Must-know terms for switching gears from gas and emissions to alternative vehicles.

Don’t get left behind while the future charges forward. We’ve created a definitive list to charge your knowledge of electric as the auto industry gears up for a hybrid vehicle forecast filled with plug-in and battery options. Here’s a list to help you brush up on the lingo and fuel your thirsty intellect.

Battery Electric – a vehicle powered by a device that stores electrical energy. Unlike gas in the fuel tank which only powers the gas engine, an electric motor on a hybrid car can put energy into batteries as well as draw energy from them.

Bio-Diesel – A diesel fuel comprised of vegetable oil or animal fat base.

Biomaterials – Car seats made of soy-based foam or soundproofing using old denim is an alternative interior material used by Ford’s engineers and others to furnish their new fleets with sustainable sources found in nature.

Butterflies – Used to curb range anxiety, the feedback screen in the 2013 Ford Fusion displays butterflies as an indicator of the additional range beyond your selected charge point destination. The more efficiently you drive, the more butterflies you see and the greater your battery range.

Carbon Efficiency – The cost of driving a vehicle in terms of emissions generated.

Charging Station – Why is San Francisco rushing to set these up outside City Hall? To encourage use of plug-ins of course. The stations, like gas station counterparts, are publicly accessible terminals to recharge your EV.

Chevy Volt – The 2011 Motor Trend car of the year, GM released the Volt in U.S. in December of 2010 and is considered by the EPA to be the most fuel-efficient car in its class with an internal combustion engine sold domestically. The Volt can travel up to 50 miles on its lithium ion battery before needing a charge.

Clean Coal – Is there such a thing when it comes to the environmental impact of coal energy generation? This term implies coal can be made a viable fuel source low in carbon dioxide emissions and other pollutants. Techniques include chemically cleaning the minerals and impurities, gasification, treating flue gases with steam to remove sulfur dioxide and other methods to aid the efficiency of the conversion into electricity.

CNG – Acronym for Compressed Natural Gas, also known as methane.

Diesel Electric – A transmission system with a diesel engine connected to an electrical generator. It creates electricity that powers electric traction motors. Considered as a class of hybrid electric vehicle when electrical energy is stored in rechargeable batteries for high efficiency applications.

Electric Motor – A hybrid’s electric motor lets it act as a motor and generator sot hat it can draw energy from batteries to accelerate the car. When serving as a generator it can slow down the car and restore battery energy.

Electro Pollution Smog – A new kind of pollution often associated with cell phones and high tension cables, e-smog derived from electricity + smog is a term for all artificially produced electrical and magnetic fields and electromagnetic radiation. According to Ford, the Middle East has among the highest restrictions to reduce any dangers.

EV – Electric Vehicle

Feedback Concepts – As with the Ford butterfly display, feedback provides vehicle data to help drivers with range, navigation, phone, radio or other information.

Fisker Automotive – An American automaker that plans to release its Karma in the summer of 2011. It’s billed as the the world’s first true EV with extended range of 300 miles. The first 50 miles are on tailpipe-emission-free-electric-only charge. After 50 miles, a gas range-extending engine turns the generator to add an additional 250 miles of range. The Karma debuted at the 2008 North American International Auto Show and established the premium green car segment, one most major companies have since pledged to follow.

Ford Fusion – the 2013 plug-in exemplifies Ford’s new commitment to convert to affordable electric.

GM Impact – New green car concept introduced by GM at the Los Angeles Auto Show in the early 1990’s. The EV was touted for a driving range above 80 miles, a top speed of more than 100 mph and acceleration from 0 to 60 in 8.0 seconds.

HEV – An acronym for Hybrid Electric Vehicles.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell – This electrochemical cell consumes hydrogen to generate electricity.

Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) – Hybrids have a dual system that uses a small internal combustion engine and an electric motor to power a vehicle. The ICE refers to an engine with intermittent combustion of a fuel (usually a fossil fuel), as occurring with an oxidizer such as air in a combustion chamber.The expansion of the high temperature and pressure gases from the combustion applies direct force to a component of the engine such as pistons and moves the component over a distance generating mechanical energy. 

Lithium ion Battery – A rechargeable battery accommodating the flow of electricity by the movement of lithium ions from the negative terminal to the positive terminal.

NiCad – a type of rechargeable nickel cadmium battery using metallic cadmium as a cathod (electrode or terminal by which a current leaves an electrolytic cell).

Nissan Leaf – The 100% electric Leaf has been reserved by 2,000 customers  in limited U.S. markets – nearly 7,000 getting dibs in the first 65 hours Nissan opened the reservations.  “People are ready” says Nissan about the vehicles that spare  some 700 gallons of gas per year.

Overhead lines –Wires used to transmit electric energy to trains, trams, or trolleybuses at a distance from the energy supply point.

Parallel Hybrid – Combining two power sources (fuel tank and batteries) this way means both the engine and electric motor can turn the transmission at the same time and the transmission turns the wheels.

Mercury Switches – Their use has become controversial recently in terms of environmental restrictions on safe recovery and disposal of heavy metals by manufacturers. Such metals are used in automotive batteries and fluorescent lights and are present in factory waste or contaminated waste sites. A mercury switch consists of a sealed glass tube with two unconnected electrodes and a small amount of liquid mercury. When the tube is moved past a certain angle the mercury will pool between two electrodes and a connection is made, allowing electricity to flow through a completed circuit. Mercury is hazardous so many manufacturers are replacing switches with other mechanical methods of disruption electrical current.

Range Anxiety – Some of the new plug-ins need charging every 50 miles and this can produce anxiety in drivers worrying about running out of power.

Series Hybrid – Unlike parallel, the gas engine turns the generator and the generator can charge the batteries or power the electric motor driving the transmission. The gas engine in this type of hybrid does not directly power the vehicle.

Shielding Radiation – Are hybrids dangerous to our health? Scientists continue to study the effects of surplus radiation generated by the electromagnetic field from the AC current flowing from batteries to the engine and back again. Known as ionizing radiation, it is widely used in industry and medicine and presents a health hazard to living tissue. Numbers of acceptable levels vary, according to experts.

Toyota Prius – Now in its third generation, the Toyota hybrid hatchback went on sale in Japan in 1997 as the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle – and is considered the real McCoy by purists. Available worldwide in 2001, sales reached 1 million in September 2010, spurred on by rebates to reduce gas consumption. The U.S continues to be the biggest market.

Wireless Energy Transfer – The process in any system where electrical energy is transmitted from a power source, most commonly devices that convert one form of electrical energy to another. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and carry electricity to telecommunications systems. Wireless transmission is useful in cases where instantaneous or continuous energy transfer is needed but interconnecting wires are hazardous or impossible.

Images: Justin Pickard; avinc; Chevy; EMF, Futureatlas, TechShowNetwork, Dustin Reynolds

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Ford and Ohio State are developing dandelion roots as a potential source of rubber.

Synthetic car plastics will eventually be blowing in the wind like those yellow heads of dandelions, the herbaceous perennial foliage that grows in lawns and alongside highways. Does thinking about it make you want to sneeze? Forget the pollen. Ford has been itching for a new kind of rubber for its cars, and dandelions could be the answer.

Ford’s engineers are teaming with Ohio State on developing the Russian dandelion (or TKS) as a natural rubber source for cup holders, floor mats and interior trim in its vehicles. So far, everything is coming up (cough) roses in this latest effort by the company to revamp its factory and fleet for a sustainable plug-in future.

By harvesting the weeds in neat rows in a greenhouse, researchers are able to learn how to manage the flowers and the sap that seeps from the roots, a potential source of rubber that could be even stronger than automotive plastics. The Southwestern U.S. shrub Guayule might also be used to replace the toxic alternative.

“What we are trying to do is to create sustainability of vehicles from inside and out by figuring out how we can make materials out of renewable recycled materials rather than depending on petroleum products,” says Ellen Lee, a chemical engineer and member of The Ford Research Biomaterials Group in Detroit.  “We are looking at how we can use things we grow to put into our cars.”

Things like soy, which Ford has led the way in tapping to produce polyurethane foam seat cushions, backs and headrests. The parts are now on more than 1.5 million Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles on the road, a reduction in petroleum oil usage of some four million pounds each year. Ford also broke ground with the industry’s first use of a soy-foam headliner on the 2010 Escape and Mercury Mariner for a 25 percent weight savings versus a traditional glass-mat headliner.

“We are committed to using local resources and raw materials that come from the U.S. and Canada,” says Angela Harris, another Ford researcher. “We are in the labs day to day working on products and vising schools, local news stations, public radio stations and start up technology companies to share our mission and the fact the U.S. and Ford are leading the way.”

Along the way, their campaign also reaches out to young women who are a minority in the automotive and engineering fields. The team hopes to set an example of what female scientists can do to expedite the development of responsible parts for vehicles.

“Five of us are moms and are working on biotechnology with Ford,” says Lee. “We are getting out there to say women should pursue careers in engineering since biotechnology is fast becoming a number-one field. ”

In the meantime, they hope to get all of us thinking about how to incorporate available plants as possible materials in our every day lives. It all makes sense when you consider dandelion root is used medicinally to ease everything from a loss of appetite to insufferable intestinal gas, excruciating gallstones, nagging joint pain, muscle aches, eczema and bruises. It helps increase urine production, prompt bowel movements and is a stimulating skin toner, blood and digestive tonic. Some use it to treat infections or to spice up salad greens, soups, wine and teas.

Now that’s some killer weed.

Images: joka2000, Ford, American Recycler

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Ford hopes to electrify consumers as they look to plug-ins over the pump.

It’s hard to compete with Chevrolet and those sexy new ads for the $32,780 Volt voiced by George Clooney. But Ford argues the game plan isn’t really about competition, but rather cooperation when it comes to its soon-to-be released Focus and other electric vehicles. At least this is the message being delivered by John Viera, Director of Sustainable Business Strategies for Ford as he hits events throughout the country to sell the plug-in revolution to drivers facing nearly $4 per gallon at the pumps.

“Collaboration is key and we are partnering with Microsoft, interfacing with utility companies and working together to educate consumers about developing batteries and other technology to bring down the costs,” Viera shared at the recent San Francisco Green Festival. “No one has one piece of magic above anyone else.”

While there is no piece of magic in terms of making the technology, there are edges in making the technology available to motorists to wean them off of fuel. Infrastructure is the operative term in cultivating a plug-in culture.  And it’s evident that Israel has taken the helm with its start-up Better Place, a maker of electric cars that will launch a highway charging enterprise later this year, allowing its drivers to travel anywhere in Israel with a battery range of 100 miles. As with refueling for gas, if they set off from Tel Aviv to the Red Sea they can pull into a Better Place station and swap a low battery for a fully charged one in five minutes. How will motorists know where to find  parking lots with blue-topped charging posts? Try the GPS screen on their dashboards.

While looking to U.S. municipalities to expedite the same kind of access to motorists, Ford is revamping a variety of vehicles in its fleet, preparing to roll out the plug-in Focus in 2012 in the U.S  and Europe, debuting in regions it refers to as “smile states” like Seattle and California where conscious consumers have been quick to adopt the hybrid concept. The current pricing is from about $17,000 to $24,000, considerably less than the Volt plug-in hybrid, a popular choice that reportedly goes 30 days and 1,000 miles between fill ups.

Abroad, Ford’s vehicles now cater to current trends such as ethanol a top choice in Brazil, and diesel, a popular option in Europe. In the meantime, Ford has redesigned its Michigan plant to ideally become a state of the art lab for producing battery operated vehicles of all kinds.

“We want to offer a choice and show there are different ways to have electric,” says Viera, pointing out that Ford’s strategy for keeping costs down is to stick new bodies or “top hats” on an existing platform allowing any one of their vehicles to become electric, from commercial trucks to the Taurus with a quick assembly changeover. “We’re all about high end affordable transportation and the next generation of transit comes off the same platform as the Focus.”

Beyond the bodies, Viera admits that sustainable parts and the instrumentation are also key in easing consumer anxieties over range and resources, including recycled, eco-friendly upholstery and corn-based head rests, along with software instruments on the dashboard for customer feedback, such as Butterflies or various phone apps alerting drivers to how much power remains on their batteries. He says mass marketing must answer the needs of the mainstream with partnering services such as the Best Buy Geek Squad, coming out to install charging equipment in the garages of electric car customers.

“Eventually, all auto companies will have charging stations and Mapquest and other sites will tell you where to go to find them,” says Viera, pointing out the biggest challenges ahead are reducing charge times (now three to four hours for 340 volts), cutting down costs of cars and lithium batteries, and how to properly dismantle and dispose of batteries. There’s even the matter of controlling electro pollution smog by shielding the radiation of vehicles, something Ford tests regularly to meet high standards in regions like the Middle East.

After all, the Middle East is the place to beat in terms of advances. As Shai Agassi, founder of Better Place told Time, the electric car will be the top selling car in the world in less than a decade offering “the biggest financial opportunity the world has ever seen presenting a $10 trillion shift in the industry. “It’s the Internet, and add another zero,” Agassi calculates.

He predicts ordinary Israelis will be driving the Turkish-made Renault Fluence Z.E. sedan as early as November depending on the price of the cars and the costs of charging, the same factors Ford must consider in making electric palpable to consumers tired of paying $70 to fill up. After the car purchase, innovators are now looking to the cell phone rate plan as a model for battery subscriptions, as in Denmark, where the fee is equivalent to $300 a month for mileage of 6,200 miles. A one-time fee of $2,000 also is charged.

Of course this kind of fee is minimal when you consider that in Israel and Denmark, gas is an astronomical $9 a gallon. When the U.S. sees those kinds of prices at the pumps (as Donald Trump promises we will), that financial opportunity Aggasi described will really hit home, and companies like Ford will be glad they began revamping now to meet the anticipated demand.

Images: Ford; Better Place;

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When it comes to gadgets, simple is better. At least for me. I never was much of a geek, to be honest, and I sometimes have trouble with simple instructions, often creating not-so-simple problems that require (if I’m lucky) simple solutions. With that in mind, here’s the simple story of the Belkin Conserve Socket Power Timer.

This little device turns stuff off. Gets to the root of the issue, really, as for all intents and purposes it unplugs plugged-in stuff when it’s plugged in. Okay, so it’s simpler than I’m making it out to be. The gadget basically acts as a timer for your electro-stuff, shutting off power – including standby power – after a time interval that you select.

To use it, just plug it into a socket and then plug your device, in turn, into its outlet. Then set its little timer for either 30 minutes, three hours or six hours and that’s it. Whatever is plugged in gets cut off from the juice when it’s had enough. This is good for all sorts of stuff, like coffee makers, irons, phone chargers, even television sets.

The Conserve Socket Power Timer’s reason for being is that many electronics and appliances suck electricity even when they’re not being used. This waste is sometimes referred to as vampire energy or standby power and, as pointed out by our pals at Good, adds up over time. Put on your times-millions-of-devices-times-millions-of-households hat and, well, doing the math is pretty simple – that’s a lot of suck.

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In stark contrast with news of the devastating earthquake and loss of life in Haiti this week, greener vehicles, energy activism and conservation law enforcement gave the blogosphere reasons to hope (and post).

Hybrid, electric, and compact vehicles more fuel-efficient than what’s ever sold before – like the Cadillac XTS Platinum, the Ford Fusion Hybrid, the Nissan Leaf and the Toyota Scion iQ – won accolades at the 2010 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, which began Monday Jan. 11th and will be open to the public Saturday, Jan. 16th through Sunday, January 24th.

Some auto brands predicted, like academic researchers before them, that fuel efficiency would “drive” car sales in 2010 and beyond.

Just in time to curry favor with the auto lobby that turns out for the Detroit Auto Show each year, the U.S. Department of Energy this week also announced awards of $187 million in funding, from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act would go to American auto- and parts-makers to create not just jobs, but more efficient “super trucks” (military and commercial vehicles mostly) and passenger vehicles.

The D.O.E. also pledged – perhaps inspired by some of the greener efforts at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month – to enforce “minimum appliance conservation standards,” established in the Energy Policy Conservation Act of 1975. In other words, if you make electricity-sucking, carbon-emitting refrigerators, air conditioners or other appliances that don’t meet U.S. standards, and if you don’t report what your gadgets use with accuracy, the feds will fine you! This time they mean it. It’s for the earth. And the U.S. government purse.

Innovative new vehicles and appliances and environmental law enforcement, of course, are just one piece of the energy puzzle.

All of the green news this week from the D.O.E. wasn’t enough to cover the hypocrisy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week which allowed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue a permit to Patriot Coal to proceed with some habitat thrashing, mountaintop coal mining projects in West Virgina.

To solve problems like ruinous coal mining, burning and oil consumption, on Thursday, Jan. 14th the United Nations Foundation gathered investors and world financial leaders to discuss climate change and the role of energy in the global economy.

UNF philanthropist and founding member Ted Turner stated on CNBC’s Squawk Box the first day of the foundation’s meeting: “[In the U.S.] we’re still subsidizing the coal and oil industry in various ways and should stop doing that… [We should] make sure with fees or cap and trade that the true cost of pollution from burning coal and oil is covered by the users. Then solar and wind power can become very competitive. The oil problem – that’s $750 billion a year we’re transferring over to countries that are not exactly our friends.”

Soak up a balance of optimistic and skeptical news and opinions about green vehicles and appliances, and the U.S. government’s environmental initiatives as they relate to the global, energy economy below. Then go forth, share links and comment.

Basic Reading:

“Eco cars are dominating this year’s Detroit Auto Show with a number of new concept hybrids being launched by both large and small automakers. The Ford Fusion Hybrid won the 2010 North American Car of the Year…” – news via EnvironmentalLeader.com

A preview of green cars at the Detroit Auto Show 2010 by John Voelcker for GreenCarReports.com

“Coal releases more carbon dioxide emissions per unit of energy produced than any other fossil fuel, but it also provides more than half the United States’ electricity supply. Mountaintop mining, a practice that has grown throughout the past 30 years, now supplies about 10 percent of U.S. coal.The EPA has a long history with trying to come to terms with the impacts of that destructive practice.” – A featured post at SolveClimate.com

“D.O.E. [is making a broad] effort to increase enforcement efforts for both Energy Star and the federal appliance standard program, which sets mandatory energy efficiency and water use requirements for a number of products, from air conditioners to urinals.” – News via the New York Times Green Inc. blog

The official home page for the Investor Summit on Climate Risk hosted by the United Nations

“The agenda includes speakers such as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Former Vice-President Al Gore, U.S. Climate Envoy Todd Stern and Media Executive/Philanthropist Ted Turner. The list of investors expected at the Summit underscores how climate change, an environmental issue, is increasingly gaining traction as a business issue.” – A news item on the Investor Summit on Climate Risk via EfficiencyLaw.com

Further Resources:

News of hybrids, compacts at Detroit Auto Show from Chosun Ilbo, a Korean news organization

A muscle car enthusiast and critic worries that too much “hybrid” could amount to not enough speed, via the Motortrend.com blog

Detroit Auto Show Round-Up: The Fully Monty, is a web page of short reviews and critiques of cars at the NAIAS 2010, from a decidedly not eco-centric source, Jalopnik

A DailyYonder.com blog post asking “How Do You Kill a Mountain?” and criticising coal mining practices approved by the EPA

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it would sign off on a Clean Water Act permit for a mountaintop removal coal mine operated by Patriot Coal Corp., drawing the ire of a coalition of environmental and community advocacy groups that says the decision opens the door for further environmental destruction in Appalachia…”- A news feature via Law 360

This is the latest installment of EcoMeme, a column featuring eco news, tech and business highlights by Lora Kolodny.

Nissan image via

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There are two ways to persuade people that fossil-fueled cars are a blight. The popular method is to offer alternatives while suggesting why you “really shouldn’t” . And then there’s the other way.

Last week, TechCrunch ran an article suggesting that California was going to ban black cars because they soak up the most heat. The Washington Post got hold of it, then Rush Limbaugh added fuel to the flames (most unlike him, I know)  by advising listeners to buy up black cars before they became extinct. Happily, it’s now clear that TechCrunch got themselves in a muddle, and everyone’s looking sheepish. Such is the Audience Wave nature of online journalism.

It’s not hard to spot the flashpoint here – it’s the word “ban”. It’s a brave government that tries to deny consumers the right to drive their beloved internal combustion vehicles, even if it’s just the black-painted ones…and the TechCrunch furor nicely illustrates how quickly the American public gets shirty when its wheels are threatened.

So let’s imagine that the U.S. decides to follow the example of Amsterdam, which has just announced that by 2040, no petrol-powered cars will be allowed in the city. It’s electric or nothing. That gives the Netherlands 30 years to get its electric vehicle servicing infrastructure up to scratch, which probably isn’t as long as it sounds – and it leaves the door open for other municipal and national governments to peer through, wondering if that way lies popularity or condemnation.

If internally-combusting automobiles went the way of incandescent lightbulbs and plastic bags, how would America react?

Image: Sammmm

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