Friday 25 January 2013

Maruti Suzuki developing petrol – electric hybrid car for India


Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), the country’s favourite passenger car maker, is considering working on India’s first compact hybrid vehicle, which will be offered in both electric and petrol powered options. After ruling domestic scene for decades, the company’s seems to be taking on an ambitious new challenge.
As per the company’s top officials, the company’s new petrol and electric hybrid car project is still in early stages and a precise timeline cannot be provided at the moment. However, the two senior officers affirmed that Maruti Suzuki is seriously mulling over the possibility of the hybrid design along with its market viability for the Indian audience. The petrol – electric hybrid car project is extremely different than the usual assignments undertaken by the company.
The latest development from Maruti Suzuki could change the company’s brand and market perception among its domestic clientele and the entire automotive industry. The company’s renowned all over the world for its conventional and affordable small cars with absolutely no history of developing modern and cutting-edge technologies laden concept vehicles. Further, Maruti Suzuki has always neglected the market viability of electric vehicles in the country and has always stood firm and believed in its own petrol fuelled product portfolio. Accordingly, the new petrol and electric hybrid seem like a coming-of-age thing for Maruti Suzuki, as it intends to focus on previously ignored areas and take on new challenges along the way as well.
Read Complete article @ Cartrade 

Audi to Make Fuel Using Solar Power


he automaker is using technology from SolarFuel to make renewable methane for natural-gas vehicles.
By Kevin Bullis on January 25, 2013
Audi is building a plant that will use solar and wind power to make methane from water and carbon dioxide. The plant, which will use technology developed by Stuttgart, Germany-based SolarFuel, is scheduled to start operation later this year. It will produce enough methane to power 1,500 of Audi’s new natural-gas vehicles, which also go on sale this year.
SolarFuel’s process uses excess renewable energy generated as a result of Germany’s push to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. There’s now so much renewable energy in Germany that supply sometimes exceeds demand—such as when the wind is blowing late at night. That power could be cheap enough to make methane from water and carbon dioxide, even though the process for doing so is inefficient.
SolarFuel says its approach may be a solution to one of the biggest challenges with renewable energy—its variability. Methane, which can be stored in existing natural-gas storage facilities, provides a convenient, long-term option for storing the energy.
To make the methane, SolarFuel combines two existing technologies. One is electrolysis, which splits water to produce hydrogen and oxygen. The other is methanation, which combines hydrogen with carbon from carbon dioxide to make methane. The company says its innovation lies in the way it’s combined the two processes.
Read Complete Article @ Technology Review

Green News : Diesel price hikes make solar power attractive option


NEW DELHI: Rising petroleum prices are expected to benefit renewable energy solution providers as commercial establishments that use diesel generator sets for their captive requirements may find solar powerattractive.
The city gas distribution (CGD) players too expect commercial establishments to switch from diesel to piped natural gas in the areas where power supply is unreliable.
Several commercial establishments are now switching to solar solutions for their captive power needs as cost of solar modules is falling and the installation cost can be recovered within five years, industry officials said.
According to Megawatt Solutions CEO Siddharth Malik, “Every square meter of concentrated solar thermal collector can replace up to 200 litres of diesel annually.” Megawatt Solutions, in partnership with the renewable energy ministry, has a 0.5 mw project in Gurgaon, which provides a hybrid solution by integrating solar-thermal with fossil fuel. “The discounted payback time of a hybrid system can be about 2-3 years and is getting shorter with further diesel price hike,” said Malik.

http://www.evhub.in/home/2013/01/green-news-dod-to-test-using-electric-cars-as-power-source/