VW's ultra-low emission Jetta BlueTDI will be coming to the US mid-summer...

 VW had to custom modify the Jetta BlueTDI for the North American market. NOx reductions were met with internal engine modifications, some of which are "unique worldwide", and a maintenance-free NOx exhaust trap. Altogether, this system reduces NOx emissions by 90%.

Combining clean emissions with a road-tested 60 MPG highway fuel economy could make this a winner in the US.

Via: AutoblogGreen

Plug-in hybrids get far better mileage than standard cars or regular hybrids — and emit far less pollution.

But they are also tough to justify economically at the moment with existing technology, according to the first several months of data from RechargeIT.org, which is studying how well plug-in hybrids work in real-world circumstances.

Read the full story here

James Kunstler, for instance, argues in his 2005 book The Long Emergency (see Rolling Stone excerpt here) that after oil production peaks, suburbia "will become untenable" and "we will have to say farewell to easy motoring." In Rolling Stone, Kunstler writes, "Suburbia will come to be regarded as the greatest misallocation of resources in the history of the world." (No -- that distinction probably belongs to China's torrid love-affair with coal power.)

But suppose Kunstler is right about peak oil. Suppose oil hits $160 a barrel and gasoline goes to $5 dollars a gallon in, say, 2015. That price would still be lower than many Europeans pay today. You could just go out and buy the best hybrid and cut your fuel bill in half, back to current levels. Hardly the end of suburbia.

The 'Comments', not this article by the GRIST were great... http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/10/29/01347/293

"Comments on ..latest post: It never ceases to amaze me how informative and helpful Romm is concerning the science of global warming, and how incurious he seems to be about solutions.  In particular, he obviously is not very interested in trains or walkable communities, and I don't just mean the occasional reference.  

He obviously is not doing much reading on oil.  $5/gallon by 2015 is also pretty funny, if it wasn't tragic, because it will likely be much higher by then.  But the point [odograph] is not exactly what the price of oil will be when, the point is that we should be seriously considering alternatives to classic suburbia, which fortunately many contributors to gristmill do."

Seed Supply Tight; A burgeoning ethanol market has the nation's farmers gearing up to plant massive amounts of corn this spring, creating shortages of some popular biotech hybrid seeds.

Science Daily — Researchers at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton have made a breakthrough in hydrogen storage. They have successfully condensed hydrogen gas into a usable solid under mild conditions. "The challenge is to find a safer, more efficient and economical way to store hydrogen so that it can be released on demand," "The way to do this is to turn hydrogen into a compound — a solid — so you can use it when you want, safely, in the amount you want."Hydrogen gas is typically stored under pressure in large metal cylinders, approximately four feet high. These cylinders are heavy and expensive to transport. Since they are under pressure, they also pose a safety hazard.