Apr. 15, 2024 -Times are starting to get tough for Tesla. The electric vehicle automaker had been riding high, with quarter after quarter of successive growth and plenty of profits in the process. But lately, that success has mostly been due to a series of price cuts meant to tempt customers to buy into an aging lineup. This March, the company reported its first quarterly decline since 2020.

Now, it plans to lay off more than 10 percent of its workforce, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

Apr. 10, 2024 -The average electric car in the United States today gets the equivalent of 106 miles per gallon. And, according to a new report, that number could more than double in the next decades, to the equivalent of more than 200 miles per gallon.

That growth in efficiency — possible with technologies that exist today — could help ease the strain that electric vehicles are expected to place on the grid, extend battery range and even limit the need for public car charging.

Apr. 9, 2024 -Zwickau, a city in Germany’s east, may not be as famous as Detroit, but its economy has revolved around internal combustion engines since August Horch established here at the beginning of the 20th century.

So when Volkswagen announced in 2018 that it would convert its Zwickau factory, the largest private employer in the area, to manufacture nothing but electric vehicles, it was a big deal.

Apr. 9, 2024 -Chinese automakers and shippers are ordering a record number of car-carrying vessels to support a boom in EV exports, data showed, putting China on course to amass the world's fourth-largest fleet by 2028.

China currently has the world's eighth-largest fleet with 33 car-carrying ships, showed data from shipping consultancy Veson Nautical. Japan has the world's largest with 283 ships, followed by Norway's 102, South Korea's 72 and Isle of Man's 61.

Apr. 9, 2024 -President Joe Biden is seeking to revive interest in a plan to build the first high-speed rail in the U. S. using Japanese bullet trains, with sources saying he is likely to discuss the project with Japan's prime minister in Washington this week.

The leaders may publicly voice support for the multi-billion-dollar Texas project after Wednesday's talks, which have been partly overshadowed by U.S. opposition to another Japanese investment, Nippon Steel's planned purchase of U.S. Steel.

(POPULAR SCIENCE), Apr. 7, 2024, -A greenhouse gas 24,000 times more powerful than carbon dioxide is being driven up by China’s growing electricity needs, according to a new study.

CO2 is the number one greenhouse gas on our radar for good reason. A gas naturally present in the atmosphere but turbocharged by humans’ fossil fuel combustion, it is the single biggest contributor to the climate crisis.

Apr. 2, 2024 -Solar cars exist. The best place to see them is the World Solar Challenge, a race that’s held every two years in Australia. Competitors have to drive about 1,870 miles (3,000 kilometers), from Darwin on the country’s north coast to Adelaide on its south coast, using only energy from the Sun.

Many cars that compete in this race look more like amusement park rides or science fiction vehicles than the cars you see on the road. That tells you something about why solar cars aren’t an option for everyday travel, at least not yet.

Apr. 2, 2024 -Panasonic’s new US$4 billion battery factory in De Soto, Kansas, is designed to be a model of sustainability – it’s an all-electric factory with no need for a smokestack. When finished, it will cover the size of 48 football fields, employ 4,000 people and produce enough advanced batteries to supply half a million electric cars per year.

Click now to read all about it.

Apr. 1, 2024 -Like many parts of Africa, motorcycles are the most popular form of transportation among Rwanda’s 13.3 million people. Whether they’re commuting to work or school, transporting jugs of water from the local taps, or just running everyday errands, people on “motos” can be found zipping up and down most busy streets in the East African nation. Many locals also rely on these motos for their livelihoods as taxi drivers.

Click now for the whole story.

Mar. 29, 2024 -Rayan Makarem worries about the air that his 2-year-old daughter breathes. More than 100 diesel-powered trucks rumble through their neighborhood every half an hour, spewing harmful pollutants linked to asthma and other health conditions.

The pollution in their community — and others like it nationwide — will be curbed under a climate change rule the Environmental Protection Agency finalized Friday.

Mar. 29, 2024 -President Biden has long vowed to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations in the United States by 2030. Those stations, the White House said, would help Americans feel confident purchasing and driving electric cars, and help the country cut carbon pollution.

But now, more than two years after Congress allocated $7.5 billion to help build out those stations, only 7 EV charging stations are operational across four states.

Mar. 29, 2024 -South Korea is launching a high-speed train service that will reduce the travel time between central Seoul and its outskirts, a project officials hope will encourage more youth to consider homes outside the city, and start having babies.

South Korea has the world's lowest fertility rate, and its youth have often cited long commutes and cramped, expensive housing in greater Seoul, home to about half the population, as the main reasons for not getting married and starting a family.

Mar. 27, 2024 -The Biden administration is growing increasingly concerned that a glut of heavily subsidized green technology exports from China is distorting global markets and plans to confront Chinese officials about the problem during an upcoming round of economic talks in Beijing.

Click now to learn more,

(electrek), Mar. 27, 2024, Swedish automaker Volvo has rolled out its last diesel-powered passenger vehicle, after a 45-year relationship with the powertrain and cranking out millions of oil-burning cars. Between 2012 and 2016, diesel accounted for half of the company’s global sales. But those days are over now as the company moves toward an all-electric future.

Since 1991, Volvo made more than 9 million vehicles with diesel engines. But the records don’t go any further back, leaving 12 years unaccounted for, so that total number is a lot higher in reality, reports Automotive News Europe.

(THE TEXAS TRIBUNE), Mar. 25, 2024, -Hydrogen promoters see the gas as a crucial part of addressing climate change. If it’s produced in a way that creates few or no greenhouse gas emissions, it could provide an eco-friendly fuel for cars, planes, 18-wheelers and ships, and could power energy-intensive industries such as steel manufacturing. Hydrogen emits only water when used as fuel in fuel cells; burning it directly can create nitrogen oxides, which can create haze and acid rain.

If companies can produce clean hydrogen at a price that’s competitive with gasoline or diesel, supporters say it would revolutionize the fuel industry.

Mar. 25, 2024 - Boosted by strong electric vehicle sales, Chinese car makers will be in the spotlight at the Bangkok International Motor Show this week, underscoring the growing challenge to Japanese auto giants that have long dominated Thailand's vehicle market.

Chinese automakers such as Geely's (GEELY.UL) Zeekr and Xpeng Motors are slated to unveil their latest EVs to Thai customers as they debut at the Bangkok motor show, a week-long expo that opens to public on Wednesday.

Mar. 25, 2024 -Last November, a small, white, oblong helicopter with four passenger seats and six whirring electric engines took off from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport.

Several people, including Mayor Eric Adams, watched as the air taxi known as an eVTOL — an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft — flew silently, undetected by nearby pedestrians along the East River.

Mar. 24, 2024 -Direct lithium extraction has been touted as a more environmentally friendly way to mine the resource needed for EV batteries. But the technology is largely untested and could impact already limited water supplies in the Southwest.

Click now for more information.

(WILDFLOWER), Mar. 20, 2024, Proposal to Include 65 Initial Electric Vehicle Charging Stations and Public Parking Spaces; Site can Scale Up Over Time for Electric Trucks Over Time

Electric Vehicle Charging Station Advances a key Commitment New York City’s Green Economy Action Plan and Delivers on Mayor Adams’ “PlaNYC: Getting Sustainability Done”

Mar. 18, 2024 -The Biden administration on Wednesday issued one of the most significant climate regulations in the nation’s history, a rule designed to ensure that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States are all-electric or hybrids by 2032.

Click now for the rest of the story.

Mar. 18, 2024 -Elon Musk appeared to be in a defiant mood Wednesday when he stood before employees at Tesla’s factory near Berlin a week after an arsonist set fire to a high-voltage power pylon and brought production to a standstill.

Click now to read more.

Mar. 7, 2024 -You might have heard Elon Musk talking about a hyperloop – a superfast maglev train – and thought it sounded like a pretty good idea.And it does – except in China, it’s already a reality.China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) is running the project. It’s a state-owned company that makes pretty much anything aerospace you can think of.

Mar. 6, 2024 -Electric vehicles are few and far between in the desert at King of the Hammers, a weeks-long off-roading event that often looks more like Burning Man than motorsport. Almost all EVs can be found at the Optima Oasis, a not-so-literal oasis of solar and hydrogen-powered chargers that the battery company erected smack-dab in the middle of nowhere for the past two years.

Click now to learn more.

Mar. 4, 2024 -China's leading electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD (002594.SZ), opens new tab on Monday launched a new version of its best-selling car at a price lower than the final price of its discontinued predecessor, as a price war rages in the world's largest automobile market.

Click now for the story and a short video.

(MSM.COM), Mar. 1, 2024, he automotive industry is at a crossroads, with a heightened focus on sustainable and environmentally responsible transportation solutions. While electric vehicles have been the poster children of the green revolution, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have quietly emerged as a formidable alternative, offering unique benefits and innovative technologies.

Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles represent a promising departure from conventional gasoline-powered automobiles. These vehicles employ fuel cells to transform hydrogen into electrical energy, which then propels an electric motor.

Feb. 29, 2024 -President Biden took steps on Thursday toward blocking internet-connected Chinese cars and trucks from entry to the American auto market, including electric vehicles, saying they posed risks to national security because their operating systems could send sensitive information to Beijing.

Click now for the rest of the story.

Feb. 28, 2024 -The apartment building fire that killed a young man in Harlem on Friday was caused by the lithium-ion batteries that power e-bikes, the Fire Department said. His was the first death in New York City this year to be linked to the batteries, which were blamed for over 250 fires and 18 deaths last year.

Click now for this said and frightening story.

Feb. 27, 2024 -It happened very quickly, so fast that you might not have noticed it. Over the past few months, America’s Big Three automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, the oddly named company that owns and Jeep — landed in big trouble.

recently, the Big Three found themselves outmaneuvered and missing their goals for electric vehicle sales at the same time that a crop of new affordable, electrified foreign cars appeared, ready to flood the global market.

Feb. 24, 2024 -Volkswagen (VW) has made a $2 billion bet that rural Americans will fall in love with electric drive. Its formula: Resurrect a rugged, iconic U.S. brand, Scout, and court Republican state leaders, who provided a generous incentives package.

VW has wagered $2 billion on the belief that by melding the automotive past and future on this 1,100-acre plot of former timberland, it can build an electric vehicle that will change the way Middle America thinks about EVs.

Feb. 21, 2024 - Electric vehicle drivers unable to install a charger at home are turning instead to stopgaps offered by U.S. and European firms as alternatives to often expensive or inconvenient public charging points.

The solutions include online platforms allowing people to rent out their chargers, "pavement gullies" for properties with no driveways and even mobile charging.

While such services could put a dent in the global public charging infrastructure problem, they will not achieve the massive scale required to solve it any time soon.

Feb. 15, 2024 - Biofuels could take a big bite out of the world’s transportation emissions, especially aviation. But they remain expensive and are made from the food crops corn and sugarcane, creating a food vs. fuel quandary.

Researchers now report a new fuel refinery concept to produce economical, sustainable biofuels and useful chemicals from woody plant matter such as agricultural and forestry waste.

June 6, 2023 -According to a news release, Tennessee State Parks, the Department of Transportation and local leader cut the ribbon on the on the new 2.5 miles hard-surface walking biking trail.

Volunteers and local contractors gathered more than 24,000 tires that had been illegally dumped in the park to make the trail

[AVIATION WEEK], Mar. 17, 2023 -Piasecki Aircraft is on track to fly the first piloted hydrogen-powered helicopter by year’s end after partner ZeroAvia demonstrated the performance potential of its fuel cell in initial tests of a prototype power module. U.S. rotorcraft developer Piasecki plans to convert an ultralight helicopter...

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Their mission: a Hydrogen-Electric Engine in Every Aircraft

A passionate team of over 250 employees and growing. Focused on hydrogen-electric propulsion and fueling solutions to address a variety of markets, initially targeting a 300-mile range in 9–19 seat aircraft by the end of 2025, and up to 700-mile range in 40–80 seat aircraft by 2027.

Aug. 3, 2023 -Electric cars are more popular today, but there’s still a lot that people don’t know about them. In this blog post, we will share five things you may not have known about electric cars.

For example, did you know that the first electric car was invented in 1832? That’s right, electric cars have been around for over 100 years! They were actually more popular than gasoline cars in the early 1900s, but they were eventually replaced by gasoline cars due to their shorter range and longer charging times.

{University of Plymouth}June, 2023, Accelerating Clean Maritime Innovation and Growth

Clean Maritime refers to the activities undertaken to achieve this, such as decarbonizing vessel propulsion systems or investigating methods of antifouling with lower environmental impact.

Aug 24, 2023 - As countries the world over legislate to phase out petrol and diesel cars, attention is turning to the environmental impact of mining the materials needed for electric vehicle batteries.

This additional scrutiny has largely focused on ethical concerns with cobalt and lithium supply chains, despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s observation last year that the lithium ion batteries his vehicles use are mostly made of nickel and graphite, with lithium itself merely “the salt on the salad”.

Feb. 21, 2023 -As the mobility and EV industry converges around a seemingly limited array of battery sizes and just three form factors, California-based Sakuu is suggesting a very different, seemingly endless range of possibilities—like future cells sized and shaped for products.

The manufacturing hook behind this proposition is 3D printing. While there have been a few attempts at 3D batteries before, Sakuu claims that as of December 2022 it’s the first “company of record to 3D-print fully functional batteries in custom shapes and sizes with patterned openings for thermal management in a completely dry process.”

Jun. 16, 2022, WINNEBAGO INDUSTRIES -The leading outdoor lifestyle product manufacturer, just completed a more than 1,300-mile All Electric RV Road Trip with the e-RV, the first all-electric zero emission motorhome concept from a major RV manufacturer.

The e-RV was introduced in January at the Florida RV Super Show by the company’s Advanced Technology Group as a fully functional, all-electric concept vehicle that redefines efficiency, comfort and functionality. The latest road trip further affirms the growing feasibility of electric powered RV travel—the primary objective of the road trip.

The Guardian, Oct 11, 2021 -Burnishing his green credentials before the Cop26 summit, it was with pride that Prince Charles revealed that he runs his Aston Martin on “surplus English white wine and whey from the cheese process”.

July, 2022 -As electric vehicle (EV) sales continue to increase, questions about how these cars and their batteries will be disposed of have been top of mind for current owners, future buyers, policymakers, and many experts in the automotive industry.

Jan. 1, 2022 -A year from now, a truck wends its way through scenic Swiss villages, delivering milk from the country’s famous Alpine cows. Like almost all light vehicles today, it is powered by gasoline formed underground over millions of years and pulled from the earth thousands of miles away. But there is a crucial difference.

The CO2 released by the internal combustion of gasoline in this milk run does not all escape into the atmosphere, for this truck has two gas tanks: one for its fossil fuel, but also a second one to store about 90 percent of the greenhouse gas it generates as it putters about the countryside.

CNN travel, Aug. 24, 2022 - Fourteen hydrogen trains powered by fuel cell propulsion will exclusively run on the route in Bremervörde, Lower Saxony. The 93 million euro ($92.3 million) deal has been struck by state subsidiary Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen (LVNG), the owners of the railway, and Alstom, builders of the Coradia iLint trains. The Elbe-Weser Railways and Transport Company (EVB), which will operate the trains, and gas and engineering company Linde, are also part of the project.

Nov. 1, 2021, (CleanTechnica)- Now, vehicles like the “never charge” Aptera and the Sono Sion are proving that solar can power at least a good chunk of people’s driving — but can it work for larger vehicles?

The answer isn’t a hard “No” like it once was. The amount of “Yes” is on the rise, even for people who don’t want to drive a “clown truck.”

Oct. 27, 2021, (INTERESTING ENGINEERING), -A new aviation partnership could see commercial hydrogen-electric airliners take to the skies. The parent company of Alaska Airlines, Alaska Air Group, is partnering with zero-emission aviation firm ZeroAvia to develop a hydrogen-electric powertrain for a 76-seater passenger airliner, a press statement reveals.

The two companies say that their ZA2000 hydrogen-electric powertrain will have a power output of 2,000-5,000 kW and a range of 500 miles (804 km). The powertrain will initially be fitted into a full-size De Havilland Q400 aircraft. Alaska Air also announced it has invested in ZeroAvia with a view to helping it meet its goal of net-zero emissions by 2040.

April, 2021, (electric)-Tesla apparently made an Earth Day announcement that flew under the radar: The automaker intends to power all Supercharger stations with renewable energy this year.

The electric vehicle revolution needs to be powered by renewable energy in order for its full positive effect on the environment to be felt.

Oct. 8, 2021, (REUTERS), -A solar-powered motorhome, shaped like a huge elongated teardrop, silently rolled into Madrid on Friday as part of a month-long journey from the Netherlands to southern Spain to highlight more sustainable modes of transport.

Engineering students at the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands created the blue and white vehicle, named Stella Vita - Latin for "star" and "life" - to inspire car makers and politicians to accelerate the transition toward green energy.

The adrticle includes a short video.

Jun. 29, 2021, (INTERESTING ENGINEERING) -If you have to fly sustainably, then you might as well do it with class.

This seems to be the apt strategy for a company currently prepping its all-electric nine-seat luxury plane for flights, which can fly 440 nautical miles (506 miles, 814 km) on one, singular charge of its colossal 820 kWh battery pack, after crucial flight test hardware was successfully delivered, according to a recent press release.

Sep. 23, 2021, (National Geographic) -Talk with aviation experts about whether commercial flight can ever go green. The fact is this: Everything you can think of that’s spurring a green revolution on the ground will be of little help in the sky anytime soon. Solar panels, wind turbines, electric engines, high-storage batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, magnetic levitation—they are all, bluntly put, useless at present when it comes to the technological challenge of launching a few hundred people into the stratosphere and carrying them thousands of miles. Here’s the figure: More than 80 percent of humanity has never flown at all.

Aug. 24, 2021, (CleanTechnica)- The creators of the solar-powered locomotive of the future were aiming to set a Guinness record for speed last weekend, and that is more than just your ordinary attention-getting stunt. Demonstrating the functionality of PV panels on rail cars could help set the stage for solar power to knock diesel fuel out of the railroad business. No word yet on the official results, but solar is beginning to wiggle its way into a field dominated by fossil fuel.

Bye-bye, diesel engines.

Feb. 10, 2021, (Treehugger) -Earlier this week, British Airways announced that it is investing in LanzaJet, a technology and innovation company that’s aiming to create "sustainable aviation fuel" (SAF) at scale. Specifically, the initiative is geared toward building the first commercial-scale production facility in Georgia. The announcement comes in addition to the airline’s existing partnership with a separate SAF company called Velocys, which could see production at a UK-based facility starting in 2025.

Feb. 14, 2021 (Forbes) -The city, home to about 12 million people, has made a wholesale conversion to electric transportation, with 16,000 Electric Buses and 22,000 Electric Taxis, as Fully Charged explains in the video at bottom (via Electrek and InsideEVs).

Shenzhen is the home base of BYD, one of the largest electric vehicle makers in the world.

July 28, 2021 (HowStuffWorks) - Compressing a gas into a small space is a way to store energy. When the gas expands again, that energy is released to do work. That's the basic principle behind what makes an air car go.­ ­

The first air cars will have air compressors built into them. After a brisk drive, you'll be able to take the car home, put it into the garage and plug in the compressor. The compressor will use air from around the car to refill the compressed air tank. Unfortunately, this is a rather slow method of refueling and will probably take up to two hours for a complete refill.

If the idea of an air car catches on, air refueling stations will become available at ordinary gas stations, where the tank can be refilled much more rapidly with air that's already been compressed. Filling your tank at the pump will probably take about three minutes [source: Cornell].

April 22, 2021 (AIRRACEE) -History will be made in Summer 2021 as an all-electric racing aircraft takes to the skies for the very first time – a landmark moment for Air Race E, its partners and the aviation industry as a whole. And what better time to have announced than Earth Day 2021.

Air Race E – the world’s first all-electric air race series – will get underway in 2022 with many of the world’s top pilots going head-to-head at a number of high-profile events around the globe. The aircraft will race just ten metres above the ground at speeds of up to 450km/h (280mph), and this latest development represents a huge milestone for the pioneering series.

Apr. 26, 2021 (Deutsche Welle)-Flying is one of the most carbon-intensive ways to get around. About 2-3% of global carbon emissions come from aviation, which means that, if the sector were a country, it would be the sixth-largest source of CO2 in the world.

Besides these emissions from burning jet fuel, planes streaking across the sky also release gases and water vapor into the atmosphere that contribute further to global warming.

The aviation industry has committed to halving its net CO2 emissions from 2005 levels by 2050. But the technology that could allow people to keep boarding planes without further damaging the planet doesn't exist yet. So making this green future a reality is going to require a huge transformation.

Apr. 2, 2021 (Renewable Energy World) -The International Energy Agency predicts that by 2030, 125 million electric vehicles will be owned around the world and the UK government aims for almost every car and van on the road to be zero emission by 2050.

But just how green are they?

Electric cars are undoubtedly cleaner than fossil fuel run cars. Although more energy is required to make electric vehicles than petrol, you still save more energy in the long run. The deficit is paid off quickly and even, when with no alternative, the electricity used to charge the vehicles is driven by fossil fuels, they are still greener.

(ZME SCIENCE), -Sept. 30, The company has announced in a blog post that it successfully completed the testing of the technology that will underpin its range of electric airplanes. The testing was part of Rolls-Royce’s ACCEL initiative, which aims to “build the fastest all-electric plane the world has ever seen”.

The testing didn’t involve a proper aircraft, but rather a full-scale model of the front part of the ionBird — which is what Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited has christened their future plane.

Still, the model included all the bits that needed testing. The electric engine developed around 500 horsepower, requiring 6,000 lithium-ion energy cells to do so. All in all, they store enough energy to fly the plane for around 320 km (~200 miles) at 480 km/h (~300 mph). To put things into perspective, the company explains that is roughly enough power to supply 250 houses, although they do not say for how long.

Mar. 24, 2018 -With all the talk of hyper-performance electric vehicles (EV) and other ‘unobtainium’ cars, we’re happy to report a refreshing story that should appease those unhappy with electric vehicle (EV) affordability. How about a 3D-printed EV for $7,500? And the best part is that you won’t have to wait for it very long.

July 24, 2019,(Scientific American) - EWPG Holding AB is a Swedish company, founded in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2011, that has developed a patented, smart and cost-efficient technology for turning ocean and sea waves into green electricity. Eco Wave Power is the only wave energy company in the world, to own and operate a wave energy array, which is connected to the grid in accordance with a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

April, 2017 (Curbed.com)-From bike shares to newly redesigned electric bikes, there are more options than ever for biking in American cities. Bike companies are also working to change the industry, specifically through the use of “power-boosting technology.”

Pedal-addicts might remember when the prototype of the bright red Copenhagen Wheel was released by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lab in 2009. The company Superpedestrian—which launched in 2013—just debuted a new version of the product to consumers after years of intense anticipation and improvements.

Feb. 10, 2022, (The New Statesman)-Talk of sustainability is everywhere — whether in the installation of heat pumps in our homes, the expanding meat-free sections in our supermarkets, or in the cries of “climate hypocrisy” whenever a politician takes a private jet. One area seemingly unaffected by the green movement, however, is in the high-end sports utility vehicle (SUV) market.

Nov. 1, 2021, (NEW ATLAS)- Hydrogen aviation pioneer ZeroAvia has announced its biggest zero-emissions H2 aircraft yet: a 76-seat airliner it's building with Alaska Airlines and hoping to fly in 2023 – as well as its commercial H2 flight between London and Rotterdam in 2024.

These groundbreaking commercial flights will cover the 200-mile (320 km) distance between London and Rotterdam The Hague airport carrying 19 people, and at this stage it looks like they'll be the first commercial, international hydrogen flights in the world. This will be a significant moment, as the airline sector needs hydrogen powertrains if it's to begin decarbonizing air travel.

Sep. 27, 2019, (GeekWire) -Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture is on the top of the funding list for a newly announced round of “Tipping Point” funding from NASA for technologies that could be applied to exploration and settlement of the moon and Mars.

Headquartered in Kent, Wash., Blue Origin will be awarded $10 million to conduct a ground-based demonstration of hydrogen and oxygen liquefaction and storage.

May 26, 2021, (NoVA) -Can new emission-free electric planes replace our polluting airliners and revolutionize personal transportation in our cities? NOVA takes you for a ride in some impressive prototypes that are already in the air, from speedy single-seat planes that can take off like a helicopter but are half as noisy to “self-flying” air taxis that are already taking passengers on test flights in Chinese cities.

But if electric airplanes are ever to advance beyond small, short-haul craft, significant hurdles of battery weight, energy storage, and cooling remain to be overcome. How long will it be before the dream of super-quiet, super-efficient airliners becomes a reality? (Premiered May 26, 2021)

Aug. 14, 2021 (ZME Science), - Blue hydrogen, an energy source that involves obtaining hydrogen by using methane in natural gas, is usually described as a low-carbon option for generating electricity, powering vehicles, and even heating buildings. But researchers believe it may actually cause more harm to the climate than conventional fossil fuels.

In a new study, a team from Stanford and Cornell universities found that the CO2 footprint of blue hydrogen is more than 20% greater than that generated by natural gas or coal and around 60% higher than burning diesel oil for heat. The finding comes at the time the Biden administration is funding a set of regional hydrogen hubs.

June 30, 2021, (Treehugger) -There are many (including yours truly) who believe that micromobility is the future of urban transportation; that powerful little batteries, and smart electronics will make it possible for many people to get where they need to go without cars. In these pandemic days, a lot of people want to get around without being squished into public transit.

Feb. 13, 2021 (CleanTechnica) -Corvus Energy was selected to provide an energy storage system (ESS) to Kawasaki Heavy Industries for the zero-emissions electric e5 tanker it is building, the world’s first zero-emissions tanker. The electric tanker is under construction for Tokyo’s Asahi Tanker Co.

The battery-powered vessel was designed by e5 Lab Inc., which is a consortium of leading Japanese shipping and maritime services companies.

Feb. 12, 2021 (ScienceNews) -Flight isn’t easy at the edge of space. But tiny “microfliers” could soar high in Earth’s atmosphere fueled only by sunlight, experiments suggest.

At heights between about 50 and 80 kilometers above Earth’s surface, in what’s known as the mesosphere, the atmosphere is so thin that airplanes and balloons can’t stay aloft. But mechanical engineer Mohsen Azadi and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania saw promise in a technique that uses light to levitate objects.

June 10, 2020 (CleanTechnica) -The page features a chart explaining the reasons why battery electric wins the efficiency race.

Mar. 4, 2021 (Bloomberg CityLab), -Nestled in a valley at the foot of the Andes, the Chilean capital of Santiago is often shrouded in smog, especially in winter, when seasonal air inversions can trap pollutants over the city of more than 5 million people. Other major cities in Chile, such as Temuco and Osorno, sometimes face some of the world’s worst air quality levels due to the extensive use of wood for heating.

The Chilean government says that about 10 million Chileans are exposed to air pollution levels above those recommended by the World Health Organization, contributing to about 4,000 deaths every year. Air quality improvements could lead to health savings of $8 billion per year, according to government data.

Aug. 2, 2018 (nocamels)-Autonomous vehicles, electrification, connected cars and shared transport are the megatrends now remaking the auto industry. Offshoots of these four main forces include ways to detect sleepy drivers, infotainment solutions, digital cockpits, intelligent transport systems, vehicle cybersecurity, and satellite navigation technologies.

The Israeli companies in the car arena address all these needs as well as future ones.

Jan. 29, 2020, CleanTechnica -When Hyundai and KIA announced last week that they were jointly investing $100 million in UK startup Arrival, they probably knew something we didn’t know — until now. UPS has signed a deal with Arrival to buy 10,000 of its electric delivery vans between now and 2024 and to possibly purchase another 10,000 after that.

The vans will be placed in service in the UK, Europe, and North America. UPS has also invested an undisclosed amount in the company.

PBS.org, Mar.15, 2019

1832-39 Scottish inventor Robert Anderson invents the first crude electric carriage powered by non-rechargeable primary cells.

1835: American Thomas Davenport is credited with building the first practical electric vehicle -- a small locomotive.

1859: French physicist Gaston Planté invents the rechargeable lead-acid storage battery. In 1881, his countryman Camille Faure will improve the storage battery's ability to supply current and invent the basic lead-acid battery used in automobiles.

Feb. 7, 2017 - The first Wattway solar road pilot in America has popped up in rural west Georgia. The Ray C. Anderson Foundation, named for sustainable manufacturing pioneer Ray Anderson, is testing renewable technologies along an 18-mile stretch of road, and recently installed 538 square feet of Colas‘ Wattway solar road system near the border between Georgia and Alabama.