Is it a snail? Is it a two-wheeled version of the Sidney Opera house? Nope... It's a solar-powered motorbike designed by SunRed, a Spanish automotive development company, that got a prize for Best Innovative Technology during the Barcelona Int'l Auto Show.

The project, which will result in a life-size prototype in the near future, consisted in creating a model able to capture sunlight, store electrical power and power the motorbike in the most environmentally respectful way. Instead of deploying panels that might occupy too much space, SunRed decided to adopt a clamshell structure that would optimize the panels surface while not making the vehicle bulky. When the bike is stopped, the solar panels surface tops up to 3.1 m2 (25 sq. ft) and it can store energy for up to 20km (13 miles) at 50km/h (30 mph). The motor, as in most modern electric bikes, is brushless and it's placed right in the axle of the wheel, saving transmission components.

Although this is just a concept, SunRed pretends to serve it as a benchmark for future developments of solar applications in all kinds of vehicles. We'll surely keep an eye on them.

[Source: Sun Red]

Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, is currently widely used in some cities (such as Paris or Barcelona) to power public buses. Natural gas burns very clean and, although it still pollutes with CO2, it avoids the most of the rest of nasty by-products that come out of the tailpipe.

ERDGAS, the biggest natural gas company in Germany, is promoting intensively the use of Compressed Natural Gas with passenger vehicles, even offering home fueling stations linked to the normal gas distribution network. The bread&butter German brands, such as Volkswagen and Opel have a couple of models able to run with CNG at relatively low prices. There are fueling stations (sparse) around Germany, and even Erdgas offers a route planner that takes in consideration that CNG vehicles need to be refueled more times.

Availability is not that easy outside Germany and every country is different. In France, the national gas company, Gaz de France, allows consumers to install compressors to fill up the cars, but they take up to 9 hours. Carrefour announced some gas pump at their gas stations and PSA cars can be ordered with CNG options.

If you want to check a couple more of models and some more information about running a CNG in Europe, follow me through the jump.

We have spoken here already about the more than possible first Peugeot hybrid car, and it seems that it's a very plausible possibility, at least for Europeans, to enjoy that powertrain in the upcoming 308.

During the Barcelona International show, we had the pleasure to see (ok, I admit it, to drool over) one of the concepts, this time installed on the 307 previous model, currently on sale, of the hybrid powertrain. And it fills quite a few checkboxes on a wish list: 1.6 L HDI engine (with particulate filter) mated to a hybrid powertrain with a semiautomatic gearbox. It's good for 3.4 l / 100 km (yes, 70 mpg) and 90 CO2 g/km. And it also yells "Je roule au diester" (I run on biodiesel).

So we had to take a few pictures to drool at.

Related:

• Diesel plus hybrid equals 70+mpg
• Peugeot will demonstrate diesel hybrid in UK next month
• Peugeot diesel hybrid 307 CC HDi

The Reva electric car isn't new at all. It's already been on sale since 2001 in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, the UK, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Austria and the USA.

During the Barcelona International Motor Show, AutoblogGreen had the chance to do a (brief) test drive of the model with the excuse that it's just been put on sale for the Iberian market (Andorra, Portugal and Spain). We drove for about 5 miles around Montjuïc mountain, close to the Auto Show exhibition halls, so we found lots of ups and downs, plus a lot of traffic.

How did we find it? Continue reading after the jump.

The 34th International Motor Show in Barcelona starts ttoday with the unveiling of five new models.

• The Seat Altea Freetrack which unveils the latest TDI engine good for 170 HP and 36 mpg used in other VW brands.
• The new Kia Picanto with 40-plus mpg in 1.0 and 1.3 gasoline, and 1.1 diesel offerings.
• A subcompact wagon, the Peugeot 207 SW which can be equipped with antiparticullate filters
• The Citroën C4 sedan also available with antiparticullate filters for 45-50 mpg diesel engines
• The Opel Corsa GTI, less ecofriendly but a decent grown-up subcompact that is still good for 35mpg. Watch this because GM is bringing Opels to the US as Saturns.

The Motor Show has started with a non-declared war between the Spanish government and car manufacturers. Plans in Spain include the widspreading of biofuels and supporting the CO2 emissions limits coming from the European Union to 140 g/km. In order to incentivate more efficient cars, it was proposed to change the tax system but automakers declined that the current system was good enough. Currently 33 percent of the price of a car in Spain is taxes and tags: 16 percent of VAT (sales tax) and the "license plating" good for an extra 17 percent. The proposal wanted to change that 17 percent according to how the car polluted, from 10 to 30 percent.

Among the 5 introductions, only the Peugeot and the Kia emit less than 140 CO2 g/km. The Seat is good for about 146 and the Citroën, 160 because of the drag the third body adds to the bodywork.

Related:

• The new SEAT Altea Freetrack MPV-CUV