Students design extremely efficient vehicles

Energy efficiency is garnering widespread publicity lately while US regulators wrestle with energy and environmental issues. Separately, I couldn’t help but hope that energy czars and policymakers of the future emerge from among 400 students who competed in last month’s Shell Eco-marathon Americas.

Extreme energy efficiency was literally tested when student teams competed to design and build vehicles running the farthest distance using the least amount of energy. The eco-marathon kicked off Mar. 27 with Shell Oil Co. President Marvin Odum waving the green start flag as 48 vehicles tested on the course in downtown Houston.

A team from Laval University in Quebec won the grand prize for a second consecutive year. The fuel efficiency of Laval University team’s entry in the Prototype category was 2,487.5 mpg.

For the Prototype category, teams entered futuristic, streamlined prototypes–experimental vehicles focused on maximizing fuel efficiency through innovative design. Prototype entries included 28 vehicles powered by combustion engines, five by fuel cell-hydrogen technology, two by solar power, and two by diesel fuel.

I am impressed by the design skills of these high school and college students. Maybe someday, I will drive a car designed by one of them. Hopefully, some of them will take their efficiency experience and innovative skills into legislative chambers to help draft future energy policy.

Udall cousins take energy planks to US Senate

Cousins from two oil-producing states, both Democrats known as advocates for renewable energy, got elected to the US Senate. They are Mark Udall of Colorado and Tom Udall of New Mexico. Both serve in the US House of Representatives.

Tom Udall is the son of Stewart Udall, who served as Secretary of the Interior for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Mark Udall is son of Morris “Mo” Udall, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976.

Mark Udall was co-chair of the House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus. A Natural Resources Committee member, his priorities include reducing US dependence on foreign oil and reducing the negative effects of climate change.

He believes, “Americans have the ingenuity and drive to create a diverse energy portfolio and to find new sources of energy.”

Mark Udall says he is committed to increase funding for the Department of Energy’s renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development programs at DOE’s National Renewable Energy laboratory in Golden Golden, Colo.

Tom Udall succeeds New Mexico's longest-serving senator, Republican Pete Domenici, who announced his retirement after 36 years in the Senate after being diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease.

Tom Udall proposes an energy plan that includes US drilling, nuclear power, alternate energy, and conservation.

"Conservation is the legacy of the Udall family," Udall said upon entering the Senate race.