Looks like some good news, finally, out of the auto industry! You know all those massive Toyota Semi-Trucks you see on the highways, the ones that suck up all the gas, and always make you go about 20 miles per hour under the speed limit on 2-lane roads? Yeah, those. Well looks like a Toyota Subsidiary company is going to make a new type of Toytoa Truck that is a hybrid style. If all goes according to plan, the new trucks will be 2.5 times more fuel efficient than current trucks on the market. Wow, 2.5 times.
Hino Motors, Ltd., a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation will introduce a significantly improved fuel efficient hybrid truck in Japan, the U.S. and Australia around 2010. The new hybrid truck, using a high-capacity battery and improved motor, will be 2.5 times more fuel efficient than conventional models. In fact, the new hybrid truck even doubles the fuel economy compared to Hino’s current hybrid truck models.”
Looks like the price of these new hybrid babies might not even be that scary. It looks like they could be about 500,000 yen more pricy than the current models, which is only about $5,600 more. Considering the fact that they are going to be much more efficient, the fuel savings alone make it worth the jump.
Not quite sure just how important this news is? Try this on for size: Hino is the fastest growing truck manufacturer in the United States, and the third largest in the entire world.
The world is a very big place, with a lot of very big places inside of it. While I was pleased to report the news about the United States becoming the largest producer of wind energy in the world, the fact remained…the world is a big place and we need a lot of those big places to be doing a whole lot more in the world of alternative energy solutions.
One such “big place” that IS taking a very positive step forward this New Year’s Eve, is Japan, and I couldn’t be happier. For such a small island, they use a whole lot of energy to power their light-heavy cities like Tokyo, and hopefully this new, well, renewed push towards alternative energy use will help take a huge chunk out of their energy debt. According to reports, the Solar Power push for Japan is officially back on and might even be stronger than ever. Get this…while Japan is so tiny, they are the 2nd largest economy and, yikes, the 5th largest contributor to greenhouse gasses. Not good.
“Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced on Tuesday 9 billion yen (AUD$145 million) in the first quarter of 2009 to encourage home solar power; with further funding to come. Japan aims to have solar power systems installed on over 70% of new houses…In an action plan tabled in November, Japan confirmed targets of increasing the number of installations of solar power generation systems tenfold by 2020 and 40-fold by 2030, while halving the current price of systems within three to five years. The new program will have a substantial positive impact on Japan’s solar industry and generate thousands of new jobs.”
Home Solar Power Systems in 70% of new houses?! I love it! To help themselves reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, they are going to need every bit of this, as well as educating their people, which is part of their larger plan. All in all, it is great to see a country stand up and take responsibility for their future, and the future of this whole planet.
Hello and Happy Friday! You did it, yet again, made it through a work-week and now get to celebrate and enjoy the fruits of the first weekend in December! To cap off a great week, I thought it’d be wise to open our eyes to something on a global scale.
I just stumbled across this video from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries that does amazing things to show not only the food crisis Japan might be facing, but the way it could be for almost any nation, anywhere. This video very quickly and even a bit entertainingly shows things that can be done to have healthy food for the future, not just tomorrow, but in the years to come. A dangerous combination of decreasing farmland, farmers aging, unhealthy eating habits and a great deal more food imports is creating a situation that could be dangerous in the years to come.
The question is, what happens if we Can Not produce enough food to live? What if the population exceeds the supply? These are all questions that need answers, and this video is a great, small indication of that. Check it out, and enjoy your weekend!
Looks like some good news, finally, out of the auto industry! You know all those massive Toyota Semi-Trucks you see on the highways, the ones that suck up all the gas, and always make you go about 20 miles per hour under the speed limit on 2-lane roads? Yeah, those. Well looks like a Toyota Subsidiary company is going to make a new type of Toytoa Truck that is a hybrid style. If all goes according to plan, the new trucks will be 2.5 times more fuel efficient than current trucks on the market. Wow, 2.5 times.
