If the US automobile industry ramps up its efforts to produce eco-friendly vehicles for the mass market, it could cut the nation’s gas consumption by 30 to 50 percent by 2035. That’s according to a new study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But the study also asserts that the mentality of car consumers will need to change.
The unofficial theme of the second night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver was the building of a green economy. In speech after speech, the Democrats pointed to Barack Obama’s plan to put 1 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on American roads by 2015—and to rebuild the American auto industry in the process—as the cornerstone of his plan for energy independence.
Dale Vince, CEO of the renewable energy company Ecotricity, and his enthusiastic vehicle engineer, Richard Jenkins, are camped out at Lake LeFroy, a huge salt flat in Western Australia. When weather conditions improve, Vince and Jenkins will be attempting to take back the wind-power land speed record from Bob Schumacher, whose Iron Duck has held the record at 116.7 since March 20th, 1999. But their design—dubbed "Greenbird"—may have implications beyond the Guinness Book of World Records.
