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Toyota Plans to Sell Hybrid Camry in 2006

Toyota Motor Corp says it will likely begin selling a hybrid version of its best-selling Camry in 2006. This could move hybrids from being a tiny niche into mainstream. The Nihon Keizai business daily says Toyota aims to sell 100,000 hybrid Camrys a year, mainly in North America. The company sells over 400,000 Camrys annually in the US, making it that market's most popular passenger car. Honda – the only other car firm currently selling hybrids – markets a hybrid version of its Civic sedan and plans an Accord hybrid in the U.S. market this autumn. But Honda's sales numbers are small and are expected to remain so for the time being. Analysts said that Toyota, Japan's largest auto maker, would probably be able to reduce costs by 2006 and sell a hybrid Camry at a price attractive to consumers. Toyota and Ford Motor Co announced this week that Ford would license Toyota's hybrid engine technology, underlining Toyota's overwhelming lead in gasoline-electric know-how. Nissan also uses Toyota's hybrid systems. "The point here is that other auto makers are so far behind and that's partly due to Toyota's hold on hybrid patents," said Nikko's Matsushima. The auto giant plans to roll […]

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European Steel Firms to Study Cleaner Production

Corus (London:CS.L), Arcelor (Paris:CELR.PA)and TKS are leading a consortium of steel firms in a 40 million euro research project on technologies to cut carbon dioxide emissions in steelmaking. The European Commission requested the industry look into this because its production processes are based 60% on coal and cokes, with significant carbon dioxide emissions. The companies have submitted a proposal to the EU executive for a five-year research project called ULCOS (Ultra Low CO2 Steelmaking). The EC may subsidize up to 50% of of the project. The consortium includes almost all European steel companies and some 40 industrial organisations, research institutes and universities.

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All Kyoto Protocol Rules Now Legally Binding in Europe

All the requirements under the 1997 Kyoto climate protocol are now legally binding in all 15 member states of the European Union. On Wednesday, a decision of the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers entered into force that governs the way in which emissions of six greenhouse gases covered by the treaty have to be monitored and reported. The targets of the European Union and its individual member states related to the emissions of greenhouse gases became binding in 2002. The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the only international framework to combat global warming. With this step, all provisions of the protocol have become EU law, and the EU has reaffirmed its global leadership in fighting climate change and implementing the protocol. On May 1, the EU expands to take in 10 new member states to the east of the current bloc, and all provisions of the protocol will also apply to them. "Now we have adopted all the necessary EU legislation to carry out our commitments under the Kyoto Protocol," said Margot Wallstrom, European Commissioner for the Environment. "This means that we are fully implementing this important protocol even before […]

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Energy Department Rolls Out Revised Hydrogen Plan

The U.S. Department of Energy released its new plan to shift the nation toward a hydrogen based transportation system. The plan, unveiled Wednesday by Bush administration officials, lays out milestones for technology development over the next decade, with the goal of a commercialization decision by industry in 2015. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said the plan includes timelines that provide clear and scientific measures to track and demonstrate progress. "If we achieve our technical objectives, the automotive and energy industries will be in a position to begin to mass market availability of both vehicles and refueling infrastructure by 2020," he said. Abraham said the plan integrates research, development and demonstration activities from the Energy Department's renewable, nuclear, fossil and science offices. An integrated hydrogen program will improve the effectiveness and accountability of the department's research activities, he said, and increase the probability of success in achieving technical milestones on the road to a hydrogen economy. Abraham touted the administration's fiscal year 2005 budget request for $227 million for research to support the hydrogen fuel initiative and its support for FreedomCAR, which provides $90 million annually for research into hybrid components and other advanced vehicle technology. The new plan follows a report […]

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