A report issued by the Australian National University shows that unspoiled natural forests capture more carbon than artificially planted trees. The report states that this fact wasn't considered when planning counteracting actions against global warming by the IPCC. However, according to our source article, the report didn't consider the capture capacity of relatively young trees, whereas the IPCC did. IPCC calculations considered a tree a plant over 2 meters with 110 percent diameter crown, whereas the Australian report considers a tree over 10 meters with 120 percent diameter crown. Regardless of the actual calculation methods, the Australian report calculated 1 hectare of wild unspoiled forest in the SE of the country could store 640 tons of CO₂ , whereas the same surface of artificially planted trees stored 217. Take also in consideration that planted trees are usually cut for the use of its wood regularly and new trees are planted afterwards. The result: 25 trees planted every 4 years store less carbon than 1 tree planted for 100 years.

[Source: Cesefor via Agroinformacion]

Australians looking for a cheaper alternative to gasoline now have a very cost effective option with a dual fuel conversion being offered by Holden. The installation allows Commodores and derivatives to be operated on either LPG or gasoline. Holden recently dropped the conversion price of the system by $1,000 (AUS) from $3,900 to $2,400. The Ute pickup variants went from $4,900 to 3,400. The net cost for sedan buyers can drop to as little as $400 thanks to a $2,000 tax rebate from the federal government. That expense can be recouped in operating cost savings in about four months for the sedan and one year for the Ute thanks to LPG costing less than half the price of gasoline right now. The conversion is done on vehicles with the 3.6L DOHC V6 that also use in a wide variety of North American market GM cars and CUVs. The fuel system can automatically switch from LPG to gasoline on the fly when the fuel level drops too low. The press release is after the jump.

[Source: General Motors]

NRMA Motoring & Services has just released its Jamison Group report known as A Road Map for Alternative Fuels in Australia: Ending our Dependence on Oil. In this report, the group suggests that Australia must act quickly to reduce its own dependence on foreign oil, which has increased by 30-percent in the last four years alone. The report goes on to suggest that Australia follow the lead of Brazil, the United States and Europe in using alternative fuels such as ethanol along with the adoption of electric vehicles. The specific goals spelled out are a 20-percent reduction in oil use by 2020 which would increase to 30-percent by 2030 and 50-percent by 2050.

In order to meet these goals, the Jamison Group proposes twelve specific steps, including the adoption of electric vehicle charging stations across the continent. Also on the docket would be the planting of high-sugar crops for ethanol and various tax subsidies for both farmers who plant and consumers who purchase alternative vehicles.

Finally, take a look at this quote from NRMA Motoring & Services President Alan Evans: "Even the man responsible for 'killing the electric car', Bob Lutz of General Motors, has admitted that the electrification of the automobile is inevitable." So, now we know. It was Lutz and Lutz alone.

[Source: NRMA]

The Australian auto market is an interesting beast. Many of the big players in America offer vehicles there which are completely different from what is available stateside. Ford and General Motors have continued to develop large, rear-wheel-drive passenger cars for the Australian market, and these have recently proven desirable in the states again. New fuel economy regulations, though, may put an end to the idea of importing Australian-designed Ford and Holden vehicles into America. In fact, even the Australians may find it tough to keep these vehicles on the road. Federal industry minister Kim Carr would like to help Holden and Ford make their vehicles more fuel efficient, which could mean an abrupt halt to vehicles like the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore in their current forms. Incentives are being provided which could bring engines like Ford's 3.5 liter Duratec engine to Australia, in both normally aspirated form and even equipped with the new EcoBoost technology. These direct injected and turbocharged mills produce gobs of power while offering a slight increase in fuel efficiency.

[Source: GoAuto]

Toyota wants to double worldwide sales of its hybrids to over 1 million units a year within the next decade and is adding production capacity to hep it get there. In Japan today, Toyota announced plans to add production of Camry hybrids at two more plants in Australia and Thailand. The Thai plant will start first with about 9,000 hybrids per year starting in 2009. At a press conference attended by both Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Toyota CEO Katsuaki Watanabe, plans were announced to build hybrids at the company's Altona plant near Melbourne. The plant will start turning out 10,000 hybrids a year in early 2010. The state of Victoria, where the plant is located, reportedly provided $35 million (AUS) in tax incentives to get Toyota add hybrid production. A number of Australian governments have previously pledged to purchase domestically build hybrid vehicles for their fleets as soon as someone builds them. The Camry announcement is the first; General Motors' Holden division will likely join in as well at some point.

[Source: Toyota]

Liquified petroleum gas (commonly referred to as propane) has never really caught as a motor fuel in the U.S. although it is used by some fleets. However, drivers in Australia may have a new LPG-fueled vehicle to choose from. In fact they may have an LPG mild hybrid available soon at Hyundai dealers. Hyundai Australia is considering local production of the LPG hybrid Elantra that goes on sale in Korea in 2009. Australia has sufficient domestic supplies of LPG that they don't have to import any. With 3,200 LPG filling stations, Australia significantly outnumbers the 2,500 stations in the US.

Even though consumption on LPG is slightly higher than gasoline, the total operating costs of an LPG hybrid Elentra are significantly less than a Prius. In Australia, LPG is $3.26/U.S. gallon less than gasoline. That means an average driver could operate the LPG hybrid Elantra on less than $10 a week. Hyundai has field tested about 100 LPG hybrid Elantras and is reportedly close to finishing validation of the system. The mild hybrid Elantra uses a 15kW motor, LG Chem lithium ion battery and 1.6L engine. The LPG hybrid is thought to get about 47mpg (U.S.) compared to 53mpg for the Prius. Gasoline currently runs $5.80 a gallon in Australia and an LPG mild hybrid could be much less expensive to operate. Hyundai is also developing both plug-in and non-plug variants of a strong hybrids and could begin limited production of a fuel cell vehicle by 2012.

[Source: Drive.com.au]

The premier of the Australian state of New South Wales is a big supporter of hybrid vehicles. The state government already has 355 hybrid vehicles in the the government fleet. However, as with governments everywhere, if something is made locally Morris Iemma would prefer to buy domestic. Unfortunately of all the cars made in Australia, none are propelled by hybrid powertrains. The hybrids in the NSW fleet are all imported Honda and Toyota models.

Iemma has approached Holden about producing a hybrid version of the Commodore sedan which we get over here as the Pontiac G8. Toyota has been examining the prospect recently of building hybrid Camry's in Australia. Iemma has committed to using domestic hybrids in the NSW fleet if they are built. The Holden may actually turn out to be the first to produce a domestic hybrid. When GM announced the second-generation mild hybrid system earlier this year, they said the system would be compatible with rear wheel drive vehicles such as the G8/Commodore. Given the realities of fuel economy regulations, it seems almost certain that a hybrid version will debut sometime around 2010-11. If that does happen, it will likely be offered in Australia as well.

[Source: The Australian, thanks to Berto for the tip!]

It's looking as if Aussie readers hoping to drive greener might soon be able to do so in a locally-produced machine. The first word of Toyota's desire to build the Camry Hybrid in the land Down Under came in October at the Tokyo Motor Show. Without government handouts assistance, however, it wasn't going to happen. Fast forward to the present: all signs point to a deal getting inked by the end of July, with Australian government reps saying that talks with the automaker are progressing "fruitfully." Once the agreement is formalized, look for the Camry Hybrid to go into production at the Altona plant where the Australian-market Camry and Aurion sedans are currently built.

[Source: The Age]

Th!nk UK managing director Richard Blundell said that their all-electric car could be put on sale in Australia without too much hassle. The reason? The Th!nk City, which Blundell pointed out is a real car and not a quadricycle (NEV), is designed to satisfy both EU and U. S. highway safety features and can be sold virtually anywhere. Then there are the business reasons: "Think will evaluate each market based on perceived and sustainable market demand, attractive urban center demographics and conducive legislative policy for the use of EVs," he told The Courier-Mail. Although Th!nk's efforts are focused on selling the car in Europe and America, moving into the Australian market could follow quickly. I think I just heard a cheer.



[Source: Couriermail]

The Lutz has spoken yet again (imagine that!) and the subject once more is the Volt. This time it involves reversing some of the recent flow of machinery between Australia and U.S. GM's Holden division down under was tasked with developing a global rear wheel drive architecture for the company which has resulted in the recent launch of the Pontiac G8. According to Maximum Bob, the Australians will get a crack at the Volt a couple of years after it launches in the home market. As with all new GM platforms, the E-Flex architecture is being designed to meet requirements in all major markets. That means passing U.S. and European crash requirements as well as mounting the steering wheel on either side of the cockpit.

Right from the initial briefings on the Volt, Jon Laukner and others indicated that E-Flex was meant for world-wide application with different power-train variants that are best suited to local markets. That's why the company has shown different E-Flex concepts in various countries with flex-fuel, fuel-cell and diesel range-extenders as well as three different body styles (Volt, Opel/Saturn Flextreme and Cadillac Provoq). What body style and power plant gets sent to Oz in return for the G8s and Utes is unknown at this point but the gasoline engine seems most likely.

[Source: Go Auto]

Looks like the Aussies are getting their very first zero-emissions-vehicle, the Blade Runner. Converted from the gasoline-powered Hyundai Getz (as seen above), the Blade Runner uses an AC motor powered by twin banks of lithium iron phosphate batteries and is capable of going up to 100 kilometers (62.5 miles) on a single charge. Although not particularly cheap at $35,000 for the retrofit (about $32,000 US), the Blade Runner is still the first of its kind in Oz, and it comes from a small manufacturer, Blade Electric Vehicles, the brainchild of Ross Blade.

According to this article, some new owners of the Blade Runner are even go so far as to charge their batteries using solar power. There's a short video of the car here, which shows Australian Democrats Leader Lyn Allison giving the Blade Runner a once-over. It seems that Blade Electric Vehicles is looking to secure a deal to provide electric cars to the government.

[Source: Blade Electric Vehicles via CarDomain]

When you hear about a "3-liter car," what do you think of? For this story, think not of a car with a 3-liter engine but one that uses 3.13 liters of fuel per 100 km. That's 75 miles per gallon (U.S.) we're talking about a simple Peugeot 308.

John and Helen Taylor traveled 14,580 km in Australia (9,100 miles) using a Peugeot 308 with a standard 1.6 HDI 110 HP diesel engine. The Taylor's 308 was a standard model, just like the ones you can buy it from the showroom (at least in Europe and Australia), including Michelin Energy XM1+ tires. They used 453.94 liters of Shell diesel for the trip, which broke a previous record (with a 307) of 3.49 l/100 km (67 mpg U.S.). The CO₂ figures (which Peugeot states include the supply chain) were a mere 90.3 g/km.

This makes it almost unnecessary to wait for the hybrid! But, please, Peugeot mate this powertrain to a hybrid system and treat the exhaust gases.

[Source: Peugeot Australia via Moteur Nature]

By 2050, automobile travel would need to be cut (slashed, reduced, curtailed) by 80 percent. This is the finding in an upcoming paper to be published in the scholarly journal, Energy Policy. The authors claim that the drastic reduction will be needed to meet the emissions levels recommended by economist Ross Garnaut in an interim report for the government of Australia. Those levels are the target in order to avoid the worst of what upcoming climate change has to offer the vulnerable land down under, according to an article appearing on news.com.au.

As if to rub salt in the wound, Associate Professor Damon Honnery, of Monash University said, "The car is doomed. People are going to have to fundamentally change the way they think about travel and make much more use of non-motorised travel such as cycling and walking." Cycling and walking? Ah, but what of hybrids, electric cars and ethanol and such? "Our calculations show that not even the best combination of fuel efficiency, hybrid and electric cars, alternative fuels and car pooling could provide the reductions needed to meet the 2050 targets for avoiding dangerous climatic change," he continued, dashing all hopes of avoiding sacrifice.

Not to be outdone, co-author Dr. Patrick Moriarty put the kibosh on air travel as well. "An overseas trip might become a once-in-a-lifetime experience rather than an annual event." Wow. Remind me not to invite these guys to my next party.

So do they offer up any transportation alternatives besides walking and cycling? You bet. Public transport. Guess we better get working on that railroad.

[Source: news.com.au]

EESTech Inc., a company based in Brisbane, Australia, owns the Asia-Pacific rights to a system called the Purenergy CO₂ Capture System (CCS). This is supposed to be the world's first pre-engineered, modular CO₂ capture system that can be retrofitted onto existing power plants or any large industrial greenhouse gas emitter.

The CCS is going to be installed in EESTech's Hybrid Coal Gas Turbine (HCGT) system which produces electricity using waste coal dust, and fugitive vented methane. This allows coal facilities to utilize these byproducts from coal mines to efficiently generate the necessary steam and electricity for the CO₂ capture process. The whole process is claimed to reduce the cost of carbon capture by 40 percent.

Graeme Lynch, Chief Operating Officer of EESTech Inc., believes that the carbon capture technology will position EESTech Inc as a leader in the industry. "Solutions like the Purenergy CCS, when installed in scale on one 750 megawatt power plant, will capture the carbon dioxide equivalent of two million cars and trucks," Mr. Lynch added.

Related:

• Scientists unveil artificial CO₂-capturing foam
• The EU will apply strict controls to carbon capture technology
• DECARBit project tries to capture carbon the cheapest way possible: before combustion

[Source. EESTech]

Australia's The Age newspaper reports a 400 percent increase, since 2003, in Scooter sales in Victoria, Australia due to the rising cost of gas and city parking fees. Australia-wide, 15,000 scooters were sold last year, a 300 percent increase since 2003. The Collingwood's Vespa House has seen sales go from two a month to fifteen a month and other scooter suppliers have seen similar increases.

The increase in sales is prompting changes, according to The Age: In October, the city of Melbourne's policy of allowing scooters on footpaths is under review and groups like the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce are pushing for more scooter rights like scooters being allowed to ride in bike paths.

Below the fold is a video of the scooter in the movie Roman Holiday.

Related:

• Video: Scooters invade Chicago!
• The Scooter Scoop hosts the first Genuine Rattler Buck Ten review
• Schwinn makes scooters too, sort of
• Vespa (or any other) scooters in New York: good idea or bad idea?

[Source: The Age]