictured above} which has a 27 mpg highway rating (omg!) and a pricetag just shy of $50,000. Now, imagine if you stuck a six-cylinder Omnivore engine inside that. You’d be able to use “fuel-efficient” in the same sentence as “supercar” and life would be fantastic.
The future of the automobile was sealed at North America’s biggest auto show this week, where all of the hottest new cars and concepts had extension cords. Any idea that ethanol or hydrogen will lead us past petroleum was tossed out the window, as the big automakers — hobbled by a brutal economy, gyrating oil prices and humiliating congressional tongue-lashings — limped into the Detroit auto show. They all put on a brave face with the hybrids and electric vehicles they promise to start putting on the road next year.
“They’ve finally gotten a little religion,” says Chelsea Sexton, executive director of the EV advocacy group Plug-In America. “The auto industry is at the point where it has to invest in its future, and smart investors bet on the inevitable. Electric drive is inevitable. [via Wired]
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Both Chrysler and GM went above and beyond merely achieving fuel-efficiency with the introduction of electric vehicles. They are rather attractive and don’t take on the disastrously innocuous jellybean silhouette of current hybrid vehicles. Why must things that are “green” also be “incredibly round”? Honestly, if hybrids looked like aerodynamically chiseled, muscular luxury cars at a more affordable price point, they’d fly off the shelves. After all, a research study [The Perception of Automotive Designs @ DOI: 10.1007/s12110-008-9047-z] found that:
One-third of the subjects associated a human or animal face with at least 90 percent of the cars. . . Overall, people agreed which type of car possesses certain traits [and] liked cars most which had a wide stance, a narrow windshield, and/or widely spaced, narrow headlights. The better the subjects liked a car, the more it bore shape characteristics corresponding to high values of what the authors termed “power”, indicating that both men and women like mature, dominant, masculine, arrogant, angry-looking cars. [via ScienceDaily]
Some people like friendly cars. Unfortunately, I must confess that I am an “angry-faced car” lover and that I prefer my car to look like it could rip your car into shreds. Hopefully, EVs get reworked to look tougher.
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1. GM Chevrolet Volt (Production Model for 2010)
2. Chrysler 200C (Concept)
3. GM Cadillac Converj (Concept)
4. Chrysler Dodge Circuit(Concept)
Cheers for investing in a greener future (with sexy electric automobiles)!
“Something huge is going to have to give. The energy- and material-rich lifestyle that people in the developed world enjoy simply can’t last, and the lifestyle that people in developing regions might aspire to will never happen, without a concerted effort by the global community to start living within the planet’s means. Either we find ways to run our societies without squandering natural resources and degrading the environment, or we will foist dire consequences on ourselves for generations to come. The first option requires the world to embrace sustainability.
The concept of sustainability, which traces its roots back to the earliest days of human culture, is easy to describe: A sustainable global society is one in which people today meet their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to live equally well.
Our collective fate will come down to our ability to shift the way we produce and consume electricity and fuels and the way we design and use chemicals and the materials made from them. An ineluctable truth for the chemical enterprise is that this task will require thousands of innovations. The multiple pathways we will need to realize these innovations will have to be built by improving the efficiencies of current technologies, creating myriad new technologies, and recycling like never before.
But knowing what it will take to gain some measure of sustainability is far more difficult than citing a definition because sustainability is not a final destination. Sustainability instead can be thought of as a general direction in which we all must be traveling. It is a moving target influenced by resource availability, environmental impacts, and unforeseen obstacles.
Building those pathways will require not only accelerating the rate of innovation but also creating pragmatic social partnerships between scientists and engineers, research funding agencies, entrepreneurs, product developers, manufacturers, consumers, consumer advocates, regulators, environmental activists, and educators. Together, we will have to work through the multiple dimensions of human societies—technological, environmental, economic, political, and cultural—to ensure that food, water, medicines, electricity, fuels, and materials can be delivered wherever and whenever needed. That is what it will take to conquer the sustainability challenge…”
[Read more here: Callling all Chemists via C&EN]
The rest of the article covers green chemistry & engineering.
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“GOVERNMENT” and “sustainability” aren’t words often uttered in the same breath. Yet from towns and counties to states to federal agencies, and even at the United Nations, governments are grappling with how to integrate environmental concerns into policies that affect people and the economy…
[More on government policies here: Sticks and Carrots via C&EN]
