Hello BEST friends and members,


The article I’m posting for this week takes a look at a couple of different ways that car manufacturers are trying to create an efficient and sustainable vehicle for the next generation of transportation. Ford makes use of a Fresnel lens to concentrate sunlight onto a solar panel atop its C-MAX hybrid vehicle. Though the distance travelled off of a single charge is modest, and the charging methods are far from perfected, this is certainly a neat first step in showing that solar energy to power a vehicle is possible. Toyota will begin sales of one of the first available fuel cell vehicles next year. Using tanks of compressed hydrogen as fuel, the vehicle can travel 300 miles creating nothing but water as a byproduct. 

Both of these vehicles take critical next steps in our journey to replace fossil fuels, and many believe that harnessing hydrogen gas to power fuel cells may be the way of the future. However, both of these technologies are in their beginning phases and we should certainly look forward to the wider availability and increased affordability of sustainable technologies in the years to come.


Thank you for your time,


Brent Lovato
University Scholar - CALS


http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20140119/business/701199959/
Alternative energy powered cars on a roll
Associated Press