Want to help take an entire city block in San Francisco off the grid and into solar power? We need a logo for our site www.1bog.org. Submit your logo idea and enter a chance to win a 32GB Apple iPod Touch. Deadline is May 15th, noon PDT. See details on my blog at www.1bog.org

Good luck!

AFS Trinity has developed a powertrain for a plug-in hybrid that just sounds too good to be true. The technology, called Fast Energy (TM), doesn’t rely on rows and rows of batteries, but instead on capacitors. The describe it this way:

At the heart of this new Fast Energy™ technology are patent pending control electronics to cache power for short periods in ultra-capacitors and provide this power in bursts for all-electric acceleration that is better, in many cases, than the internal combustion engine of the host vehicle. Until the Extreme Hybrid, hybrids have resorted to gasoline to satisfy acceleration demands.

The results are truly impressive:

• 150 mpg
• 40 mile range on just electricity
• 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds
• 87 mph top speed

The fact that it’s a plug-in is especially interesting for solar residences. For about $1 worth of electricity, you can charge this SUV overnight and get 40 miles of range. For most commutes you’d never have to use a drop of gas. If you power this off your solar panels, you’d have a zero emission, zero consumption SUV!

AFS Trinity, if you’re listening, do you need a beta tester in San Francisco?

Yesterday’s Board of Supervisor’s hearing on Mayor Newsom’s solar rebate plan for San Francisco ended with no result. The room was filled with supporters of the program that would provide $3,000 - $10,000 rebates for solar installations in San Francisco. Despite the support shown in the hearing, several Supervisors are concerned whether this is the best use of funds. The Supervisors do not plan to vote on the measure for at least three more weeks.

The most immediate impact of this is to stall any residents who might be considering solar, or are ‘on the fence’. The rebate would undoubtedly be very successful at driving wider solar adoption in SF, and accelerate the city towards its goal of 10,000 solar homes by 2010 (we’re currently at less than 1,000…). Without such ambitious measures it’s hard to see how we’ll come close to that goal.

San Francisco’s Public Utility Commission approved today Mayor Newsom’s aggressive and generous residential and commercial solar electricity incentives. The rebates would provide between $3,000 and $5,000 for residential solar installations and up to $10,000 for business solar.

This is big news for San Franciscans and really puts solar electricity within reach, especially considering the these incentives are in addition to the $2,000 Federal tax credit and the California Solar Initiative rebates that often run $6,000 or more. Take together these rebates and credits can cover more than 50% of the cost of solar and offers much shorter payback periods.

Scientific American has published a report on how to achieve energy independence from foreign fossil fuels, develop a solar-based energy system for the U.S. and dramatically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. To accomplish this would require major commitment and investment, but SciAm provides a roadmap of how to get there:

* A massive switch from coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear power plants to solar power plants could supply 69 percent of the U.S.’s electricity and 35 percent of its total energy by 2050.
* A vast area of photovoltaic cells would have to be erected in the Southwest. Excess daytime energy would be stored as compressed air in underground caverns to be tapped during nighttime hours.
* Large solar concentrator power plants would be built as well.
* A new direct-current power transmission backbone would deliver solar electricity across the country.
* But $420 billion in subsidies from 2011 to 2050 would be required to fund the infrastructure and make it cost-competitive.

Scientific American estimates that we can develop a solar-based energy system for the country for a total cost of $420 billion. Compare that with the $611 billion we’ve spent/committed to the war in Iraq.

Read the Scientific American report: “A Solar Grand Plan”.

In 2000 San Francisco’s mayor, Willie Brown, announced a goal to have 10,000 solar-powered homes in the city by 2010. 8 years later we’re only at 660, with just 2 years remaining. The California Solar Initiative has provided the much-needed financial incentives to adopt solar across California, with rebates averaging 30% of the total cost of solar. There’s also a Federal solar tax rebate of $2,000. Despite these incentives, we’re still nowhere near our 10,000 homes goal in SF.

Last month Gavin Newsom announced a new Solar Energy Plan that would provide $3,000-5,000 in incentives on top of the California and Federal rebates. Between the three incentives San Francisco residents could have over 50% of the cost of solar funded by the city, state and Fed.

Honda hasn’t fared too well in the hybrid vehicle game so far. It’s Accord and Civic hybrids just haven’t come close to the Prius. In fact, the company abandoned the Accord hybrid altogether. My opinion is those hybrids just looked way too much like their non-hybrid siblings. Let’s face it, a lot of ‘green’ people want others to know how green they are. The Prius is perfect for that - it’s unmistakably green.

Honda’s had enough of that, and plans to make hybrids a key part of the company’s growth strategy. In 2009 they will launch hybrid sedan with production estimated at 200,000 units per year. In 2010 they’ll launch a zero emission sports car, the CR-Z, pictured below. And you thought all hybrids were boring… can’t wait to put name on the list for one of these. Curious what the performance will be. Stay tuned.

Mayor Newsome today announced that all official travel will be carbon neutral. The City will invest in carbon offsetting activities to compensate for every flight taken by a member of City Hall. The program will not require any additional funding or taxes and will be paid for by savings from overall reductions in official travel (another good way to reduce the carbon footprint).

The best part is they intend to invest the carbon offset funds in local activities such as tree planting, converting restaurant grease into fuel, and installing solar panels.

Yet again California leads the nation in a critical new initiative, and will set an example of what is possible, feasible, and effective. This initiative seeks to set requirements for the minimum percentage of energy production from renewable sources across California. Specific goals are:

2010 - 20% energy production from renewable sources
2020 - 40% energy production from renewable sources
2025 - 50% energy production from renewable sources

To anyone who thinks these are unachievable, consider this: Alameda Power and Telecom produces 85% of their energy from renewable sources TODAY!

The initiative is being led by a former San Francisco supervisor, Jim Gonzalez, and Californians for Solar and Clean Energy. Please visit their site. I will surely sign the petition and encourage all others to do so. And why wait for PG&E to adopt solar on a large scale. You can do this today, cost-effectively, for your own home.

Note, the initiative needs over 400,000 signatures to get on the November 2008 ballot. Please sign up and encourage others to as well!

If you haven’t heard of the Vectrix electric scooter you will soon. It’s a 100% electric powered scooter - the word scooter doesn’t really do it justice, it’s much closer to motorcycle. It’ll do 62 mph and travel 40-60 miles on a single charge. You can recharge the batteries in just 2 hours. And the best part is you could power your very own Vectrix with a fraction of your solar panel production. Translation: zero emmission, zero consumption. Turn sun rays from your roof into transportation.

Vectrix has now officially launched in California, www.vectrixcalifornia.com. Swing by their showroom at British Motocs on 999 & 901 Van Ness Ave. San Francisco and they’ll give you a free test ride.

You can get a closer look at this awesome bike at the SF Auto Show running now through December 4th.