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Corporate Social Responsibility
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5.12.2006 ET
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Western Washington University's Vehicle Research Institute Enters Two Top Contenders In The National 2005 Tour de Sol Championship
(CSRwire) GREENFIELD, MA - May 10, 2005 - The two cars entered by Western
Washington University's Vehicle Research Institute are top contenders in
the National 2005 Tour de Sol Championship. One of them won the Grand
Award in the 2004 Championship. Entries in the Championship competition
are ultra-high energy-efficiency vehicles that aim to produce zero
climate-changing oil and carbon emissions. The 17th annual Tour de Sol, to
be held May 13-16 in Saratoga Springs and Albany, NY, is America's
longest-running sustainable-energy and transportation festival and
competition.
Washington University's Vehicle Research Institute (http://vri.etec.wwu.edu/),
located in Bellingham, WA, is returning to the Tour de Sol this year with
two entries and student teams. WWU sees competitions as excellent
motivators for its students. "We need to get off oil, cut greenhouse-gas
emissions and use renewable fuels," says Mike Seal, founder and retired
director of WWU's Vehicle Research Institute. "The Tour de Sol is the only
competition in the country that is helping us get to that goal."
Mike Seal has built 32 vehicles with his Western Washington University
students over the years, including the vehicle that won the Grand Award in
the 2004 Tour de Sol Championship. Most of those vehicles were
purpose-built so they could reap the benefits of vehicle-efficiency gains
due to weight reduction and aerodynamics. His students also gained
experience on how to build very safe, light-weight vehicles.
This year, WWU is bringing its 2004 Grand Award-winning vehicle, the
Viking 23, as well as its Viking 32 to the 2005 National Tour de Sol.
Viking 23 and Viking 32 placed seventh and third, respectively, overall in
the 2004 National Tour de Sol.
Viking 23, an electric/bio-diesel hybrid, was awarded "greenest vehicle"
in the 2002 Tour de Sol, received first place in the "light-duty,
alternative-fuel, purpose-built vehicle" category in the 2003 Tour de Sol,
and captured the Grand Award in the 2004 Tour de Sol for "the light-duty
vehicle with the lowest greenhouse-gas emissions." Viking 23, a
purpose-built hybrid vehicle that runs on bio-diesel (a fuel made from
vegetable oils), demonstrated that it emits only 61 grams of
greenhouse-gas emissions per mile. This is seven times less than a
conventional 27 MPG gasoline vehicle, which emits 420 grams of
greenhouse-gas emissions per mile, according to the U.S. Department of
Energy.
Viking 32, an electric/natural-gas hybrid, uses an internal-combustion
engine that is designed to run on landfill gas, which enables it run
without the use of oil, resulting in greenhouse-gas emissions that are
close to zero. WWU estimates it would take the waste from two cows to
create the gas to run this vehicle for a year (12,000 miles). During the
2005 Tour de Sol, Viking 32 will run on compressed natural gas because
compressed landfill gas is not available in the Saratoga Springs/Albany
area. Viking 32 took first in the 2004 Tour de Sol in the autocross
category and the 350-foot acceleration test. Viking 32 has an aerodynamic
design and $800,000 in funding from the Federal Highway Administration
plus $200,000 in matching funds from WWU. It exemplifies safety and fuel
efficiency, and is designed and built to demonstrate new principles of
energy management in an all-composite and carbon-fiber vehicle.
The 2005 Tour de Sol's immediate goal is to bring together manufacturers,
energy suppliers, government officials, news media, consumers and students
for a multi-day "traveling festival" and competition this May 13 through 16
in Saratoga Springs and Albany, NY. Tour de Sol's eventual goal is to turn
imaginative thinking about a zero oil- and carbon-emission economy into a
sustainable effort that produces substantial profits and a cleaner
environment.
Highlights of the 2005 Tour de Sol include:
The Tour de Sol Championship, which is for concept vehicles built by
students and entrepreneurs seeking to achieve zero oil and carbon
emissions.
A Monte Carlo-style Rally, which is for hybrid and alternative-fuel
vehicle owners and will feature a 100 MPG Challenge.
Vehicle events, which are designed to create new fun ways of getting
around, such as electric bikes, electric scooters and neighborhood
electric vehicles.
A "green car show" on Sat., May 14, at Saratoga's Spring Auto Show,
where auto manufacturers will join with Tour de Sol competitors to
showcase future vehicle technologies, including three all-new, 30 MPG
hybrid SUVs - from Ford, Toyota and Lexus - plus natural gas, and hydrogen
fuel-cell vehicles, next to the several hundred antique vehicles that
participate in the Auto Show.
An Award Ceremony and 40-vehicle display on Mon., May 16 at Albany's
Empire State Plaza, where NYS Clean Cities stakeholders will join Tour de
Sol participants to celebrate the progress made in New York state to
integrate clean advanced vehicles into everyday use as well as to meet key
industry and government representatives.
Monte Carlo-style Rally
Monte Carlo-style Rally vehicles are invited to compete for up to $10,000
and 35 awards for the most fuel-efficient production-hybrid or biodiesel
vehicles (which can be production-line or modified) that travel a minimum
of 150 miles at an average of over 55 MPG. The overall prize money
includes $5,000 for the most fuel-efficient vehicle that breaks the 100
MPG barrier over a range of 500 miles.
To participate, advanced-vehicle owners must join at one of the numerous
starting sites around the US and Canada. After they have topped off and
had their fuel tank sealed, Rally participants must drive to the finish
line at Saratoga Springs by noon on May 14. There, they will get a free
fill up with gasoline or biodiesel, compliments of Stewart's Shops and
Environmental Alternatives, and officials will measure the fuel used and
miles driven.
There are 10 vehicle categories. Tires will be pressure checked to be 50
PSI or less and must have tread. The rally is limited to 50 entries and a
total 500-person entourage. All cars must be registered, inspected,
insured and meet federal Department of Transportation regulations. The
winners and statistics about the Rally entrants will be gathered, analyzed
and posted at www.TourDeSol.org.
Tour de Sol
Over a half million consumers have visited the Tour de Sol since its
creation in 1989 by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA),
and over 40 million print and broadcast exposures accrue from the Tour
each year. The Tour de Sol provides a key platform for vehicle
manufacturers, students, and entrepreneurs to demonstrate future designs
and current products that aim reduce oil and carbon emissions to zero. The
event provides news media the opportunity to provide timely and topical
updates on the status of sustainable energy and mobility.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the
Center for Technology Commercialization are the event's premier sponsors.
Additional key sponsors include the U.S. Department of Energy, the New
York Power Authority, Toyota, the New York State Environmental
Conservation, the Federal Highway Administration, New York State Parks,
Environmental Alternatives, and the Electric Drive Transportation
Association. The Automotive Career Development Center in Worcester, MA, is
a key organizer of the Monte Carlo-style Rally.
NESEA, the nation's leading regional education and advocacy association,
is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. NESEA aims to accelerate the
deployment and use of renewable energy and energy efficiency by, among
other things, producing major sustainable-energy events that inspire and
motivate large numbers of people to get involved and make a difference.
NESEA is a chapter of the American Solar Energy Society (www.ASES.org), a
not-for-profit, 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the development and
adoption of renewable energy in all its forms, including solar energy,
wind energy, geothermal energy, hydrogen energy, ocean energy, biofuels
energy, and energy efficiency.
For more information on the 2005 Tour de Sol as well as the Monte
Carlo-style Rally and registration, visit www.TourDeSol.org, or contact NESEA at
413.774.6051. For more information on NESEA, visit www.NESEA.org.
To hear a 30-minute Q&A on why American car makers - especially General
Motors - should fully get into the hybrid-vehicle development market,
listen to "The Business Beat," produced by WICN/90.5 FM, the NPR affiliate
for Central New England. The guests are James Dunn of the Center for
Technology Commercialization in Westboro, MA, Craig Van Batenburg of the
Automotive Career Development Center in Worcester, MA, and Gilles Labelle
of the Hybrid Center at Westboro Toyota in Westboro, MA. To listen now, Click
Here.
To join an online conversation on why American car makers should fully get
into the hybrid-vehicle development market, visit the Edmunds.com
hybrid-vehicle forum at http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX?13@@.ef7a43c/16.
NOTE TO ALL MEDIA: Photos are available upon request.
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