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Stranded in suburbia
Paul Krugman (blog), New York Times

A drive too far

The Oil Drum has this nice picture from the Sydney Morning Herald about the percentage of income Sydney area residents will spend on gas — er, petrol — if the price rises substantially. The outer suburbs are, not surprisingly, hard hit.

Maps for US metro areas would presumably look similar.

This is really our big problem: we’ve made long-lasting investments — in infrastructure, in housing, and to some extent in our auto fleet — based on low oil prices. Those past decisions are what make today’s high prices such a big problem. In the long run we can adjust, but in the long run …
(13 May 2008)

Nissan Plans Electric Car in U.S. by ’10
Bill Blasic, New York Times
The Nissan Motor Company plans to sell an electric car in the United States and Japan by 2010, raising the stakes in the race to develop environmentally friendly vehicles.

The commitment - expected to be announced Tuesday by Nissan’s chief executive, Carlos Ghosn - will be the first by a major automaker to bring a zero-emission vehicle to the American market. Nissan also expects to sell a lineup of electric vehicles globally by 2012.
(13 May 2008)

Engines of change
John Vidal, Guardian
As the price of oil continues to rise, low-emission diesel cars are being seen as a cheaper, greener alternative, and demand is soaring. But there are fears that the fuel's health dangers are being ignored.
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... Europe's cleanest, and one of its largest, diesel engine factory [at Dagenham in east London] can barely keep up with new orders. Ford, which sells one in six of all the vehicles in Britain, last year built 150,000 low-emission diesel engines for the European market. This year, it will be over 450,000

... Britain is leading the global rush to diesel, Rowe says, partly because it has always lagged behind Europe and is now catching up, and partly because Ken Livingstone, London's ex-mayor, waged a long war on traffic and emissions with the world's first congestion charge and now a low-emission zone. The westward extension to the London congestion charge and planned changes to penalise gas guzzlers will almost certainly be scrapped under new mayor Boris Johnson, but the soaring fuel price rises alone are expected to drive demand for small cars and diesels that can achieve 20% more miles to the gallon in particular.

"Diesel is getting as good as hybrids," says Rowe, who promises that later this year Ford Dagenham will start building one of Europe's "cleanest" mass produced engines, which will produce CO2 emissions of less than 100g/km and do more than 70 mpg.

... Britain expects diesel emissions to grow by about 50% between 2002 and 2020, but the relentless drive away from petrol has one major downside, overlooked by the government, ignored by many environment groups and barely known by the public. A written answer last year by then transport minister Stephen Ladyman showed that diesel engines for passenger cars produce 16.9 times more particulate matter and over 83% more nitrogen oxides than the petrol equivalents, albeit with 4.3% less carbon dioxide.

Indeed, the rise of diesel engines is the principal reason why London and possibly other UK cities have breached legal air quality legislation every year since 2005. Air pollution near many of London's busiest roads averages well over twice the World Health Organisation's maximum recommended levels.
(14 May 2008)