SolarWorld and PC-Aero just announced plans to launch two new solar-powered electric aircraft at the AERO Global Show for General Aviation in Friedrichshafen, Germany this month. The show, scheduled to begin tomorrow, will feature the SolarWorld eOne prototype aircraft and an improved Elektra One Solar.

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Post tags: AERO Global Show for General Aviation, electric aircraft, electric plane, Elektra One Solar, elektra one solar plane, ILA Berlin Air Show, lithium ion battery, PC Aero, solar powered aircraft, solar powered plane, SolarWorld, SolarWorld eOne

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", battery powered cars, car prototypes, fuel efficient cars, fuel efficient vehicles, green transportation, HotRod diesel car, Louisiana Tech diesel car, Shell Eco-marathon Americas 2013, Shell energy-efficient vehicles, Shell race Houston, student car marathon, student car prototype, Université Laval vehicle prototype, Urban Concept Vehicle

China’s record-breaking air pollution levels have forced the nation’s government to impose tougher fuel economy standards on the auto industry. The most recent measure in the country’s battle for clean air will limit fuel consumption of passenger cars to 6.9 liters per 100 kilometers by 2015 and 5 liters by 2020. This will also affect foreign car makers, as they will be forced to adjust to the new regulations if they plan to launch models in the world’s largest car market.

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Post tags: air pollution, car industry, car market regulations, car toxic emissions, carbon emissions, carbon emissions china, China air pollution, china smog, chinese fuel-efficiency standard, environmental destruction, fuel efficient automobiles, fuel efficient cars, Hybrid Technologies

Every four years the American Society of Civil Engineers releases a report on the state of the nation’s infrastructure – and every year the United States receives an abysmal rating. But for the first time in 15 years, the United States actually saw an improvement in the latest report. Before you get too excited, the rating was raised from really bad to a little less really bad. For 2013, the country received a D+ on its report card, which is up from the D that it received in 2009. If the United States were a high school student, it would be on the crumbling road to summer school.

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Post tags: America's Failing infrastructure, America's roads, American Society of Civil Engineers, ASCE, ASCE Report Card, United State infrastructure, United States infrastructure spending, US dam rating, us infrastructure, US infrastructure rating, US infrastructure report card, US levee rating, US roads rating, USACE

Volkswagen just confirmed plans to produce its XL1 plug-in hybrid – which gets an astounding 261 miles per gallon! When it is officially unveiled at the upcoming 2013 Geneva Motor Show the XL1 will be the most fuel-efficient production car in the world with a fuel consumption of only 0.9 l / 100 km (261 mpg).

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Post tags: 2013 Geneva Motor Show, electric car, electric motor, fuel efficient car, green car, lithium ion battery, volkswagen, Volkswagen XL1, VW hybrid, VW plug-in hybrid

Researchers at the German Aerospace Center are developing a hypersonic “SpaceLiner” that would zip half way around the world in 90 minutes flat. The 50-passenger airplane would piggyback off of a rocket to reach speeds of about 24 times the speed of sound. The super-fast SpaceLiner is hoped to propel passengers into the future by 2050, and it would be partially powered on liquid oxygen and hydrogen, leaving only a trail of water vapor and hydrogen in the atmosphere.


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Post tags: commercial space shuttle, eco design, German Aerospace Center, green design, hypersonic airplane, SpaceLiner, sustainable design

It’s undeniable the Google’s autonomous driving tech is pretty awesome—impressive enough that even a blind man can travel behind the wheel of one of the web giant’s self-driving cars. And there’s been a lot of buzz surrounding it, as Google became the first company to gain the legal right to test autonomous cars Nevadan roads, and autonomous cars were recently legalized in California. But, as a recently published editorial by Johann Muller in Forbes discusses, the successes of—and the hype surrounding—Google’s self-driving developments don’t necessarily pose a threat to the conventional auto industry.

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Post tags: accident prevention, auto industry, automakers, autonomous car, autonomous vehicle, google car, google self-driving patent, google self-driving prius, google self-driving technology, self-driving car, self-driving technology, self-driving vehicles

Researchers at NASA have developed a revolutionary flying wing aircraft that uses 50% less fuel than standard planes. The new manta ray-esque X-48C is based on the X-48B Blended Wing Body aircraft, which flew 92 flights at NASA Dryden between 2007 and 2010. The X-48C improves upon its predecessor with its low-noise, fuel-efficient hybrid wing body (HWB) design.

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Post tags: aerospace, aircraft, flying wing, flying wing aircraft, fuel consumption, hybrid aircraft, manta ray, nasa, nasa aircraft, X-48B, X-48C

Virginia-based Deep Space Industries just announced bold plans to not only mine asteroids (which has been proposed by multiple companies), but to also turn the raw materials into complex metal parts using space-based 3D printers. The firm intends for their fleet of asteroid-prospecting spacecraft — which are set to be deployed in 2016 — to develop these orbiting resources for larger space exploration programs.

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Post tags: 3D printers, 3D printing, asteroid prospecting, asteroids, cubesats, Deep Space Industries, firefly spacecraft, manned mars mission, mars, mars mission, microgravity foundry, mining asteroids, private space firm, satellites, smartphone, space mining, space resources, spacecraft

Toyota Motor Corp and BMW AG are joining forces to develop next-generation car batteries that are expected to be more powerful than the lithium-ion batteries used in most electric vehicles. The new lithium-air batteries will be able to generate a major portion of a car’s power needs from thin air. The two companies have announced that the new fuel-cell vehicle system will be complete by 2020.

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Post tags: "clean energy", BMW, car battery research, carbon emissions, electric car batteries, electric cars, emission-free vehicle, fuel cell vehicles, green car, green transportation, lithium-ion electric car batteries, new car technology, plug-in cars, Toyota, toyota developed battery, toyota electric vehicle

Fiat has announced the official performance specs for the 2013 Fiat 500e electric vehicle. The 2013 500e beats out other electric vehicles like the Honda Fit EV and Nissan Leaf with an EPA rating of 108 MPGe on the highway and a total driving range of 87 miles between charges. The 2013 Fiat 500e also has a 116-MPGe combined and 122 MPGe city-cycle rating.

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Post tags: automotive, electric vehicle, FIAT, Fiat 500, Fiat 500e, Fiat electric vehicle, green transportation, lithium ion battery

Read the rest of Fuel-Efficient Aeroscraft Airship Prototype Nearing Completion

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Post tags: Aeros, aeros craft, aeroscraft, aeroscraft prototype complete, airship, blimp, cargo transportation, eco design, green design, green transportation, low carbon transportation, sustainable design

The all-new 2013 Ford Fusion has been named Green Car Journal‘s 2013 Green Car of the Year at the 2012 LA Auto Show. The Ford Fusion emerged on top of a field of finalist, which included the 2013 Dodge Dart Aero, Ford C-MAX, Mazda CX-5 and the Toyota Prius c. Green Car Journal gave the Fusion the award because “it not only significantly reduces petroleum use, CO2 emissions and overall environmental impact, but is priced to encourage the kind of sales volume that can truly influence environmental improvement.”

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Post tags: 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show, automotive, ford, ford fusion, ford hybrid, Ford plug-in hybrid, green car, Green Car Journal, green transportation

Honda has released fuel economy ratings and pricing for the all-new 2014 Honda Accord Plug-in hybrid, which is slated to arrive in January. The EPA has rated the Accord Plug-in hybrid at 115 MPGe, which is a higher rating than other plug-in hybrid models like the Ford C-Max Energi (100 MPGe), Chevy Volt (98 MPGe), and Prius Plug-in (95 MPGe).

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Post tags: electric car, green car, green transportation, Honda, Honda Accord, Honda Accord Hybrid, Honda Accord PHEV, Honda hybrid, Honda plug-in hybrid

Honda‘s Micro Commuter is a compact, fuel-efficient vehicle with an innovative design that enables its body to be swapped out to suit different purposes. Close to being production-ready, the lightweight EV has a battery that is housed in the floor of the vehicle, allowing the 100-inch long body to be able to be exchanged for different models. At a weight of less than 400 kg, the motor produces 15kW and can reach a maximum speed of 80 mph.

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Post tags: Android, Europe, ev, Honda, honda smart home system, hshs, ios, Japan, l7 regulations, litium ion battery, micro commuter, solar panels, tablet, tokyo motor show, variable design platform, windows

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Post tags: Architecture, bus, Cascades, eco design, green design, green renovation, mobile home, natural ventilation, school bus conversion, sustainable design, usa, wood-fired stove, wpi Creative

When the all-new 2013 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid arrives later this fall, it not only arrives with a new bolder exterior, but will also be more fuel-efficient. The EPA has just certified the 2013 MKZ with a 45 mpg city, 45 mpg highway and 45 mpg combined rating, making it the most fuel-efficient luxury vehicle in America.

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Post tags: electric car, ford, ford hybrid, green transportation, hybrid car, hybrid luxury car, lincoln, lincoln hybrid, Lincoln MKZ

Ford’s all-new 2013 C-MAX Plug-in hybrid was just rated as most fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid available in the U.S. thanks to its 108 MPGe city rating and 100 MPGe combined rating. With today’s record gas prices, Ford estimates that over the course of five years, C-MAX Energi customers could save nearly $7,000 compared to the average new vehicle.

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Post tags: electric car, ford, Ford C-MAX, ford c-max energi, ford c-max hybrid, ford hybrid, Ford plug-in hybrid, green car, green transportation, hybrid

Read the rest of TEST DRIVE: Inhabitat Takes Ford’s Stylish 2013 Fusion Hybrid For a Spin

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Post tags: ford, ford fusion, ford fusion energi, ford fusion hybrid, ford hybrid, green car, green transportation, hybrid car, lithium ion battery

This fall Ford is releasing an all-new 2013 Ford Fusion – and the vehicle was just rated by the EPA as the most fuel-efficient midsize sedan in America with fuel economy scores of 47 mpg city, 47 mpg highway and 47 mpg combined. The EPA’s rating of 47 mpg means that the new Fusion Hybrid is more fuel-efficient than its closest competitor, the Toyota Camry Hybrid, by 8 mpg highway and 4 mpg city.

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Post tags: ford, Ford EcoBoost, ford fusion, ford fusion energi, ford fusion hybrid, ford hybrid, green car, green transportation, hybrid car, plug-in hybrid car