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How can we cut our energy use for commuting?

World firsts are always interesting. Here, a bus network in Adelaide, Australia will operate using a solar photovoltaic system. Of course, the region has enough sun to keep energy levels topped up. In regard to using solar for other city systems, it will be interesting to see how this model works .

We can always create more money (not by printing though). And energy is abundant. So if climate change is what we're concern about, miles per kg CO2, or kg CO2 per mile should be the measure. Either can work. We have sports where either low or high scores are good, so it should not confuse too many.

Hino, Toyota's truck division, is experimenting with wireless charging. In spite of inefficiences that may exist, Hino should be applauded for pushing the envelope. However, unfortunately for the future, it seems logical that only larger sponsors such as Toyota can afford this type of approach.

REGENERATIVE BRAKING is widely practised, but there have to be other trains around to absorb the surplus power being fed back into the catenary or third rail. Processing the output from trains and pushing it back into the local grid is possible with an AC power supply, but very expensive with DC traction. Too often, power produced by traction motors in braking mode ends up heating resistor banks. The elegant alternative is to store the braking energy on the train. This not only avoids the electrical complications of regenerating through the traction power supply network. It reduces the rated power requirement of that network by lopping demand peaks during acceleration, saves energy by reducing losses in the catenary or conductor rail, and by limiting voltage drop it allows substations to be further apart. NiMH batteries have the necessary energy storage density in terms of kWh/kg, and are slightly more expensive, but their life in terms of charge/discharge cycles in no way matches the LRV requirement for 2million cycles over 10 years. Flywheels have been tried but never caught on for several reasons.

The 81 million buildings in the U.S. consume more energy than any other sector of the U.S. economy, including transportation and industry, says the U.S. government. Here's five startups that are building software and hardware to help consumers and businesses cut down on power consumption.

"Lithium Energy Japan" to produce large capacity and high performance lithium-ion batteries. ...automated mass production lines within a 7000m2 facility at GS Yuasa's Kyoto's head office plant, capable of manufacturing 200,000 cells per year. Operations were slated to commence by 2009.

A French-designed car that's propelled by compressed air and claims speeds of more than 60 miles per hour is expected to go into commercial production as early as this summer,

Let's not even begin to discuss the ideological implications of this statement.

The future market for hybrid-electric vehicles, at least those that are affordable, isn't necessarily paved with lithium. Researchers in Australia have created what could be called a lead-acid battery on steroids, capable of performing as well as the nickel-metal hydride systems found in most hybrid cars but at a fraction of the cost. The so-called UltraBattery combines 150-year-old lead-acid technology with supercapacitors, electronic devices that can quickly absorb and release large bursts of energy over millions of cycles without significant degradation. As a result, the new battery lasts at least four times longer than conventional lead-acid batteries, and its creators say that it can be manufactured at one-quarter the cost of existing hybrid-electric battery packs.

Sunset technologies tend to be resilient against reports on their demise. But eventually, they have to go - cf carburators, word processors, ... But some of us have a chance to retire before the lead-acid battery does.

The EU yesterday denounced a House of Commons report calling for a moratorium on the increased use of biofuels and made plain it would stick to mandatory targets for the use of biofuels in transport when it unveils a climate change package today. Yesterday's report from the Commons environmental audit committee warned that biofuels were too expensive, environmentally damaging and making a negative contribution to cutting greenhouse gases, and said British government and EU plans to force greater use of biofuels should be rethought. In an unusually strong criticism of the Commons committee, Andris Piebalgs, the EU commissioner for energy, insisted that biofuels had to be supported as the "most immediately feasible way" of reversing greenhouse gas discharges from cars. "The [European] Commission strongly disagrees with the conclusion of the British House of Commons report," said Piebalgs.