Incentives and laws
Why car fans are lured by the term ‘hybrids’? If you think it is the technology alone that attracts the car buyers to it, you are mistaken. Look at the following facts on how federal governments green-signal the sale of the hybrids by a set of laws and incentives. Of course, the credit goes to the efficient fuel-technology, a dream come true for the car owners as well as the governments on their worries of the environmental hazards produced by the vehicle emissions.
The New Tax Credit for 2006 which took effect on January 1, 2006, is offered as full dollar tax credits for the car buyers. According to the official data, Toyota Prius will get the highest tax credit, an awesome $3,150, followed by three models, viz., Ford Escape Hybrid (2wd), Toyota Camry Hybrid, and Toyota Highlander Hybrid, each for $2,600.
The tax credits are calculated on the basis of fuel efficiency of the models. If that is the criteria, you can get a better picture of the performance of the cars by comparing the tax incentives offered to them. The figures say that among the popular models, 2005 Accord Hybrid The Honda Accord hybrid, avails the least tax benefit, $650, owing to its high speed and power as a sport sedan, the fastest hybrid model in the market.
In order to avail the tax benefit, certain conditions have to be met by the car manufacturers and the car owners. Some important guidelines are as follows.
• The taxpayer who buys a vehicle that is serviced after December 31, 2005 and purchased on or before December 31, 2010 and that is qualified for the tax credit will avail the tax benefit.
• The purchase should be made in the name of the taxpayer, and if a company leases the car to its employee, the company may claim the benefit.
• The tax credit policy insists that the vehicle should be primarily used in the United States.
The tax credit has some obscurity in it. The government has announced that it avails this tax benefit to the first 60,000 buyers of each manufacturer, and Toyota already hit the target in June 2006. Does it mean that the Toyota hybrid market will become stagnant until the rivals such as Honda or Ford hit their targets too?
Take a look at the detailed picture of this tax benefit. It states that buyers who made the purchase of any one of the five Toyota models or Lexus gasoline-electric hybrid model before October 1, 2006, will get a full tax credit, while those who made the purchase after this date will avail a 50 percent credit. Further the credit will stay 50 percent for the successive two quarters and then it will be reduced to 25 percent in the next two quarters and then expires on October 1, 2007.
The hybrid tax credit is a non-refundable tax credit. The credit will reduce your regular income tax liability, but not below zero. The credit will not reduce your alternative minimum tax, if that applies to you. The hybrid tax credit is available to both individuals and businesses, including self-employed people.
Hydrogen – the future hybrid fuel
The much talked about California Hydrogen Highway project, initiated by Governor Schwarzenegger, is intended to promote the use of hydrogen as the future fuel in vehicles. The project provides funds for public as well as private partners to install hydrogen fuelling stations and to lease and purchase hydrogen-fuelled vehicles.
Hydrogen hybrid cars work with the help of fuel cells. A fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device. In a fuel cell, electricity is produced, when hydrogen and oxygen are combined to form water. It works similar to a battery inside a torch cell, except that the fuel used is different. But unlike the battery, a fuel cell never becomes dead as there is an external fuel supply whenever needed.
There are a few technical difficulties involved with the working of fuel cells, the most important being the availability and storage of hydrogen gas. Though oxygen can be directly pumped into the engine from air, the feasibily of installing hydrogen fuelling stations and storing the fuel safely inside the vehicle are grave concerns. A solution to this obstacle may be a ‘reformer’ which produces hydrogen from a hydrocarbon or alcohol fuel inside the cell and then supplies it to the fuel cell.
Is water the future fuel? That is what Hydrogen Technology Applications, Inc. (HTA) has to tell the world. They have come up with the latest technology of extracting hydrogen gas from water. The gas named AqugenTM, otherwise called HHOS, is separated from water through electrolysis. This technology is exactly the reverse of the fuel cell technology. HTA claims that this technology can be applied in hybrid cars too; it has been successfully tested in two sample vehicles - a 1994 Ford Escort Wagon and a 1998 Ford Ranger pickup.
And the result? They offer a better pickup than their gas hybrid counterparts with a considerable increase in the horsepower and an increase of about 20-30 percent in fuel efficiency. This is an alternative to fuel cell, in which hydrogen is stored at a dangerous 10,000 PSI, while HHOS can be stored at less than 60 PSI. The technology needed to install an HHOS hybrid in your car is also not new. With a little modification in the existing piston engine, HHOS system can be easily installed in any models. There are little or no emissions from this fuel.
Though HTA has tested HHOS technology in two sample vehicles, it is not the only company to come up with this innovation. A New Zealand company named Vision Energy has come up with a claim about launching a similar technology, the Hydro Fuel System Hydro-charger, which was developed by two US companies Global Energy Options and H to-go. Using this technology, they claim that, fuel consumption can be reduced up to 70%.
The advantage of using hydrogen as a future fuel cannot be ruled out considering its efficiency and zero-emission characteristics. Global warming, increasing tension on borders to find additional fossil fuel resources and decreasing fuel efficiency will lead to more innovations in this direction. Watch out for this column.
Global warming - a warning to the world
A hypersensitive issue capable of bringing all nations around one table- that is the ‘global warming’- a term allotted to the extraordinary increase in the atmospheric temperature due to the accumulation of green house gases.
Green house gases (GHG) mainly comprise carbon dioxide, which is emitted to the atmosphere as the byproduct of burning of fossil fuels, respiration, industrial activities, etc. Carbon dioxide emission caused by the vehicles on the road is the main cause for the increase of the carbon dioxide level.
The global warming, caused by the green house effect, happens in the following way. Carbon dioxide has the ability to trap the infrared rays of the sun and thus maintain the temperature of the planet. But the abnormal level of carbon dioxide emerges as a threat to earth; it has been reported that the average global atmospheric temperature has risen 0.6 ± 0.2 degree celsius since the late 19th century.
The aftermaths of global warming are many. It can cause rise in the sea level, in turn, make many lands disappear from the earth in the due course. This mainly happens because of the increase in temperature in the Polar Regions which causes the polar glaciers melt and thus result a rise in the sea level. Flood, hurricane, and extreme climate conditions are some of the challenges we are expecting in the near future. The end of the sad story is that many plant and animal species are going to be extinct due to this adversity.
Environmental agencies across the globe are working out strategies to reshape the earth’s meteorological map which is occupying more and more red in the place of blue. The only practical solution to this impending disaster is the use of alternate fuels. The automobile industry has been seriously involved in projects such as hybrid technology by which fuel efficiency of the vehicles can be improved.
Hybrid cars, which work on the combined effort of an oil fuel and electricity, is found to be more efficient than its single-fuel counterparts in terms of mileage and emission. More and more eco-friendly fuels such as alcohol and bio-diesel (fuel produced from vegetable oil or animal fats) are also being considered as the future fuel of the greener hybrid cars. There are more hopes with the much-awaited hydro-fuel technology taking shape, where water can be used as a fuel. Water is split into hydrogen and oxygen and the hydrogen is utilized as a fuel for running the motor, whereas oxygen is released as the exhaust!
The U.S. Department of Energy launched a ‘Climate VISION’ program initiated by President Bush in February 2003. The program’s focus is to reduce the intensity of green house gas by about 18% between 2002 and 2012, and they are involved with various federal agencies for its success. But EIA has a different version saying that ‘Climate VISION’ may not be able to reduce the absolute level of carbon dioxide as EIA’s statistics shows that it has increased 15% annually during the period 2001-05.
However, the situation is not beyond control. The contribution of each individual matters in saving the entire planet from peril. It is high time for governments to bring an international law that strictly adheres to the policies intended to reduce the emission from vehicles and other hazardous sources.
Better fuels for the future
The scarcity of conventional fuels such as coal and petroleum has turned many car manufacturers to performance-guaranteed alternate fuels. Though the cost of production and the feasibility of these fuels are the priority concerns, the environmental impacts of these fuels are equally important.
Taking into account several factors such as availability, emission, cost of production, etc. the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, has approved a number of fuels as the alternate fuels for the future which can be safely used in vehicles. To promote the consumption of alternate fuels, the Federal government has initiated many tax incentives to consumers who purchase vehicles with alternate fuel technology. Hybrid cars thus have been a choice of many consumers. It works on a technology that uses two sources of energy, by which the fuel consumption and emission can be reduced.
Ethanol – this is an alternative fuel produced by the fermentation of crops such as wheat, corn, sugar cane, and fruits, etc. This fuel offers cleaner combustion with less carbon dioxide emission and can be used mixed with petrol. E85, which stands for 85% ethanol and 15% petrol, is found to be the suitable fuel for hybrid cars. Other combinations such as E70 are also available in the market. The drawback of this fuel is that it offers less mileage than that offered by petroleum fuels.
Bio-diesel – this is produced from vegetable oil and animal fat. Bio-diesel can be used alone (B100) or can be blended with diesel. The available blends are B2, B5, and B20. B2 and B5 can be safely used in diesel engines, whereas the use of higher blends is not encouraged by the auto manufacturers. Though bio-diesel ensures less emission of CO and CO2, it emits more nitrogen oxides compared to other fuels. BioDiesel Made Easy!
All You Need To Know About Biodiesel, Where To Buy, How To Make It And Where To Get More Information
CNG – the main component of the Compressed Natural Gas is methane, one of the cleanest alternate fuels. There are vehicles that run only on natural gas, and some other vehicles run on two fuels- CNG and diesel/petrol, giving an option to the user to switch to diesel/petrol when the CNG is not available. The U.S. domestic market supplies 87% of the CNG required for the daily demands at present. The only hurdle involved in using CNG is the difficulty in converting a conventional engine to a CNG-compatible one.
Hydrogen – it is the cleanest and the most efficient alternative fuel. There are many sources of hydrogen such as coal, nuclear power and water. Hybrid cars use a technology called fuel cells in which hydrogen is used as the main fuel. The exhaust produced here is water, which of course, is not causing any harm to the environment. Another technology that produces hydrogen from water works in the opposite way the fuel cell works. Both these technologies are in the embryonic stage; a lot of investment and research have to be made in order to make them popular in the market.
Though these are the main fuels that are considered as the best, many other fuels such as propane, butane are also considered as options for the future cars. A future technology that can utilize the benefits of these fuels would promise a better and greener earth for tomorrow.
Ethanol – an innovative fuel for hybrid cars
Ethanol- the term is familiar in the auto industry now. Thanks to the new hybrid fuel technology that works on a mix of ethanol (ethyl alcohol) and petrol/diesel. Different combinations of these fuels such as E85, E70, etc., are in market. E85 stands for 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline whereas E70 has a 70:30 ratio of Ethanol to gasoline.
Advantages of this technology are multifold. As the world is witnessing a severe scarcity of fossil fuels, the scope for a renewable fuel such as ethanol is promising. Ethanol can be extracted from different agricultural products such as sugar cane, wheat, corn, and many fruits and vegetables. The economic constraints of extracting and refining the fuel are also considerably lower than those of the fossil fuels. Moreover, the biodegradable nature of the fuel gives a sigh to the environmentalists who are anxiously looking at its environmental aspects. Ethanol is a recyclable fuel; that means the CO2 emission from the ethanol-run engines can be in turn absorbed by the crops which produce ethanol and thus maintains the natural cycle of the ecosystem. Due to its clean and highly combustible nature, it does not leave much residue as fossil fuels do.
How does the market react to this technology? Is there a rising demand for this fuel? These are the grave concerns of analysts who are working on the success of such a new technology. To the surprise of all, Ford Motor Co. unveiled the first ethanol hybrid model, Escape Hybrid, in January 2006. Ford is planning to produce about 250,000 ethanol-hybrid vehicles this year including Ford F-150 pickup truck, Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car large sedans. In another significant initiative, Ford has also collaborated with VeraSun Energy Corporation for a project aimed at supplying E85 at the retail fuel filling stations.
The joint attempt by President Bush and Californian Governor Schwarzenegger to promote the green fuel marks the significance of this technology. The National Research Council, the arm of the National Academies, who advises Washington on scientific matters, has reminded the government on the value of investing money in biofuels and hybrids.
Eventhough hydrogen is talked about as the best fuel in terms of its efficiency, a quick comparison of the different aspects of hydrogen and ethanol reveals that ethanol is cheaper and safer. The hydrogen hybrid mainly works on fuel cells, a technology which is entirely new for the existing auto engines. Moreover, the cost of installation of hybrid hydrogen engines and fuelling stations will require a lot of investment in the infrastructure and other amenities.
The research is progressing on increasing the percentage of ethanol in the hybrid fuel, sources say that the technology has been developed which can utilize up to 85% of ethanol. The US automobile market is excited with this news. Come to the real statistics, the experts say that if only 5% of the US vehicles on the road are equipped with technology which runs exclusively on E85, they can reduce the import of petroleum by 140 million barrels a year.
Hybrid cars – a solution to environment issues
Many of us wake up every day to listen to the news ‘the Earth is dying’, ‘temperature is soaring’. Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, changing climates- all these are the results of green house effect, an abnormal rise in the atmosphere temperature due to accumulation of carbon dioxide.
There are many harmful components, which are produced by the combustion of conventional fuels such as coal and petroleum. Carbon monoxide, which is produced by the incomplete combustion of a fuel is a major health hazard. Smog, a mixture of smoke and fog, is caused by the accumulation of the solid suspensions, the unburned carbon particles in the fuels. The oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur are the contributing factors for the acid rain that has become a common phenomenon nowadays. Lead, arsenic and such carcinogenic wastes are the byproducts of the use of fossil fuels in the existing engine technology.
Though an immediate solution is not possible, the countries are serious about working out an environmental policy to make regulations on reducing the use of hazardous pollutants and fuels and thus contribute a bit to a greener environment. The U.S Energy Policy Act, which came into existence in 1992, identified eight fuels, viz., bio-diesel, ethanol, natural gas, hydrogen, electricity, propane, and methanol, as alternative fuels that can be used in the vehicles in order to alleviate the problems associated with the harmful emissions on the roads.
Along with the selection of fuels, the technology also plays an important role in reducing the emissions to an extent. Such a technological solution is the hybrid cars, which already has hit the market. As we know, vehicles cause a significant share to the atmospheric pollution. With the help of hybrid technology, we would be able to not only reduce the density of the harmful gases in the atmosphere, but also save a significant quantity of fossil fuels which are going to be extinct from the earth.
Hybrid technology is an addendum to the existing engines of a car or an automobile. Hybrid cars work with a combination of two sources of energy – gas/oil and electricity. There are many hybrid combinations; some are already tested and found successful on the roads, and some are yet to take shapes.
In a hybrid technology, a sufficient quantity of fuel, petrol or diesel or gas according to the make of the engine, can be saved with its regenerative energy mechanism. The fuel wastage which happens during an acceleration or a sudden brake in a normal situation does not happen in the hybrid cars as the battery in the hybrid system draws energy from the fuel which is wasted in such situations and thus enable it remain charged even without the help of a separate fuel source or plug-in.
More hybrid versions such as those with fuel cells and plug-in hybrids which work on solar panels are waiting to take shapes. These are revolutionary concepts as they offer little or no emission, and these are working on the non-conventional sources such as water and solar energy.
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Battery toxicity
The villain here is the battery. While appreciating the fuel efficiency of a hybrid car, most of us forget to think about this villain.
What are the hybrid batteries made of? Aren’t they the same lead or nickel, which dispose the carcinogenic waste to the surrounding? Are the risks reduced if they are used in the form of hybrid?
There are many types of car batteries available in the market. The most common among them are those made of lead or nickel-cadmium. Lead is one of the most hazardous chemicals used in the automobile technology. Long exposure to lead can result in brain and kidney damage and also causes hearing impairment. As lead is the cheapest raw material for the batteries, 90% of the car manufacturers are motivated to use lead in the batteries.
The auto industry uses over one million metric ton of lead every year. A report published in 2003 by Environmental Defense and the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, Mich., revealed that all the vehicles on the road used about 2.6 million metric tons of lead at that time.
As hybrid technology is proposed in order to reduce the environmental hazards, using a lead or nickel-cadmium batteries in it sounds to be uncivilized. Most of the hybrids use either Lithium or nickel-metal batteries to avoid such apprehension among the environmentalists. Though the Honda Civic hybrid uses a small lead battery to start the motor, its main operation depends on a big lithium ion battery that is placed between the rear seats and the trunk of the car.
The department of Environmental Defense conducted a research in order to compare the environmental impacts of the materials used in the hybrid batteries, viz., lead, nickel and lithium. The report analyzed the different stages such as the extraction, purification, use and disposal of all the three metals. The result showed that lithium is the least harmful, followed by nickel. Lead is the least approved by the panel. Though lithium batteries got a green signal, the Environmental Defense agency had a concern about the combination of lithium batteries. Though lithium can be combined with different metals to be used in the battery, using certain metals such as cadmium could pose a danger to the environment.
Nickel is a carcinogenic metal, and as long as the technology of recycling the disposed nickel does not take the complete shape, this threat remains. There is optimism about the hybrid batteries that they are offered with lifetime warranty, approximately 8-10 years, depending on the manufactures. Moreover, most of the car companies encourage the customers to return the used batteries for a cash offer. Toyota offers $200 as a bounty for every returned battery. With a warranty offered for a minimum eight years, there is a hope that at least five long years are ahead in order to work out a recycling technology for the hybrid batteries.
Honda, Toyota, and other leading manufacturers are working on the possibility of replacing the entire lead and nickel batteries to rechargeable lithium batteries and thus offer a solution to the hovering issues on the feasibility of hybrid cars.
Saab BioPower 100
Saab will give green motoring a performance boost at next month’s Geneva Motor Show when it unveils its latest BioPower development. The Saab BioPower 100 Concept showcases the first production-based engine to be optimized for pure bioethanol (E100) fuel. The result is a level of performance never seen before from a road car using this fuel.
To be shown as an exciting evolution of the Saab 9-5 SportCombi, this latest BioPower concept demonstrates the great performance potential of bioethanol. In combining Saab turbocharging expertise with the use of high octane E100 fuel, the optimized 2.0-liter engine from the 9-5 range develops 300 hp maximum power. This has been possible through modifications to the engine management system and internal components, allowing the use of greater boost pressure with a raised compression ratio. That exceptionally high specific power output of 150 hp per liter demonstrates scope for future ‘rightsizing’, using smaller, high output engines that also deliver energy savings.
Peak power is complemented by a substantial 400 Nm of torque, giving this optimized engine the power characteristics of a naturally-aspirated engine of 4.0-liters displacement. This is reflected in strong performance, the Saab 9-5 BioPower 100 Concept achieving zero to 100 kph acceleration in just 6.6 seconds and 80 - 120 kph (fifth gear) in an even more impressive 8.2 seconds.
The Saab BioPower 100 Concept being shown at Geneva features exterior and interior styling elements supervised by GME Director of Advanced Design, Anthony Lo, who penned Saab’s award-winning Aero X Concept, which was also premiered at Geneva last year.
Saab already markets Europe’s best selling flex-fuel vehicle, the Saab 9-5 BioPower, and the Saab BioPower 100 Concept will extend its leadership position in the development of bioethanol technology.
“Bioethanol is a potent, high quality fuel which opens up exciting possibilities in helping to meet the environmental challenges that face us,” says Kjell ac Bergström, President and CEO at GM Powertrain - Sweden, who has led the Saab BioPower 100 engine development team.
“As the need to reduce energy consumption increases, we are exploring ways to run smaller engines that give relatively high power, with and without hybrid technology. This concept car shows that bioethanol can play a key role in this ‘rightsizing’ process, while also minimizing fossil fuel emissions.”
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