JMU AFV Lab Blog

Came across this article on the Gas2.0 Blog this morning. It shows what other colleges and universities are doing in the Alternative Fuel Vehicle area. Perhaps our students could get some ideas here.

Source: http://gas2.org/2010/03/29/student-built-car-gets-2487-5-mpg-in-shell-eco-marathon/#more-6387

Student-Built Car Gets 2,487.5 MPG in Shell Eco-Marathon

Written by Nick Chambers

Source: http://gas2.org/2010/03/29/student-built-car-gets-2487-5-mpg-in-shell-eco-marathon/#more-6387

Came across this article on the “GreenCarReports.com” Website. I thought it was rather interesting coming so soon after my last Blog Entry on bamboo bicycles. Maybe bamboo could stand some investigation?

Source: http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1043593_biodiesel-bamboo-cabs-philippines-town-turns-taxis-green

Biodiesel Bamboo Cabs: Philippines Town Turns Taxis Green

By John Voelcker Senior Editor March 19th, 2010

March 19th, 2010 It’s not a particularly new story, these days, but hey, it’s also Friday. So we thought we’d revisit one of the more unusual attempts at green cars we’ve seen. This morning, a friend sent us an e-mail with photos of two taxis commissioned by the Philippine town of Tabontabon, in the province of Leyte, whose bodies are made of indigenous bamboo. More than that, they burn biodiesel fuel made from locally available nut oils. The ECO taxis built by Tabontabon Organic Transport Industry [TOTI] come in two sizes: ECO1 seats 20, whereas ECO2 carries eight passengers. Each is said to run for eight hours on a gallon of biodiesel, which in this case is derived from coconut oil. The bamboo-taxi story first surfaced last summer; it’s one of numerous attempts around the world to turn taxis more green. In the States, for instance, many fleets are now using Ford Escape Hybrid taxis, including some that have now been retired after 300,000-plus miles. Tabontabon mayor Rustico Balderian is the inspiration behind the unusual vehicles, which are fully 90 percent bamboo. They provide employment opportunities for local youth, and safer transport for families who otherwise ride four or five together on a single motorcycle. ECO1 is covered in the woven Filipino mat called banig, making it almost as colorful as the Jeepneys in use elsewhere in the Philippines. As the TOTI Eco site expains, though, Jeepneys didn’t work as public transit in Tabontabon. Drivers often waited for a full load of people before starting. In a town of 10,000, that often didn’t happen. Instead, passengers hopped on their motorcycles, known as habal habals. The hope is that locally made vehicles may be less costly, providing cheaper and safer transport for residents. A third vehicle, ECO3, is now under construction, this one with a frame made of bamboo too. [TOTI Eco Via Inhabitat via Fast Company via Autoblog; hat tip: Rick Feibusch]

TOTI bamboo ECO taxis in Tabontabon, Philippines

Enlarge Photo

It’s not a particularly new story, these days, but hey, it’s also Friday. So we thought we’d revisit one of the more unusual attempts at green cars we’ve seen.

This morning, a friend sent us an e-mail with photos of two taxis commissioned by the Philippine town of Tabontabon, in the province of Leyte, whose bodies are made of indigenous bamboo. More than that, they burn biodiesel fuel made from locally available nut oils.

TOTI bamboo ECO1 20-passenger taxi in Tabontabon, PhilippinesGallery

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The ECO taxis built by Tabontabon Organic Transport Industry [TOTI] come in two sizes: ECO1 seats 20, whereas ECO2 carries eight passengers. Each is said to run for eight hours on a gallon of biodiesel, which in this case is derived from coconut oil.

The bamboo-taxi story first surfaced last summer; it’s one of numerous attempts around the world to turn taxis more green. In the States, for instance, many fleets are now using Ford Escape Hybrid taxis, including some that have now been retired after 300,000-plus miles.

Tabontabon mayor Rustico Balderian is the inspiration behind the unusual vehicles, which are fully 90 percent bamboo. They provide employment opportunities for local youth, and safer transport for families who otherwise ride four or five together on a single motorcycle.

ECO1 is covered in the woven Filipino mat called banig, making it almost as colorful as the Jeepneys in use elsewhere in the Philippines.

As the TOTI Eco site expains, though, Jeepneys didn’t work as public transit in Tabontabon. Drivers often waited for a full load of people before starting. In a town of 10,000, that often didn’t happen. Instead, passengers hopped on their motorcycles, known as habal habals.

The hope is that locally made vehicles may be less costly, providing cheaper and safer transport for residents. A third vehicle, ECO3, is now under construction, this one with a frame made of bamboo too.

[TOTI Eco Via Inhabitat via Fast Company via Autoblog; hat tip: Rick Feibusch]

Source: http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1043593_biodiesel-bamboo-cabs-philippines-town-turns-taxis-green

I haven’t posted anything to the blog lately, but not because I haven’t been searching for something. There has been a paucity of relevant articles lately. This article came across the “Gizmag” blog just today. One of our students, Troy Page, was working on a similar concept recently, but I never heard how it turned out. Perhaps bamboo as a structural element in a vehicle could be a viable project for the AFV Lab. Go to http://www.gizmag.com/calfee-design-bamboo-bikes/14378/ to see the original article

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/calfee-design-bamboo-bikes/14378/

Calfee Design building bamboo bikes for the first and third worlds

By Ben Coxworth

15:09 March 2, 2010

We’ve seen bikes with frames made out of aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber, and even IsoTruss tubes, but bamboo? Well yes, actually, we saw some here in Gizmag just last May. Back then, we were looking at some fairly basic city bikes built by Brazilian designer Flavio Deslandes. This time around the bamboo bikes are decidedly higher-end creations, built by Californian designer Craig Calfee, of Calfee Design. Although these bikes are definitely high-end, he’s also working on using bamboo to provide employment and cheap transportation for the people of Ghana.

Calfee started out building carbon fiber frames in 1987. In 1995, as a publicity stunt, he built a bamboo-framed errand bike. It spawned 11 others, built for staff, family and friends, who commented on how smooth the ride was. By 2005, he decided to go into production. He now offers road racing, triathlon, cyclocross and mountain models.

Bamboo is used for all the main tubes, although you can choose carbon chainstays for extra stiffness. The bamboo is smoked and heat treated before construction, to prevent splitting. The tubes are joined together using hemp fiber lugs, then everything gets coated with polyurethane.

The finished frames weigh four to six pounds, and are said to offer excellent vibration damping, while also providing good stiffness. Calfee claims that the bamboo is very crash-resistant, to the point where he doesn’t even offer carbon mountain bike frames anymore. Bamboo also, of course, has a much lower carbon footprint than traditional frame materials - only water and sun are required to produce it.

While Craig’s bikes are definitely aimed at the affluent buyer, he’s also trying to get inexpensive bamboo bikes into the hands of villagers in Ghana. In 1984, he came up with the idea of a bamboo bike program while visiting Africa. He noticed that there was a lot of bamboo, but not enough cargo bikes, and not enough jobs. Since that time, he has been working on teaching local entrepreneurs how to build their own bamboo bikes, and looking for sponsors to provide funding and supplies. He plans to extend the project to other developing nations.

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/calfee-design-bamboo-bikes/14378/