BEIJING (Reuters Wed Dec 31, 2008 ) - Beijing, beset by choking traffic and heavy air pollution, will take more than 350,000 high-polluting vehicles off inner city streets, local media reported.

China’s capital has banned cars from the roads on one out of five weekdays based on the number of license plates as part of a six-month trial in the wake of broader restrictions during the Olympic Games in August that cleared skies and eased congestion.

The measure stands to take about 10 percent of the city’s cars off the road. Beijing currently has about 3.5 million registered cars. The government had also drafted a compensation scheme that will give drivers up to 25,000 yuan ($3,600) if they proactively give up their cars during 2009, the paper said.

The city would also provide preferential loans to shipping and transport companies to upgrade their vehicle fleets to meet low-emission standards, the paper said, citing the city’s traffic bureau.

Beijing authorities have credited cleaner skies above the capital in recent months in part due to the traffic restrictions, as well as decreased emissions from shuttered factories in the city’s outskirts. Car ownership along with rising incomes has skyrocketed in Chinese cities in recent years, posing head-aches for town planners already struggling to build roads and public transport to meet burgeoning urban populations.

ZED COMMENT: While North American and European countries are looking at an incremental improvement in air pollution, growing economies such as China and India must make significant advances to reach the same level of environmental protection. In both economies, the hydrogen powered ZED engine is the only transportation powertrain solution which can meet or exceed current performance requirements.

by Diana Furchtgott-Roth, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor

(Reuters December 18th, 2008) The world is falling in love with plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars. President-elect Obama wants to put 1 million on the road by 2015. GM features them, particularly the Chevy Volt, in its new business plan for a debut in 2010. The EU wants them to shrink greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 by 20% from 1990 levels. This week the Chinese auto company BYD began selling the world’s first commercially-available plug-in hybrid sedan.

No matter that these cars are not widely available; that they are priced far above traditional models; that many have a short range, making them useful only for local trips; that batteries may be prone to catching fire; and that many motorists park on the street, where charging is impractical.

But whereas electric cars don’t pollute when they’re running on batteries, they’re not pollution-free. Making the lithium-ion batteries is pollution-intensive and recharging the batteries uses electricity. And most electricity generation, from coal- and gas-fired power plants, still causes pollution.

ZED COMMENT: What fundamentally separates ZED from electric and other alternate powertrains, is an ability to match or exceed gasoline engine performance in all applications. Without a revolutionary breakthrough in battery technology, for which there is no evidence, electric cars will never provide more than limited niche transportation. ZED on the other hand is fully scalable from highway trucks, to off road vehicles, marine outboards, dump trucks, or any other internal combustion engine application. ZED can change the petroleum based transportation paradigm. Electrics cannot.

CHICAGO (Reuters Mon Dec 15, 2008) - Insisting on the need to develop new forms of energy, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Monday chose as his energy secretary a Nobel physics laureate who is a major promoter of alternative fuels.

Obama named Steven Chu, the winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics who was an early advocate for finding scientific solutions to climate change, to head the Energy Department.

“In the 21st century, we know that the future of our economy and national security is inextricably linked with one challenge: energy,” Obama told a news conference. “All of us know the problems that are rooted in our addiction to foreign oil. It constrains our economy, shifts wealth to hostile regimes and leaves us dependent on unstable regions.“

“To control our own destiny, America must develop new forms of energy and new ways of using it. And this is not a challenge for government alone — it’s a challenge for all of us.”

Obama’s energy and environmental team will play a major role in his quest to revive the U.S. economy by boosting renewable energy use and creating millions of “green” jobs that will ease America’s reliance to foreign oil.

“This time has to be different. This time we cannot fail, nor can we be lulled into complacency simply because the price at the pump has for now gone down from $4 a gallon,” he said.

“We can create millions of jobs, starting with a 21st century economic recovery plan that puts Americans to work building wind farms, solar panels, and fuel-efficient cars.”

Obama has set a goal of making public buildings more efficient, modernizing the electricity grid and reducing greenhouse gas emissions while preserving national resources.

ZED COMMENT: ZED is the ONLY engine which can match or exceed gasoline performance in all applications, with zero emissions. Hydrogen fuel produced with 60% efficiency utilizing nanotech electrolysis probes, is made from water and returns to being water when burned, the perfect zero pollution, infinite source of fuel. With electrolysis powered by zero fuel geothermal production, every aspect of the ZED engine meets future government goals of energy independence and environmental responsibility.