Thailand has seen more than its fair share of troubles in recent weeks, but that isn’t stopping the country making significant green progress - even if it is thanks to a Swedish car manufacturer. Volvo Car Thailand has introduced two green cars to the country in the form of the Volvo C30 1.8F, which is an E85 flexifuel model, and the Volvo S80 2.5FT which is Thailand’s first and only locally produced flexifuel vehicle. Speaking about the decision to introduce the vehicles to the ... read more

 One of the main hindrances to the growth of green cars worldwide has been the lack of refuelling infrastructure. Now however, readers in the USA can find out exactly how viable an alternative-fuel car is after the Department of Energy introduced a new website. The website allows users to quickly search for refuelling stations of just about any kind except regular petrol or diesel. The website includes refuelling stations for: Biodiesel (B20 and above) Compressed Natural ... read more

 Congratulations are due for the US state of Maine, which has reached a goal of including a 10 per cent ethanol (E10) blend in nearly all its gasoline, despite the fact that there is no legislation making this a state requirement. According to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the introduction of an E10 blend is due to state and federal tax regulations as well as tax incentives and current fuel market forces. There are many reasons why Maine has been able to ... read more

 The mission is under way to turn algae into an alternative to fossil-based oil by 2020 as the UK Carbon Trust launched the Algae Biofuels Challenge. The multi-million pound initiative could see the Carbon Trust commit £3.6 million of funding in the first phase of the challenge depending on the number of quality applications it receives. The UK Department of Transport has also announced that it will be contributing towards the initiative. So what does the challenge involve? The Carbon Trust ... read more

 The biochemical process for biobutanol production has received a major boost as California based Cobalt Biofuels raised $25 million to accelerate commercialisation. Cobalt believes that the faith shown by investors is well considered due to the advantages of its process, which are based on advances in microbial strain improvement, separation technology and fermentation reaction. The plan is for Cobalt to produce biobutanol from a range of non-food feedstocks. By developing a process to ... read more

Transport Minister Andrew Adonis has today set out plans to take a more cautious approach to biofuels, as part of the Government’s response to concerns about the indirect environmental and social impacts of producing them. He published a consultation taking forward key findings from the Gallagher Review, including the proposal that the rate of increase of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) be slowed to reach 5% in 2013-14 rather than in 2010-11. At the same time he dedicated ... read more

 The stumbling block to going green has often been the lack of refuelling infrastructure in place - but now drivers along one American interstate have no excuse not to fill up with biofuel. Interstate 65, which stretches from Gary, Indiana, to Mobile, Alabama, now has E85 ethanol and B20 biodiesel available along its entire 886 mile length. This means that a driver is no more than a quarter of a tank away from a participating E85 retailer. The project, which has taken $1.3 million of federal ... read more

 The debate as to whether biofuels are a viable environmental alternative is likely to rage for some time yet. However, according to BP, one thing is certain - our reliance on this alternative fuel is likely to increase in the future. BP assessments suggest that biofuels could account for between 11 and 19 per cent of the transport fuel market by 2030 and this could rise up to 30 per cent if the industry can address some of the problems surrounding the fuel such as feedstock, technology and ... read more

 Forget the £50 billion banking bailout or interest rates being slashed by 0.5 per cent, the news we were waiting for here at thegreencarwebsite.co.uk came from the Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) when it issued its first interim quarterly report. Under the terms of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), fossil fuel companies are obliged to supply 2.5 per cent biofuel in UK road fuel in the year to April 2009. So is the UK on target? The answer is ‘yes’ as biofuels accounted ... read more

 Judging by the reaction of many of the European and Asian stock markets on Monday, the Emergency Economic Stabilisation Act of 2008 (EESA 2008) appeared to have little affect on restoring confidence to the marketplace. However, just what affect will it have on green cars? You may wonder how a financial bailout for the banks affects green cars at all. However, the final legislation consisted of three parts: the $700billion for dealing with troubled assets; the Energy Improvement and ... read more