Welcome ! As a young French Marketing professional with a Master's in International Management I have been selecting since January 2007 the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change, cleantech and the world energy sector. Sounds great ? Don't hesitate to subscribe now !
Now having to commute by car to get to my new job I can’t wait for having an electric car. But current prices are way to high for me to afford one. Luckily, this might change quite quickly. To AutoBlog Green :
” U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu estimates that plug-in vehicle battery costs will have dropped 70 percent between 2008 and 2015 and will fall another 58 percent between 2015 and 2020 “
I have already stressed how electric vehicles are critical in our quest for energy efficiency and more sustainability as they consume five time less energy than their counterparts.
Is this the car of tomorrow ? Gas 2.0 published an article on an electric car that did more than 1,600 kilometers (a thousand miles) with a single charge. The top speed was less than 50 kilometers per hour. As they note :
” The record for longest drive ever in a battery-powered vehicle (no recharge) was broken last weekend by a new, experimental electric vehicle called “Schluckspecht” (“heavy drinker” in colloquial German). “
Of course, at these speeds and with only one passenger, this could be used for the daily commutes of millions of people in hundreds of cities around the world…
With the incoming energy scarcity crisis, we are all due to rediscover one way or another the many advantages of biking as fueling our cars will get more and more expansive. Bikes are great, but a tad dangerous when the night comes.
Luckily for all the bikers of the night, Treehugger have been publishing an article on not one but two great ideas : Revolights – which is currently looking for funds – and AURA, a project by two students of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Both systems put lights into the wheels themselves. I don’t know about you but these projects make me think of the movies Tron. Below you will find the videos of the projects. Continue »
While I am a huge supporter of electric cars and mass transportation, I also believe bikes should play a more important role in our lives and cities. And so does Grist with its great Bikenomics series of three articles.
Indeed, cycling allows people to stop buying foreign oil and thus spend their money in local economies instead. This could actually bring millions, I should write, billions, of dollars and euros in local communities.
As a matter of facts, it is already doing so in some regions of the United States. Biking is also a great way to reduce energy consumption and has many advantages for your health.
American high speed rail supporters, rejoice ! To Ecogeek : ” Vice President Joe Biden announced that the Obama administration is investing $53 billion in high speed rail development over the next six years.”
Yes, you read it right : President Obama is really willing to invest nearly 40 billion euros in high speed rail to enable 80 percent of Americans to have access to this great alternative to both private cars and planes.
As a long time supporter of public transportation, I am absolutely thrilled by this announcement. This should enable the country to start catching up with European countries, Japan and China… Continue »
I believe bikes should play a more important role in our daily lives. So when TreeHugger blogs – again as they already wrote a post on a great photo of Albert Einstein riding a bicycle too – I have to share it.
On this awesome Tumblr website, you will find photos of people including The Beatles (John, Paul, George and Ringo, as pictured here), Sean Connery, Jacques Tati, Grace Kelly as well as Ava Gardner.
While browsing this I was thinking that there were no pictures of current famous stars. Luckily, current Hollywood stars perpetuate this as this page demonstrates.
The French National Railways want us to believe their service is so good you will ditch your car and take only trains. At first I thought so as the SNCF indeed enabled me to avoid a tonne of CO2 emissions in 2008.
But between their often prohibitive tariffs and their repetitive and long-lasting strikes I am tired. I am also fed up of waiting between two trains, sick of the time it takes to just to just get there…
I am not the only in thinking that the service proposed by the SNCF could improve dramatically and that a little competition would do wonders. Continue »
In terms of sustainable transportation, there is nothing better than bikes. Indeed besides being the most energy efficient transport mean it is also good for our environment and health (exercise, reduced air pollution…)
Now acknowledging these facts US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is urging states and transportation agencies to treat “walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes.”
All this is fantastic news and I hope this will help a bit America end her love affair with cars. This will benefit the country – and our planet – in many ways. Continue »
This was the question I had on my mind as I read that for the first time in 60 years, the US car fleet decreased by four million in 2009. Is this a limited phenomenon or will it continue ?
The Earth Policy Insitute believes this trend could last until at least 2020. This makes sense to me as with the economic crisis and relatively high oil prices, people are looking for other options.
From public transportation to carpooling and from carsharing to bikes (traditional or electric), there are many alternatives to cars. But will it be enough to change the American way of life ? Continue »
We have seen previously that electric cars and vehicles are an interesting alternative to traditional cars with internal combustion engines. But another solution exist : electric bicycles.
There are already 65 million e-bikes on Chinese roads and the market size is fastly increasing Such bicycles compete with cars in large cities like Shanghai as they are cheaper and often more convenient (think about traffic congestions…)
The demand for electric bikes is growing worldwide in both developped and developping nations and the global market is worth $11 billion (8 billion euros). Continue »
