Owners of Audis will be pleased to know that this world-renowned car manufacturer has lots of plans up its sleeves to bring out eco friendly cars, though it might take a few years before they make their presence felt. In about 10 years time Audi shall be producing cars that run on electricity. While the rest of the world is finding out ways and producing cars that will have lower CO2 emissions, Audi will do away with emissions all together. The electric cars that Audi shall be producing in about a decade will be sans exhaust emissions. The owners of Audi cars can glee in delight armed with the knowledge that their favorite will again show the way to the world.

For recent eco-friendly audi news, check here!

The Korean auto manufacturers Hyundai and Kia are among the front runners of the development of HEV technology. These two companies have released almost 3000 units of hybrid electronic vehicles under the brand of Accent and Elantra prototypes to the Korean government as part of their demonstration that kicked off in 2004.

Come July 2009, a lithium-polymer battery and liquefied petroleum gas combo will power the Hyundai Elantra LPI. This vehicle is set to be initially released in Korea.

Hyundai showcased the Santa Fe Blue in the Paris Motor Show. The hybrid architecture will be the building blocks of future Hyundai HEVs that includes that 2010 Sonata scheduled to be introduced to the US market.

The Santa Fe has the Theta 2.4L engine coupled with a six speed automatic gear shifting system under its hood. A 30Kw motor is also installed to provide power for its regenerative braking. The design of the engine was focus on decreasing friction along its cooling system and drivelines so fuel economy will be at its optimal.

The software of the engine was enhanced to improve handling of injection pressure, exhaust system, and cycle timing. The engine is also automatically shut off instead of being left on idle to save more fuel. With this stop-start function, the driver can easily start the car by applying pressure on the gas pedal which in turn will trigger the integrated starter generator.

The fuel saving features of the Santa Fe places it at 38 miles per gallon of fuel. Top speed was recorded at 105 mph.

One can say without hesitation that the owners of the Swedish car, SAAB, are the best off. As it is this car manufacturer is famous all over the world for the safety features of their car and also for the fact that they are credited with introducing certain innovative features that are now being adopted by car manufacturers all over the world. It is hence natural that SAAB cars would also lead the way when it comes to manufacturing cars that run on alternative fuels.

SAAB has not let down its fans and has come out with the SAAB 9-5 BioPower. This car has got the capability of reducing the CO2 emission by as much as 70%, a percentage that has not been achieved by any other car manufacturer prior to SAAB. The 9-5 BioPower can run either on petrol or on a mixture of petrol and bioethanol (E85). There is no need for special adjustments to be made by the driver to run the car on these different fuels.

Although only in the concept stages and not yet available for general sale, Cadillac showed the new Provoq earlier this year at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show. Born from General Motors’ vision to replace gasoline as mainstream fuel, the Provoq is a hydrogen fuel cell crossover. It uses fuel cell technology coupled with a lithium-ion battery. The result is a vehicle driven electrically without the detrimental emissions of gas. It is called hydrogen fuel cell because the only emission is vapor or water.

Tanks of hydrogen are stored at the rear of the vehicle in order to feed the fuel cell stack where the hydrogen mixes with water to create electricity. The battery pack then supplements the power giving the car higher performance levels. In addition, the Provoq has been aerodynamically designed to reach maximum performance. For example when the car is travelling at higher speeds, the front grill louvers close in order to reduce drag from the wind and open again at lower speeds to aid cooling of the fuel cell stack.

Other features that demonstrate Cadillac’s commitment to design products more harmonious to the environment are:

• Wheels are wrapped in custom Michelin tires incorporating Green-X technology.
• Recycled and recyclable materials were used for the rich interior.
• Carpet is made of recycled polyester and jute.
• Headliner is wrapped in a fully recyclable soy-based material.

Such a luxurious vehicle sparing no expense in details but saving so much in the environment proves that one does not have to sacrifice when using alternative fuels.

The owners of Volkswagens too are seeking if there are any alternatives available with Volkswagen that is both eco compliant and fuel-efficient. Such people should check out the Volkswagen Polo as it zips around. This car is a marvel of auto engineering and demonstrates what gasoline powered efficiency means. Its turbo diesel, direct injected, 3 cylinder 1.4L engine allows it to give a “staggering” 79 horsepower. And this is not enough.

Just combine the Volkswagen with special aerodynamics, LRR tires along with manual transmission and check out the car achieving 60 miles per gallon as advertised. Though this car has a small 12-gallon fuel tank, one can easily achieve over 700 miles with the same. This is something amazing. This is also one of the major reasons why owners of Volkswagens love this particular model. There are different ways of achieving the end result if one wants their car to be eco friendly. They can go in for a car that runs on alternative fuels or they can go in for a car that delivers more per liter. This Volkswagen stands in the latter category.

These cars are 100% street-legal, and Mazda claims they’re the first ever street-legal Hydrogen cars sold in the world (they’re driving around in Japan, but not that much as they’re bought by companies as a PR-stunt, what a surprise)…

Fingers crossed we’ll soon se more hydrogen/gasoline hybrid sports cars in the near future…

Using wood chips to create ethanol is a great way, as long as we’re using the kind of wood Scandinavia is famous for — the kind that doesn’t kill worldwide photosynthesis…

In an article titled Moving Away from Food Source Ethanol, Alternative Fuels Blog talks about this, and I think it’s an excellent resource…

One such energy farm is Destiny, in Florida, which recently announced that it would become an eco-city spotlighting sustainable farming practices. Having already planted several hectares of sorghum, a type of grass, they plan to also plant algae and jatrophai in an attempt to manufacture bio fuels from non-food materials. Because the sorghum uses less water than corn and can thrive in less fertile soil, it may come to rival corn when making ethanol.

The University of Florida will participate in the project by assessing the crops to determine which will be best suited to bio fuels with the smallest impact to the environment. They will also look at costs involved in the use of the sorghum. One of the reasons non-food raw materials may be more attractive is the fact that presently bio fuel companies must compete with the food industry to obtain their raw materials for ethanol. As the food market increases prices, the price of bio fuel increases as well. By finding an alternative to food, the price of bio fuel may be kept considerably lower.

Destiny is not the first energy farm to plant sorghum nor is it the first to focus on non-food crops for bio fuels. The state of Oklahoma recently planted a large section of switchgrass to determine its viability as an alternative fuel source.

In conjunction with Sindicafé (Sao Paulo Coffee Industry Union), the Federal University of Minas Gerais conducted tests to ensure the product’s viability. Not only is the reliability of the product important but also, the economics of using the beans for bio fuel versus selling the inferior beans to other coffee related industries. And even if proven that the bio fuel can work, there will be many steps to ensure the ideal comes to fruition. But in the meantime, individual companies within the coffee bean sector may choose to fuel their equipment with the diesel, as it will be much cheaper than gas stations. Further, the process is less expensive than using other food products because the supply of coffee bean oil already exists.

Other oils that Brazil is testing are castor oil, palm oil and soybean oil with the intent of diversifying the raw materials used to produce clean burning bio fuels.

bio fuels ethanol

Bio fuels are indeed types of alternative fuels. There is some discussion, however, as to what constitutes a bio fuel. Some feel that it only refers to food source gasoline such as ethanol made from wheat, corn or sugar cane. Others believe that bio specifically refers to biodegradable, and others yet, understand bio to mean any sustainable resource such as plants and organic waste.

Further, many scientists refer to bio fuels as agro-fuels, since the underlying composition of a bio fuel is that it is sustainable and it came from living organisms. Another form of bio fuel is bio diesel that is made from fats found in plants, cooking oils, soybean oil, canola oil and some animals.

The thing that is most bizarre about bio fuels is the price. When it first became available at limited numbers of gas stations In Canada, the promotional material said it was a cheaper gas and helped the planet. Many people would not buy it believing it was some sort of gimmick and feeling that their car would not perform as fast using gas made from wheat or corn. But the point was it was much cheaper to manufacture so no one should have any complaint about filling his/her tank with bio fuels.

Today, it is claimed that it only costs about one dollar US per gallon to produce the bio fuels but all the gas stations that pump ethanol are charging the same ridiculously high price as normal gas. Now they tell us that it costs just as much to produce the corn based gas as regular gasoline. So other than the pollution factor, why would people bother buying bio fuels especially when most cities only have one gas station and then many have none?