The city of Beijing has been having a tough time since quite a while now, as smog has enveloped the city’s atmosphere and the lungs of its inhabitants. The Chinese authorities have finally adhered to a long awaited wake-up call recently and a new law has been passed, with hopes to decrease the ever-increasing smog levels in this metropolis.
The Golden State has finally begun shining bright with a surge of solar electricity as the world’s largest solar thermal plant, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California, has finally begun operations. The solar plant is backed by Google and NRG Energy and promises to generate a total 392MW of power through 173,500 multi-mirror units. Simply put, this plant will generate enough energy to power up 140,000 homes in the United States of America.
Audi successfully managed to drop jaws around the world when it first unleashed its V8 supercar, the R8. The German luxury car manufacturer has now confirmed its intent to build an energy-efficient version of its brainchild and plans to push the e-Tron R8 to production lines. Audi’s new head, Ulrich Hackenberg stated at the Detroit Motor Show, “I think electric drive has a big future. With battery tech now it is vital to have plug-in hybrids, but as batteries improve we will move more towards all-electric.”
Cars may be luxurious and a privacy-friendly way of getting around. However, these personal modes of transport are the most inefficient mode of commute, as pointed out by a report by the University of Michigan. As opposed to this, airplanes are the most efficient way of travelling and to match up, the automobiles of today need to improve efficiency levels by a whopping 57%!
Environment lovers who have been screaming out at the world since quite some time now to reduce emissions to curb global warming haven’t been crying wolf, and the effects of mankind’s failure to adhere to more environment friendly practices are showing today. Damon Matthews of Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, recently conducted a research to point out the world’s biggest global warming offenders. As per his calculations, US, China, Russia, Brazil, India, Germany and the UK alone are responsible for 60% of the global warming!
The safety and practicality of using hydrogen powered cars has long been questioned, given the fact that carrying hydrogen in the boot of a car isn’t particularly the safest means to power up journeys. As a reassurance to the automotive industry and to potential buyers, automobile manufacturing colossus Toyota recently shot bullets at the fuel tanks of a fuel-cell prototype. While small caliber gun bullets simply bounced off the carbon-fiber tanks, .50 caliber bullets barely caused dents!
The windy country of Spain has carved a place for itself in history books and world records as news has sprung out of the nation being crowned as the first to be majorly reliant on wind energy. Today, energy generated from the wind is Spain’s main source of electricity generation. Industry association AEE said in a statement, “Spain is the first country in the world where wind energy was the technology that most contributed to the coverage of demand in a full year.”
Volkswagen managed to turn quite a few heads at the ongoing Detroit Auto Show with the unveiling of one of its greenest sedans, the new Passat BlueMotion concept. Based on the production Passat, this one packs an extremely efficient powertrain beneath its hood, giving it the highest highway fuel economy rating of any non-hybrid mid-size sedan! The BlueMotion concept comes with Volkswagen’s 1.4-liter engine with direct injection and turbocharging with 150 horsepower and 184 lb-ft. of torque. That apart, the high efficiency engine also sports Active Cylinder Management (ACT) technology that intelligently deactivates the valvetrain on cylinders two and three when a driver applies a lighter throttle pressure.
If you’ve been to Las Vegas or stared at pictures of this glamorous city long enough, you might have noticed an iconic sign reading “Welcome to Las Vegas” that has been greeting visitors to the city since decades. This sign, which has been around since the 1950s, has now been given a green sprinkle. While the lights on this one haven’t been replaced for OLEDs, yet, the Welcome to Las Vegas now powers on in a much more eco-friendly way, using solar energy!
Sitting back and relaxing or probably taking a nap while your car drives itself around has always been a long-cherished dream, particularly when you find yourself surrounded by honking impatient drivers in a traffic jam on a Monday evening, right? As an answer to this extremely long and unpunctuated question, here’s presenting to you the first self-driving vehicle that’s ready to take to urban streets, without leaving behind a trail of collateral damage. Called the Navia, this is the world’s first commercial driverless car, developed by a French company called Induct.
