I saw this earlier last week but hadn't taken the time to post it yet. Chrysler is coming out with three new electric cars by 2010. The models are a plug-in hybrid/extended range vehicles that run off batteries but could also use an electric motor to recharge the batteries.
There is a plug-in version of the Chrysler Town and Country mini-van (soccer mom's everywhere rejoice!!!), a Jeep Wrangler that will actually have an electric motor on each wheel, and the Dodge EV which will compete with the likes of the on again off again (supposedly back on now) Tesla Roadster.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Chevy Volt is officially released
Well folks, it's official, the Chevrolet Volt that is! Hit play on the video below to get a walk through from AutoBlog. They also have a nice article on the official release of the Volt.
I was checking out the comments over at Engadget and it seems that a lot of people are disappointed with the styling. I would have to agree that it's not as sporty or 'agressive' looking as the concept car I saw a couple years ago but the thing that bothers me the most is the price. Speculation has the price tag around $40,000. I remember hearing a comment over a year ago that GM was willing to sell the Volt at a loss until production costs came down as the assembly lines ramp up. Just a few weeks ago I heard an industry analyst say on TV that people would probably be willing to pay a premium for cars like the Volt since the lower gas cost per month will offset a higher payment. While that may be true for some people who are hard core conservationists or "tree huggers" I'm not sure how it will shake out for the average person. If you're part of a middle class (or below) family with children are you really going to be able to let go of the mini-van for a vehicle like the Volt?
Now, don't get me wrong, I applaud GM for bringing the Volt to market. However, I don't think that we'll see widespread acceptance of alternative fuel vehicles till they are priced competitively with hybrids like the Prius or a car like a diesel Volkswagen Jetta that gets almost 50 mpg.
I was checking out the comments over at Engadget and it seems that a lot of people are disappointed with the styling. I would have to agree that it's not as sporty or 'agressive' looking as the concept car I saw a couple years ago but the thing that bothers me the most is the price. Speculation has the price tag around $40,000. I remember hearing a comment over a year ago that GM was willing to sell the Volt at a loss until production costs came down as the assembly lines ramp up. Just a few weeks ago I heard an industry analyst say on TV that people would probably be willing to pay a premium for cars like the Volt since the lower gas cost per month will offset a higher payment. While that may be true for some people who are hard core conservationists or "tree huggers" I'm not sure how it will shake out for the average person. If you're part of a middle class (or below) family with children are you really going to be able to let go of the mini-van for a vehicle like the Volt?
Now, don't get me wrong, I applaud GM for bringing the Volt to market. However, I don't think that we'll see widespread acceptance of alternative fuel vehicles till they are priced competitively with hybrids like the Prius or a car like a diesel Volkswagen Jetta that gets almost 50 mpg.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Solar shingles -- your next roof?
Thanks to rising energy costs and new federal and state incentives solar energy is making inroads into the residential market. However, in some areas there are restrictive covenants or maybe just owners that don't want "ugly" solar panels on the roof. Here's where solar shingles come in. Solar shingles look just like regular shingles, whether they be asphalt or tile.
Even before new federal and state tax incentives, "the cost of generating solar electricity has fallen 95 percent since the 1970s," says Noah Kaye, of the Washington, D.C. based Solar Energy Industries Association. But that doesn't mean it's cheap: Factoring in equipment and installation costs, the price of a kilowatt-hour of solar energy (the amount required to power ten 100-watt lightbulbs for an hour) is about 25 cents, versus around 10 cents for a kilowatt-hour of natural gas or coal generated electricity from the grid.
General guidelines call for 1 kilowatt, or 1,000 watts, per 1,000 square feet of house area. The economics of whether or not to install a system depend heavily on where you live. While houses in sunnier states can collect more solar power than those in northern climes, solar payback is strongly affected by local electric rates. "If you have a 2-kilowatt PV system in Albuquerque, New Mexico, it produces 25 percent more electricity than the same system in Boston," says Kaye. "But the savings are greater in Boston, since electricity there costs so much more."
One example of a solar shingle is the Sunslate by Atlantis Energy Systems. According to their website "Sunslates™ are an advanced photovoltaic product. Sunslates™ allow the roof of your home to serve as both a roof and a power plant simultaneously. A typical installation of 216 Sunslates™ (about 300 square feet / 28 square meters) will cover from 60 to 80% of your power needs, depending on location." See Atlantis Energy Systems for more information about Sunslates.
Another solar shingle is the UNI-SOLAR PV Shingle. This shingle can be inter-mingled with standard asphalt shingles. They can be nailed down directly to wood decking with the wiring on the underside of the shingle so all the connections can be made inside the roof space.
For a solar shingle that looks like a roof tile click on over to SRS Energy and check out their SRS Barrel Tile.
There are a number of special financing options and incentives available to help offset the cost of adding solar power to your home. The Department of Energy (DOE) lists resources to check to see if incentives are available in your area.
Solar shingles are an attractive, environmentally friendly way for reducing energy costs. Learn more about solar power by visiting the DOE Website.
Even before new federal and state tax incentives, "the cost of generating solar electricity has fallen 95 percent since the 1970s," says Noah Kaye, of the Washington, D.C. based Solar Energy Industries Association. But that doesn't mean it's cheap: Factoring in equipment and installation costs, the price of a kilowatt-hour of solar energy (the amount required to power ten 100-watt lightbulbs for an hour) is about 25 cents, versus around 10 cents for a kilowatt-hour of natural gas or coal generated electricity from the grid.
General guidelines call for 1 kilowatt, or 1,000 watts, per 1,000 square feet of house area. The economics of whether or not to install a system depend heavily on where you live. While houses in sunnier states can collect more solar power than those in northern climes, solar payback is strongly affected by local electric rates. "If you have a 2-kilowatt PV system in Albuquerque, New Mexico, it produces 25 percent more electricity than the same system in Boston," says Kaye. "But the savings are greater in Boston, since electricity there costs so much more."
One example of a solar shingle is the Sunslate by Atlantis Energy Systems. According to their website "Sunslates™ are an advanced photovoltaic product. Sunslates™ allow the roof of your home to serve as both a roof and a power plant simultaneously. A typical installation of 216 Sunslates™ (about 300 square feet / 28 square meters) will cover from 60 to 80% of your power needs, depending on location." See Atlantis Energy Systems for more information about Sunslates.
Another solar shingle is the UNI-SOLAR PV Shingle. This shingle can be inter-mingled with standard asphalt shingles. They can be nailed down directly to wood decking with the wiring on the underside of the shingle so all the connections can be made inside the roof space.
For a solar shingle that looks like a roof tile click on over to SRS Energy and check out their SRS Barrel Tile.
There are a number of special financing options and incentives available to help offset the cost of adding solar power to your home. The Department of Energy (DOE) lists resources to check to see if incentives are available in your area.
Solar shingles are an attractive, environmentally friendly way for reducing energy costs. Learn more about solar power by visiting the DOE Website.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld -- 'New Family' commercial
Bill & Jerry take two!!
This commercial runs four minutes and thirty seconds. I like it a lot better than the first one. I mean, making your computer soft and chewy so we can eat them? Puhleaze! In this commercial Bill and Jerry talk about "why are we doing this?" so it brings a little (very little) bit of clarity to what Microsoft is trying to do. It has been reported that Jerry Seinfeld is being paid $10 million for this series of ads. But, I think that Bill Gates himsef steals the show with his version of the robot. It's at the very, very end so don't bail out early!
This commercial runs four minutes and thirty seconds. I like it a lot better than the first one. I mean, making your computer soft and chewy so we can eat them? Puhleaze! In this commercial Bill and Jerry talk about "why are we doing this?" so it brings a little (very little) bit of clarity to what Microsoft is trying to do. It has been reported that Jerry Seinfeld is being paid $10 million for this series of ads. But, I think that Bill Gates himsef steals the show with his version of the robot. It's at the very, very end so don't bail out early!
Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld -- Shoe Circus commercial
If you're one of the few who haven't seen the new Microsoft ads check it out! I have to admit that I'm not really that impressed with this first one. However, I've seen the second one and I think it's better. But, for now, hit play to see what all the fuss is about.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
The Greasel Diesel
Several years back I saw a segment on the local news (Springfield, MO) about a local company that converted diesel vehicles to run on waste vegetable oil. The name of the company was Greasel.com and I thought it was really neat. Recently they changed their name to Golden Fuel Systems (golden as in nice clean used waste vegetable oil). I looked at their website and did quite a bit of research on the internet and decided that I would really like to try converting a diesel to run on grease. However, I had two problems. First I didn't have a diesel vehicle to convert, second, I was only driving about 15 miles to work so it wasn't really an ideal situation for getting the most of a greasel conversion anyway.
Fast forward about 5 years to 2004 and I'm living outside of St. Louis, MO and driving 108 miles a day round trip to work. So, I thought it was the perfect time to try a greasel conversion. My wife and I started shopping around and found a cheap 1994 Ford F-250 diesel truck that seemed like the perfect vehicle to take a chance with. So, we spent just over $3,600 for the truck and $1,100 for a kit to convert one of the two fuel tanks and started looking for good sources of waste vegetable oil.
Although I've never thought of myself as incredibly mechanical I was able to install the kit from Greasel without any real problems. After messing up a few fuel filters because I got bad grease or didn't let it sit long enough for the water to separate out of the oil I was going strong. I installed the kit and started really using waste vegetable oil as fuel in May of 2005 and by August of 2005 I had saved enough money to pay for the conversion kit and all the filters that I had messed up during what I like to call the "learning phase".
When I bought that old Ford it had 201,000 miles on it. Now I have over 270,000 miles on it (probably 95% of those miles driven with waste vegetable oil as fuel). I started out keeping a spreadsheet of how much grease we gathered and what the cost of diesel was on that day and after less than a year I had paid for the kit, all my fuel and grease filters, a couple new batteries, a new starter and a new motor for the windshield wipers. Over the last 3-4 years I've put a lot of money into the old truck for maintenance but I've saved even more. Unfortuneately, the "Greasel diesel" is now sitting behind the house waiting for a new injection pump to be installed.
Because of the age of the truck and the high miles it has stranded me a time or two so I'm thinking about giving it up and getting another diesel vehicle to convert. I love having a big truck but Volkswagens that get almost 50 mpg and Mercedes that get around 35 mpg (and are great candidates for coverting to run on waste vegetable oil) look pretty enticing as well.
References:
General information about waste vegetable oil as fuel
Journey to forever
Other companies that sell vegetable oil conversion kits that I have looked at (but I have no personal experience with).
Greasecar
DieselConversions
DinoFuels Alternative -- Veggiestroke system
Fast forward about 5 years to 2004 and I'm living outside of St. Louis, MO and driving 108 miles a day round trip to work. So, I thought it was the perfect time to try a greasel conversion. My wife and I started shopping around and found a cheap 1994 Ford F-250 diesel truck that seemed like the perfect vehicle to take a chance with. So, we spent just over $3,600 for the truck and $1,100 for a kit to convert one of the two fuel tanks and started looking for good sources of waste vegetable oil.
Although I've never thought of myself as incredibly mechanical I was able to install the kit from Greasel without any real problems. After messing up a few fuel filters because I got bad grease or didn't let it sit long enough for the water to separate out of the oil I was going strong. I installed the kit and started really using waste vegetable oil as fuel in May of 2005 and by August of 2005 I had saved enough money to pay for the conversion kit and all the filters that I had messed up during what I like to call the "learning phase".
When I bought that old Ford it had 201,000 miles on it. Now I have over 270,000 miles on it (probably 95% of those miles driven with waste vegetable oil as fuel). I started out keeping a spreadsheet of how much grease we gathered and what the cost of diesel was on that day and after less than a year I had paid for the kit, all my fuel and grease filters, a couple new batteries, a new starter and a new motor for the windshield wipers. Over the last 3-4 years I've put a lot of money into the old truck for maintenance but I've saved even more. Unfortuneately, the "Greasel diesel" is now sitting behind the house waiting for a new injection pump to be installed.
Because of the age of the truck and the high miles it has stranded me a time or two so I'm thinking about giving it up and getting another diesel vehicle to convert. I love having a big truck but Volkswagens that get almost 50 mpg and Mercedes that get around 35 mpg (and are great candidates for coverting to run on waste vegetable oil) look pretty enticing as well.
References:
General information about waste vegetable oil as fuel
Journey to forever
Other companies that sell vegetable oil conversion kits that I have looked at (but I have no personal experience with).
Greasecar
DieselConversions
DinoFuels Alternative -- Veggiestroke system
Friday, August 29, 2008
Why I'm here
Why am I here? While some could ponder this question for hours my answer is pretty simple, to write about what interests me. A lot of the things I'm interested in are "green" technologies but I don't consider myself a "tree-hugger" or a huge conservationist, but I am VERY interested in the economics of alternative fuels and new technologies. My interest in solar and wind energy is as much about the payback as I get older as it is about ending dependence on foreign oil. My desire to have a diesel truck that runs on waste vegetable oil was also fueled (so to speak) by my desire to save money.
It's not always about tech stuff, sometimes it's about putting your hobbies to work for you, sometimes its about alternate income sources, sometimes its just what's on my mind today.
So come back often to see what's new.
Coming soon: The greasel diesel, running your car or truck on waste vegetable oil.
It's not always about tech stuff, sometimes it's about putting your hobbies to work for you, sometimes its about alternate income sources, sometimes its just what's on my mind today.
So come back often to see what's new.
Coming soon: The greasel diesel, running your car or truck on waste vegetable oil.
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