21st Century Regenerative Technology

1. New Electric Car Coming from Venturi & Michelin
2. Picken's Clean Energy Fuels Links with Seattle Trash Collector

New Electric Car Coming from Venturi & Michelin

2008-09-15 20:59

Craig Rubens - Automotive

Monaco-based electric car maker Venturi and French tire giant Michelin have said they will show off a new, next-gen electric supercar at the upcoming Paris Auto Show in early October. The companies are holding onto the details until the unveiling but promise “unprecedented architecture, dynamic qualities and overall technological excellence.”

We wonder which direction the Franco-Monaco joint effort will go. Venturi’s three vehicles, while all electric, share little in terms of aesthetic or functional design. The Fetish is a €297,000 ($422,000) monster of a sportscar with an unfortunate name and carbon fiber body. Production of the vehicle, which makes the Tesla look like a steal, was delayed earlier this year when Venturi said it beefed up the engine — now flexing 300 HP and 380 Nm of torque (280 lb-ft) — enough to make Tesla fanboys wonder. The Fetish’s “exclusive and avant-garde clientele” are hoping for their rides starting in June 2009.

Venturi’s second known project is the “energy-autonomous” Eclectic. The Eclectic’s roof sports a personal turbine and is covered in solar panels, a trend we appreciate. The vehicle is also a plug-in, able to smart charge on a presumably clean grid. Still a concept car, the Eclectic had its Hollywood premiere as a police car of the future in Babylon A.D., starring Vin Diesel and Gerard Depardieu, pictured below.

The company’s most recent project is its solar-powered Astrolab, which has reportedly been entered in the World Solar Challenge, a solar-powered auto rally across the Australian Outback. The Astrolab is able to recharge its liquid-cooled NiMH Venturi NIV-7 batteries on the go using 3.6 square meters of “nano-prism concentrating photovoltaic cells.”

On Oct. 2 Venturi will release the details on its latest in high-minded electric innovation.

Image courtesy of Venturi.

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Picken's Clean Energy Fuels Links with Seattle Trash Collector

2008-09-15 19:00

Katie Fehrenbacher - Hitlines

Clean Energy Fuels, the natural gas vehicle distributor founded by former oil baron T. Boone Pickens, has been on an acquisition and deal-making spree over the past few months. This morning it’s got another deal to build and operate a compressed natural gas station South of Seattle downtown that will supply fuel for 40 new garbage-hauling trucks for innovative trash collector CleanScapes. CleanScapes is an official Seattle waste contractor (which is a contract estimated to be worth nearly $80 million) and its deal with Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) is for 10 years, though no financial terms were released.

CleanScapes was founded over a decade ago by entrepreneur Chris Martin, who says in the release this morning that the new natural gas powered garbage trucks will be used mostly for residential collections, which will reduce both emissions and noise in populated areas. CleanScapes collects trash several times a day, picking up its color-coded bags for garbage, recycling and compost. The company also advocates trash reduction and is expanding into Portland and San Francisco.

It might not be a massive win for Clean Energy Fuels, but cozying up with city contractors is a solid way to get a natural gas pump built. San Francisco and San Jose’s mayors have both pushed for greener city fleets as a way to provide business for new cleantech companies. And while there are only about 1,100 natural-gas fueling stations in the U.S., according to Natural Gas Vehicles for America, the more pumps the better for Clean Energy Fuels to get natural gas into more fuel tanks.

Recently, Clean Energy Fuels has also taken a very aggressive approach to building out its business across the natural gas vehicle world. Earlier this month the company said it plans to acquire FuelMaker, makers of the home consumer natural gas refueller “The Phill,” from American Honda Corp. and the FuelMaker Trust for $17 million in cash. Previously the company said it had purchased Dallas Clean Energy (DCE), owner of the McCommas Bluff landfill gas processing plant, which the firms claim is the third largest landfill gas operation in the U.S, for $19.1 million. And earlier Clean Energy Fuels said it had joined with investment group Perseus and T. Boone Pickens to support the creation of a natural gas vehicle with investment to the tune of $160 million.