The ugly face of progress hides well behind the soot and smog that roosts over China’s cities, big and small, like a Carbon chicken smothering her masked hatch-lings who are choking on their breathes. A recent study by the University of California has granted China the title of being the Number 1 Polluter in the world, a title the United States has carried for quite some time with a particular level of quiet distinction.

At China’s rate of growth any in-roads made by other developed nations to curb their Greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade will have no impact on the global gains of pollution streaming from China’s industrial expansion. Both China and the United Nations are declaring that aid and new technologies should be shared from the other developed nations on how to reduce their noxious emissions. However, to make any progress in the realm of pollution it begins with education.

In the 1970’s the US began to educate its masses, starting with the children, on the ills of littering and pollution. As the 1980’s were dominated by Trickle-Down Economics, so too was the domination of Trickle-Up Education as the young corrected their parents on the dangers and risks of littering and pollution to their future. Ofcourse that is a tough step in a nation like China who’s education comes straight from the top government officials for whom the recognition of negative facts are rarely admitted and never shared.

At the SAE World Congress in Ford product chief Derrick Kuzak made clear that the next generation Ford Focus in either 2010 or 2011 would receive one world design. Then he spoiled it by saying that it would be a joint effort between their North American and European design and engineering teams.

Part of Fords reorganization under President and CEO Allan Mulally has been to move toward this Global Platform procedure to cut down costs and duplication in worldwide designs. As with most things in the automotive industry (except for layoff’s) these types of changes take time and calculated planning.

The next generation Focus will be built upon Ford’s C1 platform and will hopefully provide North America a design that is on par with the Euro-spec Focus. How the North American designed current model Focus made it passed the drawing board is unfathomable and inexcusable.

As Kuzak stated, “Our business starts and stops with product.” If this globalization of design brings an RS and ST packaged Focus to the US then it might be a product worth starting with.

Source[AutoWeek]

There are many alternative fuels and fuel sources that are all vying to become the next gas giant. Some people champion turning corn or sugar cane or other cellulostic crops into ethanol. Some diesel owners are happy to scrape used vegetable oil to run as fuel in their car. Some government officials and industry leaders would still like to see coal and oil sand converted into gasoline as a means of supplanting foreign oil dependency. However, with each of the above alternatives there are significant hurdles.

In most cellulostic ethanol production a strain is placed on the food crops that are being used that have resulted in higher prices for products like corn. Free, used vegetable oil used in older diesels is a great free alternative fuel if you do not have to drive very far or fast. Vegetable oil does not produce the same horsepower/torque as fossil fuel diesel and can turn an 80-hp Mercedes into a real slow dog. And those who tout the vast supply of coal and oil sand of North America as the next great fuel supply forget that part of the reason we are pushing alternative fuels is to reduce our CO2 output. Unless all car manufacturers can convert their products to PZEV (Partial Zero Emissions Vehicles) coal-to-fuel and oil sand does not improve our situation.

As a result and after much reading and consideration we see Algae BioFuel, in a closed water system, may be the best alternative we have going right now. Currently there are two means of Algae production that are heading into mass production in the coming months.

What some people can achieve with some spare time and a lot of creativity is sometimes worthy of some headlines. One such creative achievement built and exposed onto the web under the handle Crowkillers is the 2009 LEGO Camaro you see in the photo above. Using the famed toy, some painstaking adjustments and a good bit of engineering the LEGO Camaro comes complete with an LS2 Engine replica and a 6-speed transmission with reverse.

Like many collectors Crowkillers was not content to only have one of the new model Camaro’s in his stable. Instead, he built two: one orange and one black with orange stripes.

Check out the large gallery of pics after the leap to observe in full-detail what goes into a LEGO Camaro.