"Murder Mystery"

Saw this great DVD documentary last night. With all the recent talk about electric cars, it was interesting to see that they were fully operational in the 90's up until their sudden disappearance.


So, who killed the electric car? Well, I won't "spoil the ending" for you, but it was interesting to examine all of the potential suspects.

Time To Get Real

While the Australian parliament is still deciding whether or not to introduce the Renewable Energy Target, the Repower America people have put out this new clip:


I think it's message is also relevant to us here in Australia.

CityCycle

At Greenfest, the council had a demo of the bicycles that will be available for use in their bike hire scheme, which i am told will start next year. The bikes will be located in the city, and out to Newfarm, West End, Toowong and St Lucia.


It's a good idea, which has worked well in European cities. Let's hope it works well here.

UPDATE: The scheme is now up and running, and details (including a map of locations) are available at citycycle.com.au.

Electric bikes in China

A few days back i wrote about electric bikes. I was going to mention their popularity overseas, but i only had the shop guy's word for that. Now, a Time Magazine article reports how electric bikes are 4 times more popular than cars, in China. Partially it's because of the lower cost, but also the convenience, safety and environmental benefits.


The boom has been assisted by bicycle friendly policies of the government, and now there is a large manufacturing industry as a result. Last year Chinese sales were about 90% of 23 million globally.

Dodgy Holden Ad

Greenwashing 101 is to make a nice-sounding claim - doesn't need to be truthful, if it is vague enough. So when holden describe their Cruze as "fuel efficient" i had to check that out. Technically, anything can be fuel efficient (if you compare it to a semi-trailer for instance). So i did some research at the green vehicle guide. Figures are in L/100km

Toyota Prius - 4.4
Smart Fortwo - 4.4
Honda Civic Hybrid - 4.6
Suzuki Alto - 4.8
Toyota Yaris - 6.0
Hyundai Getz - 6.1
Ford Fiesta - 6.1
VW Golf - 6.2
Honda Jazz - 6.4
Kia Soul - 6.5
Holden Cruze - 7.0
Honda Civic - 7.2
Holden Astra - 7.2
Apart from consuming far more fuel than other models invented years ago, the Cruze still uses 97% as much fuel as the Astra. This hardly a leap forward in technology. The only way this could be argued to be fuel efficient is if it is compared to holden's (poor) track record.

Suzuki Alto

While at Greenfest, i saw the Suzuki people, promoting the upcoming Suzuki Alto. With an efficiency of 4.8L/100km, it's almost as efficient as a hybrid, but at a fraction of the cost.

The guy tells me that it's achieved my making the car lighter, and the engine (3 cyl, 1 litre) more efficient. He also tells me it will be 15,000 when released in August.

Tesla Roadster

I was at Greenfest last weekend, and took these photos for a couple of friends who are Tesla Roadster enthusiasts - in contrast to my other friend who saw "Tesla Roadster" on the Greenfest programme and thought it was a band!



So there you go. The perfect car for someone who might normally buy a Ferarri, but doesn't want the massive emissions. Meanwhile, according to the Tesla website it does 0-60mph(about 100kph) in 3.9 seconds, with a range of around 350km - all on electric power.

Of course, we know that electric motors are highly energy efficient (i calculate about 4c/km for the Roadster) but i still find it ironic to advertise a car's low running costs, when the car itself sells for $US 100-grand.

Electric Bicycles

I may have already mentioned electric bikes - because i think they're a great idea. A new store just opened up in my neighbourhood, and i had a test ride of a few.


Intially, you might think that using electricity might increase your transport emissions (compared to traditional cycling). But these things have quite a range (20-30km) so they can be an alternative to a car, for those trips that are just a bit too far to pedal. And the electricity is just a few cents per charge.

Carbon Neutral Wales

I read on Energy Matters that Wales has decided that by 2025 they will produce as enough renewable energy to power the country. Meanwhile, Australia is considering maybe 20% by 2020.

More Wins Than Losses

So i had a friend of mine ask me about carbon reduction and jobs. He seems like an intelligent guy, but i felt the need to give him a fuller picture. While reports (from the mining industry) that predict job losses of 23,500 in mining (by 2030) might look scary, there's 3 crucial elements that reveal this as scaremongering:

1. The head of the Mining Worker's Union, Tony Maher (who has had frightened members ringing him up) has read the report and reveals that the report predicts 120% growth in Queensland and 60% growth in NSW. The jobs figure relates to extra jobs that might have happened if we continued to pollute regardless. (audio interview here)

2. The Climate Institute report (described as "the good news the polluters don't want you to hear") shows that up to 30,000 jobs would be created in renewable energy alone - with over $30 billion dollars in investment. And a lot of that will end up in regional Austalia.

3. An assessment done by the National Australia Bank shows that emissions reduction actually boosts the economy by around 6 billion dollars each year. If we're talking about 2020, then multiply that figure by 10 years.

It's one thing for the mining industry to whinge to government that avoiding climate change might lose them a few dollars, but to scare workers and manipulate people by playing on their biggest fear is something i find significantly distasteful.

Save $700

The decision by President Obama to improve fuel consumption standards of American cars means that over the next 7 years, the average mileage will go from around 10 km/litre up to 15. As Obama points out, "Consumers pay less for fuel, which means less money going overseas, and more money to save or spend here at home".


So it makes sense that we would want the same thing here. The ACF and the NRMA outlined the benefits of Australia having a similar standard. Apart from reduced greenhouse emissions, it would keep the Australian car industry competitive internationally - in Japan the standard is 5L/100km (=20km/litre).

But probably the most obvious outcome is for the hip-pocket. Obviously, using 1/3 less fuel means paying 1/3 saving at the pump. NRMA found that fuel standards would save the average driver $700. Across Australia that's billions every year.

Spot The Difference

Apart from the obvious decoration, there is another difference between these two:


Only the front one is chewing up fuel during the long wait for the lights to change. The Prius hybrid only consumes fuel while moving (as sometimes not even then).

CPRS - The Sequel

No doubt you've heard about the Prime Minister's latest version of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. Part of the revision is another $1 billion to heavy polluters, taking the grand total to 8.4 billion dollars. This is more than double the money going into renewable energy.


The GetUp group reckon that a decent climate change strategy would be to allocate money to solving the problem (renewable energy) rather than to the companies who caused the problem in the first place. If you agree, why not sign the petition?

Good Advice

Good advice from a local billboard:

Renewables Map

Discovered the Australian Renewable Energy Atlas - a map of the country's renewable resources are located.


No surprise that there's lots of solar and wind, but the picture here is of geothermal heat (the hot rocks deep under the surface). Areas as big as some states - at temperatures up to 300°C. So much energy!