GM adds shift at Oshawa to keep up with Camaro demand…enough that GM has asked workers at the assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, to work through the week of June 29, which had previously been scheduled as mandatory time off. Furthermore, Camaro orders are expected to be strong enough to keep the Oshawa plant’s flex line humming along on Saturdays in June, July and August, and that means overtime fo…

 Rumormill: Buick Astra coming in 2011?…products from GM‘s European Opel division are reports from GM Inside News indicating that a small car based on the Astra platform – initially planned for the now-defunct Saturn brand – has been transferred to Buick’s entry-level luxury division.Assuming these rumors are true, we can expect to see the new Buick in North America in late 2011 as a ..

REPORT: Renault after Saturn, Geely after Saab …deal with GM would allow Renault and its South Korean subsidiary, Samsung Motors, to sell its wares in the States though the existing retailers, possibly marketing the new vehicles as Saturns and building some of the vehicles using the General’s underutilized plants. How the deal would flesh out financially remains to be seen, but there’s a chan…

 (Source: Reuters) 

WASHINGTON- The U.S. government would overhaul how it plans and manages big-ticket highway and transit projects in an ambitious proposal being drafted by a senior Democratic lawmaker who oversees transportation.

 House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar told the Reuters Infrastructure Summit on Tuesday that his plan would reorganize the U.S. Transportation Department in order to streamline infrastructure spending programs.

“It’s a complete restructuring of the thought process, the delivery system, the delivery mechanism, and the funding for it,” Oberstar, from Minnesota, said in his Capitol Hill office.

Oberstar’s proposal would be the centerpiece of a six-year highway and transit construction bill Congress will consider this year.

He estimates funding at $450 billion, but the figure has not been finalized. Oberstar, who will manage the highway bill in the House, hopes to propose his plan in the coming weeks.

The Senate is working on its own version.

The Oberstar measure would retain current federal funding sources as well as give more spending discretion to states. In addition, it would make room for private investment in infrastructure programs.

Lawmakers face a September 30 deadline to pass a long-term spending blueprint for new U.S. highway construction, road and bridge repair, and public transit.

That legislation, known as the highway bill, would be separate from the economic stimulus bill passed in February that provides $48.1 billion for transportation.

The current highway/transit construction law was approved in July 2005 with a price tag of $286.4 billion. That amount was considered by many in Congress and industry as inadequate to upgrade the country’s aging transportation infrastructure.

Industry leaders are pressing for the next bill to exceed $500 billion.

Highway spending is funded through a federal trust which draws from taxes on motor fuels. But recent shortages in gas tax receipts due to higher pump prices that have reduced driving and more fuel-efficient vehicles have prompted calls to find alternatives.

Oberstar’s plan would keep the Highway Trust fund, but would allow states to determine their spending priorities.

“They’ve had these responsibilities. They’ve just been straight-jacketed,” Oberstar said about the states. “We’re going to give the states broad discretion.”

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Autobloggreen)

The nail in the coffin of corn-based ethanol might be made of water. The magazine Environmental Science & Technology has published an article that pegs the amount of water needed to make enough corn ethanol to move a vehicle one mile at 50 gallons. That’s pretty high. 

ES&T calculated the amount of water needed to grow the corn as well as the water that is affected by agriculture. From the article:

As biofuel production increases, a growing need exists to understand and mitigate potential impacts to water resources, primarily those associated with the agricultural stages of the biofuel life cycle (e.g., water shortages and water pollution) herein referred to as the water footprint.

The worst case scenario, ES&T found, would be irrigated sorghum grown in Nebraska and turned into ethanol. This would use up to 115 gallons per mile. Corn grown there would require 50 gallons of water per mile. Say good-bye to “food vs. fuel,” say hello to “Drink or drive.”

Click here to read the entire article.

 Rumormill: Vauxhall going after city car market with Trixx EV?…GM‘s European arm put a toe in the water of the rapidly expanding city car market with its Opel Trixx concept. A few years later, though, GM‘s Carl-Peter Forster indicated that the automaker would not be entering that microcar market after all. Fast forward another couple of years and (surprise!) it looks as if GM may be once again reversing tha…

 REPORT: Penske lines up as potential Saturn suitor…GM, SaturnThe typical relationship between automakers and dealerships, of course, is for the dealers to sell the cars that the automaker produces. But with General Motors shedding like a dog in springtime, it’s the dealers who have been looking to buy the brands themselves. Following interest expressed by German dealers to acquire Opel and a gro…

…Chrysler and GM EuropeFiat’s alliance with Chrysler is only the beginning, as the Italian automaker makes a bid at acquiring General Motors’ European operations, including Opel, Vauxhall and Saab. Other news of import Chrysler begins “New Car Company” ad campaign in newspapers 2010 Chevy E…

GM hopes to sell Saturn by the end of 2009

(Source: Detroit Free Press & Image: Jalopnik)

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration and U.S. House members have reached a compromise over a “cash for clunkers” bill that would offer as many as one million vehicle buyers a voucher for up to $4,500 each to spur car and truck sales.

(Source: Logos Blog)

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Bellingham, WA – Equipment purchases at Logos Bible Software typically include laptops, servers, and networking gear. So company president Bob Pritchett was surprised to see an IT department purchase request that included everything necessary to set up a bicycle repair shop.

“It was a great idea. Many of our employees bike to work, and others go for rides during the day. Having a fully-equipped bike shop on site is a great way to encourage healthy habits that are good for the environment, too,” said Pritchett.

With more than 170 employees, Logos has a number of serious cyclists who work on their own bikes. Their willingness to help co-workers with everything from simple repairs to getting a long-unused bike back into shape is encouraging more employees to trade four wheels for two.

“Since installing the bike shop, I’ve been super motivated to ride to work,” said Jim Straatman, Logos’ IT manager.  “Also, my bike is running exceptionally smooth now that I have a place to work on it.”

Bellingham is a cyclist’s paradise, surrounded by bike lanes, mountain trails, and cliff-side drives. Logos’ on-site lockers and showers made it easy for employees to add their commute to their list of regular rides. The new bike shop and a bike-friendly downtown location provide a great motivation for those who haven’t ridden since childhood to get rolling again.

Logos Bible Software’s bike shop consists of an 8-foot workbench, a bike stand, and a peg board full of tools. The total investment was around $1,500, and occupies less than 100 square feet.
“In the space of a single office, and for less than it would cost to cater lunch for the company, we’ve been able to make a healthy investment that our employees really appreciate,” said Pritchett. “By making it easier to fix little things like a flat tire or squealing brakes, we’re getting more of us up from our desks and out of our cars.”

Hopefully Logos will see a big response from employees next Friday, and lots of folks will bike in to work.  For added motivation, that Friday will also be the day of Logos’ annual Chili Cookoff.  I am sure folks can enjoy an extra helping of chili without any guilt, knowing that there is an option to bike away the extra pounds on the way home from work.

Note:  Way to go, Logos! I only hope that other companies around the country would follow/adopt such practices, which not only contribute to a healthly way of life for  the employees but they also add to our country’s efforts to cut pollution from automobiles.  TransportGooru appreciates Logos’ efforts to assist its biking populace!

(Source & Image: LA Times)

Drivers are turning to alternative fuels and cutting consumption.

 

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Ars Technica) & TeamSilverback)

Google has been granted its patent for a data center that floats on the ocean. Though the patent mostly describes how such a thing would work, it also addresses the use of wave and tidal power, as well as water cooling to even land-based data centers that are nearby.

The majority of the patent deals with the logistics of ship-based data centers, though it also examines the use of wave power, tidal power, and seawater for providing electricity and cooling to land-based data centers that are close enough to water.

Of course, there’s nothing to stop Google from deploying a floating data center powered by conventional fuel sources, but such a vessel would be more limited by range or fuel capacity. Not only would it have to carry enough fuel to power itself, it would also have to make sure to power the systems it carries. Using a water-based generator would not only be more practical and efficient, it’s also a significantly greener solution.

Despite the patent, however, Google may not be the first company to send its data centers out to sea. A Silicon Valley startup called International Data Security (IDS) announced in January of 2008 its intent to set up a fleet of data-serving cargo ships. These ships would not only come with standard storage services, but also with amenities such as private offices, overnight accommodations, and galley services. The first ship was scheduled to set sail (or rather, hang out in San Francisco’s Pier 50) in April of 2008, but according to a blog post by IDS partner Silverback Migration Solutions, that plan got pushed to third quarter 2008 and we were unable to find any further information on the project.

The Silverback blog alos outlines a few interetsing points.  The value proposition for ship based datacenters is very similar to that of land based datacenters, with a few noteable exceptions:

–Current market demand for data center space continues to outpace
supply, and using ships as data centers can reduce time to market by as
much as 65%.

–Cap-Ex costs to bring a ship into data center operation is
approximately 2/3 that of a land-based facility.

A group of Indian engineering students from Ludhiana successfully build a pollution-free motorbike designed to run on air pressure rather than petrol. Video courtesy of Reuters.

 (Source: Wall Street Journal)