Like it or not, your next car may be a hybrid

?Experts warn fuel prices could skyrocket again, the troubled environment is on everyone's mind, and the world economy -- well, the less said the better.

So what kind of car will you be driving in the years ahead as you meet the challenges of the times? If plans by all major automakers fall into place, chances are it will be a hybrid vehicle.

Despite a serious slump in auto sales -- ScotiaCapital's Global Auto Report last month says the big four manufacturers' retail volumes were down by 40% over last year -- carmakers are pouring serious long-term research and development dollars into hybrids.

Tesla's Model S electric car.
Photograph by: Handout, National Pos

Posted in Driving on 05/19/2009 - 0 Comments

Easy riders: 'Cheap as chips' electric bikes

Michel Robillard can put a price on the future of green motorbikes—and it’s about 25 cents.

That’s what the owner of Montreal’s Ecolo Cycles pays to keep his black and silver electricity-assisted bicycle fully charged and ready to roll for at least 60 km of bike paths.

Electricity-assisted bicycle? You heard right. Along with electric scooters, scooter-bikes and motorcycles powered by everything from hydrogen cells to lithium-ion batteries, the future of two-wheeled transportation isn’t just cheap as chips—it’s as green as grass, he says.

“The future is electric or hybrid vehicles, no question about it,” says Robillard, who’s manufacturing company last year sold $1.5 million electric-assisted bicycles and scooters in Quebec alone, and anticipates doubling sales in Ontario this year, largely due to baby boomers and green commuters keen on leaving their cars at home. “People are not just thinking about how fast they get places, but how much it costs to get there.”

Convinced that soon-to-rise fuel prices will push sales of cheaper, greener alternatives, Robillard is also launching a new, fully loaded $3000 electricity and pedal-powered scooter that has a range of 100km and zips along urban streets at 32km/h. Next year, after testing by Transport Canada, he will introduce two sporty electric scooters that will reach speeds of 70km/h and 90km/h.

Posted in Driving on 05/19/2009 - 0 Comments

Canada lax on clean IT principles

Bruce Calder is the first to acknowledge there is something deeply contradictory about his daily life.

Calder, the man behind the successful Ottawa startup Intertek/Ageus Solutions, helps local and foreign IT companies exporting overseas to replace computer components made with dangerous heavy metals. The goal is to bring their products up to the standards of the tightly regulated European market.

But examine his own imported computer, cellphone or printer, and you'll find an A-to-Z of contaminants including antimony, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, lead and mercury.

"It's ironic," the 35-year-old Calder says. "There's nothing restricting equipment with those heavy metals from coming into Canada in finished products. So, as a business, I can make it better for everyone else overseas, but I can't do much about the contaminants here."

Posted in Environment on 04/24/2009 - 0 Comments

Eco-engaging the iGeneration

Jennifer Cowan cheerfully admits she's been hearing voices for years. And she couldn't do without them. Some talk to her, some talk to each other. Whatever they say, they eventually end up as material for the Toronto-based television writer's latest project. These days, the loudest voice belongs to Sabine, a funny and self-righteous 16-year-old with a budding environmental conscience and a smart mouth who first 'spoke' to Ms. Cowan as a blogger in 2003. "I was walking around Lost Lake [at Whistler] when I first heard Sabine's voice. At first she was blogging about things that were senseless. Then," Ms. Cowan recalls, "she decided someone should be talking about 'all the everything going on in the world.' " That 'everything' -- from recycling and pollution to rampant consumerism -- has now formed the basis not just of Ms. Cowan's first novel, earthgirl (Groundwood Books, $17.95) -- a teen love story/ green manifesto -- but also a blog featuring Sabine herself.

Posted in Environment on 04/24/2009 - 0 Comments

Living ethically

“What would you like for dinner?” What a loaded question. My old friend, Riane, had returned to Ottawa for her annual pilgrimage home from her hippy haven on Denman Island, BC, draped in sundry recycled garments and wafting essence of oregano oil. It was 6 pm, and we were all hungry. Ever the vigilant hostess, I’d bought organic fruit and vegetables, spouted bread and healthy cookies that Tony, a builder friend of mine, laughingly refers to as ‘flax-atives’. I was ready for whatever foodie kick Riane was on. I thought. Then, she hit me with it.

Posted in Environment on 12/05/2008 - 0 Comments