Automaker Takes Another Step Toward Fuel Cells

  • Ford has started converting some of the traditional, gasoline-fueled engines into hydrogen-powered engines. (Photo by Szekér Ottó)

Automakers from around the world spent last week showing off their latest concepts and production cars at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Many car companies announced plans to begin producing more hybrid vehicles. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports other environmental technologies got some attention as well, including a new way to use hydrogen to fuel the vehicles of the future:

Transcript

Automakers from around the world spent last week showing off their latest concepts and production cars at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Many car companies announced plans to begin producing more hybrid vehicles. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports other environmental technologies got some attention as well, including a new way to use hydrogen to fuel the vehicles of the future:


Many automakers now say that cars ultimately will be powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Fuel cells consume hydrogen to generate electricity to power a motor, while leaving on water as waste. There are problems with cells. They’re really expensive right now. And there aren’t many hydrogen re-fueling stations. Ford Motor Company thinks it has a solution. It’s converting some standard gasoline engines to burn hydrogen. Ford’s chief engineer for the system, Vance Zanardelli, says the new engine is a necessary step.


“In order to get people familiar with hydrogen as a fuel, realizing it is a clean, safe fuel, in order to help spur the development of more hydrogen fueling stations, the development of revised codes and standards, and really lay the groundwork, so that when fuel cells are ready for primetime, the world is ready for them.”


Ford plans to begin testing some of the new hydrogen-burning engines in shuttle busses next year.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Poorman.

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Study: Suv Sales Slowing Down

A study by an auto analysis firm says that sales of sport utility vehicles are beginning to slow down. That’s because consumers are demanding more cars and car-like SUVs. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports:

Transcript

A study by an auto analysis firm says that sales of sport utility vehicles are beginning to
slow down. That’s because consumers are demanding more cars and car-like SUVs. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports:


The report from J.D. Power and Associates says inventories of SUVs are building up on
dealer lots, prices of SUVs are falling, and sales incentives are rising. The biggest
decline is taking place among the largest and least fuel efficient SUVs. Tom Libby with
J.D. Power says more people are demanding vehicles that look like SUVs, but are built
more like cars. He calls these crossovers.


“In the second quarter of 2004, crossovers actually reached 40 percent of all SUVs, and
that was a record. So we’re approaching the point where crossovers will be every other
SUV sold.”


And in certain cases, crossovers have better fuel efficiency than comparable traditional
SUVs.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Poorman.

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Sustainability Report Calls for Auto Improvements

A business group representing the world’s largest auto and oil companies has released a report that calls for more action to deal with the social and environmental impacts of cars and trucks. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman has more:

Transcript

A business group representing the world’s largest auto and oil
companies has released a report that calls for more action to deal with
the social and environmental impact of cars and trucks. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman has more:

The report was developed through the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development. It calls for so-called “sustainable
mobility.” That includes controlling pollution and greenhouse gas
emissions and reducing traffic deaths and congestion. Louis Dale with
General Motors worked on the report.


“There are about 800 million vehicles in the world today. By 2030,
just about 25 years from now, there will be almost a doubling of that.
Probably at least 1.5 billion vehicles.”


Dale says making environmental and safety improvements will help avoid
a backlash from government or customers. Dan Becker is with the Sierra
Club. He says the report is nice. But the companies could do more now.


“Hybrid cars are one example, but better engines, better
transmissions, better aerodynamics. The auto industry needs to take
these technologies off the shelf and put them on their vehicles.”


The industry report says that some improvements can be made now, but
effective cuts in greenhouse gas emissions will have to wait until well
after 2030.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Poorman.

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Greens Gang Up on Ford Motor

Environmental groups are turning to national ad campaigns to push automakers to make more fuel-efficient vehicles, and they’re singling out Ford Motor Company for the most criticism. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports:

Transcript

Environmental groups are turning to national ad campaigns to get automakers to
make more fuel-efficient vehicles. And they’re singling out Ford Motor Company
for the most criticism. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman
reports:


The Sierra Club ran a series of ads criticizing Ford last year. Earlier this
year, the group Bluewater Network ran a series of ads portraying Ford chief Bill
Ford as Pinocchio, for backtracking on environmental commitments he made four
years ago. The latest campaign came this summer from Global Exchange and the
Rainforest Action Network. Those ads called on Ford to develop a fleet of zero
emissions vehicles. Jennifer Krill with the Rainforest Action Network.


“Right now, Ford is the worst in the US auto industry. Ford’s average fuel
economy of its car and truck fleet is the last among the top six automakers for
the fifth straight year.”


In the U-S Environmental Protection Agency’s latest reports, Ford’s vehicles got
an average of 18-point-8 miles per gallon. For its part, Ford says some of the
environmental groups’ demands are unaffordable. The company also comes out with
gas-electric sport utility vehicle this summer.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Poorman.

True Costs of the Emerald Ash Borer

Officials in Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario are all gearing up for another summer of fighting the emerald ash borer. The Asian insect burrows into and kills ash trees. The economic and the environmental costs of the invasive beetle are adding up. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports:

Transcript

Officials in Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario are all gearing up for another
summer of fighting the emerald ash borer. The Asian insect burrows
into and
kills ash trees. The economic and the environmental costs of the
invasive
beetle are adding up. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill
Poorman
reports:


Researchers first identified the emerald ash borer just a couple of years
ago. The small, metallic-green beetle has killed millions of ash trees,
especially in southeast Michigan where thirteen counties are under
quarantine. Paul Bairley is the city forester for Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The
city is spending millions of dollars fighting the emerald ash borer. But
Bairley says, losing the trees has a significant environmental cost, as
well. Larger ash trees can provide enough oxygen for a family of four
for a
year, and other benefits.


“That same tree will provide the cooling value of about twenty
room-size air conditioners, BTU equivalents…and probably most importantly, air filtration
of pollutants. A car driven 11-thousand miles per year, that tree could
absorb effectively, recycle the exhaust from that automobile.”


Researchers think the emerald ash borer first arrived in the mid 90s
aboard
packing materials for goods shipped from Asian countries. For the
Great
Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Poorman.

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Epa Reviewing Car Fuel Economy Tests

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is looking at whether the gas mileage estimates that appear on the window stickers of new cars are over-inflated. The agency responded to a petition from a California environmental group. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports:

Transcript

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is looking at whether the gas
mileage estimates that appear on the window stickers of new cars are
over-inflated. The agency responded to a petition from a California
environmental group. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman
reports:


The Bluewater Network says that cars and trucks actually get as much as
twenty percent fewer miles per gallon than EPA window stickers suggest.
Spokesperson Elisa Lynch says that’s because driving patterns have changed
since the current testing system was set up in the mid ’80s.


“There’s been increased urbanization, there are higher speed limits, and more
traffic congestion, and all of these are factors that affect your fuel
economy when you’re out there driving in the real world.”


The EPA is seeking public comment on its testing procedure. EPA
spokesperson John Millet says that part of the process will wrap up in late
July.


“After that period, EPA will go through what we anticipate will be
quite a lot of information, and that’s going to take some time.”


Millet says the EPA might decide its current testing system is just fine.
But if that’s not the case, it could still be up to three years before
another system is in place.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Poorman.

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Socially Responsible Investing Catches On

The amount of money invested in so-called socially responsible mutual funds continues to grow. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports, they’re still a small part of the big picture:

Transcript

The amount of money invested in so-called socially responsible mutual funds continues to grow.
But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports, they’re still a small part of the
big picture:


A report from the trade group the Social Investment Forum says holdings in socially responsible
mutual funds grew by eleven percent over the last couple of years. The amount now stands at
151 billion dollars. Todd Larsen is a spokesperson for the Forum. He says the industry has
grown dramatically since the group first added up the investments eight years ago.


“In our first report, we found there were 12 billion dollars in assets in socially responsible mutual
funds.”


Larsen says socially responsible funds have a variety of approaches. Some screen out entire
sectors of the economy.


“For example, perhaps, the oil industry might be screened out. In other funds, they’re doing a
best of class approach. So they’ll look at each industry and see which companies are the best within
that particular industry, and they’ll hold those companies.”


Even with the growth, socially responsible mutual funds are still only a tiny percentage of the
trillions of dollars invested in all funds.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Poorman.

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Gm and Dow Launch Fuel Cell Testing Site

General Motors and Dow Chemical have opened a test facility designed to make fuel cells more viable. Fuel cells use hydrogen to create electricity, with the only waste products being water and heat. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports:

Transcript

General Motors and Dow Chemical have opened a test facility designed to make fuel cells more
viable. Fuel cells use hydrogen to create electricity, with the only waste products being water and
heat. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports:


The test site is located at Dow Chemical’s facility in Freeport, Texas. The fuel cell station will
use hydrogen that’s a by-product from the plant’s processes. The electricity that’s generated will,
in turn, be used by the plant. Julie Beamer heads GM’s efforts to make fuel cells commercially
viable. She says, over time, the facility will generate a megawatt of electricity.


“To put that into perspective, a megawatt is really the equivalent of powering about 700 average
size U.S. homes.”


Beamer says GM will learn valuable lessons from the site that will help it create fuel cell cars by
the next decade. The technology is seen as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions. But a recent
report out last week from the National Academy of Sciences says it will take decades before fuel
cells are widespread in automobiles.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Poorman.

U.S. CAR BUYERS DON’T THINK GREEN

The auto industry seems to be growing a bit green. Car makers across the world are exploring new, more environmentally-friendly power systems for cars and trucks. But despite these new developments, it doesn’t appear that American car buyers think green when they go shopping for a new vehicle. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports:

Transcript

The auto industry seems to be growing a bit green. Car makers across
the world are exploring new, more environmentally friendly power systems
for cars and trucks. But despite these new developments, it doesn’t
appear that American car buyers think green when they go shopping for a
new vehicle. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports:


Sales of environmentally-friendly vehicles are increasing in the U-S. Toyota is leading the pack,
with the debut in October of the second generation of its mid-size hybrid car, the Prius. The
small gas engine gets help from an electric motor, making for a much different kind of
start-up.


(sound of Prius starting)


However, those sales are dwarfed by the sales of gas guzzling SUVs.


(sound of H2 starting)


That’s the H2 – the latest in General Motor’s popular line of Hummers.
These vehicles are so big that they’re considered a heavy truck, making
them exempt from the federal government’s fuel economy ratings, so you
won’t see the gas mileage on the window sticker.


But salesman Ed Arthur of Capitol Hummer in Lansing, Michigan, says
that’s not a big deal. Arthur says H2 customers are looking for
something else than fuel economy.


“They’re looking for something that’s unique. It’s different.
They want something to be where they can go off-road if they want to.
If they don’t want to, that’s fine. But they want the capabilities, but
they don’t want to sacrifice the comforts and the rides that they’ve
been getting in other cars and other types of vehicles in the past.”


These kinds of preferences aren’t just limited to the select customers
who can afford a 50-thousand-dollar Hummer. John Denove studies
customers’ car-buying priorities for JD Power and Associates, an
automotive consulting firm.


“Probably your top five include the quality/reliability issues, styling, safety, gas mileage, and
incentives.”
And Denove says, gas mileage only recently crept into the top five, as
gas prices have risen. As for pure environmental motives, he says he
recently developed a survey and, during a series of interviews, found
fifty different factors people consider when they’re choosing what car
or truck to buy.


“The funny thing is, nobody during those interviews ever mentioned green issues other than gas
mileage, so they never made it into the survey.”


But environmentalists think those findings might not capture what’s
really happening when people go into dealerships. Jon Coifman is with
the Natural Resources Defense Council. He says that people just assume
cars and trucks won’t harm the environment now. Regulations have
prompted automakers to develop and sell cleaner technologies.


“What we’ve learned over the years is that when you’ve got
good standards in place, the automakers have done a pretty good job of
delivering good solutions at a pretty good price.”


Detroit’s car companies argue that price and performance are both major
reasons for their delay in getting out newer and more expensive
environmental technologies, like hybrids and electric cars. Consumer
surveys show most car-buyers won’t pay more just to be green. And
electrics never caught on because they had a limited range and had to be
plugged in each night.


But Toyota now says that it’s making money on every Prius. And next
year, the Japanese automaker plans to put a new twist on hybrid sales.
It will overcome the lack of demand for green vehicles by marketing a
new hybrid SUV as a performance vehicle, with a four-cylinder engine
producing six-cylinder power, and by the way, it gets good mileage.


The NRDC’s Coifman says this makes him worry that GM, Ford, and Chrysler
are already losing this latest car sales skirmish.


“Our fear is that, as this revolution unfolds, that the
American manufacturers may have been dragging their feet too long and
are going to miss the boat.”


In the meantime, GM’s investment in the Hummer is paying off for the
company and its dealers. The vehicles bring in huge profits. GM is
even considering adding another, but smaller, Hummer to its line-up,
filling what seems to be an ever expanding taste for gargantuan, rather
than green, vehicles in the U.S.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Poorman.

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Auto Suppliers Seek to Cut Waste

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, General Motors, and a group of auto suppliers have teamed up to clean up manufacturing. They’ve formed the “Suppliers’ Partnership for the Environment.” The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports:

Transcript

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, General Motors, and a group of
auto suppliers have teamed up to clean up manufacturing. They’ve formed
the “Suppliers’ Partnership for the Environment.” The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman reports:


The partnership includes some of the biggest auto suppliers, including
Delphi, Visteon, Lear, and Federal-Mogul. Federal-Mogul’s Roger Strelow
is the group’s vice chairman. He says they want to find ways to help the
environment and cut costs, by combining the expertise of the EPA, GM,
and auto suppliers. For example, Strelow says, take a company that learns
how to cut manufacturing waste.


“They are both saving money by having to buy less raw
material to make a given unit of product. At the same time, if there’s
less scrap, there’s less material going out to scrap heaps or landfills
or somewhere else.”


Strelow says the group is still evaluating ways to measure its success. One way
could be measuring the amount of energy each company saves. For
the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Poorman.