NEWS RELEASE 03.31.08 According to major car manufacturers, plug-in Hybrids are not an environmental solution due to battery limitations. While the Hybrid industry has benefited considerably from battery technology passed down through NASA, batteries have hit a technical efficiency barrier for which there is no solution.

In contrast, the ZED engine solution has unlimited potential in applications ranging from freighter ship engines to lawnmowers in scale. Fueled by Hydrogen, ZED engines are inexpensive to run and produce no pollution.

ZED engines are a breakthrough technology, easily verified by searching either the US patent office or google using the keywords “external combustion - hydrogen - engine”

For more information see the attached Vancouver Sun newspaper article or contact corpcomm@zedpower.com

Breakthrough needed to get cars off gas, experts say

BY FIONA ANDERSON, Vancouver Sun Published: Wednesday, March 12, 2008

VANCOUVER - Representatives from the big automakers may disagree about which new type of car is best, but they do agree that advances in technology are necessary before consumers can afford to switch from petroleum-fueled transportation.

While hybrids can improve fuel efficiency in city driving by as much as 89 per cent, the cars still rely on petroleum, and companies are looking for alternatives.

“The key challenge we yet have to overcome is still technology,” said Nancy Gioia, the director of sustainable mobility technologies and hybrid vehicle programs at Ford Motor Company, during a a panel Wednesday at Globe 2008, a business and environment conference taking place in Vancouver.

But John German, manager of environmental and energy analyses at the American Honda Motor Company, believes the increased cost of plug-in cars may not be worth the benefit.

And before plug-in hybrids can be affordable, there has to be a breakthrough in battery technology, he said.

General Motors was showcasing its hydrogen-fuel cell car at the Globe 2008 trade show. And GM’s vice-president of environment, energy and safety policy, Beth Lowery, said the company is currently rolling out an additional 100 cars for customers to test drive. The cars aren’t ready for market yet, though GM’s target is to have a financially competitive model by 2010, Lowery said.

NEWS RELEASE 03.31.08 Global food shortages are now recognized by the United Nations and other international bodies as a growing international problem, driven in part by the use of food stocks for biofuel production. According to experts in the field, biofuel production is a “big mistake” and should cease immediately in order to alleviate hunger and riots already beginning in poorer parts of the world. Any company involved in the biofuel industry could be dangerously contributing to world hunger and rising food prices say the experts. See following Reuters article for more information.

In contrast, ZED engines are fueled by Hydrogen, a natural energy source that can actually reduce the cost of food production and reduce global food shortages. Contact corpcomm@zedpower.com for more information.

Tensions rise as world faces short rations

Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:36am EDT By Russell Blinch and Brian Love

WASHINGTON/PARIS (Reuters) - Food prices are soaring, a wealthier Asia is demanding better food and farmers can’t keep up. In short, the world faces a food crisis and in some places it’s already boiling over.

Plundered by severe weather in producing countries and by a boom in demand from fast-developing nations, the world’s wheat stocks are at 30-year lows. Grain prices have been on the rise for five years, ending decades of cheap food.

Drought, a declining dollar, a shift of investment money into commodities and use of farm land to grow fuel have all contributed to food woes.

Global food prices, based on United Nations records, rose 35 percent in the year to the end of January, markedly accelerating an upturn that began, gently at first, in 2002. Since then, prices have risen 65 percent.

Waves of discontent are already starting to be felt. Violent protests hit Cameroon and Burkina Faso in February. Protesters rallied in Indonesia recently and media reported deaths by starvation. In the Philippines, fast-food chains were urged to cut rice portions to counter a surge in prices.

BIOFUEL TROUBLE

As the West seeks to tackle the risk of global warming, a drive towards greener fuels is compounding the world’s food problems.

It is estimated that one in four bushels of corn from this year’s U.S. corn crop will be diverted to make fuel ethanol.

“Turning food into fuel for cars is a major mistake on many fronts.” said Janet Larsen, director of research at the Earth Policy Institute, an environmental group based in Washington.

“One, we’re already seeing higher food prices in the American supermarket. Two, perhaps more serious from a global perspective, we’re seeing higher food prices in developing countries where it’s escalated as far as people rioting in the streets.”

Similarly, palm oil is at record prices because of demand to use it for biofuel, causing pain for low income families in Indonesia and Malaysia, where it is a staple.

John Bruton, the European Union’s Ambassador to the United States, predicts that the world faces 10 to 15 years of steep rises in food costs. And it is the poor in Africa and, increasingly, South East Asia, who will be most vulnerable.

NEWS RELEASE 03.21.08 Biofuel is clearly an economic failure as an alternative to petroleum. Without government subsidy to create an artificial economic viability profile, biofuel is now recognized to cause an increase in food prices, with no effect on fuel prices, or environmental impact.

Alternately, hydrogen fueled ZED engines reduce the cost of tilling, planting, harvesting and transportation of food stuffs while improving the environment significantly over biofuel use. With no government subsidy, or other artificial economic incentive, ZED engines alone offers both an environmental and economic solution unmatched by biofuel.

Grumbling over ethanol mounts among food execs

Reuters - Thu Mar 20, 2008 By Ben Klayman - Analysis

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Prices for commodities are steadily rising and top food industry executives are grumbling that costs will not fall as long as the U.S. government continues to subsidize corn growers for making ethanol.

The ethanol industry has been blamed for everything from rising food prices to environmental damage, and its heavy use of corn has even divided the farm community. Grain farmers celebrate record prices while livestock producers and bakers complain about rising costs.

The subject should be revisited by lawmakers, according to top executives at the Reuters Food Summit in Chicago this week. Some said production of renewable fuels should be capped or other benefits stripped away, or consumers’ wallets will continue to feel the pinch.

“The pure economics of ethanol do not support that as being a good economic decision,” he added. “In the short term, the use of corn for ethanol is not a good decision for the American consumer.”

The government also provides fuel makers a tax credit for blending ethanol into auto fuel and has a tariff on imported ethanol

While the executives at the summit lauded the goals of such a push, they said consumers may not like the consequences. Executives have been lobbying lawmakers, either directly or through trade groups, to take a second look.

“We certainly as a society want to decrease our dependence on foreign oil,” said Rick Searer, president of Kraft Foods Inc’s North American operations. “Unfortunately, the biofuels mandate is having unintended consequences in terms of its impact on the price of food.”

He pointed to more farm land used for corn and less for soybeans and wheat, resulting in higher prices on the latter two commodities even as corn prices continue to spike on the heavier demand.

News release 03.18.08 - Hydrogen fueled ZED engines are both an environmental solution, and a solution for the economy. As widely recognized in the news, the high price of oil is a key cause of economic recession. With the cost of fuel ranging from 10% to 90% of the retail price of all products, hydrogen fuel priced at 10-20% of the cost of gasoline could significantly reduce the cost of all goods to create an economic boom. ZED engines fueled with inexpensive hydrogen, would help to ensure the security and economic integrity of all industrial economies. For more information contact corpcomm@zedpower.com

Reuters - Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:06am EDT by Steve Johnson

The longer oil prices remain above $100, the worse things are likely to get for the US dollar.

With the greenback hitting all-time lows and no end to its slide in sight, oil exporters are likely to shift a larger share of their revenues into other currencies.

That weakens the dollar further, making dollar-dominated oil more costly for American consumers. Its what Morgan Stanley global currency strategist Stephen Jen call a “vicious circle” that can be very hard to break.

Greg Salvagglio, an FX trader at Tempus consulting in Washington says, “………. some worry that investors could stop buying US Treasury debt, causing interest rates to spike, inflation to worsen and living standards to slide.

Thats troubling news, particularly now that economists believe the United States has already entered a recession that may prove more persistent and painful than any since the 1930s.