As part of GM's ongoing greenwashing campaign efforts to save the environment, The General has formed a partnership with one of the few companies in the world with an even greater responsibility for production of greenhouse gases: Virgin Atlantic Airways. In a splashy New York press conference [publicized via PRNewsWire], Virgin Atlantic and GM executives touted their agreement to provide fuel cell-powered Chevy Equinox limos as part of their Upper Class Limo Service. Initially, the vehicles will only be available only at LAX. If all goes well, the program will expand to The Big Apple, where Virgin customers will "experience the next generation of cars but also reduce their carbon footprint." Well, as long as they can afford the Virgin "Upper Class Experience" and ignore the energy-intensive hydrogen production techniques. In fact, the whole project serves only serves to reinforce the worst aspects of the so-called "green consumption" movement: offering immature technologies to alleviate the guilt of those who can afford to pay huge price premiums. How about focusing on reducing carbon intensive air travel or delivering cost-effective, fuel efficient vehicles across a model range?

After tugging their earlobe and saying Nano Nano, Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM) has announced they'll start taking reservations for a U.S. version of the compressed-air-powered minicar later this year, for delivery in 2010. ZPM claims the car will allow you "to drive pollution-free and free of fuel dependency" and that "the air expelled from the tail pipe is actually cleaner than the air used to fill the tank." That is, as long as you're driving below 35 mph. Above that speed, you're fuel dependent, burning some kind of hydrocarbon to heat air as it enters the engine, delivering the supposed equivalent 106 mpg. The ZPM web site also claims the new car will top-out at 96 mph and offer an 800-mile range on the U.S. version "with supplementary fuel source." When you're not driving, you "recharge" the air tank by plugging into a nearby electrical outlet; obviously the "pollution free" claim ZPM is making doesn't consider the pollution generated from generating the electricity. But just think… an engine running on compressed air could bring a whole new meaning to the term "fart can muffler."

Looks like Honda, Nissan, GM and Ford need to slap their advertising agencies around. It appears some greenies don't know they make hybrids! From Ourgreenbabysteps blog comes this tidbit: "I ran into someone at work today who owns a Honda Civic Hybrid.  I didn’t even realize there was another family hybrid car other than the Toyota Prius." Toyota probably also needs to increase the advertising budget for the hybrid Camry and Highlander, since they seem to be semi-unknown as well. I wonder what will happen when the blogger finds out he/she can even get a humongous SUV or all-American pick-'em-up truck with a hybrid powertrain. I'm thinking spontaneous cranial combustion.

Whether in print or in their private thoughts, most Peak Oil believers grapple with the immediate effects of oil scarcity. They picture a scenario based on history or speculative fiction, refining their expectations as the real future reveals itself and like Kafka's ape, looking for a way out. In today's Falls Church News-Press, Tom Whipple postulates that increasingly precious liquid fuels will be allocated to aircraft and ships. Since cellulosic biofuels and hydrogen are not ready for prime time, he expects that our already available electric power grid will be the most likely ground transport fuel for the immediate future. But in Peak Oil prognostication, all solutions reveal even deeper problems. Electric cars may serve in a limited capacity, but will we have enough resources to actually build them? Will any but the very rich be able to afford them?

Futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil is smart enough to have predicted the ascendancy of the Internet, the common availability of wireless (at a time when the great Bill Gates was busy hard-wiring his $40m mansion so that it could be "run by a computer") and the fall of the Soviet Union. Livescience.com reports that the inventor and futurist now predicts that solar power will be a viable crude oil alternative within the next five years. And then… "[Use] is doubling now every two years. Doubling every two years means multiplying by 1,000 in 20 years. At that rate we'll meet 100 percent of our energy needs in 20 years." Kurzweil  says you can thank nanotechnology, which will make solar panels light, inexpensive and more efficient. This could be a big deal. The sunlight falling on earth contains 10k times more energy than we use annually. If Kurzweil is right, we'll soon be energy-rich. (Rich, I tell you, rich!) Automotively speaking, a large source of cheap energy would immediately put zero emissions hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars back on the front burner. 

According to The New York Times, Big Apple mayor Michael Bloomberg is about mandate that the City's 10k car service limos must average 25 mpg by 2009 and 30 mpg by 2010. As the vehicles in question currently average between 12 and 15 mpg, they'd almost certainly require hybrid drivetrains to achieve Bloomberg's lofty goals. The plan requires approval by New York's Taxi and Limousine Commission. Passage seems likely. Commissioner Mathew W. Daus' says "it is to the great credit of black-car industry leaders that they have collectively embraced Mayor Bloomberg's efforts to reduce harmful emissions." Daus' willingness to green-up may something to do with the fact that Hizzoner isn't going force limo companies to comply with the new standards through punitive fines. Instead, Bloomberg is proposing a state sales tax waiver on purchases of more efficient limos and low-interest financing, through corporate partnerships with Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers, and Hudson Toyota/Penske Auto Group. 

GM Canada is applauding a new Canadian government program to distribute $3m over two years for a pilot program to "demonstrate E85 fueling infrastructure and promote its commercialization." The measure is part of a $250m Automotive Innovation Fund aimed at supporting the Canadian auto industry's transition to greater mandated fuel efficiency. The PR flacks at GM Canada crow [via Marketwire], that The General's head start in ethanol-capable technology "offers another very practical and affordable way for Canadian drivers to literally cut their net vehicle CO2 emissions in half"– as long as they ignore the environmental and crop price impacts associated with ethanol production. Oh, and Canada has set aside another $10m for two years worth of biofuels emissions research. 

Autocar reports that a new poll financed by Porsche suggests that 74 percent of Londoners think London's new, higher (for some) CO2-based charge is "unfair." Having released complete polling data from that study, Porsche is challenging Livingstone to produce similarly comprehensive data from the Ipsos-MORI poll which the left-wing mayor claims to show support for the environmental measure. The incompleteness of available data from the Ipsos-MORI poll has prompted Porsche to file a complaint with the British Polling Council for failing to uphold public transparency standards. Porsche clearly smells blood in the water; Livingstone has staked his re-election campaign on environmental issues. With a May first election looming, and two opponents who oppose the fee, Livingstone is retaking the offensive by attacking Porsche at a recent press conference. "(Porsche) should be redoubling efforts to produce less- polluting cars,'' said Livingstone. "I can imagine how annoyed Berliners would be if a British company tried to intervene in a mayoral election.'' Meanwhile, Livingstone has still not released his polls data, showing that whatever his purported allegiance to the environment, his populism does not prevent him from hiding information when his political survival is at stake.

While GM was wooing the greenies with their big PR event at the Oscars, Audi was busy thumbing their nose at The General. GM trotted out the Yukon Hybrids, Equinox Fuel Cells and "ethanol-compatible GMC Yukons" and put the concept Volt (that looks nothing like the eventual production model) on display to impress the easily-impressed. Audi, on the other hand, "chauffeured [nominees and winners] through the Audi VIP fleet of more than 55 exclusively equipped A8L W12's and Audi Q7's." The press release lists a number of stars who "selected Audi as their preferred mode of transportation for Oscar week." Not surprisingly, Ed Begley Jr. and George Clooney don't appear on that list.

Toyota will introduce two new hybrid models at the 2009 Detroit North American International Auto Show: the third-gen Prius and a new Lexus-badged hybrid. Motor Trend reports that the new Lexus will be based on the Prius platform and drivetrain, aimed squarely at the "lifestyle wagon" segment. Offering Toyota's proven Hybrid Synergy Drive in a category of small but pricey wagons (think Audi A3) seems like a smart move; the "hybrid premium" will not scare away shoppers who are already considering dropping $30k on what amounts to a compact car. Unfortunately, the artist's rendering which accompanies this announcement looks like little more than the Prius donor car. Hopefully ToMoCo will put a little more effort into the looks of the final product.

According to USA Today, plug-in electric hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) like the Chevy Volt can actually increase air pollution in some areas. The executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center reckons  "plug-in hybrids are perhaps not good for all areas." Howard Learner explained that for "states that are heavily coal, that equation doesn't work out very well for the environment." With almost half of the nation's electricity coming from coal-fired plants, the Center equates running a PHEV in some areas to driving a coal-burning vehicle. The Natural Resources Defense Council said there's a "possibility for significant increases of soot and mercury" because of the increased demand on the plants, So a PHEV would produce 11 percent more greenhouse gas than a non-plug-in hybrid. A study by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency found PHEVs could also increase the amount of sulfur dioxide, a key component of acid rain, and CO2. Charles Griffith of the Ecology Center in Michigan admits "It seems a little premature to think of it being a problem – but there are a lot of issues we should have been thinking of sooner," including the use of land to grow crops for ethanol fuel vs. for food. Since when does rational thinking have anything to do with federal regulations, the environment and energy independence?

The New York Times lists the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy's 12 greenest vehicles sold in the U.S. Not surprisingly, it's dominated by foreign brands. In fact, the TTAC Ten Worst nominee Ford Focus is the only American nameplate on the list. The Honda Civic GX, which runs on compressed natural gas, sits in the top of the greenest tree. Only four hybrids sent out an aroma of undefined love: Prius, Civic Hybrid, Altima Hybrid and Camry Hybrid. Rounding out the list: smart fortwo, Yaris, Corolla, MINI Cooper, MINI Cooper Clubman, Civic and Fit. Imports also dominated the six "most environmentally damaging vehicles." Four of these were were oil burners: Touareg V-10 TDI (the worst of the worst), Mercedes GL 320 CDI, Grand Cherokee diesel and Mercedes R320 CDI. The Bugatti Veyron and Lambo Murciélago round out the dirty half-dozen. Neither GM's "Green Car of the Year" (Yukon Hybrid) nor the treehugger's four-wheeled enemy #1 (Hummer H2) showed-up at either extreme.

So there's this big deal panel of "independent experts" from the National Research Council that advises the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) re: federal mpg standards. The last time the Council got together, they deemed diesel engines too dirty and hybrids as "too niche" for inclusion in their final report. Flash forward seven years and the Council finds that diesels could deliver 30 to 40 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over comparable gas engines. This time 'round, full-electric and fuel cell-powered vehicles didn't make the cut; "the committee does not expect commercialization of fuel cell vehicles or widespread marketing of all-electric vehicles before 2020." Although Congress insists that regulations must focus on gas engines– as these represent the vast majority of vehicles on the road– the inclusion of diesels in the new report may presage regulations allowing a new era of European-sourced high-efficiency oil burners in the U.S. Provided, that is, California doesn't trump the feds again and tighten their particulate standards, again…

If you're a member of the TV rat pack or a crowd control officer with the Los Angeles police, we suggest you gear-up and head over to Conserv Fuel on San Vicente Blvd in Brentwood on February 26. For just two hours, from noon to 2pm, GM is subsidizing E85 to the tune of 85 cents per gallon (geddit?). GM's press release says they want to "help raise awareness about the first station in Los Angeles to offer E85 ethanol, and to encourage drivers of FlexFuel vehicles to use this cleaner, renewable fuel instead of gasoline." Of course it has nothing to do with the fact they just sank a bunch of bucks into an ethanol producer. Even with the decreased power and poorer mileage of E85, 85 cents per gallon makes it an attractive alternative (hence the incipient flared tempers). But how many of the bargain hunters will be back when it's back to to the station's normal $3 per gallon? That's when you'll see– well, could see if the media was bothered– what the average driver really thinks about E85.