Just another story about a homeless man and his Lamborghini.

So you ever have a friend who has a bad year?  Their women walks out leaving them with a house and life they don't want.  Well this guy did the only thing reasonable.  He sold it all, bought a Lamborghini and traveled the United States for years.  If only he solved crimes while doing this he'd have a TV series spun off about it.

Wired Magazine covers it on their website.  You've got to read it.

In Search of the Factory Equipped Hyper Miler

Wired Magazine online has a great article about where fuel efficiency will come from. The Federal government is seeking a 34.1 mpg fleetwide CAFE standard for vehicles sold in the US market.  Wired reports that the National Academy of Science asked 12 engineers, scientists and industry certified smart people to examine commercially available technologies and their impact on fuel economy.

This report is titled "Assessment of Technologies for Improving Light Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy"  and is for sale via the link shown.  The website will allow you to skim the document though.  Of course that's not assuming Wikipedia or some other site won't have it posted for free sometime soon (I can't wait to see).

What did they come up with? Fuel efficiency has a high capital cost.

But of course doesn't all new technology?

What else did they conclude? That VW TDI's kick the crap out of hybrids (okay I exaggerate their findings).  They comment that Hybrids cost around $9000 more per vehicle for a 50% fuel savings and Diesel cost around half that for a savings for 35% so therefore more miles and a longer engine life for less money.

Something I can't see mentioned is the energy impact of these technologies before their life on the road.  I would like to start seeing the energy cost of construction of these various technologies.  No luck there yet though.  Guess only the new fuels are held to this standard while the technologies that harness or precede new fuels aren't judged under this category.

Other note.  The Wikipedia post on CAFE standards is worth checking out.

Thorium the Green Nuke Fuel

This months Wired has an interesting story on Thorium as a "green" replacement for uranium as a nuclear fuel.

Given the future of the world will be lowCO2 with no emmissions if possible Nuclear power is going to have to be a good portion of our energy portfolio. Anything that helps with this debate is good.

I'm curious to see if shortly politicians start using the word "thorium" to sound smart similarly as they would use "clean coal" a decade ago.

The Future Looks Electric

Electric Car that is.

If you ever doubted the effect of political resolve in the direction of the US energy just look at the very recent and profound changes I'm seeing with the current Obama Administration and it's current "Stimulus" monies floating around.

In the span of a month electric cars and infrastructure went from a P.R. play thing for electrical utilities to an audacious effort by Oregon's Governor. Last week I started hearing rumblings of a big effort out of Oregon Department of Energy. It seems to be moving big in this direction with the announcement of a 500 recharging station goal in the next two years. More to the point is that in Oregon the cost looks like it will be under $2,000 to field your own recharging station with the grants, tax credits and other offerings in Oregon's planning.

Wired Magazine covered Shai Agassi's vision for an electric car infrastructure. It's talked about, glowingly received, brainstormed, and then just kind of out there. Add a few billion dollars of Federal political resolve and BOOOOM! The electric car is a reality.

Now lets just see if Tesla, Chevy, and Nissan can deliver their electric cars.

I am really intrigued and interested. I have a few friends who have been betting big on electric power-trains, battery controls, and importing foreign I.P. around this sphere. Before last week I never really thought about the market potential for electric infrastructure. Specifically recharging station.

That has now changed!

My gears have really been spinning about how this market development will need to take place and I'm fascinated. In particular how do you charge for the refill of the vehicle (which current technology will likely take 2 hours). You have a capital cost to recoup, the variable electric bill to charge for, the space (which takes hours per customer), and of course how do you scale a regional, national, or international system so an electric car owning fleet can recharge simply in NYC, LA, or PDX regardless?

This moves the business model away from just electric recharging stations (on a real scale) to be a business model that fits with a traditional regional petroleum jobber. Those wadding away from one-off customers to a wide deployment are now wadding into my waters.

Its really got me thinking about the future of the markets I serve and its an exciting subject. It really reminds me of dealing with early supply issues of Biodiesel and Ethanol. Where those without any fleet supply experience were trying to build businesses without any context or understanding of their market's needs.

Its going to be fun over this summer.

Tesla Motors is on Track

It looks like it might really happen for Tesla Motors.

Wired Magazine's blog shows a teaser photo (shown above) and quotes the CEO Elon Musk as claiming that they are on track to be delivering vehicles shortly as well as providing electric power-trains for other auto manufacturers. This delivery of real, live, operating electric powered cars in turn making them profitable before the end of the year.

Looks like its either time for doubters to double down their negativity bets or start getting as excited as the rest of us.

The Babe Ruth of Soy Beans and a Story of Competitve Corn Growing

I've been meaning to put this Wired Magazine article up for over a month.

Here is a great story talking about real industrialized commercial agriculture. Its rare that you get a lay person's article about mono-culture agriculture and what they are wrestling with. The perspective touched on here is one worth reading.

Especially looking at the every expanding productivity of US soil, seeds, chemicals, manpower and on the ground intellect that is our mainstream agriculture.

One excerpt that really gets to the heart of the new development of GMO crops that caught my eye is below.

Cullers never went to college, but he rises at 3:30 each morning to study plant genetics online. Right now, he's urging Pioneer to genetically weave a bit of stiffening fiber into soybean stalks. Cullers plants 300,000 soybeans per acre, double the national average. In these super-dense fields, he explains, soy plants grow taller, fighting for sunlight. "They fall down a lot," he says, "and you lose photosynthesis. The trifoliates don't pump nutrients to the beans. And you get disease, too. It's crowded and humid out there, down low."

Something about it reminds me more about the development of a race car with experience in the Pit rather than the further development of an agricultural crop. This is obviously engineering with a specificity reserved up till now for mechanical systems not organisms.


NOTE: To those who are adamant and hostile to GMO. I understand, I've seen and read both sides of this debate in depth for years. Being on the sidelines and outside of the issue I am an agricultural agnostic. I do buy certified organic and local food as a rule as well. Please don't flame me just because I gave ink to what I view as a relevant article.

A Man, His Business Model, and a Paradigm Shifting Approach to the Electric Car.

From Wired Magazine. An interesting and thought provoking idea coming our way from Israel (a nation no doubt distinctly aware of where their economy's petro purchase dollars flow).

Driven: Shai Agassi's Audacious Plan to Put Electric Cars on the Road

Here is the story in a nutshell. The issue with electric cars in the short term is a full large-scale deployment of support. Not just complete with recharging stations but also battery swap out facilities if you need a fully charged battery on short notice for a longer range trip. Also critical is support of fully delveloped and existing auto manufacturers to support electric vehicles. (See diagram below)

So in essence its the story of the Hydrogen Car but with technology immediately available today, full OEM support to roll out electric cars, and a product horizon of the near future.

Its doable and no less audacious than any other major idea drawing investment, support, and political advertising photo-ops right now. Its a little more complex than T. Boone Pickens' concept of converting vehicles to natural gas (an easy process) and much simpler than a Hydrogen Economy concept talked by the do-nothing till next decade crowd in opposition to most other proposals.

As viable as the smart-grid ideas pitched as the future, hydrogen refueling concepts pushing for funding, and of course the next-Gen biofuels emerging right now. I like what I'm hearing and I think that its something that would likely draw funding and support. In particular if Government and Utility groups stepped up to support this concept like they've done other experimental technologies in the past.

Also worth note, an Agassi quote from the article:

"I thought that the greatest problem of our time was oil. Oil on one hand is polluting the land, and on the other hand it's financing terror."

I trust those who are motivated by a perspective that moves them outside the normal box of concept. I don't trust those who are thinking big concepts to make a billion dollars. Though its a nice goal it breaks the focus away from true success of the technology and the recipricol partnerships necessary for a billion dollar business to thrive.

I am a capitalist personally so I don't trust those motivated that government is the sole solution either. But I do find an amazing pool of ideas and concpets trickling up from the End of Suburbia entrapanuer set. I don't believe in peak oil but I do find common ground with the perspective that imagines a world without oil and attempts to develop solutions that in their own right could compete with petroleum.

Shai Agassi is a leader of a logical framework I hope to see more from. An architect for the future that right or wrong will probably wring real additional wealth and value from technologies already with us and never applied in new directions. This is the definition of progress. Ideas pushing envelopes.

NOTE: I use this blog primarily to organize my reading, thoughts, and reactions over time. Complete with the tags and other background links. This is a little less than timely but I wanted to ensure I had it up for sake of finding it again.

Major Automaker Listens to its Customers Wants. Toyota Rolls Out the Plug-In Hybrid

Hippies with six-figure incomes rejoice..... Your Christmas list has been written for you.

Shocking as it may be. Toyota is rolling out a plug-in hybrid. The retro-fits have long been popping around the Internet (Google having paid for retro-fits to show its viability). Well now its officially on its way.

Whats even better. Toyota is talking about the future with this vehicle. That future being a need to radically reduce the cost and ability of current lithium-ion batteries (see quote below).

"Reaching those goals will require bringing down the cost of lithium-ion batteries, which currently cost $1,000 per kilowatt hour, according to Tom Turrentine of the Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Research Center at UC-Davis."

Battery technology now entering the big-leagues when it comes to power-train Research and Development. This meaning that its official - the automobile's internal combustion engine is going through a totally new evolution.

See the full article at Wired.com

Zap Called on the Carpet by Wired Magazine

Wired calls Zap a "Hype Machine" with a scathing article pointing to over a decade of broken promises, deceptive business practices, and a consistent shady use of its companies equity to pay debts.

Simple breakdown about Zap as described by the article:

They promised vehicles they couldn't get.

They assumed and claimed relationships with Chrysler they never had.

They took money in exchange for dealership territories and left their dealership network to fail without a true supply of alternative fuel vehicles.

Those vehicles they did deliver were electric and could not perform adequately to actually sell, were shodily put together, and were poorly supported by warranty.

Oh yeah - Warranty work was left unpaid and hanging as well.

All while continually paying people in ever greater issues of company stock.

So in short - the bad things you hear about electric vehicles - probably Zap.

I saw this the weekend the magazine came out. Wanted to do a post on it but found that Wired hadn't put it online yet. Came across the magazine this morning and remembered how significant this is. So much for Zap (though rumors, problems, and complaints had already been heard and well known in electric vehicle circles for a while now).

I called a friend of mine who was involved in the launching of EcoMotion (an EPA Smartway certified and electric vehicle dealership here in Portland, Oregon). His immediate comment was not one of surprise.

Solar Excitement

Solar power done easy. Called "Solar-Thermal Electric" technology. I've heard more talk about this than about any other solar concept ever. People are really excited about a large utility scale solar project.

A mirror, some heat exchangers, and a whole lotta electricity. I have a few people mention this over the last few weeks. Simple, efficient, and totally scalable. Exciting stuff to glimpse - the future looks great when it so close you can taste it.

Automobile X-Prize Update

Wired online has a great update of the Auto X-Prize.

It went from 12 to 66 entrants.

Entrants origins number 9 countries.

There are two classes of vehicles :

Mainstream Class - with 4 wheel/4 passenger/and standard options expected in a modern vehicle.

Alternative Class - with an open allowance which includes the sexy Tesla roadster (shown right).

The vehicles will prove their mettle in a series of long distance races (nothing makes product development fun like a competition).

Its long but worth the read. Take a look at the future of design. You just know the large auto manufacturers are looking over their shoulders. Not so much because of the threat but just to see what outsiders can do.

Chevron's Heavy Oil Refining Process

I saw it first at Wired. (Note: I have not read this in depth yet)

As oil prices rise these technologies will start popping up all over the place. You want to know a good sign of when oil prices are going to stay high for a while. When big oil refiners like Chevron start investing in major refinery technology outlays like this.

Ford Festiva 1.4L Diesel

Ford is bringing back the Festiva. More pictures and an better description over at Wired's Autotopia.

But will it make the US? If you read Ford's own press release I get the impression that it won't.

Who Will Make the First 100 MPG Mass Produced Car

Or as Wired says: 1 Gallon of Gas, 100 miles = $10 million: The Race to Build the Supergreen Car. A great article on the potential of contests to push forward outside the box innovation.

Bio-Butanol from E-Coli

Butanol Molecule Shown Above; Source: Hydrocarbons Technology

Wired Magazine has one of the best issues ever this month. It is worth buying to check out.

Online they continue it on with even more cool information. In particular they have a list of "Top 10 New Organisms of 2007." Though I went to the article for the butanol producing bacteria I stayed for the glow in the dark cats. Can't argue with science fiction cool.

The E. Coli strain was created by a group of Canadian students from the University of Alberta who were participants in the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition.

For those of you who have never heard of butanol its a promising alcohol fuel. Butanol is significant in biofuel circles for two big reasons. Butanol has a higher btu content than ethanol making it potentially a superior gasoline blend stock and could be a breakthrough additive for biodiesel production as a substitute for methanol in production.

So both sides of the industry look to butanol for next generation potential.

Currently butanol is much more expensive than ethanol or methanol leaving it priced out of the market except in niche applications. With biodiesel production in particular butanol supposedly makes a biodiesel product with winter gelling properties far below freezing (I've heard mention of -20 degrees below 0F).

Quick background in butanol's place in the biodiesel industry its simple to understand. Biodiesel is a diesel product made from vegetable and animal fat feedstocks (follow the link to the wikipedia description).

To make biodiesel an alcohol is mixed with a catalyst (in biodiesel home brewing these are commonly methanol/alcohol racing gasoline and lye) in the proper proportions. This is then mixed with the oil feedstocks and mixed thoroughly producing a reaction.

The end primary products from this reaction is biodiesel and glycerine. Typically the biodiesel molecule is a methyl ester. Causing this same reaction with butanol would cause the end biodiesel product to be a slightly different molecule, a butol ester. The butol ester having superior cold weather properties to a methyl ester.

Switch Grass News Done Right

Wired Magazine does Switchgrass this month. They explain the whole potential and pitfall of cellulosic ethanol in three paragraphs shown below:

On a blackboard, it looks so simple: Take a plant and extract the cellulose. Add some enzymes and convert the cellulose molecules into sugars. Ferment the sugar into alcohol. Then distill the alcohol into fuel. One, two, three, four — and we're powering our cars with lawn cuttings, wood chips, and prairie grasses instead of Middle East oil.

Unfortunately, passing chemistry class doesn't mean acing economics. Scientists have long known how to turn trees into ethanol, but doing it profitably is another matter. We can run our cars on lawn cuttings today; we just can't do it at a price people are willing to pay.

The problem is cellulose. Found in plant cell walls, it's the most abundant naturally occurring organic molecule on the planet, a potentially limitless source of energy. But it's a tough molecule to break down.

As always with Wired. Its worth the read. As far as a primer on cellulosic ethanol goes you'll be hard pressed to find a source that does it as well.

Turbine Free Windpower

I saw this at Wired Blog Network.

From Wired: "Inspired by the famous Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the Windbelt is a tight plastic strip stretched in a frame, joined to magnets at both ends. When the wind blows across the belt, it vibrates (like when you blow a blade of grass to make music) and the magnets move inside wire coils, generating power. This table top version will put out 40 milliwatts and can power an LED. It's cheap and simple, and can generate power from breezes as slow as 10mph, making it ideal for developing nations."

I would file this under moderately scalable, small scale, and simple. Which means its probably not a business in itself. This doesn't mean it isn't a paradigm shifter for some industry or specific device though.

If for anything simply because of what this might be integrated in with. As with must cutting edge energy concepts it isn't the demonstrated technology. Its what it might be paired with and where that might go next.