The United States Army is looking at hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, hoping that sometime in the near future they'll play some important military roles, maybe even on the battlefield.
For General Motors, the change came last year -- China passed the U.S. as the automaker's single largest market. For Mercedes, that time is fast approaching -- and when it does, it will be far more consequential.
It is almost totally silent, radiates virtually no heat and is constructed entirely from non-magnetic metals.
updated: Tue Feb 22 2011 05:48:00
CNN's Fred Pleitgen rides on one of the most advanced non-nuclear submarines in the world.
Toyota's announcement that it is making a $50 million investment in upstart electric car maker Tesla got the auto industry's attention this week.
We could one day be spending our holidays in a gigantic vertical airship that floats thousands of meters above ground if a design concept becomes reality.
updated: Wed Feb 03 2010 12:25:00
Nick Talbot of travel design firm Seymourpowell explains the role safety has in design now, compared to when the Concorde was first launched.
The route to clean energy is through small gadgets, according to fuel cell company Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies.
The "Valley of Death," in auto-industry-speak, is a metaphorical desert where emerging technologies reside while car executives figure out which of the experiments ought to make their way into actual cars.
updated: Thu Aug 13 2009 05:18:00
Building an eco-home on a budget means hard decisions, says one Japanese family. CNN's Morgan Neill reports.
A former motor-racing engineer has unveiled a prototype of a new hydrogen-powered city car which claims to emit less than one third of the carbon emissions produced by its nearest rival.
updated: Tue Jun 16 2009 22:26:00
A prototype hydrogen-powered 'urban car' promises to be one of the most environmentally-friendly cars.
At the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and MINI showed the world what electric vehicles of the future will look like. And the future of driving looks fun.
For a century the gasoline engine has remained largely unchallenged, seeing off all pretenders to its crown. But with concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and a host of new contenders looming large in the rear view mirror, is the gasoline-fueled automobile due to be overtaken by a fleet of cleaner, leaner rivals?
Some Florida amusement park visitors may enjoy space-themed roller-coasters, but the first vehicle they board at Orlando International Airport may be the most futuristic ride of their vacation.
Back in 2004, when it was still relatively flush, General Motors invited automotive journalists to the South of France for a three-day "global product seminar." The idea was that writers like me would drive new cars, consume loads of free food and wine, pal around with executives, and develop favorable opinions about GM.
Starwood's Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Manhattan, Verizon's call center on Long Island, the Sierra Nevada brewery in northern California and a Whole Foods Market in Connecticut have little in common except this - all are powered by fuel cells that turn hydrogen into electricity, saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Automakers such as GM, Honda Motor Co. and BMW AG are putting several hundred hydrogen vehicles into suburban garages, in cities and on the highway to see how they fare in day-to-day drivin
Imagine being able to convert water into a boundless source of cheap energy. That's what BlackLight Power, a 25-employee firm in Cranbury, N.J., says it can do. The only problem: Most scientists say that company's technology violates the basic laws of physics.
At the dawn of the automobile age, gasoline was the up-and-coming "alternative fuel" -- vying with electric batteries and steam power.
Despite all the hype for electric cars and hydrogen fuel cells, experts say we'd better get used to pumping gas, but we can look forward to much better fuel economy down the road.
Gerri Willis answers reader's questions.
Iceland may be best known for world-famous musical export Bjork but there's a new star quickly gaining this island nation worldwide acclaim -- clean energy.
updated: Tue Apr 08 2008 10:24:00
CNN's Peggy Mihelich reports on Iceland's efforts to move away from fossil fuels.
As the lighting dims in the auditorium of California's Computer History Museum, a four-foot-tall robot, Asimo, strolls onto the stage. "Hello, Tiffany," Asimo greets its human assistant, in a voice slightly too flat to be human. "It's nice to see you." After a little more chitchat - Asimo, a polite sort, is thrilled to be in San Jose - the robot shows off some tricks. It balances on one foot, kicks a soccer ball, sidesteps in two directions, and climbs up and down stairs. For its final stunt, Asimo jogs around the stage, legs churning and arms pumping, leaving the ground between each stride - just the way a human would.
Top executives of BP and General Motors Corp., two of the world's largest corporations, outlined on Tuesday their visions for the future of renewable energy.
What is the future of transport? What role will cars play? What will we use to get around? Send us your thoughts and we'll print the best ones here.
In our lifetime we will witness the age of 100 mile-per gallon cars, lifetime headlights and taillights, streaming entertainment and information content, and cars that drive themselves. Actually, all this will be here a lot sooner than you think -- within the next few years.
The world's automakers will try to win customers over with more environmentally friendly cars at the Frankfurt Auto Show this week as they tout new vehicles with hybrid propulsion and more advanced, cleaner engines.
There's something disconcerting about driving a high-speed oval for the first time, and it's easy to identify: As you approach either of the steeply banked turns, you don't slow down.
General Motors is shifting about 500 engineers within the company with the aim of having the first fuel-cell-powered car on the market as soon as 2010, according to published reports.
These companies have gone beyond what the law requires to operate in an environmentally responsible way.
"It's the car of the future that you can drive today!" says the BMW executive delivering to me a Hydrogen 7, the first hydrogen-powered luxury vehicle in the world. Or, rather, I could drive it tod...
There was a distinctly green theme at this year's Geneva motor show, as manufacturers battled to prove their environmental credentials in a world that is increasingly concerned with the environment and man's effect on it.
There's a missile-bunker vibe you get when walking into Solaicx, a Silicon Valley startup that manufactures the silicon wafers that are the building blocks of solar panels.
The major theme of this year's early motor shows in Detroit and Los Angeles confirmed that "green" cars are finally credible in the U.S., in the wake of increased awareness of climate change and continued high fuel prices.
Every oil company likes to claim it's really in the energy business. But at Chevron, chief technology officer Don Paul is seriously thinking about the day the petroleum wells run dry. The first way...
The dirty little secret of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit is that the car manufacturers closely gauge media and crowd reactions to the concepts they unveil. The more we (you)...
The planet's most pressing environmental problems—global warming, energy shortages, overfishing, pollution—may seem just too big to be solved with today's technology. But don't despair: A lot of br...
The belief that General Motors has all the environmental sensitivity of a panda fur wholesaler has been widespread for a long time.
Every oil company likes to claim it's really in the energy business. But at Chevron, chief technology officer Don Paul is seriously thinking about the day the petroleum wells run dry. The first way we'll cope, he says, is by extracting usable fuel out of tar sands, oil shale, and coal.
It would be so easy to disparage the BMW Hydrogen 7, the world's first production-ready hydrogen car and a guaranteed showstopper when it's unveiled next month at the Los Angeles Motor Show.
(CNN) -- It is almost 100 years since Henry Ford's young motoring company launched the Model-T, the car that "put America on wheels" and triggered a revolution in human mobility.
Stop. Reboot. Roll! In the future, that might be the most common advice from your friendly neighborhood gas jockey. Except he would be pumping hydrogen, not gas. And while your future car would loo...
BMW has announced that it will produce a limited number of hydrogen-powered luxury performance cars in 2007.
NASA scrubbed the much-delayed liftoff of space shuttle Atlantis on Friday amid concerns about a faulty sensor on the external fuel tank.
CNN.com asked users for their ideas on the best way to fuel America and break the country's dependence on fossil fuels, especially from foreign sources. Here is a sampling of the responses, some of which have been edited:
Angry motorists, frightened politicians and three-dollar-a-gallon gasoline are stirring new interest in alternative kinds of vehicular transportation that don't weigh two-and-a-half tons and get 13 miles to the gallon.
Today's fuel efficiency trivia question: When was the first gas-electric hybrid car produced?
Three years ago a scientist named Flaming Zhou built a new fuel-cell prototype in his garage. This month, with $500,000 in funding from German industrial giant Siemens, Zhou will unveil the technol...
The stubby Honda two-door cut through Manhattan traffic like a skateboard. It accelerated smoothly, braked quietly, and-best of all-consumed no gasoline and generated no greenhouse gases. Sticker price: upwards of $1 million.
A lot may be riding on the compact Honda being leased by the Spallino family of Redondo Beach, Calif., for $500 a month.
The debate over the best medium-term solution for cleaner cars looks set to lengthen as auto executives in Japan for the Tokyo auto show this week discussed more, not fewer, options for weaning cars off oil.
THIS YEAR'S RECIPIENTS OF THE MacArthur Fellowships, the "genius grants" announced last month, include a symphony conductor, an urban revitalization specialist, a rare-book preservationist, a fishe...
1. AJAX
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - It's human nature: Some people see a bad situation and look for ways to profit from it. After all, greed and fear are the two key emotions that drive stocks.
THE END OF CANCER. FREEDOM from the tyranny of oil. A World Series for the Cubs. None of that is impossible. In preparing this survey, FORTUNE canvassed numerous scientists and other respect- ed th...
An eco-car that can travel the world using a fraction of the electricity it takes to power a light bulb has been unveiled by its British creators.
Back in 1997, when I was a newspaper columnist, I declared, "Solar power is one of those things that's always just around the corner.... I'm here to tell you that widespread use of solar power is j...
Shortly before the House began debate Wednesday on an energy bill aimed primarily at making the country less dependent on overseas oil, a House committee chairman involved in the legislation bluntly dismissed a key provision to boost the use of hydrogen fuels.
With oil prices nearing last year's record highs, President Bush renewed his call for Congress to authorize oil exploration in Alaska's largest wildlife refuge as part of a broader energy bill.
We know what you're thinking: It's over. After a long run-up to $55 a barrel, oil prices have drifted back down to the low 40s. Prices may bounce around for a while--they always do. But buy energy ...
Shares of alternative energy companies took a one-two punch this week when President Bush was re-elected and oil prices tumbled back near $49 a barrel.
AS IF IT DIDN'T HAVE enough to do on its quest for bigness, BMW has also decided to reinvent the internal-combustion engine. For chairman Panke it is more than a diverting engineering exercise. He ...
London may be well known for its big red buses, but things are turning green on the city's streets.
Every day brings another culprit. On Aug. 5 it was word that crude exports from Russia's massive Yukos Oil might be in jeopardy, as authorities there said they were once again freezing the company'...
In a lobby at the General Electric Complex known as the "House of Magic" sits a desk that belonged to GE founder Thomas Edison. There, under glass, are copies of his notebook papers with sketches o...
General Motors is promoting its fuel cell technology, announcing Wednesday a deal to lease a fuel cell minivan to the United States Postal Service.
Everybody's talking about the high cost of oil and gas.
Mountain View, Calif. Founded 2000
Picture this: Your company has created a successful product that accounts for the lion's share of the firm's revenues. But demand isn't going to grow forever. What do you do?
If you think it's not a great time to start a business, you're right. Three years after the tech market crash left the Pets.com sock puppet in the Goodwill bin, investors aren't exactly clamoring f...
On a rotating stage bathed in blue light, the vehicle looked otherworldly, like something from far in the future. It was called the Autonomy, and vaguely resembled a giant skateboard. The only feat...
In college Leroy Ohlsen was the kind of kid who watched Discovery Channel documentaries about fuel cells for fun. "I was watching this hydrogen-powered bus running around Vancouver, and a light bul...
Every job I ever had, people always seemed to want to think small," says Geoffrey Ballard by way of explaining why he went into business for himself. The 70-year-old Canadian engineer--whose effort...
As the luncheon at the swank Miami resort begins, Mary Tolan takes a seat and braces herself. After weeks of frantic preparation, Tolan, a superstar at the big consulting firm Accenture, has just u...
Step inside the air-conditioned warehouses at AeroVironment in Simi Valley, Calif., and you might think you've stumbled onto the set of Mr. Wizard. Above the many cubicles and offices, dozens of ha...
If you're willing to set aside for a moment the gigantic chicken-and-egg problem of where to get the hydrogen to run a new generation of efficient, nonpolluting hydrogen-powered cars, General Motor...
If you're willing to set aside the gigantic chicken-and-egg problem of where to get the hydrogen for a new generation of hydrogen-powered cars, then GM has a hell of a story to tell. The automaker ...
As far back as Jules Verne, visionaries have predicted that society will someday be utterly transformed by energy based on hydrogen. The lightweight gas, the most abundant element in the universe, ...
One of the most exciting technologies of the new millennium is about to move a few steps closer to the mass market. The technology is fuel cells, almost universally seen as an energy-conserving, lo...
For the millions of Americans contentedly motoring around each day in their slick, well-engineered BMWs, it may come as a surprise that the proud Bavarian carmaker's latest attempt to conquer the w...
In early 2000, a company called Plug Power charged out of obscurity (okay, upstate New York) into stock market stardom. Plug is developing something called a fuel cell, and there's talk that within...
Maybe you think driving a car that runs on anything other than gas is as preposterous as the idea of an underpowered Ferrari or a nonsmoking supermodel. But if you don't believe we are at a scienti...
Bright-eyed, his silver hair a little wild at the fringes, Dr. Ferdinand Panik, 56, clearly relishes piloting a very special Mercedes vehicle briskly past the apple orchards on the outskirts of Nab...
AROUND THE COUNTRY wind tunnels are rumbling, computers whirring, construction workers expanding test buildings. From NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia and Edwards Air Force Base in Southe...
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