Category Archives: Useful Information

Researchers convert sugarcane to a cold-tolerant, more photosynthetically efficient, oil-producing crop

March 02, 2014   Neville

Researchers are engineering sugarcane into a more productive, oil-producing plant that can grow in cooler climes. If their work proceeds as expected, growers will be able to meet 147% of the US mandate for renewable fuels with the modified sugarcane, the team reports. This crop could grow on abandoned land in the southeastern United States (about 20% of the green zone on the map). Credit: Stephen Long
A multi-institutional team led by researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign reports that it can increase sugarcane’s geographic range, boost its photosynthetic rate by 30% and turn it into an oil-producing crop for biodiesel production. These are the first steps in a larger research initiative—supported by $3.2 million from the Department of Energy—to convert sugarcane and sorghum, two of the most productive crop plants known, into even more productive, oil-generating plants.

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Concerns raised over Audi, BMW lending cars to EU ahead of tough CO2 targets

March 02, 2014   Sean
 Some European politicians and transparency campaigners have raised concerns about German luxury carmakers Audi and BMW providing free cars to EU member states while negotiations were under way over strict new CO2 emissions targets.The immediate concern is sponsorship involving the free loan of scores of luxury cars to five countries over a two-and-a-half period that coincided with the debate over new limits for carbon dioxide emissions.

The five countries consecutively held the EU presidency during that time and were responsible for leading policy negotiations.

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BP starts up Na Kika Phase 3 in ultra-deepwater Gulf Of Mexico

March 02, 2014   Neville

BP announced the start-up of Na Kika Phase 3, a project supporting BP’s strategy of growing high-margin production at four BP-operated hubs in the ultra-deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The first Na Kika Phase 3 well began oil production on 19 February, with a second well expected to start up in the second quarter.

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Honda/GM fuel cell partnership Update

March 02, 2014   Neville

System components for a fuel cell vehicle.

In July 2013, General Motors and Honda announced a long-term, definitive master agreement to co-develop next-generation fuel cell system and hydrogen storage technologies, aiming for the 2020 time frame. At the SAE 2014 Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Technologies Symposium, Mark Mathias, Director, Fuel Cell R&D for GM, provided an update on the collaboration, as well as a brief dive into the technical drivers behind the ongoing automotive efforts on fuel cell propulsion related to the scaling properties of batteries and fuel cells.

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Zytek lightweight electric powertrain for Yamaha’s MOTIV.e city car concept

March 02, 2014   Neville

News_3596_1_original

Yamaha’s new MOTIV.e city car concept, shown at the Tokyo motorshow, is powered by an electric drive system from Zytek that employs a range of new design approaches to minimize the cost, weight and size of the powertrain while maximizing the performance and range. By supplying a number of core high-voltage components as an optimized system, Zytek is also minimizing the time required for vehicle development.

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