My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on October 30, 2008

Although its going to be a while before this technology takes off, I suspect that the hydraulic hybrid will be one of the best options for heavier vehicles. The advantage of using a mechanical means of boosting a smaller engine when starting and accelerating offers significant advantages over battery and electric motors and could be used in a number of SUV and pick-ups that populate American roads. Keep an eye on UPS’s testing.

UPS First in Industry to Purchase Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicles

UPS, EPA, Eaton, Navistar Agree: “HHV Ready for Prime Time”

ATLANTA, Oct. 27, 2008 – As part of a public-private partnership to increase the commercial availability and use of alternative fuel vehicles, UPS (NYSE:UPS) today announced its first purchases of a little-known technology – the hydraulic hybrid vehicle – that promises dramatic fuel savings and environmental benefits.

The technology, originally developed in a federal laboratory of the Environmental Protection Agency, stores energy by compressing hydraulic fluid under pressure in a large chamber. UPS was the only company in its industry asked to road-test the technology two years ago and now becomes the first delivery company to place an order for hydraulic hybrid vehicles (HHV).

“There is no question that hydraulic hybrids, although little known to the public, are ready for prime time use on the streets of America,” said David Abney, UPS’s chief operating officer. “We are not declaring hydraulic hybrids a panacea for our energy woes, but this technology certainly is as promising as anything we’ve seen to date.”

Learn more about hydraulic hybrid vehicles.

Disclosing the results of its road testing on Detroit routes for the first time, UPS and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the prototype vehicle had achieved a 45-to-50 percent improvement in fuel economy compared to conventional diesel delivery trucks. UPS believes similar fuel economy improvements and a 30 percent reduction in CO2 are achievable in daily, real-world use. The EPA believes the technology can perform equally well in other applications such as shuttle and transit buses and refuse pick-up trucks.

Abney was joined by representatives of the EPA, the Eaton Corporation (NYSE:ETN) and Navistar (NYSE:NAV) at a news conference in Atlanta’s Centennial Park in announcing UPS’s decision to place an order for seven of the hydraulic hybrids.

UPS will deploy the first two of the new HHV’s in Minneapolis during the first quarter of 2009. Eaton, which helped develop and refine the vehicle’s hydraulic hybrid power system, will monitor the vehicle’s fuel economy performance and emissions in the Minneapolis area. The additional five HHV’s will be deployed later in 2009 and early 2010.

With a diesel “series” hydraulic hybrid of the type being purchased by UPS, a high-efficiency diesel engine is combined with a unique hydraulic propulsion system, replacing the conventional drivetrain and transmission. The vehicle uses hydraulic pumps and hydraulic storage tanks to capture and store energy, similar to what is done with electric motors and batteries in a hybrid electric vehicle. In this case, the diesel engine is used to periodically recharge pressure in the hydraulic propulsion system. Fuel economy is increased in three ways: vehicle braking energy is recovered that normally is wasted; the engine is operated more efficiently, and the engine can be shut off when stopped or decelerating.

The EPA estimates that when manufactured in high volume, the added costs of the hybrid components can be recouped in less than three years through lower fuel and brake maintenance costs.

Eaton began working with the EPA in October 2001 under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement involving hydraulic hybrid systems and components. As part of Eaton’s role in designing and developing hybrid technologies, the company’s engineers were co-located at the EPA’s Ann Arbor facility. Eaton also earned a number of hybrid power system patents and continues to work on a number of other hybrid vehicles initiatives with UPS and others.

“We continue to be pleased with the progress and potential of the hydraulic hybrid system,” Eaton Chairman and CEO Alexander M. Cutler said at the press conference. “The market for this technology is truly global, and it can provide significant improvements in fuel economy and emission reductions for trucks, buses and off-road vehicles of many shapes and sizes.”

“EPA and our partners are not just delivering packages with these UPS trucks, we’re delivering environmental benefits to the American people,” said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. “With this investment in fuel-efficient technology, UPS is doing what is good for our environment, good for our economy, and good for our nation’s energy security.”

“The diesel hydraulic hybrid vehicle has the potential to offer our truck customers something very unique – performance and reduced emissions with dramatic improvements in fuel economy,” said Steve Guillaume, Navistar General Manager, Medium Trucks.

UPS’s current “green fleet” totals more than 1,600 low-carbon vehicles, including all-electric, hybrid electric, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) and propane-powered trucks.

In addition to the hydraulic hybrid, UPS has road-tested hydrogen fuel cell delivery trucks. UPS began deploying alternative fuel vehicles in the 1930’s with a fleet of electric trucks in New York City.

The HHV vehicle order follows the May 2008 purchase of 500 hybrid electric and CNG vehicles and the April 2008 deployment of 167 new CNG vehicles in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Ontario, San Ramon, Fresno and Sacramento. With UPS’s new purchases, the company’s “green fleet,” already the largest private fleet in the transportation industry, will total more than 2,100 vehicles.

About Eaton Corporation
Eaton Corporation (NYSE:ETN) is a diversified power management company with 2007 sales of $13 billion. Eaton is a global technology leader in electrical systems for power quality, distribution and control; hydraulics components, systems and services for industrial and mobile equipment; aerospace fuel, hydraulics and pneumatic systems for commercial and military use, and truck and automotive drivetrain and powertrain systems for performance, fuel economy and safety. Eaton sells products to customers in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit eaton.com.

About Navistar
Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV) is a holding company whose subsidiaries and affiliates produce International® brand commercial and military trucks, MaxxForce™ brand diesel engines, IC brand school and commercial buses and Workhorse® brand chassis for motor homes and step vans. It also is a private-label designer and manufacturer of diesel engines for the pickup truck, van and SUV markets. The company also provides truck and diesel engine parts and service. For more information, visit navistar.com.

About UPS
UPS, the world’s largest package delivery company, pursues a wide range of socially responsible and sustainable business practices designed to reduce its impact on the environment and improve communities around the world. UPS is included in the Dow Jones and FTSE4Good Sustainability Indexes. For more information, visit pressroom.ups.com.

To watch a live webcast of the announcement, visit: http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/ups-alternativefuel-vehicle-pr-003668.php

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Posted By RichC on October 29, 2008

As with a number of U.S. financial disasters, October is recognized on Wall Street  as a trying month. This year is no exception although the signals were pretty clear well before October. While taking a look the financial markets this Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Reserves did the expected in cutting the short-term interest rate by one-half percentage point to one-percent. They expressed continued concern of the ongoing financial crisis in both the financial markets and credit markets. The additional move down for short-term rates falls on the heels of several weeks of negative moves down on Wall Street followed by an impressive “one-day” stock market rally on Tuesday; it was the second largest point gain for the DJIA in history of 889.35 points, or 10.88 percent closing at 9,065.12. Wednesday is much more subdued as sidelined money waits for an all clear signal, which could around the corner or well off into next year?

Rate cuts are traditionally the key tool the Fed uses to stimulate the U.S. economy, although this year it has used a new lending arm. The Fed  loaned hundreds of billions of dollars to banks and is starting to loan money directly to major businesses by purchasing commercial paper. This injections of credit is expected to help banks and businesses fund day to day operations. Unfortunately it isn’t an instant fix and even the Fed remarked in it statement that their actions would not lead to an immediate return of economic growth. That said, the Fed projects improved credit markets and a return of moderate growth “over time.” while warning that “downside risks to growth remains.”

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Posted By RichC on October 29, 2008

There’s interesting news in the liquid crystal display (LCD) technology world coming out of Kent, Ohio (the city where LCD was founded). Cleveland station WKYC TV reported on a couple new products by a Kent Displays, a companly that is developing a new thinner “ePaper” and a LCD “skin” called “eGo.” The “eGo” technology can be used to create a plastic skin on a product which after changing color can retain that color without any additional power.

Story link | Video link

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Posted By RichC on October 28, 2008

If you love using a Mac (or Linux machine), but need that occasional windows program, today is your lucky day. Head over to the ‘minimized’ CodeWeavers site and download a copy of CrossOver the open source software that lets you run a Windows program without the need to purchase a Microsoft Windows OS license. It works well for that occasional program that has yet to be versioned for the Mac.
😆

Why are they “giving away their software?” A partisan political stunt … Here’s the story from MacDailyNews:

In July, CodeWeavers – whose software lets Mac OS X and Linux users run Windows programs without having to pay Microsoft for a Windows OS license – launched the Great American Lame Duck Presidential Challenge to encourage President Bush to make the most of his remaining days in office by accomplishing a major economic or political goal by January 20, 2009.

The goals focused on President Bush making specific positive accomplishments in areas such as the economy, home values, the stock market, the war on terror and other key issues. Specifically, one goal called for President Bush to help down bring average gasoline prices in the Twin Cities to $2.79 a gallon.

On Monday, Oct. 14, gas prices in Minneapolis and St. Paul did just that.

“That morning, I was filling my tank at Big Steve’s Gas Palace in St. Paul,” said Jeremy White, president and CEO of CodeWeavers, in the press release. “I had just finished my morning corn dog and 64-ounce Dr. Pepper when I looked at the pump and noticed gas was at $2.79. I screamed ‘Woohoo,’ then I yelled ‘Oh, crap!’ as I realized every American can now have my software for free. Kind of upsets my fourth quarter revenue projections…”

White admits this is not how he foresaw the Challenge unfolding.

“I launched the campaign to inspire President Bush to make the most of his final days in office. Who knew that our Challenge would have this kind of impact on the country?” White also said. “On the other hand, who knew that the economy would implode, causing oil demand to drop into the abyss and gas prices to plummet as well. Clearly, investigating Bear Stearns, AIG and those guys is misplaced – CodeWeavers is responsible for this mess. So it’s free software for all!”

On Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008, any one visiting the CodeWeavers’ Web site will be given a deal code that will entitle them to one free copy of CodeWeavers’ award-winning CrossOver software. Each copy comes complete with support.

MacDailyNews Note: CrossOver Mac is normally priced at US$39.95 for the standard version and $69.95 for the pro version. More info on the differences between the two versions here. We assume it’s the standard version that we’ll all be getting for free tomorrow.

White states in the press release, “I realize that by giving away all my software, I’ve caused horrific damage to my company’s bottom line. In fact, our vice president of sales wretched Starbucks all over his shirt when he learned the news. But, I figure, the way the economy is going, in a few months everyone might be out on the streets, wearing potato sacks and standing in line for squirrel soup, so why not?”

White also noted that if other Great American Lame Duck Presidential Challenge goals are met, CodeWeavers will once again provide free software. Goals include:
• Return the stock market to it’s 2008 high
• Reduce the average price of a gallon of milk to $3.50
• Create at least one net job in the U.S. this calendar year
• Return the median home price to its Jan. 1, 2008 level
• Bring Osama Bin-Laden to justice

CodeWeavers’ Web site is here.

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Posted By RichC on October 28, 2008

According to Bloomberg.com,  Volkswagen AG became the world’s biggest company by market value after Porsche SE announced plans to raise its stake in the German carmaker on Tuesday morning on an unusually short selling sitiuation. Volkswagen share price was up 55 percent  on this information in Frankfurt trading. The Germany-based Volkswagen has risen more than fivefold this year and is now valued at $370 billion which is now higher than Exxon Mobil Corp which was valued at $343 billion market value at Monday’s market close according to Bloomberg. — LINK

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Posted By RichC on October 26, 2008

Although I didn’t fill up today, gasoline prices remain surprisingly low giving strapped consumers at least a little breathing room from the high fuel prices just a few weeks earlier. Let’s hope some of the added cash back in consumers wallets helps to stimulate the economy.

Category: Financial | 2 Comments »
Tags: energy, fuel, gasoline

Posted By RichC on October 25, 2008

I’m not a big fan of Oprah Winfrey, especially after  her endorsement of Barak Obama ;-), but I wouldn’t mind having a Kindle in order to pack a few books along with me when traveling.  Amazon.com is offering $50 off of the Kindle’s $359 price tag by simply entering the code OPRAHWINFREY at checkout through November 1st. Nice.

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Posted By RichC on October 24, 2008

Wall Street continues to frighten investors, although today could have been even worse considering the 10% drop in Japan’s markets on Friday and the continued fear that we are heading into a worldwide depression. No longer are we tossing the word “recession” around, but now I’m regularly hearing “depression.” Perhaps this is a sign that the bottom is being reached? Interestingly I listened to someone talking about how the rapid change in energy was one of the catalysts in colapsing the mortgage based crisis, and that the bright spot is that energy, particularly oil, could be the catalyst that helps us recover. The point was that the number of dollars moved from consumer purchases to energy was huge as prices went up, and much in the same way these same dollars are finding their way back into the economy as energy prices (oil) declines. Hmm … today’s price of crude is considerably lower than at its peak — half as much per barrel. The analyst was correct … that’s a huge number of dollars that was being spent by consumers and business alike; will these dollars get circulated in the U.S. and will they be enough to move us into recovery?

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Posted By RichC on October 24, 2008

Several of my “left leaning” friends continue to tell me that there is no such thing as “media bias” when it comes to politics. I seem to run into a brick wall when attempting to point it out that the vast majority of the mainstream media tends to report against conservative positions and toward those that are left of center. When it comes to politicians, the media does the same thing — they tend to report more positively about Democrats and against Republicans. Of course there are a few decent and fair journalist out there and they deserve a compliment — thank you Kristen Powers, a notable Democrat (see below). I respect her fairness and honesty.

Here’s the recent example that has drawn some attention. It seems to me as if it is being swept under the rug, or at least under-reported: Sen. Obama’s running mate Sen. Biden tells us to “mark his words” about the 47 year old Obama being tested — how would the “mainstream” media have treated Gov. Sarah Palin if she were to say something like this?

BIDEN’S BUNGLES: A BLATANT BIAS

October 22, 2008

Barack Obama‘s choice of Joe Biden as his running mate prompted a small wave ofwarnings about Biden’s propensity for gaffes. But no one imagined even in a worse-case scenario such a spectacular bomb as telling donors Sunday to “gird your loins” because a young president Obama will be tested by an international crisis just like young President John
Kennedy was.

Scary? You betcha! But somehow, not front-page news.

Again the media showed their incredible bias by giving scattered coverage of Biden’s statements.

There were a few exceptions. On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” co-host Mika
Brzezinski flipped incredulously through the papers, expressing shock
at the lack of coverage of Biden’s remarks. Guest Dan Rather admitted
that if Palin had said it, the media would be going nuts.

So what gives?

The stock answer is: “It’s just Biden being Biden.” We all know how
smart he is about foreign policy, so it’s not the same as when Sarah
Palin says something that seems off.

Yet, when Biden asserted incorrectly in the vice-presidential
debate that the United States “drove Hezbollah out of Lebanon,” nobody
in the US media shrieked. (It was, however, covered with derision in
the Middle East.) Or when he confused his history by claiming FDR
calmed the nation during the Depression by going on TV, the press
didn’t take it as evidence that he’s clueless.

And Biden is the foreign-policy gravitas on the Democratic ticket, so his comments are actually even more disconcerting.

The outakes of his Sunday remarks don’t begin to capture the
magnitude of what he said. After warning the crowd that there would be
some sort of international incident – Biden could think of four or five
scenarios – he told the donors: “We’re gonna need you to use your
influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him.
Because it’s not gonna be apparent initially, it’s not gonna be
apparent that we’re right.”

What does that mean? Obama’s election would provoke an
international incident because of his inexperience and even Obama’s
biggest supporters won’t be reassured by his response?

Then there were Biden’s predictions on the economy: “I promise you,
you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going, ‘Oh my God,
why are they there in the polls? . . . Why is this thing so tough? . .
. I’m asking you now, be prepared to stick with us. Remember the faith
you had at this point, because you’re going to have to reinforce us.

“There are gonna be a lot of you who want to go, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, yo, whoa, whoa, I don’t know about that decision.’ “

Biden is teling us that, at a time when Americans need to feel
confidence in their government, they will be going “Oh my God.” Not a
great message.

Needless to say, if Sarah Palin said this about a McCain administration, the media world would be exploding.

Whether you believe Biden is exaggerating, as he is known to do, or
is providing real insight, the double standard in the media does even
more damage to their lagging brand.

Part of the problem is their “Obama love,” but we’re also seeing
the media elite’s belief – prejudice – that anyone with an R behind
their name is dumb. So, if they say something dumb, they must
be dumb. A Democrat, like Biden, can make wildly inaccurate or
outrageous comments and they are ignored because the TV and press
insiders feel they “know who he really is.”

On the stump recently, Sen. Biden declared he had “three words” for what the nation needs: “J-O-B-S.”

Lucky for him, his name isn’t Dan Quayle, or that would have followed him for the rest of his career.

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Posted By RichC on October 22, 2008

Although my wallet has appreciated the significantly lower gasoline prices, the price difference between diesel and gas is being noticed. After my last few fill-ups of my “gasoline” Honda Pilot, I have been breathing a sigh of relieve since they have been $2.35, $2.37 and $2.39, at least in the Cincinnati Ohio area. (although I did have to pay $2.55 in northeastern Ohio this week) Diesel drivers haven’t been as fortunate as their premium has been consistently over $1.00/gallon — Hmm … there goes the 20-30%  diesel efficiency advantage.

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