via autobloggreen:

Say you’re in the market for an electric motorcycle but you don’t like the modern styling of a Zero S or aBrammo Enertia. Or maybe you do, but some jerk who works in your office already has one. Well, now you can get a modern electric bike that looks like anything but. Check out custom bike designer James Hammarhead’s cafe racer-inspired Volta 102.

Each customized Volta 102 starts life as a 2002-2009 Royal Enfield Bullet. Classic bike enthusiasts know that, in its heyday a half-century ago, Royal Enfield was known for keeping streets and driveways across the British Empire nice and waterproof, earning it the nickname “Royal Oilfield.” The engines of the revived Royal Enfield don’t suffer from the same machining defects of the original, but nonetheless, the gas engine is gone out of the Volta 102 and, in its place, a 6kw EnerTrac MHM 602 electric motor. Power is supplied by a 102-volt lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack (hence the name Volta 102). We have no performance specs, but with those power numbers, it should move pretty good.

We’re not going to sugar coat it for you; for the price of a single Volta 102 you could buy Brammos for you and several friends. But that’s precisely the point. If electric motorcycles catch on – and with sweet tax breaks for electrics popping up like dandelions, they very likely might – it’s gonna cost a little extra to stand out from the silent, electric crowd. But don’t take it from us, take it from the manifesto of James Hammarhead himself: 

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A British company called Econogo has released the Yogo scooter, but don’t confuse it with the Yugo car. This little scooter has a couple of unique aspects. For example, the Yogo scooter can be charged indoors. How? By removing the 25-pound (!) lithium-iron phosphate battery and taking it to your charging location of choice while your much-loved scooter sits curbside. The simple task of running a cord to the scooter is so last year. 

The Yogo boasts the ability to carry a second battery on-board, doubling the range and giving you 50 pounds of battery to haul inside for charging. All of this convenience only costs a hair over $3,000, lower than we expected compared to other electric scooters. Add in that this is one capable scooter with a claimed top speed of up to 38 miles per hour and a 22-mile range per battery and the Yogo seems like a bargain.

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A research team has developed a microbe that secretes oil, potentially eliminating a major step for biofuel production.

Xinyao Liu and Roy Curtiss of Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute have genetically engineered cyanobacteria to ooze fatty acids that can be used to make vehicle fuels, according to a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Most approaches to making fuel from algae involve growing organisms that store oil inside their cell walls. When they have matured, the algae are harvested and pressed to collect the oil for further processing.

But Liu and his colleagues say they have tweaked a strain of microbes to push the oil out through the exterior membrane, simplifying the harvesting process and allowing the oil to be collected without killing the microbe.

“In China we have a saying … we don’t kill the hen to get the eggs,” Liu said in a description of the work. “I use genes that can steal fatty acids from the lipid synthesis pathway” using a protein called theioesterase.

The team also genetically modified the cell walls to let fatty acids pass through them more easily. Another change caused the microbes to over-produce fatty acids.

 Cyanobacteria, the microbe that Liu’s team uses, is appealing for making biofuels because it can be grown in liquid containers, without relying on land that could otherwise be used for food or other purposes.

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via inhabitat:

Blindspot Cycles hits two high points of green design with their line of reconditioned electric motorcycles. These discarded beauties are first found at junk yards and then converted with a rack of batteries, electric motors and controls. Think of it as Mad Max meets Tesla. I spent an afternoon at their shop talking with the owner Chris Ravana about not just bikes but how we can rethink sustainability from the ground up – read on for an exclusive report!

The principles that shape the construction of these bikes are straight forward: reuse it, keep it local, and make it work and look good. Reuse starts with a trip to a salvage yard looking for the right cycle. All makes and models have potential. They first help a client choose just the right ride. Now comes the fun part: stripping the unit down. They are looking to keep the bike’s feel but replace the internal combustion engine with and electric powertrain.

These reclaimed motorcycles squeeze the past and future together. Coupled with a DND DC permanent magnet electric motor, a set of Deka brand AGM batteries and some styling you get a homebrew, super efficient ride. If they can find it salvaged rather than new it goes on. If it is high quality and American made then it goes in.

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Later this year, Think will begin importing the all-electric City vehicle from Finland to sell in the U.S. By early next year, the first Citys made in the U.S. (in Elkhart, IN) will roll off the production line. Those two pieces of information we’ve known for a while. What we didn’t know – until now – was where Think would start sales of the CIty. One answer, it turns out, is New York City.

On the eve of the New York Auto Show, Think will hold a press conference tomorrow detailing plans to bring the City electric vehicle (EV) to customers in New York City. NYC was tied for third place in the company’s recent EV-Ready Cities Index scorecard, a ranking of urban areas based on “which markets are most likely to begin and benefit from the transition to electric vehicles.” One of the main considerations for the readiness level was which local governments provide the best financial incentives for people looking to buy an EV. Think explained that:

“Bringing the THINK City to New York will play a positive role in PlaNYC, the city’s comprehensive sustainability plan that seeks to reduce the City’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from 2005 level by 2030.”

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via autobloggreen:

We knew Chrysler was up to something when it showed off an all-electric Fiat 500 at this year’s Detroit Auto Show. Today, the automaker has officially announced that it will engineer and produce the Fiat 500EV for the United States, starting in 2012.

As of this writing, details about the 500EV are slim. We do know that the powerplant will be comprised of three main systems – an advanced lithium-ion battery, high-power electric powertrain module and an EV control unit to manage overall power flow. The 500EV will be developed and engineered at Chrysler’s headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

In more Chrysler EV news, the automaker will be receiving up to $48 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to build a total of 140 Ram plug-in hybrids. Originally, the automaker had plans to bring a Ram hybrid to market, but due to the slow-selling nature of other gasoline-electric pickups, Chrysler’s plans were canned. This new round of electrified trucks will be used in a three-year demonstration project that will aid in expediting the development of vehicle electrification technology. No word on if we’ll see a production version of the Ram PHEV anytime soon, however. In the meantime, buyers hoping for a high-mpg Ram can look forward to a light-duty diesel option currently being considered.

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Rep. Alan Grayson

via huffpo:

In 1968, a ten-year-old boy had to go to the hospital four times a week for treatment. Without that treatment, he had trouble breathing, and he felt like he was suffocating. Because he wassuffocating.

His health care was covered by his parents’ health insurance. But then they lost their jobs. They were worried about how they would pay the rent. He was worried about whether he would live or die.

How can we let a 10-year-old think about such things? Whether you are Democratic or Republican, left-wing or right-wing, liberal or libertarian, you know in your heart that that’s wrong. And it’s what you know in your heart, your empathy, that makes you human.

I was that 10-year-old boy. And I haven’t forgotten.

That’s why I support universal, comprehensive and affordable health care for all American. For you. For me. And for sure, for my five young children, and yours, too. The supposed “sins” of joblessness, homelessness and poverty, those “sins” of the parents, should never descend on the children.

I’m fighting for a decent life for all, especially our children. That’s why I voted yes on Sunday’s health care reform bill. It’s an historic first step. Historic.

But we’re not done. The framework for a comprehensive health care system is in place. Now we must finish the job.

Our Medicare You Can Buy Into Act now has over 80 cosponsors in the House and over 40,000 citizen co-sponsors at WeWantMedicare.com. It’s a simple bill, to let you and me buy into Medicare. You want it, you buy it, you got it.

www.wewantmedicare.com

On March 16, 2010, Tea Partiers from around the country gathered (in disappointing numbers) in front of the Capitol building for their final protest against health care reform. Also in town, appropriately, was Barnum & Bailey’s actual circus. The protestors voiced their usual conspiratorial concerns about healthcare reform: that it was a government takeover and more government, of course, equals less freedom; that it would euthanize seniors too expensive to treat; and that the bill would sink the nation into irrecoverable debt, despite its actually reducing the deficit by more than $100-billion over the next ten years. Averse to facts, no one interviewed was able to cite evidence for their false beliefs about the reform proposal, and instead suggested we seek the “truth” from Glenn Beck and Fox News.

Struggling with its immortality, a discarded plastic bag (voiced by Werner Herzog) ventures through the environmentally barren remains of America as it searches for its maker.

There are people in this video actually yelling “No Health Care!” and “Keep Obama’s hands off my Big Mac!”

These people protesting this (admittedly less then perfect bill) are so brainwashed by the (supposedly liberal) media and are a total embarrassment. The current system is unsustainable. Do you know anyone who’s premiums aren’t going up again this year? If there’s no reform, what do you think will happen next year? What about the year after that? It’s just a matter of time before no one is able to afford insurance, including those people in the video mocking a disabled man. Then who will pay their health care bills?