LeSage Communications’ Blog

When you read a newspaper or website, you’re finding a lot of coverage of battery-powered cars, which for now are the heart and soul of the green car movement. Sometimes it gets a bit confusing for readers to sift through the acronyms. Here’s a simple guide to breaking electrics into three categories: There’s gas-electric hybrids, plug-ins, and electric vehicles.

Most of the battery-powered cars on the road today are gas-electric hybrids, usually just called hybrids (think Prius). These are officially called HEVs – hybrid electric vehicles. Toyota has sold more than a million of them in the U.S. so far, and is now competing with Honda to dominate the global hybrid market.

The electrics getting the most attention this year are plug-ins. The up and coming plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are being pushed forward by the Obama administration, by General Motors through the upcoming Chevy Volt, and are the focus of at least two industry conferences this year (one of them, Plug-in 2009, is coming up in August at the Long Beach Convention Center).

Plug-ins, like HEVs, have onboard internal combustion engines that charge batteries or otherwise provide electricity to electric motors. What makes a PHEV different from an HEV is its ability to charge the batteries by plugging the vehicle into grid-provided electricity. This can mean plugging into electricity outlets at your house, work, parking lot, fuel station, etc. PHEVs have the capacity to be even more fuel efficient than an HEV.

And finally there’s the EV, electric vehicle, sometimes called a BEV, or battery electric vehicle. An EV must be plugged in to obtain energy to drive the vehicle and has a range limited by the battery pack. The historic reference point always goes back to GM’s EV1, which started and failed in the late 1990s. Today, there are several specialty OEMs making electrics (think Tesla, Miles Electric Vehicles, and ZAP Electric Cars).

So that’s it. It’s good to have these categories simplified. There’s a lot of content focused these days on electric cars, and it appears to becoming the foundation of green cars in the world. There are others to keep your eyes on – vehicles powered by biofuels/flex fuels, compressed natural gas, propane, and hydrogen fuel cells, in particular. But hybrids, plug-ins, and pure electrics are the focal point right now.

LOS ANGELES – Exclusive Sedan Service has joined the Limousine Environmental Action Partnership, (LEAP) in an effort to reduce its carbon footprint.

LEAP, a Newton, Conn.-based company that promotes energy efficient strategies and environmental solutions for the executive/chauffeured ground transportation and limousine industry, has partnered with award-winning Exclusive Sedan Service to implement an ambitious multi-pronged emission reduction program designed to significantly reduce CO2 emissions by 2012.

“Exclusive’s long-standing commitment to the environment is second to none in the chauffeured ground transportation industry and today we have extended our dedication with the addition of LEAP’s Sustainability Framework,” said Ron Stein, president of the 30-year-old company.

The Exclusive Sedan Service/LEAP program will integrate an aggressive sustainability initiative, apply innovations in technology and more efficient processes, and help formalize the company’s dedication to implementing sustainable principles at every opportunity.

“We are supporting the commitment to sustainable practices that our clients are adopting and implementing,” Stein said. “Brandan and I have always wanted to do the right thing for our environment, always recycling, having flex-fuel SUVs, hybrids, and integrating emission reduction and fuel efficiency improvements throughout every level of the company.”

Exclusive Sedan, which won a 2007 LCT Operator of the Year Award, is rolling out environmentally focused initiatives within several core areas, including acting to reduce carbon emissions through new technologies, more efficient processes, and educating both their staff and customers.

Brandan Stein, the company’s vice president of operations, said, “Promoting change is what Exclusive Sedan Service is all about. The other LEAP partners have already proven that greenhouse gas emission reductions and strong economic performance are not an either/or proposition. The bottom line is that environmental protection and sustainable business performance are inextricably linked. LEAP proves over and over that there is a very strong business case for sustainability today.”

Here’s coverage and perspective from Green Car Journal on the EPA’s decision to cut funding for hydrogen fuel cell vehicle development. It’s a bit of a shame; the Obama administration is focused on plug-ins and electrics. Hydrogen will probably become mass market transportation someday, but that’s going to take longer now. And manufacturers are still devoted to making it happen–

The 2010 budget submitted to Congress reduces the Department of Energy’s (DOE) hydrogen program by $100 million, representing an almost a 60 percent cut, essentially cutting all government support for developing fuel cell vehicles. Research will continue for stationary fuel cells where hydrogen storage is less of an issue.

While disappointing hydrogen advocates, considering the huge amount of deficit spending of the Obama administration some think it’s is a rational cut. However, the National Hydrogen Association believes it is too early to be picking winning and losing technologies.

According to DOE Secretary Steven Chu, it is unlikely that we will convert to a hydrogen car economy in the next 10 to 20 years, with the biggest challenge being the huge investment required for a nationwide fueling infrastructure. Thus, in this recession period the government perspective is that funds are better spent on more ‘shovel ready’ projects, such as President Obama’s goal of a million plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2015.

So what’s next? Even though fuel cell vehicle development will slow down in the U.S., it will still progress. Significant activity is already underway, including GM’s groundbreaking Project Driveway program that’s fielding 100 Equinox Fuel Cell vehicles in an ongoing demonstration program. Plus, hydrogen activities will continue worldwide. For example, Daimler AG will start small-series production of its B-Class sedan with a fuel cell drive system by the end of 2009. Based on the Mercedes-Benz BlueZERO F-CELL model shown at the 2009 North American International Auto Show, it will join the Honda Clarity as one of the first ‘production’ fuel cell vehicles (FCVs).

Five corporate green leaders have been identified as important decision makers who will impact sustainability practices in the years ahead. These would be great people to know,  and to provide green transportation alliances. Read on for Environmental Leader’s coverage:

Reuters News and Venture Capital Journal have selected five decision makers who will lead green business in technology, energy usage and climate change in the months and years ahead. The leaders are making waves in the political and public arenas, and behind the doors of their respective corporations. The five key decision makers selected are:

* Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures;

* Dan Reicher, director of climate change and energy initiatives at Google.org;

* Jennifer Fonstad, managing director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson;

* Lyndon Rive, CEO, Solar City, and

* Matt Kistler, Wal-Mart senior vice president for sustainability.

Read all about it on Environmental Leader: click here.

California is the leading state adopting new regulations governing alternative-fuel vehicles, emission standards, and fuel requirements. It’s interesting to follow what happens in California, as it influences decisions made in several other states and in Washington, D.C.

According to Sacramento Business Journal, this is how the California Energy Commission plans to use funds, to bolster renewable and alternative fuel production – and it’s interesting to see such diversity in program funding – for electrics, hydrogen fuel cells, ethanol, and natural gas and to a lesser extend biodiesel and propane:

• Electric Drive; $46 million; to convert hybrid electric vehicles to plug-in hybrid vehicles, electrify operations at ports and truck stops, develop and demonstrate hybrid electric technologies for trucks, increase electric charging stations, provide incentives to locate manufacturing facilities for electric vehicle components in the state.

• Hydrogen: $40 million to increase the number of hydrogen fueling stations
• Ethanol: $12 million to increase production that use waste materials as feed stock and to increase the Ethanol-85 fueling stations.
• Renewable Diesel/Biodiesel: $6 million
• Natural Gas: $43 million to purchase natural gas vehicles for ports, school districts and public fleets, increase the number of fueling stations and develop biomethane production plants
• Propane: $2 million, Purchase school buses and vehicles for public fleets
• Other: $27 million to establish workforce training programs, continue research, launch public outreach programs, develop standards, and others

The EPA has a program you might want to check out, called SmartWay, which rates passenger vehicles by green standards. It’s getting attention, in fact US Bank offers a half percent rate reduction on auto loans for cars given a green seal of approval through SmartWay. Click here to find approved vehicles, and you can sort by model year, state, make, and model.

Ground transportation companies stay tuned on airport administration trends. In Europe and the U.S., airports are expanding green programs. Here are some highlights from ClimateWire’s story:

SITGES, Spain — While the world continues to complain about one kind of pollution from airports — noise — there has been some major progress in reducing their climate-related emissions.

From eco-taxis to biofueled buses to heating systems run on wood chips, a number of European (and American) airports have been implementing innovative plans to deal with climate change in their land-based activities.

A group of researchers from the Central European Institute of Technology (CEIT), an Austria-based research and development center, reported on their progress as part of a study financed by the Austrian ministry for transport.

Last year, the 440 airports that are members of Airports Council International Europe, or ACI Europe, pledged to reduce the climate impact of their activities and to try to go carbon neutral. Austria’s CEIT researchers have been trying to take a holistic view of how the airports’ efforts fit in with regional transportation plans.

The Stockholm airport is serviced by a fleet of “eco-taxis” — hybrids or renewable fuel-powered cars — which run on lines outside the terminals that are separate from those used by ordinary taxis. According to the Austrian report, 35 percent of all taxis at the airport are now eco-taxis, representing an estimated reduction of 3,770 metric tons of CO2 for 2007.

The Stockholm airport is also serviced by two local bus companies that use locally produced diesel fuel made from rapeseed. A similar effort is being made at the airfield level. A policy states that new vehicles operating at Stockholm-Arlanda must be environmentally clean vehicles, and last year, the airport initiated a project to have 100-percent-clean vehicles and ensure the supply of biofuels for vehicles operating within the airport by 2012.

“The result is a growing fleet of cars and buses that run on renewable fuels,” reads the report. “Each biogas-powered bus saves approximately 50 metric tons of CO2 annually. If all vehicles and machinery are de-fossilized by 2012, the emissions from ground-service equipment and other vehicles will be cut by about 6,000 metric tons annually.”

As for U.S. airports, the Austrian researchers note that Oregon’s Portland International Airport has begun replacing its fleet of ground-support vehicles with alternative-fuel vehicles. They also mention that Los Angeles International Airport has built the first airport-based retail hydrogen-fueling and generation station.

Boston’s Logan International Airport is also mentioned in the report, for setting aside approximately 100 parking spaces for hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles as part of 2007 Earth Day celebrations. There is a fundamental difference in approach, however, between most European airports and U.S. airports such as Washington Dulles: Isn Europe, priority has traditionally been given to public transportation, particularly trains, from cities to airports.

Several European airports, such as Athens, Hamburg, Linz, London Heathrow and Paris Orly, do provide carpooling or car-sharing services for passengers, airlines and airport staff. At Heathrow, more than 6,000 people from 300 airport companies are members of the car-sharing program — the largest such scheme in Europe — operated by BAA, the airport’s owner.

Aside from on-ground transportation, Europe’s airports are adopting a variety of other CO2-reducing techniques, many of which also cut operational costs. According to the CEIT study, the LFV Group — the authority responsible for operating Sweden’s airports — cools its buildings at Stockholm-Arlanda largely with water from a nearby lake, enabling the airport to reduce the number of its cooling units.

Furthermore, the heating system at the Stockholm airport relies mainly on burning wood pellets. These have allowed the airport to reduce its annual CO2 emissions by approximately 94 percent since 1990 (from 16,000 to 1,000 metric tons).

Like U.S. airports such as San Francisco, various European airports — Zurich, Munich, Paris Orly, Rome, Salzburg and Stuttgart — have taken advantage of their vast stretches of terminal and hangar rooftops to install solar panels.

These airports, according to Eizinger, produce solar energy for their own use or put some of their solar-produced electricity into local grids for use by households in the region, or do both.

The American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy and Resources has launched a nationwide public service project to plant one million trees by 2014.

The One Million Trees Project, spearheaded by the section’s Environmental Transactions and Brownfields Committee, calls on America’s lawyers to plant one million trees across the United States in the next five years to raise awareness of their value.

Lawyers can contribute to the project by planting trees in their communities or by using the project’s dedicated Web site to purchase trees that will be planted by one of several project partners, including the Alliance for Community Trees, The Arbor Day Foundation, Tree Link/Tree Bank, American Forest, Tree People and the Institute for Environmental Solutions.

Lawyers also can fund the effort of these partner organizations to reforest public lands and rural spaces. They can earmark their contributions to ACT, Tree People, or TreeLink/Tree Bank for urban landscape renewal.

Realizing that environmental issues are becoming increasingly complex particularly with the emergence of carbon regulation policies, global environmental directives and laws, and renewable energy projects, law firms are expanding their disciplines to cover these issues. Most recently, consulting firm Deloitte detailed several business risks, including financial and reporting implications, associated with the emerging North American carbon markets.

Source:  Environmental Leader

The LC blog will get regular postings on all things central to clients: green movement, federal regulations, transportation trends, online content tools, and other timely topics. Your feedback is much requested, no matter what you have to say.

And speaking of green issues, the EPA is hard at work on greenhouse gas emission regulations, with a very timely announcement made Friday on increased regulations impacting energy, manufacturers, mining, and other industries. The auto industry is included in the mix, and ground transportation companies can expect to see more regs affecting them sometime soon.  It’s all connected to cap and trade legislation working its way through Congress. Stay tuned.