AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT FROM MEDIAPLANET ABOUT ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY MOTORING, DISTRIBUTED IN THE TIMES

GREEN MOTORING
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOLUTIONS

NUMBER

1 29 MAY 2006

SAAB STANDARD

THE LEXUS HYBRID

HANNOVER CURE

ULTIMATE CARE

CHOOSING A GREEN CAR

The car maker demands we use

greener fuels, and create a better
environment.
p7

The electrifying new sports car that

comes in any colour, as long as its
green.
p4

How biofuels wowed the punters at

the worlds largest technology trade
fair, the Hannover Messe.
p9

Can diesel really provide the ultimate protection for your car and the
environment?
p11

Choosing a car is bad enough, but

getting the right green car just multiplies the complexity.
p6

THE BENEFITS OF GREEN MOTORING

For more topics in-depth, please visit www.mediaplanetonline.com

p 10 

AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT FROM MEDIAPLANET ABOUT ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY MOTORING, DISTRIBUTED IN THE TIMES

Taking a sweet ride

Ralph Kappler, organiser of the Clean Moves exposition at the worlds largest technology trade fair, the
Hannover Messe, examines who has the upper hand in
the global smart mobility race.

hanks to sky-high oil prices

and soaring petrol costs clean
cars are very much in fashion. Or
are they? Going greener means
using anything from bio-diesel,
bio-ethanol to hybrid cars. Or even
optimised diesel engines, a technology that German car companies
seem to be rather keen on in
European markets.
While the US Government confesses that America is addicted to
oil from the Middle East and
pledges to break its dependence by
75 per cent by 2025 by dramatically
increasing its use of home based
clean technology resources, others
are quietly getting on with the job.
Industry observers say a silent energy revolution is already under way
across Asia, Latin America and
European markets.
The US market is still a trend setter, increasingly so are the Asian and
Brazilian markets. Sales figures of
Toyota are now higher than
DaimlerChryslers in America,
thanks to the success of fuel efficient
cars like the Prius hybrid.
But what are consumers thinking? The most reliable gauge is the
oldest car show in the world, the
European Motor Show, held in
Brussels since 1902. This year an
astonishing 720,000 visitors, one in
every ten active Belgians, attended.
Belgium is a country of traditional
car lovers, but theyre also known
for their savoir vivre.
Benoit Morrenne, Commissioner
General of the Brussels Motor Show,
smilingly enthuses about the success of the first Bio Fuels Pavilion at
this traditional motor show. The
clean fuels pavilion, opened by
Belgiums Prince Laurent in the
presence
of
EU
Energy
Commissioner Piebalgs, became a
highlight of the 2006 Auto Salon.
Mr. Morrenne explains that consumers were able to touch and feel
first hand that bio fuel cars offer
added value without drastically
changing motoring habits and still
remain affordable. The Brussels
motor show is one of the few international cars exhibitions where visitors can actually test drive and buy
cars on the spot.
However, in the global clean
mobility context, parts of Europe

can seem suddenly quite old fashioned. Some Japanese manufacturers

have now achieved a considerable
Vorsprung durch Technik, a technology lead of several years. Newly
manufactured cars in Brazil are able
to run entirely on locally manufactured bio-ethanol made from sugar
cane. The Brazilian petrol station
infrastructure caters conveniently
for the flex-fuel mass car market. All
across Brazil bio fuels are being
offered alongside traditional fuels.
In Britain and other EU markets
Saab and Ford offer efficient flexfuel cars. The problem is that there
arent enough petrol stations offering ethanol based fuel or other alternative fuel options. The mainly
American-owned European petrol
industry lobbies for industrial solutions and champions the blending
solution, whereby traditional
petrol is blended with a relatively
low percentage of bio fuels or synthetic bio fuels.
Once again Sweden has boldly
taken a rather different road. The
Swedish Government and Swedens
key industry players there, including the petrol industry, took a good
look at the oil supply scenarios and
realised it was high time to end the
dependence from foreign fossil fuel
supplies.
Consumers get what they want
any time, anyway, anyhow

As the world is heading for a period

of super-spike oil prices, and analysts worry about oil supply shortages, shifts in consumer attitudes are
set to mitigate the anticipated
impact of the latest energy shock.
Rising congestion charges will force
car manufacturers to gear up to produce and market cleaner cars that
will be exempt from this charge.
Those who invest in clean mobility solutions today have a clear
advantage in the highly competitive
markets of tomorrow. It isnt just
the consumer that can take a sweet
ride with alternative fuels or means
of transport. At the world largest
technology fair, the Hannover
Messe this spring, the interest in
clean mobility technologies was
breathtaking.
Industry delegations from India,
China, Saudi Arabia, the United

 E Clean Moves Inner City electric vehicle provided alternative taxi

services during Hannover Fair 2006
 Clean Moves' Pavilion at
Hannover Fair 2006, with exhibits
ranging from FlexFuel Cars, Solar
Street Lights to Satellite
Communications Technology

States and Brazil, among others,

observed the Hannover fair smart
transport exhibits with considerable
interest. Future growth in these
markets will increasingly depend on
security of supply and affordable
mobility.
Unsurprisingly the bio fuels and
renewable energy sector had the
highest increase in exhibitors from
all industry sectors at the Hannover
fair, with a staggering growth rate
of 29 per cent. Even though some
mobility technologies are still
struggling to reach a significant
market share, the traffic lights are
turning green for the smart buyer.
Going green reaps rewards, for consumers and clean mobility technology manufacturers alike.
Nevertheless, Europe will only
be able to tackle oil dependency and
CO2 emissions if highly energy efficient cars and bio fuels will make
the transport sector look radical differently until the middle of this century. With ambitious targets for

biofuels beyond 2010 and a directive on energy efficiency in the

transport sector an important step
in this direction could be made,
concludes Mechtild Rothe, a prominent member of the European
Parliaments Energy Committee.
Further information at:
www.Halo-Energy.com

In Britain and other EU markets

Saab and Ford offer efficient
flex-fuel cars. Dr Gruchow,
Hannover Messe International,
Agriculture Minister Hans-Heinrich
Ehlen and Ralph Kappler at the
'Clean Moves' Hannover Trade Fair
(left to right).