Large size hybrid electric trucks from Volvo

The Volvo Group unveils viable new hybrid technology

Today, the Volvo Group presents an efficient hybrid solution for heavy vehicles, which offers fuel savings of up to 35 percent. “We envisage opportunities to accelerate developments in commercially viable hybrids for heavy vehicles. This can be significant for both our customers and for the environment,” says President and CEO of Volvo, Leif Johansson.

The Volvo Group’s hybrid concept provides maximum fuel-saving effects on routes with frequent braking and accelerations, for example in refuse collection, city bus traffic and city distribution. Calculations indicate that fuel savings can amount to 35 percent. Maintenance costs for vehicles can also be reduced through reduced wear on the braking system.

The hybrid concept is designated I-SAM and it consists of a combined starter motor, drive motor and alternator, along with an electronic control unit. I-SAM interacts with Volvo’s I-Shift automatic gearshifting system. The batteries are recharged by the diesel engine and whenever the brakes are applied.

...

This is interesting, and there are several advantages. This is meant for heavy trucks, and one complaint of the typical heavy truck is the noise it makes.

The Volvo hybrid drive train, I-SAM (Integrated Starter, Alternator, Motor), is said to have several useful features:

• Allows the truck to accelerate under electric power alone allowing such a truck to drive quietly.
• the diesel engine can be automatically switched off when the truck stops to make deliveries, pick up loads or pauses at traffic lights
• Auxilliary functions like the air conditioning can be run independantly of the main engine.
• The combined electric and diesel drive system allows for a smaller main engine.
• They made sure the main engine can run from biofuels.

What's even more interesting is the battery system, by EFFPOWER. It's a lead-acid battery made in a way that's highly suitable for hybrid vehicles. It offers a high power density (for lead-acid batteries) at low cost, and a tremendous number of charge/discharge cycles under shallow discharge.

However the battery technology might not be good in a pure battery EV. Battery EV's see deep discharges, under which the large number of shallow discharge cycles is not an advantage. Shallow discharges are different in nature from deep discharges.

More information on hybrid electric vehicles

Find more at Green Car Congress

Green Car Congress: ADM to Invest $2.3 Billion Before 2009 to Expand Production of Biofuels and Plastics

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) plans to invest about $2.3 billion before 2009 to expand its capacity for the production of ethanol and other biofuels and on the development of PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate, a biodegradebable plastic made from plant sugar). See more here: ADM to Invest $2.3 Billion Before 2009 to Expand Production of Biofuels and Plastics

The talk around biofuels, whether it's biodiesel or ethanol, tends to make one think it will help the small family farm to survive. Biofuels means someone has to grow the biological material that go into creating the fuel. That means greater demand for biological material, which will mean higher prices for biological material, and eventually trickle down to more money flowing to farmers. Supposedly.

Or is it only going to enrich the likes of Archer Daniels Midland?

WWF and palm oil industry join forces in Malaysia

Malaysia is going for biodiesel production in a big way. They are building many palm oil plantations and building biodiesel production plants. I have previous coverage here, here, and here.

One issue with Malaysia's plans is they're cutting down their rain forest to build these palm plantations. That, in turn, means new threats to rare species and a reduction of biodiversity. In other words, in the process of solving one environmental problem (environmental degradation from burning fossil fuel) they're creating a different environmental problem (reduced biodiversity).

WWF and palm oil industry join forces covers work by the World Wildlife Foundation to do something in cooperation with the palm oil industry. Through their Forest Conversion Initiative and the Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) to develop Better Management Practices for the Malaysian oil palm industry to safeguard high conservation value forests (HCVF) in the country.

This sounds nice ... if some action is going to cause an environmental problem, it's nice there's an environmental protection organization they can partner with to mitigate the problem.

But ... in my mind is another thought. I wonder if this partnership is meant to whitewash the problem? Is this partnership only meant to give the appearance of solving the problem? Or is this partnership taking actions which are truly useful?

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | Plant Science Advances U.S. Potential for Ethanol from Biomass

As I look at the issues around energy supplies and resources, I'm coming over to the picture in this article: Plant Science Advances U.S. Potential for Ethanol from Biomass ... American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) President Michael Thomashow is quoted discussing how plant science is showing a way towards winning independance from fossil fuels. With plant science you can create organisms which readily produce the same substances which the earth turned into fossil fuels, but you can do it in hours rather than having it take millions of years.

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | Anaerobic Digestion Found to Produce Renewable Energy

Here's another article on anerobic digesters, giving some details of operation: Anaerobic Digestion Found to Produce Renewable Energy

Green Car Congress: Denmark To Build Worlds Largest Biogas Plant

Denmark To Build World’s Largest Biogas Plant discusses an anerobic digester plant being built in Jutland. It's sized large enough for electricity to 800 homes and heat to 200.

Green Car Congress: Microreactor for Distributed Production of Biodiesel

Microreactor for Distributed Production of Biodiesel discusses a development by scientists at the University of Oregon which promises to revolutionize biodiesel production. Producing biodiesel has an involved series of chemical reactions to perform. The Univ of Oregon scientists have developed a simplified gizmo which makes the process very simple, and very quick.

more is available from the Univ of Oregon