White Zombie electric car dominates gas-powered dragsters

This post is brought to you by ? Curt Rosengren ~ Passion Catalyst TM ? ? “Love your work. Change your world.” I’ve never been a big fan of motor sports, but here’s a story that makes me want to jump in my car, drive down I-5 to Portland, Oregon, and cheer on the White Zombie . On a recent Friday night at the Portland International Raceway, John Wayland scanned the dragsters, looking for an opponent for his geeky looking 1972 Datsun sedan. Finally, he challenged the owner of a souped-up 2005 Corvette, the hottest-looking car at the track, to a quarter-mile race. When the starting light flashed, the Datsun, known as White Zombie, shot silently past the Corvette and kept widening the lead as the two cars faded into the distance. “Oh man, right off the [starting] line he had me,” said the Corvette’s owner, Robert Akers, shaking his head. Electric cars are typically known for their fuel efficiency and environmental bona fides, not for their speed and muscle. But Mr. Wayland, 47 years old, is changing that, and has become something of a hero to a small group of hot rodders dedicated to humiliating gasoline-powered cars. The night White Zombie beat the Corvette, it also trounced two other “gassers,” as Mr. Wayland calls them — a blue BMW and a bright orange 1964 Pontiac Tempest. Check out the video that goes with the article. Just looking at it, you wouldn’t think the White Zombie would strike fear into the hearts of drivers of souped up muscle cars. In fact, it looks like it has no business being on the track…until it gets the green light. —

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White Zombie electric car dominates gas-powered dragsters

Wind power capacity growth strong in 2006

This post is brought to you by ? Curt Rosengren ~ Passion Catalyst TM ? ? “Love your work. Change your world.” Wind power grew by leaps and bounds last year, according to the Worldwatch Institute: The 15,200 megawatts of new wind turbines installed worldwide last year will generate enough clean electricity annually to offset the carbon dioxide emissions of 23 average-sized U.S. coal-fired power plants, according to a new Vital Signs Update from the Worldwatch Institute. The 43 million tons of carbon dioxide displaced in 2006 is equivalent to the emissions of 7,200 megawatts of coal-fired power plants, or nearly 8 million passenger cars. Global wind power capacity increased almost 26 percent in 2006, exceeding 74,200 megawatts by years end. Global investment in wind power was roughly $22 billion in 2006, and in Europe and North America, the power industry added more capacity in wind than it did in coal and nuclear combined. The global market for wind equipment has risen 74 percent in the past two years, leading to long backorders for wind turbine equipment in much of the world. [via the CNET Tech news blog ] —

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Wind power capacity growth strong in 2006

Positive predictions for hydrogen vehicles

This post is brought to you by ? Curt Rosengren ~ Passion Catalyst TM ? ? “Love your work. Change your world.” Yesterday I posted about the prediction in India that hydrogen energy will be a viable alternative to fossil fuels for its transportation sector by 2020. In a story about efforts to develop hydrogen options, there are more glowing predictions for hydrogen fuel’s potential … Honda, BMW and General Motors Corp. report they are developing vehicles that will run on hydrogen, the simplest, lightest and most abundant of elements. GM predicts it could have cleanburning, hydrogenpowered fuel cell vehicles on the road within the next five or six years. The company estimates that fuel cell propulsion is about twice as efficient as that of an internal combustion engine. Earlier this year BMW presented its new hydrogen vehicle, the Hydrogen 7, as part of the company’s global clean energy promotional campaign. Not everybody has a rosy view though… Other major automakers do not predict mass production of hydrogen vehicles until at least a decade from now, citing the difficulty and cost of producing, storing and transporting the element in either its gaseous or liquid form. But even in that arena, some are decidedly bullish on the possibilities… The FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership, made up of the U.S. Department of Energy along with BP America, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Conoco Phillips, Shell Hydrogen LLC and a council of three major automakers, believes that by 2010 it can create the national hydrogen fuel infrastructure needed to support fuel cell vehicles. —

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Positive predictions for hydrogen vehicles