Green Transportation Mind-Shift

Hello All,

It has been a few months, but we have lots to talk about so hang on.

I have been doing a lot of things over the last few months involving green transportation. If you have been following the blog up to this point you know we like electric or zero emission vehicles. Or anything that reduces CO2 for that matter.

I know this industry very well and have been working on it a long time. I have seen more activity on EVs in the last few months than I have seen in 13-15 years. This situation started me thinking we could really make it this time. Individual zero emission transportation is almost here!!

Wow! It is all most here, well OK the bigger impact will be 10-12 months from now when the Leaf and Volt are available. But still Wow!

Then something really strange happened; instead of continued joy, there was dread. I started remembering the 90's and the pitfalls. I started thinking, what can I do to ensure, we make it across the finish line this time. Infrastructure is always key, it can be E85, CNG, BioDiesel, Electricity or Hydrogen. All new vehicle platforms need available fueling infrastructure. So that is what I spend most of 2009 doing, helping with infrastructure development.

OK, everything should be fine now right? Well no, unfortunately I started thinking again about potential pitfalls or roadblocks to zero emission vehicles hitting the road in volume.

Thats when it hit me ... the goal is not just a lot of ZEVs on the road. The goal is to cut CO2 by massive amounts (think KyotoPlus), provided people with choices for green/CO2 free transportation. Will just getting ZEVs on the road do that? I came to the conclusion that it starts the journey, but it cannot possibly finish it alone.

More is needed to compliment green vehicles. Green, smart and flexible mobility was the key. I had to know if anyone was looking at this stuff? Lucky people are in various ways. Companies like Intrago, Zipcar, Car2go and Ultra are doing it now. Furthermore many states are looking at more light rail and high speed electric trains systems to reduce their CO2 footprints.

www.car2go.com

Zipcar.com

Intrago Model www.IntragoMobility.com

The goal from here is to work on Green Mobility solutions for trips of all sizes. Let me know what you think!

TheGreenGuy

Will "Project Better Place" really take us to a better place?

Hello Everyone,

It has been a while, but I am back!

I have continued my investigation and involvement in green things, especially those involving transportation. There has been a lot of movement in alternative transportation over the last year. $150 oil helped quite a bit, but the recent economic downturn has confused things a little. As I stated a few posts ago cheap oil is gone (that was at $70), but that does not mean we won't see times when prices go down. This current low is driven by the world economy, not new reserves or cheaper refineries.

Transportation still uses the most oil and causes the most pollution. This is why I focus on it so much. Today I want to see what the web thinks of a new concept out there (OK - its almost 2yrs old) called Project Better Place.

Have you heard about this company yet and it programs? Take a look at this for a quick smart-pill on their concept:



Once you think you have the concept just place your vote for or against the concept.



Let me know what you're thinking!
TheGreenGuy