Hybrid Electric And Fuel Cell Vehicles
Hybrid Electric And Fuel Cell Vehicles
Both technologies come together in hybrid electric vehicles, also known as HEVs or hybrids. Present-day hybrids are equipped with ICEs and electric motors. A hybrid's ICE engine, as in any ICE-powered car, produces power through continuous, controlled explosions that push down pistons connected to a rotating crankshaft. That rotating force (torque) is ultimately transmitted to the vehicle's wheels.
A hybrid's electric motor is energized by a battery, which produces power through a chemical reaction. The battery is continuously recharged by a generator that—like the alternator of a conventional car—is driven by the ICE.
Hybrids can have a parallel design, a series design, or a combination of both:
* In a parallel design, the energy conversion unit and electric propulsion system are connected directly to the vehicle's wheels. The primary engine is used for highway driving; the electric motor provides added power during hill climbs, acceleration, and other periods of high demand.
* In a series design, the primary engine is connected to a generator that produces electricity. The electricity charges the batteries, which drive an electric motor that powers the wheels. HEVs can also be built to use the series configuration at low speeds and the parallel configuration for highway driving and acceleration.
In conventional vehicles, energy from deceleration is wasted as it dissipates. In some hybrid vehicles, regenerative braking systems capture that energy, store it, and convert it to electricity to help propel the vehicle—ultimately increasing overall efficiency. Some hybrids also use ultracapacitors to extend the life of a hybrid vehicle's on-board battery system because they are better suited to capturing high power from regenerative braking and releasing it for initial acceleration.
Hybrid passenger cars arrived in the United States in model year 2000, following their introduction in Japan a few years earlier. First came the two-seat Honda Insight, followed by the Toyota Prius in model year 2001. Honda then introduced a hybrid version of its Civic sedan, and Toyota offered a second-generation Prius. Ford plans to introduce its first hybrid, a version of the Escape sport utility vehicle, in model year 2005. Several other major automakers now either offer HEVs or plan to do so in the near future.
Hybrid systems have also proved effective in buses and heavy trucks. For example, Oshkosh Truck Corporation has demonstrated a diesel-electric system that may significantly improve the fuel economy and driving range of military vehicles. As a bonus, hybrids can be devised to generate alternating current electricity for other applications such as plug-in power tools. General Motors, through its Allison Transmission Division, produces a diesel-electric hybrid drivetrain for transit buses.
Lee County's biofuel business bound in red tape
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would require the domestic use of 800 million gallons of biodiesel in 2011. This is consistent with the renewable goals established in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), which expanded the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) and specifically requires a renewable component in U.S. diesel fuel.'Read more
EPA Requires 800 million Gallons of Biodiesel in the U.S. Domestic Market in 2011
Baby ducks and muskrats are the casualties of a rollover that spilled fuel onto a Westman highway this week. A Brandon vet clinic's efforts to save the little critters failed Wednesday evening and they all died.'Read more
Rollover by semi kills animals
Renewable Energy Group Inc., the largest U.S. biodiesel producer, said it bought Tellurian Biodiesel Inc. and American BDF LLC to increase access to used cooking oil for its facilities.'Read more
Renewable Energy Buys Tellurian to Boost Biodiesel Business
Policies needed to address potential conflicts, but report views bioenergy as crucial to 'unlocking Africa's latent potential'Crops can be produced for bioenergy on a significant scale in west, eastern and southern Africa without doing damage to food production or natural habitats, according to a report produced by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Imperial College London ...'Read more
Report Finds Bioenergy Production Can Expand Across Africa Without Displacing Food
New York, Jul 22 : Jatropha, a wild plant that grows well in dry areas on degraded lands and can be processed into biofuel, has potential as a low-cost energy source for poor farmers, according to a new United Nations report, which adds that further research is still needed on this crop.'Read more
Jatropha plant energy source for poor?
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced recently the selections of six projects that aim to find ways of converting captured carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial sources into useful products such as fuel, plastics, cement, and fertilizers.'Read more
Secretary Chu Announces Six Projects To Convert Captured CO2 Emissions From Industrial Sources Into Useful Products
Crops can be produced for bioenergy on a significant scale in west, eastern and southern Africa without doing damage to food production or natural habitats, according to a report produced by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, Imperial College London and CAMCO International.'Read more
Bioenergy production can expand across Africa without displacing food, report finds
The Nebraska Forest Service at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, along with partners in a national consortium, has received a $1.3 million grant to develop hybrid hazelnuts as a perennial crop in Nebraska and across the nation for use as food, animal feed and biofuel.'Read more
Neb. Forest Service gets grant for hazelnut crop
The US Department of Energy is to help fund six projects that aim to find ways of converting captured carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial sources into useful products.'Read more