Our World and Everything in It

Ford Motor Company is really reinventing itself. Ford is not just concentrating on delivering cars with greater mpg and lower emissions, but transportation in general for growing population centers.

Ford, in partnership with U of M, has been studying congested cities worldwide, tracking growing populations, and the migrations of these populations in order to offer solutions for metropolitan traffic. Their answer is a network of hubs within big metro cities that suffer the most traffic congestion. According to an article on world-wire:

By 2015, about two-thirds of the world will be living in urban areas, which will exacerbate traffic congestion and present major challenges to basic transportation and personal mobility.

“Ford Urban Mobility Networks” is a pilot program that is exploring how to coordinate a variety of transportation options and provide vital real-time information to individuals living in densely populated urban centers.

The program is the result of Ford’s ongoing collaborations with University of Michigan’s Sustainable Mobility and Accessibility Research and Transformation (SMART) initiative.

Ford’s Urban Mobility Network considers all types of transportation, buses, trains, taxis, car-share fleets, mopeds and bicycles. All or some of these modes of transportation transfer at the hubs. The hub idea looks to me like a way to converge and disperse smaller packs of people all over simultaneously, rather than allowing everyone to herd along in one big jam pile of traffic until individuals peel themselves out of the pack as they near his/her destination.

Well good luck with this one if our populations grow out of control that badly. The article said some 35 cities worldwide would have populations of over 10 million. In honor of George Carlin’s death, and his wonderful truths, I think he would say something like “wouldn’t a better solution be a little abstinence so we don’t have population explosions? I mean if we have to really gear up for all these people that are going to be born, wouldn’t it be a lot easier to forgo that big growth and just maintain for awhile. Afterall, population is something we can control.

And I would add,  if we can’t control our garbage, can’t sustain ourselves comfortably, can’t help ourselves let alone someone else, why are we still procreating like it’s 2,000 years ago?

Before I digress farther, the article is a good read to get a idea of what our transportation future might be: http://world-wire.com/news/0806110002.html.

I went car shopping today. I’m not going to give a report on all the makes and models because I was looking for kinda sporty cars and sedans that get 30 mpg or more. I’m not and never have been an aficionado of SUV’s. If I wanted a truck, I’d buy a truck. I have a problem with the idea of exiting from an SUV all dressed up in heels. Not going to happen, even if that sucker cost over $50,000. Besides that, I hate getting behind them where I’m at the mercy of their brake lights only. And the women that drive them…Omagawd. They’ve come right over in my lane more than once because they just can’t see, and are always, always on that cell phone. And I don’t have a small car. I have a tank of a Cadillac STS.

I shopped in Monroe just to see and drive the cars. It’s a great place to look since just about all the dealerships are either on Monroe St. or Telegraph Rd. But it still took me 4 hours to browse through 4 dealerships. I went to the Toyota, Mazda, and VW dealership on the south end of town first. Check out the Eos VW. It looks like a little hardtop but with the flick of a switch, it’s a convertible. You have to watch this magic. It reminds me of a Lady Bug flicking its wings to take off when it transforms itself.  Ah the Germans are ingenious. As a hardtop it also sports a moon roof. When I drove this car, I swear I was in my old BMW. It hugs curves, zips around, is almost silent, and with the top down there isn’t a really big draft so you can actually hear the radio, and talk to one another. I made the comment that my old Beemer was manual, and guess what, with the flick of a switch on the automatic gearshift, it becomes a clutch free manual drive. One button puts the top up and down into the trunk, and one button makes all the windows go up and down at once if you like. What a great little car, RED of course.

Next stop was the Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge dealership. I’ve been seeing an awful lot of Avengers and Chargers around that look downright sporty. They look so much alike that I went with the Avenger since it gets a little better gas mileage. It was black with the sports package. What a comfortable ride. The seats were the best on my back anyway. It had good pickup, and what I couldn’t cram in that huge trunk, especially when both back seats pull forward. It would be good for trips to Lowe’s or packing up for camping, fishing, sporting trips. And what a deal. You can pretty much get one of these with little to nothing down, and for only $200/mo. for a 3-year lease. No wonder I’m seeing so many of these. I think I’d take the red one.

Groulx GMC, Pontiac, and Olds has more than a few choices also. The G8 has the look of a luxury sedan and sports car. There are two black ones sitting out front that I was immediately drawn to. What I ended up taking for a ride was another convertible, a white G6 Pontiac. It does pretty much what that little VW Eos did. With the flick of a switch the metamorphosis takes place from a hard top to a convertible. This car rode like my Cadillac and was fast. I took every car out on the expressway, and this one just floated. I’d have to say this was definitely a luxury convertible. Oh, and the one I test drove was discounted—a lot, as it was previously owned with only 1500 miles on it. If you’ve been holding back to get a convertible like this, better get down there for a great deal on this car.

I continued on to Victory Honda where I planned on looking at an Accord Coupe but could not get past the 4-door sedan. They’ve redone these cars to look like they belong in the Mercedes class of cars. What a mighty fine looking luxury sedan in the mid-$20,000 range. The leather seats and appointments are beautiful, and the back seat could fit two 6 ft. tall people no problem.

I had my 85-year-old mother in tow for this shopping spree. She was with me for the last 3 cars I bought sans my husband. Mind you this car only has 4 cylinders, (memories of my Beemer), but is really quick on the E-way. This car isn’t my Cadillac but it’s mighty close. The sales girl was showing me all the gizmos and a car has to go a long way to match what my 9 year-old STS has but this was close for half of what I paid for that Cad back in 99. And the safety features are phenomenal. There is a covering under the hood held in place by plastic tabs. If for some reason the engine starts on fire, the tabs melt, the covering comes down on the engine and smothers the fire. There is a breakaway engine mount so that if the car is hit head-on the engine drops and doesn’t end up in your lap. The front panels by the lights are super reinforced, and there are more airbags than I’ve ever seen on a car. Even the bumpers are 5 mph proof. If someone taps you, the bumpers crunch in but pop back out. Needless to say as we were driving along my mom looked over and said: “This is the car.”

And this probably will be the car, but that is me. There are fine Chevy cars too, especially the new Malibu, which I looked at before. I’ve also perused the Ford stock of cars like Ford’s Fusion, and Ford’s Escape that gets absolutely great mileage for a great price on a fine looking SUV if that is your preference. I have two friends that bought the Ford Focus that absolutely love their cars too.

If you’re tired of paying high gas prices, get out there and look around. The pickings are really, really great, and the deals are galore. The more cars I drove, the harder it was to make a choice. They all offered something I was looking for, and pretty much came with great stereo systems, MP3 and Bluetooth capabilities, nice interior appointments, sport’s packages with great looking wheels and trim, etc. The wheels and color can really make a car in my opinion. What a day. I’m bushed. 

It’s also the largest landfill redevelopment in the state of Michigan situated over the former Allen Park Clay Mine Landfill. Ford turned this Brownfield project into something green, really green. According to a World-Wire article:

The development not only reuses the landfill property, it preserves more land than it develops. In all, nearly two-thirds of the site will be natural green space, including prairie fields, ponds, trails and a future 43-acre park surrounding one million square feet of shops and restaurants.

Furthermore, the buildings on the site feature the latest in green design and construction. Fairlane Green Phase I is the first multi-tenant retail development to earn gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Environmental characteristics include high efficiency, CFC-free heating and cooling equipment, white reflective roofing, low-emitting materials, water-efficient plumbing fixtures, recycled and locally sourced building materials, windows and skylights, and a cistern to capture and re-use rain water.

More visible examples of the site’s environmental mission include large prairie fields and extensive native landscaping in parking lots, entryways, along store fronts and up the sides of buildings. Native plants require less irrigation and fertilizer while providing wildlife habitat. Additionally, rock gardens and landscaped swales cleanse and slow the flow of stormwater, which is captured in several large ponds.

Fairlane Green’s wide paved trails wind through prairies, along the ponds and through the mature woods bordering the site. Plans for the 43-acre park are underway and may include sledding, playscapes and nature study.

Read more:

http://world-wire.com/news/0805050001.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My girlfriend just bought a Prius. A touring Prius, which is a little bigger and comparable to a four-door sedan. She and her husband went to the auto show in search of a true hybrid, and mulled over the idea of a Prius. He already has a little Ford Focus and loves it. She said she would have gladly bought American, but they didn’t have much. I told her American cars are soon to get their parts from all over the place, pretty much do already, and hopefully vice versa for the foreign cars. So the term American means the company, not where the labor, the parts, or the money comes from.

I don’t blame her for getting a Prius. Her 12-year-old Buick Roadmaster had seen its better days and had 108,000 miles on it. She wanted to be environmentally friendly this time around and cut her gas bill to nothing. She only uses the car to drive around Monroe, MI, and to and from work probably less than an 8-mile round trip everyday. If she takes the back roads, that Prius will only be using gas to keep the electric motor running.

We all packed in her new car Saturday night and went for a ride. I was in the front and have to say it felt like I was in a Jetson mobile. The windshield is long, and angled and so is the dashboard, so the digital readout is way in front of you. Very futuristic. It’s doesn’t have the walled in feeling of a regular dashboard. There is a small monitor in the middle of it that shows all type of functions. My friend’s husband left the screen on consumption. What shows is an animated picture of the underside of the car, the wheels turning, and arrows showing the direction the energy is going to and coming from. The Prius is supposed to switch from electric to a mix of electric and gas at 25 mph, and then to gasoline alone after 55 mph. On the highway, it gets 47 mpg on top of that.  Surprisingly her Prius didn’t do that. It didn’t use gas until 37 mph sometimes. That was an added bonus.

When we approached the railroad tracks, her husband shifted a gear on the console and didn’t bother to brake because that shift slowed the car down to a crawl instead. I guess slowing down is as bad as taking off as far as fuel consumption. The shift slows the car down gradually without a lot of friction.

Other things we found out: You don’t have to have your keys in hand to get in. Her Prius reads the key fob in her pocket as she walks up to the car and unlocks it. She only needs to step on the brake and push a button to start the car. When she’s backing up, the monitor shows her what’s behind and what she is approaching along with a back-up alarm.  And her Prius is really roomy inside, albeit another car where you feel like you’re sitting on the floor, but for now it feels solid. She is 5′8″ and sat quite comfortable stretched in the back seat.

Tech wise it has blue tooth so she can dock her phone. There is a place for an Ipod of course. Both the phone and music are voice activated and are shown on the monitor as well. There are 7 hidden speakers surrounding the interior. And the back seats fold down creating quite a large hatchback.

Oh, I forgot. Her Prius only holds 8 gallons of gas. She bought it Thursday, January 31, 2008 and filled it up, all 8 gallons. I’ll blog when she stops to get gas for her Prius again. It’ll probably make us sick.  

I was listening to Good Morning America this morning and it seems cities around the country are having a hard time controlling speeding drivers. Follow along here. Scottsdale, AZ was the first city to have speed enforcement cameras on one of its highways. Other cities are following suit. A county in Maryland that has speed cameras simply sends a citation to the speeder in the mail if they are clocked at more than 11 mph over the limit. Eleven miles over is a far cry from one driver that was caught doing 131 mph past a 65 mph sign. This camera system has its detractors that claim the cameras aren’t always accurate and they are limited. But the cameras work.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety knows that Americans speed and on all types of roads.  The speed cameras have got the 75 mph crowd way down from 15 percent to less than 2. That’s quite a drop.  But why do we speed? Because we can. And most of the time we do it around 20 percent over the limit. We should be asking why during this oil crunch and with CO2 emission overload hasn’t our federal government lowered the speed limit to 55 mph like it did in the 70’s?
The idea of speeding because we can is bolstered by our car industry. Don’t get me wrong; it’s sheer joy to hear pistons slamming while jumping out in front of the guy that wasn’t going to let me on the expressway. But that’s about it. Keep traveling too fast and get caught, not to mention burning way too much gas and emitting excessive CO2 in the process. We should wonder about the contradiction of producing speedy cars in a country of speed limits. It’s stupid irony.

Lowered speed limits and the introduction of ethanol pumps, something I have yet to see anywhere, were the combination of choice in the 70’s when gas was high. I don’t think ethanol is the best idea, it will burden the space for food crops and give us another empire that is corn rich, but among alternative choices, it has its place. So where are the ethanol pumps? Are they gone the way of a lower speed limit?

Some of the excuses look extremely flimsy for all the things we do and don’t. If we had ethanol pumps back in the 70’s, than we should most surely be able to get them out there now and fast. It isn’t like we don’t have the technology. Ditto for lowering the speed limit. As for car manufacturers, Daimler-Chrysler (at the time) had the technology to produce hydrogen buses for Iceland 5 years ago but “nada” for us now. Ford and GM are slow to present true hybrids and keep lobbying on fuel economy issues. They claim they need time to produce 40-mpg cars. But back in 1984, the Big 3 automakers produced a total of 35 cars that got 40 mpg or more.  GM had 19, Ford had 6, and Chrysler had 10 of those gas savers. I say drag out those engineering plans and slap a new, sleek, light weight body on those babies and get em out there! My girlfriend who is in the market for a hybrid came back from the auto show disappointed and a little unnerved by the propaganda she heard like, “this is a REAL car,” because it goes too fast for the speed limits and burns mega petro.

Have you followed the logic and gathered a clear idea that nothing adds up here? We chase our tail—backwards! The experience and technology is there, so we have to look to the reason it’s not happening. There is only one industry that benefits from speeders, inefficient fuel economy, and no alternative fuel sources readily available—OIL.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4221537

http://www.mpgomatic.com/2007/10/19/super-cheap-high-mpg-cars-1984/
 

Get a load of our democratic process with this latest veto out of Washington. The Bush EPA nixed California’s proposed emission standards for the state that targeted the trucking, shipping, cement, semiconductor and consumer product industries. Instead Bush signed into law a new energy bill that requires automakers to cut emissions by 25 percent by 2009 and by 40 percent by 2020. The EPA said this covers the issue of emissions, end of story. Was that apples to apples?

Sixteen other states have already approved emissions laws and were waiting for this waiver by the EPA too. The EPA is supposed to have sole authority to make pollution rules, but our Federal Clean Air Act allows states to create their own rules with an EPA-approved waiver. The waiver was nixed today. The Supreme Court just ruled in favor of 12 states that sued the same EPA for dragging their feet about CO2 emissions. The Supreme Court had to tell the EPA that greenhouse gases can be considered “air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act and they were in violation for not regulating them. And today the EPA blocked California and the other states from doing what should have been the EPA’s job and substituted with Bush’s flimsy energy bill. 

So the states go through a lot of effort for nothing. The emission laws were part of California’s “Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.” The NRDC and many public interest groups co-sponsored it. California committed to reducing overall global warming pollution by 30% by 2020. They figured on new technologies as well as pollution cutting strategies to meet these goals. They sought the help of E2, “a national network of business people who work with the NRDC to champion the economic benefits of good environmental policy” and “who built a solid case for the ways in which curbing global warming could actually benefit California’s economy” (Nature’s Voice Newsletter by the NRDC Jan/Feb 2008). Just what I thought. Green is good for the economy.

I was intrigued by E2 and read on that they argue, “that clean technologies would create jobs and attract new companies to the state…supported by the fact that clean tech now ranks third in venture capital investment in North America.” Told ya so Michigan. Clean technology isn’t likely to coexist alongside coalburners and refineries. They showed that California would save “barrels” of money by reducing dependence on fossil fuel. It also stated that it took 124 meetings at the state capital by E2 volunteer members to “present their business-based argument.” They worked hard to come up with legislation that protects the environment and creates economic opportunity. They believe global warming controls will spur economic prosperity. This was a great program, until the automobile lobby got involved. Yeah, another lobby.

According to our own Detroit News:

Using a one-page script and a list of auto facilities obtained from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group that represents automakers, staffers at the Department of Transportation called nearly every congressional member from Michigan and Ohio, urging them to oppose California’s request, according to records released this week by the House Oversight Committee. They also targeted other auto-heavy districts and governors in at least seven other states.
While federal law bars government officials from lobbying lawmakers on issues before Congress, there are no such restrictions on regulatory questions, such as the California waiver.

California filed a lawsuite challenging the EPA’s denial of the waiver. And there is a House Committee investigating the agency’s decision to deny it also. This is getting good.

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Read more about the veto at: http://lawyersusadcdicta.wordpress.com/2007/12/20/epa-nixes-states-plan-to-limit-greenhouse-gases/#comment-285.

Read more about E2: http://www.e2.org/jsp/main.jsp.

About the Supreme Courts decision: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june07/emissions_5-29.html.

The Detroit News article about the auto lobby: http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070705/AUTO01/707050350/1148.

Imagine fueling your car with a biodiesel that gives off the sweet smell of chocolate and costs around $1.16 per gallon. That is a reality for Andy Pag of London and John Grimshaw of Poole. They are planning a trip from England to Timbuktu in their FORD Ford Iveco Cargo truck. Notice the emphasis on Ford. You know if other people in other places are fueling our cars and buses with different, and this one is different, biodiesels than what’s our hold up? Chocolate of all things. I guess it keeps the engine lubed better too. 

The article in Environmental News said the company, “Ecotec developed a proprietary process for converting waste chocolate from the nearby factory into bioethanol on an industrial scale. Previously this waste was thrown away in landfill sites but now the bioethanol it makes can be used for fuel in petrol-burning cars and in the production of biodiesel.” So there really are chocolate factories.

It said Andy and John would be carrying “2,000 liters of biodiesel produced from 4,000 kilos of chocolate mistakes…” I wonder if it smells faintly like chocolate in its biodiesel state? I could not endure the 4500 mile journey with the constant smell of chocolate. I wonder what this biodiesel tastes like?

Read the story. It’s probably one of the most unusual substances used for biodiesel so far. Who knew bad chocolate is just thrown away and whoever heard of a chocolate mistake of all things?

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2007/2007-11-26-02.asp.

I just read an interesting article in U.S. News and World Report called “Power Revolution.” It says that due to Silicon Valley’s money, ideas, and push for alternative sources of energy they may make the green movement happen faster and with better alternatives. Vinod Khosla, founder of Sun Microsystems and venture capitalist, is one that is interested in promoting alternative energy now. He believes the government will move when entrepreneurs get interested and start moving. One estimate shows venture capital funds for green investments tripled last year to $2.4 billion working toward a clean future.

In the solar arena, there is Pacific Gas and Electric that announced it will install 5 times the amount of solar power available in the U.S. Their motto is cheaper, bigger, and faster. One of its partners, Solel, an Israeli firm will use mirrors much like the Kramer Junction solar plant, but PG&E is looking to reduce the silicon used for conductivity down to an ultra thin film. It will lower costs. The plan is to concentrate the energy reflected by the mirror film to one point. By increasing the energy and lowering the cost, the flat lands of the desert should provide enough solar resource to provide six times what California uses today.

One of the most promising renewable energy sources is one that isn’t often mentioned–deep geothermal heat. And how do you like this?  Bush’s Crawford ranch is heated this way. He’s killing us with his thrust for more oil exploration, and more money in his civilian pocket, but uses geothermal energy himself. Anyway, MIT is working on improving this technology. Cold water is pumped down miles into the earth causing fissures in hot molten rock; the cold water is heated when it enters the fissures. The heated fluid flows back up to the production wells at the surface. The steam from this hot fluid is separated and used to turn a turbine generator. The article said that MIT stated it “could provide 10% of the U.S. base energy needs if the nation would spend $1 billion on its development over the next 15 years—less than the cost of one coal plant.” Hear that DTE?

As far as keeping ethanol in the equation, everyone pretty much agrees corn isn’t going to cut it. But, Range Fuels, founded by Khosla, received Dept. of Energy grants to make cellulosic ethanol fruition soon. A new commercial plant is set to go up outside a Georgia forestland in order to use all the timber waste wood. Range plans on using heat and pressure to change the wood into gas. Range’s senior exec used to be a VP for Apple Computer. Techies aren’t just providing capital; they’re on the job too.

Finally, not to be left out of the successful techie trek to the renewable energy market is Google. Google is sticking its money into plug-in hybrid cars. Google figures this is the quickest fix to lower our CO2 problem.  It has a lofty goal of getting 100 mpg out of some cars. They want to see the big automakers mass produce plug-ins. From a program that I saw on Eco Tech on the Science Channel, there is the possibility that a plug in car can have a spare charge. When it’s plugged into an outlet again, the excess power goes back to the grid and shows up as a credit on the homeowners electric bill! That’s just too ingenius!

For the whole article: http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/economy/2007/10/26/power-revolution.html.
 

Connect the dots. The Bush Administration was caught altering reports about global warming. I watched an investigation that showed the altered reports on a Canadian news channel. And many scientists have come forward to speak out about censorship. I just received a new petition in the mail to urge the latest EPA official to use science not politics in its reporting about the environment. So they did it. It needs no explaining. They are oilmen.  

U.S. automakers followed the government’s lead, and produced and kept selling gas-guzzlers. They sidestepped what should have been their business savvy and figured surely the Bush Administration would come through. All the while, Time Magazine and many other publications were reporting about Toyota’s push to be number one. Toyota is now way beyond introducing a hybrid. They are working on perfecting it. I wrote a blog about this because I thought is was in the poorest business sense for the Big 3 to overlook the competition. We can do just as well, but needed to get going on it yesterday.   

Then earlier this year, we watched as the Big 3 scrambled to Washington, only to be snubbed by the president. I thought the scramble was curious. What would prompt the automakers to do that? And why the sudden snub by an oilman president who should love these guys? 

Lately one of our own federal governmental agencies, Health and Human Services, suggested its employees should buy hybrid. They suggested the whole federal fleet should go hybrid. This suggestion was via e-mail to 67,000 employees! A spokesman for Health and Human Services said no malice was intended. Like a lawyer asking to strike a comment, it’s too late. Secy. of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, took office Jan. 26, 2005. Prior to this he was head of the U.S. EPA. Does this strike anyone else as odd? The EPA has been full of scandal. Reports of global warming must have been altered when Mike was there. And now what the heck, let’s go green and buy foreign comes from his agency?

What??? This is clearly an effort to hurt the U.S. automakers and not because they haven’t produced hybrids, since it was fine with this administration just last year. The only other reason to hurt a U.S. industry this quickly would be to break the unions. Excuse me, but I missed something if there is another reason. Leavitt isn’t part of the new congress that is pro environmental. He’s been buried in the Bush administration all along when it went from pro-polluter to environmentally friendly??? 

I might not have the dots connected perfectly but there are far too many questions with this whole scenario. It looks like the environment is suddenly the order of the day when it comes to vehicles, something that is a real stretch to believe of the Bush Oil Administration.

What is really becoming clear is that the environment is being used as a pawn lately for all types of spin, pitting the environment against jobs here in Michigan. Now it’s being used to work against U.S. automakers by the feds. Rep. Dingell said it right when he said, if we go green, everyone goes green. The auto industry should not be singled out. It looks to me like that’s exactly what is happening.                              

I read an article that Ford Motor Company has formulated a new type of paint for its vehicles. The new paint is being tested on 200 Ford E series trucks, which have been delivered to U-Haul locations across the country. By using this new paint Ford is able to reduce CO2 emissions from its paint facilities by 15%, and VOC emissions (volatile organic compounds) by about 10 percent, and save on production costs.   That’s pretty good. I guess the paint has a higher ratio of color pigment in it. World-wire.com says, “The technology combines an advanced chemical formulation of high-solids, solvent-borne paint with an innovative three-wet application process that requires a smaller, less expensive and cleaner paint shop than traditional automotive paint facilities.” This means it has more color pigment, based in a solvent not water, but because pigment is heavy there isn’t a lot of paint flying around. The paint pretty much covers in one coat, then gets coated again, and coated for a third time without drying time in between. This cuts out the air-conditioning process and the need for a low temperature oven. Interesting. Ford said it can save $7 on each car, but that probably doesn’t include smaller paint booths or operations that will save even more. The paint was introduced at Ford’s Ohio Assembly Plant. This shows that a little ingenuity toward helping the environment can save a company money. I’d like to know what both Ford and GM are cooking up for cars? Both companies announced hydrogen as their choice for alternative fuels for their cars in the future. GM has said that it will concentrate on service fleets of automobiles first, which represents the biggest amount of CO2 output. I know New York cab drivers are testing hybrids, and have reported very good savings. So police cars, maintenance vans of all types, buses, and company trucks will more than likely be fueled by hydrogen, which leads me to ask what’s cooking on that level? I’ll have to hunt around and see if I can find out more on hydrogen production in Michigan. I was sad to here Michigan plans on 17 more ethanol facilities which is just not the way to go at all. I’m glad to see GM and Ford settling on hydrogen.