Electric cars have gotten all the attention lately, but they’re far from the only vehicles that run on electricity. In fact, the first electric motorcycle appeared in the pages of Popular Mechanics over 100 years ago. However, like early electric cars, they were basically forgotten once gasoline became cheap and easy to get. Now that gas is expensive and people …

FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT FOR CARBON NANOTUBE SOLAR CELLS In an approach that could challenge silicon as the predominant photovoltaic cell material, University of Wisconsin-Madison materials engineers have developed an inexpensive solar cell that exploits carbon nanotubes to absorb and convert energy from the sun. The advance could lead to solar panels just as efficient, but much less expensive to manufacture, …

Looming on the horizon is a future of high gas prices and disuse for most cars on the road today. More and more drivers are getting on board with alternatively-powered vehicles, and thus, more manufacturers are offering vehicle models outfitted with alternative engines to feed the demand. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, in 2010, vehicle dealers in the U.S. …

When the idea of the electric car was proposed to minimize greenhouse gases and pollution, the two basic platforms were the hybrid platform and a pure electric platform. When it comes to the latter, the main issue is the low range of operation. While the breakthrough in battery technology is unlikely to happen, students, scientists, hobbyists and of course companies …

Smokerspack asked: Renault’s march toward an electric future continues and Bob gets a chance to drive the Fluence ZE on the roads in Ireland. See the exclusive video here first

derknorm asked: maybe the future of california is green? electric cars in california charging their batteries with green energy

consumerreports asked: Are electric cars really the vehicles of the future? Consumer Reports tests the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf to see if they’re ready to go mainstream. Learn more about electric cars and alternative-fuel vehicles on our website: www.consumerreports.org

VOAvideo asked: US car company General Motors has made some tough business decisions regarding its electric-powered Chevrolet Volt. Some analysts are wondering what this means for the future of electric cars in America. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti takes us for a spin to find out.

When power plants begin capturing their carbon emissions to reduce greenhouse gases – and to most in the electric power industry, it’s a question of when, not if – it will be an expensive undertaking. Current technologies would use about one-third of the energy generated by the plants – what’s called “parasitic energy” – and, as a result, substantially drive …

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is envisioning a future where you can pull into a parking space and be given the option to wirelessly charge your electric car. It just needs somebody to invent the technology. Up to four contractors will be rewarded with up to US12 million in DOE grant money for innovation in static wireless charging. The …

Ecologists and environmentalists are currently anxious about the today’s state that the entire world has. Fears about the approaching tragedy of our world possess been circulating round the media whether it is in the newspaper, television, movies, radio, and internet. Everybody is just saying that the end world world is currently near. The produced exceptional cues all over he world …

By Steven Pleging I believe that the loss of industry players Solyndra, Evergreen, and SpectraWatt opens the market for more innovative solar companies to succeed with smarter tactics and mainstream products that fit into existing manufacturing models. Remember when the dot.com bubble burst in 2000 and, seemingly overnight, some companies ceased making millions hand-over-fist? Flash forward to 2011, when nearly …

Whether you live in the UK, the United States, Australia or any where in the world for that matter, you will undoubtedly be seeing renewable energy sources popping up on your neighbour’s homes or even on commercial properties around your area. This is because the renewable energy industry is booming at the moment, there are solar panel companies cropping up …

Many of us fondly remember Fred Flinstone and his foot-powered automobile. Unfortunately, the self-powered car never materialized in our real world. Instead, we have millions of cars on the road today that all use a lot of gas and produce fumes that are harmful to our environment. Environmentally friendly cars are a big step in the right direction. While many …

Moving can be a stressful time for anyone. Whether you have planned your move for weeks (or even months), or are moving with little to no notice, it is always difficult to pack your entire life into boxes and transport it to your next abode. For those who are environmentally-responsible, minimizing your carbon footprint – the effect that your activities …

We have known, for quite some time, that the fossil fuels we use today are a finite source of energy; we only seem to disagree on when those sources will run dry. Alternative sources have been around for quite some time, including electric power and solar power, but none has yet supplanted dead dinosaurs. Presented here are some other fuels,some strange, some downright weird.

Charles Brown asked: The batteries in hybrid cars are responsible for the improved fuel economy that has become central to the technology.They get a hybrid car moving from stopped to a low speed – generally around thirty-five mph, at which point the gas engine cuts in.  This puts less stress on the gasoline engine and extends the amount of fuel …

Floyd Dorrance asked: This article explains a few things about “hybrid car”, and if you’re interested, then this is worth reading, because you can never tell what you don’t know. If you are a type of person who likes exotic high speed sports car, then you should prepare to spend a lot of money on gasoline. Sports cars are known …

Jose Marc Castro asked: Many people believe that hybrid electric cars have opened the marketplace for pure electric cars as well as increasing demand for hybrid vehicles. But what exactly is a hybrid electric car and what can it do for you? Hybrid vehicles A hybrid vehicle is one which integrates both traditional internal combustion engine power with that of …

Anton Rowd asked: As to date, an increase of 50% on hybrid car demand has been observed since it entered mainstream market. It’s no surprise how much of an effect they have had on the average driver and consumer but it seems that hybrid is definitely the future of the automobile industry; so much so, in fact, that it’s also …