Near Production Version of the Aptera 2 e on Autoblog Green

I seriously wish that this car is either sold in Chicago, or that I am out of this city and in Austin, where I am almost certain it will be sold very shortly: Lovely, isn't it? The rumors are that Best Buy who recently started selling the Brammo Enertia Electric Motorcycle will also sell the Aptera. I have been a regular client of Best Buy since I moved to the USA seven years ago and I am definitely going to have a look at these cars when they come to the showroom floors near where I am.

I also wish that these cars are marketed outside the USA. There is fantastic scope for them to sell in countries like India and Sri Lanka in South Asia and in much of the Carribbean. Here's waiting to see Fossil Fuel finally shown the fist

The Pininfarina-Bollore Bluecar Goes on Sale in France

Or, more specifically, the first 1000 of this stunning electric car will be leased: Blyecar Website.

It is going to be interesting to watch developments on both sides of the Atlantic with the Tesla S coming out in the USA in 2011-2012 and the Aptera 2 e coming out very shortly and the Bluecar in Europe side by side with the Mitsubishi MIEV and the Nissan Leaf launching in several countries around the world.

Here's hoping that as economic conditions improve around the world, more people would spend their money on electric vehicles than on fossil fuel burners.

Can You Design a Better LED Bulb? You Could Win $ 10 Million if You Do

Just thought that I'd post this for the engineers who visit here: N Y Times Gadgetwise Blog

And this might not be anywhere near as big a think as the prize money on offer, but I'll be happy to buy you some beers whenever you visit Chicago if you manage this.

Good Luck!

A US Supplier of Solar Powered Street Lighting Etc

Some of my friends know that I tried to market Tata BP Solar's solar powered street lighting in the Middle East some time ago through my old company, before I sold it to focus on university work. Now there is a US competitor whose products look quite attractive: Greenshine As the Tatas are busy shipping the bulk of their production and they face some shortage in meeting demand, I would think that there is excellent potential in marketing these lights in all of South Asia and the Middle East if someone is interested - hint, hint, my former business contacts! I shall contact this company shortly and find out more but in the meantime, if someone wants to contact them directly, their website is a very good one and it has some excellent information that would help not only those who are already in this business, but also entrepreneurs who may be interested in getting into this business anew.

Good News from India - New Reva Cars Look Like a Major Improvement

While Autoblog Green's post does seem designed in a tongue in cheek fashion to attract readers with talk of "remote charging" in the new Reva cars, there is a lot that is positive in the news that this post offers: New Reva Cars The old Revas managed to attract a dedicated following among anti fossil fuel people especially in Europe, but the fact is that the cars were badly engineered, unsafe and uncomfortable to drive. The new designs do look a lot better and should be safer as well. Hopefully, this means that a lot more of them will sell and that fossil fuel can be shown the fist for every one of these that sells! For the relatively short distances that people drive in India and for the mostly warm weather that is experienced across most of the country (electric and hybrid car performance falls in cold weather) these are a superb option for those who are environmentally concerned.

A Potentially New Way to Turn Plastics Into Fuel

I have been somewhat irregular blogging for the past week and a part of the reason was a scare as far as my health is concerned. Fortunately, it turned out to be fine and I can relax though I do have a backlog of work to complete. Of course, I need to relax in between, and this is best done, as I say in my self-introduction, by spending time with friends, with my dog, and going walking. To that list, I need to add blogging.

While there were several interesting bits of news that came out during this period, I don't want to go into everything as I have linked to all of the major blogs that I regularly visit here and it hardly makes sense to repeat what has been said elsewhere. But there is one post on The New York Times's Green Inc Blog which I must reproduce: http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/a-new-way-to-turn-plastic-into-fuel/

While India is working hard to block the use of plastics, the fact is that the use of plastics is neither going down, nor is the import of plastic raw material and plastic waste under control either. I suspect that the same is the case with virtually every other country in the world. Now, there is a technology whereby plastics can be converted into fuel that can be blended with gasoline or diesel and burned instead of being buried and left to cause damage to animals and to the soil at some point in the future. Yes, this is fossil fuel being burned, but the use of plastic means that less oil needs to be pumped out of the ground to the extent that plastics are recycled into fuel. The company that offers this technology, Envion, would be interested if someone from other parts contacted them. Anyone from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka interested? Their website is: http://www.envion.com/

More Stupidity Associated With Windmill Regulations

Today's New York Times has a very nice piece about the kind of pig-headed stupidity that those who would like to use alternative energy in the USA have to face: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/us/13wind.html Fortunately, these concerns are not something for South Asians to worry about. With India's long and magnificent coastline, I can see how a string of windmills across the country would make a huge difference in addressing the power situation. Sri Lanka could do the same across the island country's lovely coastline. And, if more power is needed, there is the option of offshore wind.

The third world nations of the world keep whining about competing with the West - this is, clearly, an opportunity. If they were to start harnessing the power of the wind in their countries, they would leapfrog ahead of the USA for example - while American technology is easily the most advanced in the world, this country's pathetic laws will keep it from competing even with third world powers in some areas in the future. Time to beat the Americans in installing windmills, I think!

Interesting Hypermiling Practices and The Very Positive Results

I wish I had a car that was as fuel-efficient as the Volkswagen Jetta TDI that this article from the NYT talks about: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/automobiles/13MILEAGE.html I did ask my local Volkswagen dealer, but the Jetta TDI is so much in demand that you need to wait for it. And with a new model coming out next year, I decided not to order one now lest I end up with the outgoing model.

My other choice was the Mercury Milan Hybrid but I didn't want to buy a hybrid car just before it began to get cold in Chicago and before the batteries ended up completely inefficient in the cold. Maybe, if I move to Texas next year as I would like to, that would be my next car . . .

Until then, this article should give everyone who visits here some very good ideas for conserving fuel with whatever vehicle they drive every day. Happy hypermiling!

Positive Chinese Action on Renewable Energy and the Environment - Can India at Least Play Catch-UP?

It is always disheartening when a bunch of perennial whiners keep beating their breasts and wailing about supposed injustices meted out to them while doing nothing else. India's socialist politicians top the list of professional jokers who do this and they have ample support from the left wing sections of the Indian media in their public shrying. In the meantime, a country that India is wary of and talks about competing with, simply goes ahead and works hard to beat the rest of the world in implementing Renewable Energy projects while India keeps arguing with the rest of the world over why it does not want to move in this direction, leave aside the fact that half of the Indian money that goes overseas, goes to pay for fossil fuels that India sorely lacks, and, which after they are imported, only hurt Indians health-wise because they are basically filthy.

Forbes has this article about the Chinese thrust into the area of Renewable Energy: http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/01/china-environment-pollution-leadership-citizenship-innovation.html?partner=globalnews_newsletter Let there be no doubt about it - Forbes is a business magazine but it is also nationalist and wants the USA to lead the world in every area of activity possible. This article has a tone of regret over the USA's taking second place to China even where it does not explicitly mention this. Where this will leave India, is something that I shudder to think about - in the dirt, both literally and figuratively. I wish it were otherwise, but socialists are never good for anything other than whining. And, India's socialists are easily the world's leaders in doing this.