High-speed rail has been in the news a lot recently, in the US, in Europe, and in China. Some great news, and some not-so-great news. Here are 8 big stories from the past couple months.

1. The U.S. government awarded $2.4 billion to 54 rail projects in 23 states a couple weeks ago. This is in addition to the $8 billion awarded by the Obama (more…)

National and local incentives promoting the use of electric vehicles in Asia will help put more than 1.4 million plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles on roadways by 2015, making it the largest market worldwide for electrified vehicles, according to a new report. While Asian markets have so far focused on production of plug-in hybrids, market attention will increasingly turn to the (more…)

The French Round Table on sustainability known as the Grenelle de l’Environnement is now three years old and this was the occasion for French government experts to publish an evaluation report.

Three years ago representatives of national and local government and private organizations from industry, labour, (more…)

General Electric this week announced that it will purchase 25,000 electric vehicles (EV) by 2015, effectively converting half of its worldwide fleet of cars to electric power by that date.

Besides the global feet, GE said it will also (more…)

There has been considerable buzz about electric vehicles this week. So let’s have a look at the latest EV-related news.

BMW
The German auto manufacturer announced an investment of 400 million (more…)

Of all the renewable energy sources that car manufacturers have been trying to harness to make the latest electric vehicles, the one most people would never think of is probably wind power. The idea of using wind to power a car seems like it would be impossible or at the very least (more…)

(Reuters) – Average carbon dioxide emissions from new cars sold in the European Union dropped by 5 percent last year, the biggest annual fall ever recorded, European climate chief Connie Hedegaard said on Wednesday. (more…)

For those familiar with big cities, they are well aware of the ever present taxi sluggishly moving through the streets and making frequent stops. Obviously they generate plenty of gas emissions. Better Place, a leading electric vehicles service provider with the support of the U.S. (more…)

As the electric vehicle market expands, the biggest names in automobile manufacturing are drawn towards adapting some of their latest models to the plug instead of gasoline. While Japan has had little issue with creating entire lines of hybrid and electric vehicles, some of (more…)

Mitsubishi and Nippon Fruehauf, a light metals manufacturer, have developed an “idling-stop” solar-powered air conditioning unit that cools the truck cabin when the engine is not running.

Called the “i-Cool Solar,” the solar- (more…)