Great Potential

From coast to coast state governments are working aggressively to advance alternative fuel and advanced vehicle technologies.  Recently the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on grant announcements made by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. $8 million will go toward electric vehicles (EV), charging stations, compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling, taxis, and buses, and municipal and school biodiesel dollars.  The California Energy Commission is at it again, too, having awarded over $1 million to Wrightspeed’s EV manufacturing plant.  The PR NewsWire announcement says development of Digital DriveSystem retrofit kits for medium-duty fleet trucks will mean job creation for the San Jose based company
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Manufacturing plant talk is alive and well in Los Angeles, too, and the company doing the talking is China’s BYD.  The Wall Street Journal shares two bits of information beginning with the anticipated market availability of their e6 EV in 2012.  Ongoing talks with LA officials about supplying e-buses in numbers large enough to possibly warrant a manufacturing plant in the city is the other big news.  London is focusing on clean buses, too, and Energy Efficiency News reports that on Saturday, eight hydrogen fuel cell buses will take to the streets as part of a strategy to tackle their serious pollution problems.

For fleets wanting to try out CNG, Autoevolution points to new product offerings from General Motors.  GM is offering a one-source CNG van option that is EPA and CARB compliant.  The Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana sell for $41,890.

With so many changes in the green tech space, it’s a bit challenging to keep up with it all.  Time Magazine is trying by listing the top 20 ideas of the year, many of which involve transportation.  They suggest that 2010 may be the tipping point to bring EVs closer to the mainstream.  Other hopeful advances include algal biofuel, biotech to produce new biofuels, and garbage into fuel.  There’s no heavier burden than a great potential and as the quotable Thomas Jefferson opined, “Where a new invention promises to be useful, it ought to be tried.”  Here!  Here!