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South African cyclist Aldren Muvhambe. Photo by Nic Grobler via Bicycle Portraits. The sad recent news story about a 5-year-old girl killed by a street-cleaning vehicle while riding bikes with her father in the Turkish province of Konya -- a city that had previously announced plans for the country's first bike-sharing program -- got me thinking about what it wo... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo: New Flyer What's the Difference Between CNG and Diesel? The Board of the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (the "MTA") has awarded New Flyer of America a contract for up to 475 buses. The contract is for 135 40-foot compressed natural gas ("CNG") heavy-duty transit buses with options for up to an additional 340 CNG buses. We know that buses are a pretty green way to move lots of people around in urban area, but how much better are CNG buses compared to regular diesel buses? The U.S. Department of Energy has some numbers to allow us to compare.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

bitefight via Torontoist Quote of the Day from David Suzuki in the Georgia Strait: Technological developments [such as electric cars etc.] are welcome, but maybe it's time we started rethinking our car culture as whole. The average car in North America carries 1.5 people, which means that most cars on the road only have a driver in them. Is it really efficient to use more than 1,000 kilograms of metal to transport 100 kilograms of huma... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo credit by batega via flickr. In its early days, Barcelona's Bicing seemed like an unparalleled success. With 400 stations and 3,000 of the squat, burly red-and-white bikes stationed around the city, Bicing quickly became part of Barcelona's big city atmosphere and was enthusiastically received by inhabitants. But after five years, something scary started to happen, in addition to the vandalism and Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo: Flickr, CC Should Access for Regular Hybrids be Phased Out? In California, vehicles that meet certain fuel economy and tailpipe emission criteria are granted special access to the high occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV, aka the carpool lane). In car-centric places like Los Angeles, it's a huge advantage. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill (SB 535) into law that extends HOV-lane access to 40,000 qualifying plug-in hybrid ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image credit: Fully Charged Robert Llewellyn has been busy once again. Having road tested of the BMW Mini-E, explored fast electric car charging, and reviewed the Nissan Leaf, the cult British TV presenter and comedy actor has also been trying out some more unusual EV's. From a fully electric Range Rover SUV, through... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image credit: Joe Plommer/The Mule Bar Girls April may believe we need more girls on bikes, but there is no doubt that gender politics and cycling can be an explosive mix. When I wrote about podium girls—or the practice of bike races employing female cyclists to look pretty and kiss men—the response from our readers was mixed to say the least. Some felt it was just part of the culture, others fe... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo: GM Hopefully It'll Have More Commercial Success than BYD EVs China will be one of the initial markets to get the Chevy Volt PHEV, and today GM is announcing that the first drivable Volt has landed in the Middle Kingdom. "GM has made a long-term commitment to bringing our industry-leading technology to China," said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group. GM delivered two Chevrolet Volts to the Shanghai Expo for use as VIP transportation. The Volt will shuttle special guests to and from Shanghai's 2010 Expo Park and demonstrate what the future of the automobile might look like... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Nissan LEAF batteries. Photo: Michael Graham Richard Copper and Aluminium Actually Worse than Lithium Speaking of lithium-ion batteries, a recent life-cycle analysis (a type of study that aims to find the complete environmental impact of something, taking into account manufacturing, usage, and disposal) of the lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars had some very interesting findings. It turns out that batteries have an even lower impact than most of us thought. Read on for... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo: GM A Significant Drop Predicted It's all about supply and demand: According to Hideo Takeshita, an analyst at the Institute of Information Technology Ltd. in Tokyo, the price of lithium-ion batteries could drop by about 19% in 2010, while another analyst, Shiro Mikoshiba of Nomura Holdings, said that the worsening oversupply may push prices down as much as 25%. While it's always important to take market predictions with a grain of salt, if lithium-ion battery prices drop by anywhere near 1/5th, it's going to have a positive impact on the Read the full story on TreeHugger

images via Bicycle Design We have admired Bakfiets, the big Dutch cargo bikes that carry kids around the Netherlands, before; Warren noted that they have a low centre of gravity and are very stable, and probably are a whole lot safer than kids' seats on bikes. But they are heavier than the average bike, and much of the world is not as flat as the Netherlands. That's why the Urban Arrow, shown on Read the full story on TreeHugger

Roads in Residential Areas Should be Safe for All In residential areas, lowering the speed limit for cars not only reduces the number of accidents, injuries and deaths, but it also revitalises the neighborhood by encouraging more people to walk and bike. When people feel safe on the streets, they use greener forms of transportation more often. That's the main argument of the 20's Plenty for Us campaign in the UK, and looking at the results in areas where the 20 MPH speed limit was implemented, it looks like they a... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image: EPA Making Guzzlers Stand Out Even More One way to nudge people into making better decisions is to make it easier to compare different products and services. There are still many people out there who have no idea if 16 MPG is a good or bad, but if they saw a big red "D" on a sticker, they might be tempted to find a vehicle with a better grade. That's the goal behind new fuel economy labels proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT). Read on for more details.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image: Google Maps 276 Extra Miles Per Year on Average According to a study by British insurer Sheilas' Wheels (watch out for the bright pink website), men waste about £2,000 in fuel over their lifetime because they won't ask for directions when they are lost, leading to an average of 276 extra miles being driven per year. Definitely not green...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

photo: jon smith via flickr If you buy a carbon offset for the flights you take, you're in a small minority--at least according to a new survey by the UK Civil Aviation Authority carried out at Stansted airport last September. As reported by The Guardian, only 7% of flyers surveyed bothered to buy at offs... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photos: Kristin Rule A couple of years ago Kristin Rule, alias 'The Unconventional Cellist' undertook a 20 week music tour, toting her cello on a motorbike with a solar trailer. With a new album recently released, she is soon to be touring again, but this time by bicycle accompanied by a solar-powered, electric-assist trailer. The 30 watt solar photovoltaic panel on the 'Mechanarchy 'Watt-Bot' trailer stores electrical energy in a pair of 12 volt batteries. These provide up to three hours of electrically assisted riding for pedalling a cello laden ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image via: CBC News Hemp isn't only TreeHugger approved. It's won this green yogini over in the health department with its number of nutritional benefits. It's an animal-free source of essential fatty acid omegas, proteins and amino acids--all-important for heart, brain and skin health. Who knew that a spoonful of hemp powder wouldn't only find its wa... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo: Better Place 59 Seconds Average Swapping Time Better Place, in collaboration with the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Nihon Kotsu Co., Tokyo's largest taxi operator, has been doing real-world testing of a battery-swapping station in Tokyo. The trial, which started last April and has just been extended until November, aims to determine the "feasibility of battery switch as means for taxis to have instant, zero emission, range extension."... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image credit: Audubon NC Whether or not BP was burning sea turtles alive, the Gulf oil spill did kill a lot of these endangered creatures. But the news hasn't been quite so grim elsewhere. In fact on Cape Hatteras, North Carolina—where there has been an ongoing feud between off-road enthusiasts ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image: Toyota WHIIIRRRRRR Toyota will be offering its Japanese customers an optional (for now) $150 device that makes its 3rd generation Prius hybrid easier to hear at low speeds. They call it the "Approaching Vehicle Audible System", and it basically makes whirring sounds that vary in pitch with the speed of the car up to 25 kph (check out the video below).... Read the full story on TreeHugger