A new report from ExxonMobil predicts that nearly half of the world’s cars will either be hybrids or powered by alternative fuels by 2040.

While hybrids now account for just about 1 percent of all vehicles worldwide, the oil giant forecasts that hybrids and alternative energy vehicles will move to the mainstream as governments increasingly push for better fuel efficiency.

The ExxonMobil report, “The Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040,” predicts that overall energy demand will remain flat in developed nations over the next three decades, but demand in developing nations such as China and India will increase nearly 60 percent from 2010 to 2040.

The report also predicts a worldwide boom in shale gas production and forecasts that 30 percent of the world’s electricity will be produced from natural gas, while demand for coal will peak before seeing “its first long-term decline in modern history.”

Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.

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Ford is atop a wave of auto manufacturers that will bring technology that eliminates idling to North America. Stop-start technology, which has long been a feature of hybrids, will appear in Ford vehicles starting in 2012.

Stop-start is relatively simple and inexpensive to implement. By adding an enhanced battery and upgraded starter, vehicles can turn off the engine when the brakes are applied or the vehicle comes to a stop. The total cost of a stop-start system can be as low as $300, or $500 or more if a regenerative braking system is also added. Vehicles with stop-start are not considered hybrids because they do not have an electric motor to assist in propulsion.

Ford has not said which models will add stop-start technology, which is used widely in Europe by Ford and most other automakers in that region. Ford claims to have 244 patents related to stop-start technology, which is currently incorporated into the Ka, Mondeo, Focus, C-MAX and Grand C-MAX vehicles in Europe. Ford will move the technology to other markets after North America.

Stop-start has proven to be an economical method of meeting increasingly stringent reductions in diesel NOx and particulate emissions in Europe. The U.S. has not made changes to diesel emissions regulations in many years, and is not likely to do so for several more years. Also, the EPA’s drive cycle test used to calculate MPG ratings does not reflect the savings up of to 15 percent from stop-start. With little incentive to do so, automakers until now have kept stop-start from the U.S. market.

Ford Powertrain Communications Manager, Richard Truett, expects the addition of stop-start technology to add 1-2 miles per gallon to the company’s vehicles. He said by 2015 up to 90 percent of Ford’s nameplates would have stop-start functionality. Truett said the company is “taking the long term view on fuel prices,” expecting them to trend higher, and stop-start technology is “low-hanging fruit” for reducing fuel costs.

Stop-start systems are available from the many Tier One automotive suppliers including Bosch, Continental AG, and ZF Friedrichshafen. The first vehicles with stop-start arrived in the U.S. in 2010 from BMW and Porsche. Pike Research projects that sales of vehicles with stop-start technology in North America will grow from 11,000 to more than 2.8 million by 2015 as automakers promote the fuel economy and reduced emissions yielded by eliminating idling.

Article by John Gartner appearing courtesy the Matter Network.

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Once again, Los Angeles is playing host to their very own annual LA Auto Show that has been held at the end of every year since 1907 (barring the few years it was canceled due to the outbreak of World War II). Most years, new designs and breathtaking concepts are rolled out for the world and 2010 has been no exception. This time around, there have even been several solid green and electric vehicle announcements that leave those looking for a future in green transportation something to think about. This week, I’ll be bringing a few of the more exiting announcements to light in order to share just what the LA Auto Show has to offer.

Though the LA Auto Show is currently showcasing a variety of green and electric vehicles of interest, some of the more interesting news coming from the show revolves around the announcement of the 2011 Green Car of the Year Award. This year’s competition was between the Hyundai Sonata hybrid, Lincoln MKZ hybrid, Chevrolet Volt, Nissan LEAF, and Ford Fiesta. While many believed that the Nissan LEAF stood the greatest chance of being crowned as the king of the green vehicles, the victor that emerged ended up surprising many. On Thursday, the first day of the auto show, the Chevrolet Volt was announced the 2011 Green Car of the Year.

For General Motors Company and Chevrolet, relative newcomers to the green vehicle trade, the announcement was news worthy of celebration. For some critics, however, the decision to crown the Volt as the best Green Car of the year was a bit of a surprise. Many believe that because the Volt’s design is not entirely electric and instead also uses gasoline once the electric has run out that it cannot truly compare to a car like Nissan’s LEAF. However, considering that even as a hybrid the Chevrolet Volt is capable of achieving similar performance to that of the LEAF while also spearheading General Motor’s campaign to become a green transportation company, the Volt seems worthy of the praise being heaped upon it.

Of the other green vehicles in the running for Green Car of the Year, most were hybrids while the Ford Fiesta is considered a highly efficient gasoline powered automobile. In the end, most of those involved in the show were impressed with the amount of vehicles that could be labeled as green vehicles when the list was made. Many commented that in previous years at the LA Auto Show the number of green vehicles has been fairly small though have started quickly growing in recent years.

The 2010 LA Auto Show will be running until Sunday November twenty eighth and, though a great deal of announcements have already been made, it is likely that there are still more to come.

Article by Richard Cooke, appearing courtesy Justmeans.

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China is likely to become the largest market for plug-in electric vehicles thanks to a larger relative government investment, but will trail the U.S. in hybrid sales.

The Chinese government announced it will spend $14.7 billion through 2020 on alternative drivetrain vehicles, with the bulk of the money going towards all-electric vehicles, according to news reports quoted by Edmunds.com’s Green Car Advisor.

That’s a greater outlay in consumer subsidies, industry incentives and spending on charging infrastructure than in the U.S. which (for now) boasts a much larger economy. The Chinese government would like 5 million alternative-fuel vehicles to be on the roads by 2020.

The U.S. government has committed more than $2.5 billion in incentives for battery makers, consumer purchases, and for charging infrastructure, but won’t come close to the Chinese commitment in future years. Not all of that money is bearing fruit. The DOE gave A123 Systems a $249 million grant last year to manufacture lithium ion batteries in Michigan, ostensibly for electric vehicles under contract to Chrysler. Last week A123 Systems ended its work with Chrysler and is now focusing more on batteries that provide energy storage for the grid.

Pike Research projects that between 2010 and 2015 China will have 1.85 million hybrids and EVs sold , with slightly more EVs (1 million) on the road. In the U.S. more than 2.3 million hybrids will be sold during that time, and 840,000 plug-in and all- electric vehicles.

China has a great ability to direct its domestic market than the more open U.,S. market, and with greater incentives and many first time car buyers coming into the market, it’s understandable that China will pass the U.S. in EV sales. The governments have similar motivations – a desire to reduce carbon emissions, increase domestic production, and enhancing energy security by reducing oil imports. While we’ve heard those arguments here for many years, China imported 52 percent of its oil in 2008, and if the country didn’t push EVs during the rapid expansion of the auto industry, that dependency would only increase. China also has the advantage of building out the grid with EVs in mind as they are adding generation and transmission capacity while the U.S. will seek to accommodate EV demand through gains in efficiency and stressing off-peak charging.

Pike Research doesn’t expect the EV market to substantially cannibalize hybrid sales. The U.S. hybrid market has been strong for years and will remain so, while hybrid sales in China are starting from a small base.

Article by John Gartner, appearing courtesy Matter Network.

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The Unstoppable…Solar Lobby?! A skirmish this week in Arizona revealed that the solar industry, while still adolescent, is developing some political brawn. A bill in the state legislature proposed expanding the definition of “renewable” to include nuclear power, a move that would have allowed the state’s lone nuclear plant to fulfill Arizona’s mandate to receive 15% of its electricity from renewables. Solar companies howled, including Suntech Power Holdings, which threatened to cancel its first U.S. factory in Arizona. Days later, the proposal was retired.

Wal-mart to Suppliers: Go Green or Else Wal-mart announced a goal of cutting 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain by the end of 2015. By using its unparalleled purchasing leverage, Walmart intends to force greener behavior on the part of its vendors, like it or not. Suppliers may reduce carbon by focusing on raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, customer use, or end-of-life disposal. Meanwhile, Ben & Jerry’s goes 100 percent fair trade.

If You Pollute It, We Will Come The Environmental Protection Agency said it would explore building renewable-energy projects on polluted industrial “brownfields” sites, many of which are well-supplied with power transmission to feed the grid. Also, Chevron announced plans to build a concentrating photovoltaic solar plant on the tailings of a molybdenum mine it owns in New Mexico.

Hummer R.I.P while Hybrids R-I-P As the Hummer died, hybrid and electric cars continued their confident merge onto U.S. highways. Toyota said it will sell a hybrid RAV4 by 2012. Not to be outdone, Volkswagen announced plans for a hybrid Jetta in 2012, a hybrid Passat and Golf in 2013, and that same year, its first all-electric models. Meanwhile, Tesla announced it would lease the Roadster for the not-inconsiderable sum of $1,658 per month.

March of the Penguins This week the Antarctic melted apace, as an enormous survey of Antarctic sealife showed that global warming is altering its ecology. In an unseemly bid for attention, the continent also calved an iceberg so large that it threatened to disrupt world ocean currents.

A Dangerous Rise in Global Shrugging The Obama administration launched www.climate.gov as the go-to portal for all climate needs. Not that anyone age 18 to 35 cares; according to a new survey, when it comes to global warming, youngsters don’t really give a damn.

Article by David Ferris appearing courtesy Matter Network.

photo: Canadian Starhawk

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Converting hybrid vehicles — particularly the Prius and Ford Escape — into plug-in hybrids has become a profitable niche industry for a few specialty companies. But the net impact of this new mini-industry has been much greater by influencing consumer and industry opinions.

Promoting the technical feasibility of PHEVs has been a significant factor in the auto manufacturers’ decision to develop the dozens of plug-in and all-electric vehicles now scheduled for delivery in the next five years.

But the earliest and strongest voice promoting PHEVs isn’t happy with that limited success. Felix Kramer, the founder of CalCars.org, says that getting to a million electrified vehicles by 2015 won’t do nearly enough to address climate change and energy independence, and now he’s setting his sights on electrifying internal combustion engine vehicles. He’s clearly on to something.

CalCar’s new “Big Fix” initiative wants to electrify some of the biggest emitters and gas-wasters — pickup trucks, SUVs and vans (PSVs). When used in delivery routes that are often well under 40 miles per day, they spend much of their time starting, stopping, and idling, and get among the worst MPG ratings around. Converting one of these vehicles to a PHEV or EV will reduce fuel consumption and emissions to a much greater degree than trading in a Sebring for a Prius.

SPVs, most notably the Ford F-150, have been among the top sellers for more than a decade, creating an inventory of millions of vehicles that could be converted. They also have much more space for battery packs, which makes for a simpler conversion than a compact car. Former Intel CEO Andy Grove and electric vehicle guru Andy Frank are fully on board, lending their considerable credibility to the idea.

The Japanese postal service has already begun converting its fleet of vehicles to EVs, and the U.S. Postal Service wants to do the same with more than 140,000 of its delivery vehicles. The cash-starved agency could save millions per year if the federal government decides to provide assistance, which would be more sustainable than a bailout.

The biggest impediments are the cost and potential resistance from the auto industry. The battery cost can be upwards of $20,000, making for a slow payback period if gasoline stays around $3 a gallon. The economics will improve over time, especially if conversion kits are produced in volume and battery manufacturing ramps up as the technology evolves.

But the harder sell will be convincing the auto industry that keeping vehicles on the road instead of buying new vehicles is a good thing, and that they should be a part of that business. Upgrading existing SPVs could be a multi-billion dollar business, extending the life of vehicles and preserving the energy cost sunk into building them. While Ford, GM and Chrylsler are best-suited to engineer conversions, this mass rethinking of the company would be an even bigger shift than the current change to becoming manufacturers of PHEVs and EVs.

Convincing fleet operators to convert will likely be easier than the consumers, legislators and car companies needed to make it happen. It’s not impossible, but it will take an extensive and well-orchestrated effort.

Appearing courtesy of Matter Network.

[photo credit: Flickr]

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By all accounts the cash for clunkers incentive program has exceeded all expectations in both volume of sales, as well as answering skeptics by getting fuel inefficient vehicles off the road.

The new vehicles being purchased average nearly 10 mpg higher, saving nearly 4 million barrels of oil per year and eliminating the production of tons of greenhouse gases.

More importantly, the program and its surrounding attention seems to have driven consumers towards hybrids and fuel efficient vehicles even more than a 50 cent spike in the price of gasoline. According to Brian Benstock, the VP and GM of Paragon Honda and Acura, the program is also introducing new customers to imports. Benstock said the program has reversed the ratio of domestic/import trade-ins at his dealership. Previously about 70 percent of his customers were trading one import (mostly Hondas) for another. Now it’s the opposite: 70 percent of people walking in the door are swapping American made autos for Hondas.

The simple reason for this switch — no Hondas qualify as clunkers under the program, so customers now Benstock’s talking to customers who previously bought American SUVs and pickups. He said the Honda Civic (37 percent of sales) is the hottest seller, followed by the Accord, and then the Insight hybrid. Paragon ran out of Civic Hybrids a few weeks ago, so for now his sales people are putting people in standard Civics by touting its fuel efficiency and adding incentives. He expects to have more Civic Hybrids by the end of the month.

Sales overall are nearly back to “pre-recession” levels Benstock says, with just as many additional customers who aren’t getting the cash-back as who are. He admits that this stimulus has “done exactly what it was supposed to do — stimulate sales,” but that at some point auto makers have to take over in generating sales on their own.

Ford and GM have also seen a strong increase in sales, while the impact at Chrysler has been more modes.

The Senate will likely push through another $2 billion to extend funding for the program. Benstock says the “right” vehicles are being driven off the road through the program. Most of the vehicles are older SUVs, minivans and trucks. “They’re junk.”

American consumers have proven that with the right incentives — monetary in nature — they’re willing to buy more fuel efficient vehicles. The lesson for automakers (especially Detroit) is that with Congress and gas prices leading the way, the shift to fuel efficiency will continue.

This article originally appeared on Matter Network.

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