Although the Hybrid Accord did not do very well and Honda has stopped producing it, Honda hopes that a new diesel Honda will do better. The clean-diesel car is expected to be in the U.S. by 2010 and can get up to 62.8 miles a gallon. The main advantage of a diesel car is that it can have a lot more power. In the 90s, California passed strict emission controls that restricted the amount of sulfur that a car can emit and as a result, most diesel manufacturers basically stopped promoting diesel cars to California and the rest of the U.S. Diesel cars have been the majority of automobiles in Europe because they are more fuel efficient and they have less stricter emission regulations. With the new diesel cars that are coming out, we may see more diesel cars in the U.S. The newer diesel engines have a two-layer catalytic converter that turns nitrogen oxide from diesel exhaust before it is sent to the atmosphere.  Daimler-Chrysler and BMW both have some very fuel efficient models and may also release a diesel model in the U.S. soon as well. Daimler-Chrysler plans on releasing their next generation diesel engine in its 2008 Volkswagen lineup. There are many alternatives to using gasoline as I have mentioned here and with the rise in gas prices, manufacturers will be looking into producing the second best choice of fuel in cars. We will definitely see a difference in 10 years regarding what kind of fuel, automobiles will be using. Gasoline will probably not go away anytime soon, but we will definitely see other fuel alternatives take a market share of the automobile industry.

via News.com

The Emmy Award winning Twentieth Century Fox Televion show 24, is going to be the first television production to film its season finale of season 7 carbon neutral. The show will also incorporate the issues of global warming into the storyline. The executive producer of 24, Howard Gordon aims to educate its viewers to each fight against global warming before its too late. The show plans on saving energy and reducing carbon emissions throughout the season by making changes in the way the show is produced. The show 24 is one of the best shows on television, and it is great to see that it will be doing something about global warming. It is one of the most watched shows and is broadcasted all over the world and will surely broadcast the message to a big audience. If anyone has not seen the show, it is well worth your time. Watching one episode may not be that interesting however, and I would highly suggest watching it on DVD and you will surely be hooked. A video clip of a public service announcement by Kiefer Sutherland can be found here. If Jack Bauer is fighting global warming, then surely you have to follow in his footsteps!

via Treehugger

I go to networking events every week and every so often I will have interesting conversations with others about being environmental. In the web 2.0 and startup webisphere, there is not that many applications that are environment specific. Hopefully I can think of a startup idea that can combine web 2.0 with one but if anyone has ideas, let me know. An entrepreneur I met named Flora Sun created a facebook application that encourages you and your friends to reduce carbon emissions from your lifestyle. The application has a list of activities that people can do in their daily routine that can be more beneficial to the environment. The application is a mini carbon footprint calculator that will show how much CO2 you have saved and will also list how much your friends have saved. Considering how popular Facebook is, this can be a good way to promote to your friends to participate in the activities listed in the application. It also allows you to suggest activities that can be added to the Carbon Diet Plan.

http://www.carbondietplan.com/

Here are pictures from some of the events that I go to.