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Dispatches from a student-run clean-car campaign
The Road to Detroit campaign is run by 11 student organizers from around the U.S., one big, beautiful biodiesel and veggie-oil bus, and many friends and allies. Road to Detroit is a campaign of Energy Action, a student and youth clean-energy and global-warming coalition. Friday, 19 Aug 2005 DETROIT, Mich. We know you know about […]
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Miser Permanente
Americans get creative at saving gas as price per gallon soars Ever since dinosaurs walked the earth, died, and decayed under high subterranean pressures to become the fossil fuels we so depend upon today, Americans have carried on a brontosauric love affair with gasoline. But with prices climbing toward $3 a gallon, that may change. […]
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Umbra on biodiesel vs. straight veggie oil
Dear Umbra, I have the opportunity to convert a 1979 non-turbo Mercedes into a non-diesel. The question I have is: to which should I switch, biodiesel or vegetable oil? I can’t seem to find out which one is best, just that these two are better than any petroleum-based fuels, which we already know (thanks for […]
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Rob Elam, biodiesel buff, answers questions
Rob Elam. What work do you do? I’m a cofounder of Propel Fuels, a biodiesel services and distribution firm. Biodiesel is a vegetable-oil based fuel for diesel engines. Using it significantly reduces greenhouse-gas and particulate-matter emissions. What does your organization do? Our mission is simple: fill tanks with biodiesel. We’re approaching this in three ways: […]
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Umbra on true hybrids
Dear Umbra, I read the New York Times article that reported auto manufacturers are using hybrid technology to boost power rather than improve mileage. It specifically mentioned the Honda Accord, claiming that the mileage difference between the six-cylinder and the hybrid is minimal. What are the facts here? Is there a hybrid that really, actually, […]
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Dense and Densibility
Densest U.S. cities aren’t the ones you think Advocates of energy-saving urban density usually laud the towering buildings and subways of Manhattan, as contrasted with the car-heavy suburban sprawl of, say, Los Angeles. But the most dense city in the U.S., measured by people per square mile, is … Los Angeles. In fact, despite its […]
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Prius-toric
Team achieves 110 mpg in Toyota Prius If you thought fuel efficiency was cool, wait ’til you meet … Xtreme fuel efficiency! Rawk! Ahem. A team of five oddly obsessive middle-aged American men, seeking to break the unofficial mileage record set in Japan, recently drove a factory Toyota Prius 1,397 miles on one tank of […]
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Hybrid Fidelity
Toyota plans 10 new hybrids, invites automakers to eco-summit Toyota is developing 10 new hybrid models and aims within the next few years to be selling 1 million of the gas-electric vehicles annually worldwide. That, says the company’s U.S. head, Jim Press, will mean about 600,000 new Toyota hybrids each year on American roads, including […]
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Meet the world’s first hybrid-cab driver
Like any self-respecting cabbie, Andrew Grant has a talent for small talk. But when the conversation turns to his prized 2004 Toyota Prius, things get a bit more animated. Andrew Grant. “Gave Cameron Diaz a lift once,” he says matter-of-factly, leading me toward the Vancouver curb where the curvaceous car is parked. “Oh, yeah? What […]
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Milenko Matanovic, community-based planner, answers questions
Milenko Matanovic. What work do you do? I run a nonprofit organization called Pomegranate Center. We specialize in involving people in creating gathering places, thereby integrating art into the fabric of the community. We help develop plans for neighborhoods that are safe, humane, environmentally excellent, and filled with character. I founded Pomegranate Center in 1986 […]
