FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--If you want to find out about the cutting edge in green automotive technology, talk to fleet managers.
Although they may have a reputation for stodginess, operators of corporate and municipal fleets are pushing the limits of alternative fuels in both passenger cars and trucks. These projects are driven both by environmental programs and fuel savings, according to attendees at the AltWheels 2009 Fleet Day conference here on Monday.
In the past year, new products, notably hybrid and all-electric commercial trucks, are coming to market. Also, the confidence level in the various alternative energy technologies is firmer, speakers said.
"This is not toy science anymore. This is real utility," said Mike Payette, the fleet equipment manager for Staples, which hosted the event at its corporate headquarters. "It's working exactly as this technology is supposed to work."
Staples has just received hybrid and all-electric delivery trucks made by Smith Electric Vehicles which it will begin testing. The stop-and-go traffic of delivery trucks is well suited to hybrid and electric technology as the trucks can charge batteries during braking.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)Fleet managers said that the use of hybrid sedans and SUVs has been picking up for salaried employees, such as salespeople or police and fire workers. New York City, for example, has bought more than 3,000 hybrids--Toyota Priuses and Nissan Altimas--since 2001 as part of an effort to reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions, said Steve Weir, director in the Office of Fleet Administration.
Now, hybrids are being scaled up for bigger jobs. Staples recently received hybrid and all-electric delivery trucks from Smith Electric Vehicles that it will test in different locations. The initial cost is higher--partially offset by government stimulus spending--but Payette estimates that operating the electric and hybrid delivery trucks will cost about half as much as their diesel equivalents.
From a technology point of view, hybrids and battery-electric vehicles are well suited for deliveries, since the stop-and-go nature of the driving allows the trucks to recharge the batteries during braking. Also, the length of trips is well understood, whereas consumers will typically do a mix of driving, including long trips.
But that doesn't mean that electric or hybrid vehicles make sense in every application, said attendees, who are using propane, natural gas, and biodiesel. Fleet managers need to also consider the driving range--Staples' electric delivery truck can go between 100 and 120 miles--as well as the weight of what's being transported.
"The question is not whether it will work, it's whether it will work for me--that's what's different," said Stephen Connors from the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "It's all about the drive cycle."
In many cases, in-car technology and programs to promote environmentally aware driving can deliver significant fuel savings, attendees said. The City of Keene, N.H., delivered monthly reports on fuel usage and mileage to department heads in an effort to encourage fuel efficiency habits, such as cutting idling. But far more effective are mechanical systems that enforce driver behavior, said Steve Russell, the former fleet superintendent.
For example, Staples changed the top speed of its Isuzu delivery trucks to 60 miles per hour and installed a system that automatically shuts trucks off after three minutes of idling. Those adjustments showed fuel savings between 4.3 percent and 5 percent on 75 vehicles, according to Payette.
Other fleets are simply converting to four-cylinder vehicles, at times adding more amenities to motivate employees to convert. Heating and cooling equipment company Carrier was able to meet its emissions-reduction goals by choosing a different size vehicle and reducing the weight of deliveries, said purchasing manager Denise Cross.
Business case
Conference speakers said that many efforts to make their fleets more environmentally friendly were driven by corporate environmental sustainability efforts, which can help improve a company's image. But at the same time, there is scrutiny on the financial implications of using hybrids or biofuels, for example.
"We were in a state of flux last year: 'is this going to work?' This year, we're able to put vehicles in place and say that there are lower emissions overall--so we have proof," said Tom Hartner, the manager of global sourcing at Millipore. "Now we're trying to make sure we can deliver at a lower cost--that's where we're going."
Often, the financial picture includes the cost of vehicles, the cost of fuels--biodiesel or natural gas, for example--and ongoing maintenance and infrastructure costs. Staples is projecting that it will be able to get its hybrid and electric trucks competitive on price compared to diesel after funding for the government-aided project runs out, said Payette. "I don't want to be the greenest company to go out of business," he said.
In many cases, corporations don't get federal tax incentives for hybrid passenger cars. But there is federal stimulus money available for projects to test and ramp up production of components for plug-in electric vehicles. For example, a number of utilities are testing how plug-in electric vehicles can fit into smart-grid projects, where cars are charged at off-peak times and act to stabilize power grid frequency.
MIT's Connors said that one of the underlying questions with green auto technologies is what will happen after the stimulus funding ends--and whether these projects will continue if oil prices drop significantly. But corporations and auto suppliers need to go through the trial programs to test various technologies and help bring down the cost of components, he said.
Staples' Payette said he expects the cost of battery and electric motors for vehicles to drop 40 percent as volumes ramp up. Although there isn't a widespread refueling infrastructure, biofuels and natural gas look promising as well, he said.
Will you be pumping up your car of the future with algae-bred fuel? Possibly, if ExxonMobil's latest venture is successful.
ExxonMobil and biotech firm Synthetic Genomics (SGI) announced on Tuesday a new alliance to produce alternative fuel made from photosynthetic algae. ExxonMobil expects to spend more than $600 million on the project--$300 million internally and another $300 million to SGI if key R&D milestones are met.
Under the partnership, SGI will research and develop systems to grow large amounts of algae and convert them into biofuels. ExxonMobil will provide engineering and scientific talent throughout different phases of the project, from increasing the level of algae production to manufacturing the final product.
(Credit:
PetroAlgae)
"Meeting the world's growing energy demands will require a multitude of technologies and energy sources," said Emil Jacobs, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. "We believe that biofuel produced by algae could be a meaningful part of the solution in the future if our efforts result in an economically viable, low net carbon emission transportation fuel."
In an economic climate that has made life tougher for alternative-energy companies, ExxonMobil is wading into biofuel waters that recently swallowed a once promising algae-minded start-up, GreenFuel Technologies, which said in May that it had run out of funds and would be shutting down. Still, other smaller companies such as PetroAlgae and Aurora Biofuels remain hopeful about commercial production of algae biofuel.
Algae is one of a number of potential alternative fuel sources, though many of the others, like ethanol, are derived from plants also used for food. Algae also can thrive in a variety of conditions.
Based in California, Synthetic Genomics is a privately held company that develops energy solutions based on genomics research.
SGI says it's spent several years working on a way to harvest the oil produced by photosynthetic algae. Past methods have proven costly and time consuming, but SGI says its process for collecting the oil has so far proven more efficient and cost-effective, though work remains to be done.
"The real challenge to creating a viable next generation biofuel is the ability to produce it in large volumes which will require significant advances in both science and engineering," J. Craig Venter, CEO of SGI, said in a statement. "The alliance between SGI and ExxonMobil will bring together the complementary capabilities and expertise of both companies to develop innovative solutions that could lead to the large scale production of biofuel from algae."
The National Renewable Energy Lab and U.S. Department of Energy have launched a mapping tool on alternative fuels and vehicles.
Employing Google Maps, TransAtlas plots geographical locations of things like specific types of fuel stations and concentrations where certain types of alternative fuel vehicles are owned in abundance.
It plots points where production facilities and other infrastructure for alternative fuel transportation exist, as well as separate icons identifying projects under development.
The comprehensive tool allows users to turn layers on and off by checking boxes in a legend. It includes alternative fuels like hydrogen, liquefied natural gas, propane, compressed natural gas, E85, biodiesel, and electric charging stations
Layers are also used to see vehicle density for flex fuel, diesel, and hybrid electric vehicles, as well as production facilities for hydrogen and ethanol.
The TransAtlas lets you ask a specific site for more detailed information by hitting the query button and then clicking on a point of interest. One click can tell you the town where an ethanol production facility is located, what capacity it's operating at, and what kind of biomass it uses.
The tool's development was sponsored by the DOE's Vehicle Technologies Program, which includes the Clean Cities initiative, a program to encourage alternative fuel development and public/private partnerships on alternative fuel projects.
National Renewable Energy Lab's map showing hydrogen production facilities in the U.S.
(Credit: Google Maps)With the goal of reducing the production of greenhouse gases, California regulators on Thursday pushed the state toward the adoption of automotive fuels that use less carbon.
The state's Air Resources Board said that by 2020, the new regulation will staunch greenhouse gas emissions from California's transportation fuels by 16 million metric tons, or 10 percent, and will boost the market for alternatives to fossil fuels.
At the heart of the regulation is the concept of "carbon intensity," which takes into account not only the emissions associated with driving cars, but also the those gases emitted during the production and delivery of fuel. Fuel providers, refiners, importers, and blenders, the Air Resources Board said, will have to meet an average declining standard of carbon intensity.
Regulators expect the new standard to cut down on the state's dependence on petroleum and to push the market toward a range of alternative fuel technologies, including biofuels, electricity, and fuel cells. The regulation is geared toward replacing 20 percent of the fuel used by cars in California with clean alternative fuels by 2020.
Actions taken by California, which by itself is one of the world's largest economies, can have an effect well beyond the state's borders. The state has already set in motion an effort to impose tough fuel economy standards, which the Environmental Protection Agency shot down under the Bush administration. In January, shortly after taking office, President Obama applauded California's initiative and ordered the EPA to reconsider that rejection.
To help boost development of low-carbon fuels from sources including algae, switchgrass, and municipal solid waste, the California Energy Commission aims to provide approximately $120 million dollars per year over seven years.
The Air Resources Board said that to produce what it sees as a need for more than 1.5 billion gallons of biofuels, over 25 new biofuel facilities will have to be built and will create more than 3,000 new jobs, mostly in the state's rural areas.
The new regulation stems from a 2007 executive order by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The transportation sector accounts for 40 percent of California's total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the board.
While its tech is quite different, an Air Products hydrogen fueling station is built to look like a typical gas station.
(Credit: Air Products)Hempstead, N.Y., a small town on Long Island, is installing the island's first hydrogen fueling station.
Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray made the announcement at the groundbreaking ceremony in conjunction with the New York State Energy Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the electric utility National Grid on Wednesday.
The station will actually pump three options: pure hydrogen, hydrogen with compressed natural gas, and natural gas. Air Products is contributing to the station design, build, and maintenance.
While that station will cost about $2 million to build, it will be subsidized with $1 million from NYSERDA, $55,000 in the form of a grant from National Grid, and additional tax credits.
As with the electric charging stations being installed in San Francisco, the pilot station in the town of Hempstead is being used to promote and educate the public about alternative fuel options for cars.
National Grid will own the station for the first three years, after which it will be handed over to the town. The station will be networked with others under the New York State Hydrogen Energy Roadmap.
"While it's gratifying to be at the forefront of 'green energy' initiatives, it's more important to contribute in a meaningful way toward the goals of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and reducing environmental pollutants. This effort is an important step toward achieving those priorities," Murray said in a statement to the press.
On a test track in Southern California, a radical new car is getting its first workout.
The zebra stripes camouflage it from competitors, but you still get a good sense of the Fisker Automotive Karma, the brainchild of designer Henrik Fisker, who's trying to succeed where Detroit so far has failed, CBS News business correspondent Anthony Mason reports.
"The vision is to do a high performance, luxurious, sexy-looking car which gets better miles per gallon than the Prius," Fisker said.
The Karma is a plug-in hybrid. It can go 50 miles on an electrical charge before a gas engine kicks in to power its lithium ion battery.
"The average driver will get something around 100 miles per gallon," Fisker said.
The Karma's top speed is 125 mph. The initial price tag: $80,000. But within a few years, Fisker hopes to produce a $40,000 version of this lean, green machine.
It's got other Earth-friendly features.
"The entire roof's a solar panel," Fisker said. "Actually it's the first curved solar panel in the world."
The Danish-born Fisker, who was a designer at BMW and Aston Martin, then owned by Ford, grew frustrated by the bureaucracy at the big car companies, so he started his own.
"We don't have the overhead that plagues a lot of the large car companies. And we can move extremely fast," he said.
Unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in January, the Karma is scheduled to become the first plug-in hybrid on the road late next year, well ahead of Chevy's Volt.
For all the debate over whether the U.S. government should bail out Ford, GM and Chrysler, consider the biggest investor in Fisker is the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. They've poured nearly $60 million into the car.
When the U.S. rescue package is discussed, the California-based Fisker is never mentioned.
Should the government be giving them some of the money?
"I think they should actually because we are pioneers," Fisker said. "We are coming out, leading the way and showing how it could be done."
Small, nimble and fast--in the future the American auto industry may need to look a lot like Fisker.
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