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ALTERNATIVEFUEL NEws
Honda does not, believe in pure electric cars
The parent company of the first electric car
launched on the market in 1997, the Honda
EV Plus (in production for only two years), is
now skeptical on the success of this kind of
car. The head of Honda’s research, Tomohiko
Kawanabe, said: “we need to see if consumers
are willing to accept limited autonomy of electric
cars and the ‘hassle’ of long time reload”, then
added, “we are continuing research into electric
cars, but at present I would not advise”. The
skepticism of Honda is in contrast with predictions
of another major Japanese manufacturer,
Nissan, previewing by 2020 a market share
of 10 percent for electric cars. The problem
is that cars like the Mitsubishi i-Leaf or Miev
have limited autonomy, about 150 – 160 km,
influenced by the use of onboard services, such
europe’s first commercial fast-charging ev station opens
Europe’s first commercial smart-charging station
for electric vehicles (EV) has opened for
business in The Netherlands. Developed by
smart-charging solutions leader, Epyon Power,
and operated by Dutch utility company, Essent,
the charging stations are fully operational and
accessible at the Tamoil petrol station in Leeuwarden,
the capital city of Friesland province.
The motivation for the charging stations is
obvious: to stimulate Electric Vehicle use, to
show how quick the smart-charging stations
can be installed, and to show that they can also
function safely in the controlled environments
of petrol stations. The fast-charging station
delivers 50 kilowatts of power and can fully
Mascoma lands deal with Chevron
Mascoma, which wants to develop microbes
that can convert woody biomass into ethanol,
has signed a important deal with Chevron
Technology Ventures. Under the deal, Chevron
will supply feedstocks to Mascoma, and then
Mascoma’s microbes will convert the material
into ethanol and lignin, the tough material
that protects plants. Chevron will then evaluate
the result. To survive and thrive, biofuel
startups will invariably have to partner with
as air conditioning, or the route: it consumes
more in the long distances with the accelerator
fully depressed. Indeed, not all think like
Nissan: Menahem Anderman, president of a
consulting firm for the alternative energy segment
called Advanced Automotive Batteries,
believes that by 2020 not more than 1 percent
of cars in the world will mount an electric
motor. Honda has a vision made reality by the
electric car prototype FCX Clarity, driven by an
electric motor, but powered by a hydrogen fuel
cell which produces the power required by the
electric motor. Who is right? – In fact no one
in the sense that there is, today, a “definitive”
solution. The current battery technology is
limited and expects a generation jump (which
will not happen soon) to see “batteries” with
a significantly increased capacity of storing
energy. So probably, within the next 10 years
we will mainly see electric city cars. For longer
journeys there will be hybrid cars in their various
technological designs. The electric-powered
Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen should have a
more limited market, because of the lack of a
network of hydrogen filling stations.
charge the 9-person taxi-vans of Taxi Kijlstra in
only 30 minutes. The stations are also remotely
monitored and controlled through Epyon’s
Power-Routing Network. A single fast charging
station can operate several compact outlets so
multiple EV’s can be charged simultaneously
from a single charging station. Taxi Kijlstra,
the largest taxi firm in the north of the Netherlands,
recently transformed two of their taxi
fleet into electric powered vehicles without any
limitations on the service side. The taxi-vans
can drive 100 kilometre or more on a single
fast charge. Friesland has an ambitious target
of having 100 000 EV’s on the road within the
next five years.
the major fuel companies. Chevron already
has an R&D alliance with Solazyme, which
makes algal biodiesel. Shell has deals with
70 or so different alternative fuel companies,
according to sources. Mascoma recently underwent
some management changes. CEO
Bruce Jamerson became chairman and also
chairman of Frontier Renewable Resources,
which is trying to raise money to build a plant
in Michigan based around Mascoma’s microbes.
LateSt aLterNatIve FueL NewS – www.PetroLPLaza.CoM
ohio chooses local
business to expand its
fuel solutions
A family business in the US, which turned
to compressed natural gas to fight rising fuel
costs for its fleet, has been chosen by the state
to spread the solution to other parts of the
Ohio. Kirk Energy Group LLC has received
more than US $ 2.7 million in federal stimulus
grants through Clean Fuels Ohio to build four
compressed natural gas fuelling stations in
the state. “Our [customer] demographic is
not Joe and Mary Smith; our demographic
is the fleets in the market we operate”, said
Christian Pedersen, co-managing member of
Kirk Energy, along with his brother-in-law,
Andrew Rill, who shares the title. The two
are executives in other family businesses
in Findlay: Mr. Pedersen, with H&O Services,
a Findlay waste-hauling and property
management company, and Mr. Rill, with
Findlay Machine & Tool Inc. The two firms
have a diverse combined fleet of about 250
vehicles – from massive 40-ton trucks down
to light-duty vans and pickups. “We formed
Kirk Energy in response to the fuel price spike”,
Mr. Rill said. We came together collectively
to brainstorm on an answer because, as a
family unit, we were spending millions on
diesel fuel. We settled on compressed natural
gas because it offered up the most strategic
advantages as a fuel source for our fleets. The
state-administered grants – part of an US $ 11
million federally funded program to promote
cleaner fuel technologies state-wide – will
help pay for construction of four compressed
natural gas fueling stations and a portion of
the cost to convert fleet vehicles to use the
fuel. Clean Fuels Ohio expects the investment
to leverage another US $ 19 million in private
funds. Compressed natural gas can cost as
much as US $ 1 per gallon cheaper than the
equivalent amount of gasoline or diesel fuel,
Mr. Rill said. When the four stations are
online, expected by 2015, they will double
the number of existing compressed natural
gas filling stations in the state that are open
to the public.