Panasonic Corporation just announced that it will sponsor Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT). The team will be competing in the upcoming Global Green Challenge (GCG) to be held in October of this year in Australia. As part of the sponsorship, Panasonic will provide the team with its a high-capacity (2.9 Ah) lithium-ion batteries.

The MIT SEVT student team will compete in the World Solar Challenge with a solar powered car using Panasonic lithium-ion batteries to store its solar generated power. Separately, Panasonic will provide the same high-capacity, lithium-ion batteries to a team from Japan’s Tokai University which is also competing in the same category.

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When I was nine years old – I just knew something along just these lines was in our futuristic future!

My Jetpack: finally! Here it is; invented by German aerospace engineer Alexander Boeck, and first seen (by me) in the Chinese Olympics. Here, finally, on sale in stores near you, at $269; is that new high tech transport!

I am so down for casually commuting to work at 25 miles an hour, and striding nine feet at a time, and loping gracefully along with the occasional leap over a short building or two.  All while looking like some kind of robotic gazelle – - and one that is two feet taller than me!

And the carbon footprint of this amazingly delightful form of transport? It’s Zilch!

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You can’t turn on the TV and avoid the ads for the dealers promoting the Cash for Clunkers program. Experts predicted that the money would last at least two to three weeks, but alas, it is not so. The LA Times is reporting that in less than one week, the $1 billion dollars for the program is already gone and the government is scrambling to find more money to keep the program going. Worst case, I suppose they can just write “IOUs” like the state of California is doing and according to Governor Schwarzenegger, may be bailing out the federal government some day.

“We are working tonight to asses the situation facing what is obviously an incredibly popular program,” the White House told the LA Times. “Auto dealers and consumers should have confidence that all valid CARS transactions that have taken place to date will be honored.”

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But they don’t. It costs between $12,500 to $22,500 to convert a gasoline-powered car to natural gas in an autoshop. That old gas hog just can’t be greened up for cheap. Now. But it could be.

Natural gas conversions don’t not have to cost that much: there is no technological problem driving what it truly needs to cost for auto mechanics to make a living at it. The true cost is only a few hundred dollars in parts and labor. The reason for this incredible difference is exceedingly interesting, as Robert Rapier notes in a well researched piece over at The Oil Drum on  the feasibility of switching from Gasoline to Natural Gas.

Not only is the reason interesting, but embedded in the reason is the simple way to solve it. Then converting cars to Natural Gas could cost what it actually costs; just a few hundred dollars – an hour’s work; a few parts.

We could cut our very hoggy national carbon footprint by switching to natural gas which we now have an abundant supply of if these new natural gas reserve numbers are even remotely accurate. So we could drive  less hoggy on somewhat cleaner fuel. And – (supposedly) in the carpool lane

The VP of The Auto Channel claims that this cost is unnecessary:

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Learn about the planning behind the 2009 conference of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas.

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