A reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions of 28 per cent by 2020 – that’s the goal outlined by President Barack Obama for the Federal Government.

In October 2009, the President signed Executive Order 13514 on Federal Sustainability that sets measurable environmental performance goals for Federal agencies. Each agency was required to submit a 2020 greenhouse gas pollution reduction target from its 2008 baseline to the White House Council on Environmental Quality and to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget on January 4, 2010. Now a target has been established from the aggregate of 35 Federal Agency self-reported targets.

Currently, the Federal Government is the single largest energy consumer in the US economy having spent more than $24.5billion on electricity and fuel in 2008 alone. To achieve its goal it will need to reduce energy use by the equivalent of 646trillion BTUs – around 205million barrels of oil, and the equivalent of taking 17million cars off the road in one year.

Targets will be achieved by measuring current energy and fuel use and becoming more energy efficient, including switching to clean energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal power.

In other news, the Obama administration has also officially announced its desire to associate with the Copenhagen Accord and has submitted an emissions reduction target of 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020.

In a move that symbolises how quickly its stature in the emerging green car market has grown, Tesla Motors announced on Friday that it has filed a registration statement for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock.

The company has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – however, the number of shares to be offered and the price range have yet to be determined. The prospectus on file with the SEC is expected to be updated.

Goldman, Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank Securities will act as the joint book-running managers for the offering.

Hybrids are too expensive because carmakers are loading them with expensive and ‘unnecessary’ features,  the Union Of Concerned Scientists (UCS) says.

The US-based none-profit organisation has criticised carmakers for making hybrid car ‘luxury’ vehicles when they could be affordable to all. It argues that the hybrid cars should not come with inflated prices when the need to reduce fuel-use is a high priority.

Too often carmaker are inflating hybrid model prices by including unnecessary luxury features, such as DVD players, keyless entry systems and leather interiors, the organisation says as it launches its new ‘Hybrid Scorecard’ guide. The scorecard demonstrates which hybrid offer the best environmental advantages over conventional vehicles but also displays which come with the greatest number of ‘forced’ luxury features which push up the retail price.

According to UCS, the popular 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid and 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid illustrate perfectly the problem with ‘forced features.’ UCS’s scorecard gave both cars a high ‘hybrid value’ rating due to the fact that both emit 31 per cent less heat-trapping pollution than their base conventional models due to their use of hybrid drivetrains, each of which costs approximately $4,000. But both models come with forced features that cost nearly as much as their hybrid drivetrains. The Honda Civic Hybrid has more than $3,000 worth of forced features, while the Ford Fusion Hybrid includes nearly $4,000 worth.

By contrast, the 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid has a very high hybrid value. It emits 44 per cent less global warming pollution than its closest conventional counterpart, the Toyota Matrix, and its hybrid drivetrain costs a little more than $3,000. It comes just $1,600 worth of forced features.

But the luxury Lexus LS 600h L hybrid is the worst offender. It comes with more than $17,000 in forced features compared with the conventional, base model Lexus LS 460L. The Honda Insight, conversely, has no forced features, delivers more than 40 miles per gallon, and emits relatively little global warming pollution. With a sticker price of less than $20,000, the Insight is one of the most affordable hybrids available.

Ford, General Motors, Honda and Toyota all sell models with high hybrid value ratings. Size was not an issue, since UCS awarded high ratings to vehicles ranging from compact cars to luxury sedans to full-sized SUVs. But ‘muscle’ hybrids, such as the GMC Yukon Hybrid and Lexus LS 600h L, which emphasize power over increased mileage and reduced emissions, have much lower hybrid value.

“Hybrids don’t have to be luxury vehicles,” said Don Anair, the senior vehicles analyst with UCS’s Clean Vehicles Program who oversaw the guide. “They should be within the reach of all Americans. Car buyers shouldn’t be forced to buy high-end bells and whistles when fuel economy and reducing emissions are their top priority.”

“The good news for consumers is there are a lot of great hybrids out there,” Anair said. “But you can’t trust the hybrid label alone. You need to look at how much environmental performance you’re getting for your money.”

UCS’s Hybrid Scorecard also ranks models based on environmental performance alone—mainly how well they reduce smog-forming emissions and the heat-trapping emissions that cause global warming. The Prius scored a 9.8 out of a possible 10. The Honda Civic Hybrid, Mercury Milan Hybrid and Ford Fusion Hybrid tied for second with an identical environmental score of 7.8. Meanwhile, General Motors hybrids lagged far behind, largely due to their relatively poor smog-forming emissions controls.

UCS’s scorecard rated 31 hybrids, including two- and four-wheel drive models, manufactured by five automakers: Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda and Nissan. The scorecard provides a profile of each hybrid as well as an explanation of the methodology UCS used. It is hosted at www.HybridCenter.org, UCS’s Webby-award winning website for hybrid news and information.

Oil companies are failing to report on the sources of biofuels used in fuel supplied to forecourts, a new report reveals.

The Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) has issued its first report into the impacts of biofuel supplied under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), hinting that fuel suppliers are exploiting a loophole which means they do not need to fully report on the sustainability of their biofuel sources.

The current RTFO requires fuel providers to supply 3.23 per cent of all fuel must be made up of biofuel, with that obligation increasing to 13 per cent by 2020.

Several fuel suppliers are shown by the report to have failed to demonstrate the sustainability of their biofuels supplied to forecourts in 2009. Morgan Stanley and Topaz both missed all three Government performance targets, while Chevron, Murco and Topaz failed to report any fuel meeting the RTFO’s Environmental Qualifying Standard. As well as companies with poor results, there were several that failed to have their data verified to the RFA’s satisfaction. BP, Murco and Prax reported meeting at least one target, but as their data was not properly assured the RFA could not confirm this.

The RFA’s CEO Nick Goodall said:“We have seen many companies meeting the challenge of sourcing their biofuels responsibly. However, too many are lagging behind and dragging overall performance down.”

The report also follows up on the Agency’s ‘Gallagher Review’, which called for indirect effects of biofuels to be addressed, by proposing a new methodology to identify biofuels with a low risk of causing indirect land use change (iLUC).

Several sources of biofuel are thought to contribute to iLUC such as palm oil sourced from Indonesia. As the cheapest fuel to buy, palm oil makes an attractive solution to fuel suppliers to help them meet their biofuel quota.

However, it is widely recognised as the most damaging to the environment due the destruction of rainforest to make way for plantations.

RFA’s Head of Carbon and Sustainability Aaron Berry commented: “Biofuel suppliers should be encouraged to support projects like these, which avoid indirect effects, as they reduce the risk of causing indirect carbon emissions and raising food prices.”

Mandatory sustainability criteria due to be introduced by the end of 2010, to crack down on fuel suppliers who fail to report on their biofuel sources.

Two hybrid cars came top of the Euro NCAP safety ratings for 2009, it has been revealed.

Beaten into submission only by another green car, the Volkswagen Golf, the Honda Insight came second followed by the Toyota Prius.

Euro NCAP has revealed for the first time, the top five safest cars of 2009, based on its five star awards and overall scoring system.

The sixth generation Golf came first with a rating of 97 per cent for adult occupant safety, followed by the two hybrid models; the Honda Insight with 90 per cent and the Toyota Prius with 88 per cent. In fourth place came the Hyundai i20. There are three joint winners for fifth place – the Toyota Avensis, Volvo XC60 and another super-low emission model; the Opel/Vauxhall Astra. Euro NCAP’s poorest results of the year were achieved by the Suzuki Alto and the Toyota Urban Cruiser, which both received three stars.

The crash-test safety specialist tested thirty three car models in 2009, testing each for the safety of child passengers, adult passengers and pedestrians.

To calculate an overall safety rating, the car model is usually put through four crash tests, a component test and is assessed by an inspector who considers tests results and the safety equipment and features of the car.

In 2010 the tests are set to get tougher though, the threshold to achieve Euro NCAP’s maximum five stars will rise from 75 per cent to 80 per cent in Adult Occupant Protection and from 70 per cent to 75 per cent in Child Occupant Protection. The threshold for Pedestrian Protection rises to 40 per cent. The first results for vehicles tested under this stricter assessment will be released on 3rd March 2010.

Nissan North America has received a huge funding boost after US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) had closed a $1.4billion loan agreement with the company.

The money is designed to support the modification of Nissan’s Smyrna, Tennessee, manufacturing plant where the all-electric Nissan LEAF will be produced along with the lithium-ion battery packs used to power them.

The modifications will include a new battery plant and changes to the existing structure for electric vehicle assembly. It is expected that the plant will have the capacity to build 150,000 Nissan LEAF electric cars every year, along with 200,000 battery packs.

In addition, Nissan is developing infrastructure to support electric vehicles having formed more than a dozen partnerships across the US in markets including Tennessee, Oregon, Phoenix and Tucson Arizona, Washington DC, Raleigh North Carolina, Seattle Washington, and both Sonoma County and San Diego in California.

This is now the third loan arrangement agreed by the DOE following on from its first loan agreement for $5.9billion with Ford in September and last week’s $465million agreement with Tesla Motors.

Electric vehicle manufacturer THINK has released its first US electric vehicle ready cities index to measure which markets are most likely to begin, and benefit from, the transition to electric vehicles.

At the top of the pile is Los Angeles followed by its Californian neighbour San Francisco; with Chicago and New York tied for third. San Diego, Portland and Sacramento take up spots five-seven, while Newark, Seattle and Atlanta rounded out the top 10. The remaining cities making the top 15 list were Denver, Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Phoenix. 

According to Richard Canny, CEO of THINK, electric vehicle roll-out will be quite focused in the early stages with some cities more likely to be early adopters of the technology. The index is designed to show the available government support, consumer acceptance and the opportunity for electric vehicles to provide the maximum benefits possible from electric drive.

The index takes into account purchase and usage incentives, as well as factors such as hybrid sales, traffic congestion, potential lower-carbon energy sources and EPA non-attainment zone status.

THINK produced a similar index for Europe, which recognised Oslo, Copenhagen and Amsterdam as the top three markets.

How important is the issue of global warming? Well, if a new survey released by researchers at Yale and George Mason universities is any indication, then it’s not as big a concern as it used to be.

The survey found that 50 per cent of Americans now say they are “somewhat” or “very worried” about global warming – down 13 points. Indeed the percentage of Americans that even think global warming is happening is also down 14 points to 57 per cent. Similarly those who think global warming is caused mostly by human activities dropped 10 points to 47 per cent.

Keeping with the trend of these beliefs, there is an increase in the number of people who think global warming will never harm the Unites States, or elsewhere, or other species; and Americans who believe that most scientists think global warming is happening has dropped by 13 points to 34 per cent.

Given the growing scientific evidence of global warming and its serious impacts, some may be perplexed by these results. However, Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change believes public opinion is affected by rising unemployment, frustration with Washington and a divisive health care debate which have pushed climate change out of the news.

The Nissan Leaf has been named as the Green Car Journal’s 2010 Green Car Vision award winner at the Washington Auto Show this week.

Nissan’s innovative electric hatchback offering is scheduled to go on sale in Europe by 2012. The Leaf beat off competition the Coda electric sedan, Ford Focus BEV electric car, Mercedes-Benz F-Cell hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, and Toyota Prius PHV plug-in hybrid, to win the award.

Explaining the selection, Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal and editor of GreenCar.com said:”Nissan’s move to offer a stylish battery electric vehicle as part of its model line is significant,
“This coming electric model will provide the features, the styling, and the driving experience that will meet the needs of a sophisticated and demanding market, while producing zero localized emissions and requiring no petroleum fuels.”

The vehicle’s cost does not exceed that of a comparable internal combustion model and the gas to run it.

“This kind of price parity is crucial to the success of any mass market advanced technology model,” Cogan says.

The Leaf, a family-sized hatchback has a top speed of 87mph, a range of 100 miles and can be charged to 80 per cent capacity in just 30 minutes with a quick charger.

To be considered for the Green Car Vision Award™, vehicles must be in their early stages of commercialization but not yet on sale, in small volume production with more than one functional prototype in existence, or operating as part of a demonstration fleet.

The Green Car Journal is a US-based green car publication, first established in 1992.

The Washington Auto Show which played host to the award, opened to the public yesterday and runs until January 31, 2010.

Honda has begun testing a solar-powered hydrogen refuelling device for home use, in the hope that the prototype could help solve a global lack of refuelling infrastructure for hydrogen cars.

The carmaker, which is leasing its FCX Clarity hydrogen-fuel cell car in California, is now testing the solar-powered pump at it U.S. headquarters also based in California.

According to The Detroit News, the device makes half a kilogram of hydrogen gas per day, enough for an average daily commute. The hydrogen fuel is generated from water and electricity produced by 6 kilowatts of rooftop solar panels.
Plans by Honda to sell and develop hydrogen-fuelled cars have stalled in the United States due to a lack of fuel stations, high costs and a diversion of federal funds towards electric-powered cars.

Currently Honda runs a limited lease programme of its FCX Clarity fuel cell sedan to drivers in the Los Angeles because the city has some hydrogen refuelling stations. Actress, Jamie Lee Curtis is one of the limited numbers of people who have been lucky enough to lease the model, believed to cost around $600 a month.

Honda has yet to confirm how much the Solar Hydrogen Station will cost and when it will be available, although the device is expected to be cheaper and smaller than a previous solar-powered fuel pump tested in California. It is designed for a slow, overnight refill to hold down ‘costs and complexity’, the company said in an email statement to the newspaper.

Carmakers developing hydrogen-fuelled vehicles include BMW, Toyota and GM but so far costs and a lack of refuelling infrastructure have been two major obstacles to the widespread adoption of the ‘zero emission’ technology.