Not many vendor trucks are eco-friendly. However, there is a new vendor truck, called the Neopolitan Express. It was unveiled in New York City last week.

The vehicle only emits 75% less greenhouse gas than trucks that run on gas or diesel. Mayor Bloomberg made the announcement with fellow billionaire T. Boone Pickens, whose company, Clean Energy Fuels, helped make the truck energy efficient.

With all of the emissions in New York City, this seems to be a breath of fresh air. Being an electric car, Clean Energy Fuels are looking to add 5 more stations for a total of 10 within the city. With the mayor hoping to have 10,000 parking spaces for electric cars all over the city, this truck should not have any problems powering up.

The truck is capable of making a mini pizza in 90 seconds at a cost of $7. The oven is said to be able to reach 900 degrees. All of Neopolitan’s pizzas are made fresh with ingredients imported from Italy.

Neapolitan Express is based in East Harlem at 232 E. 111th St. and began plying city streets today with one truck. Its headquarters also includes a garage where the company will be converting at least a dozen more trucks to natural gas. Clean Energy Fuels is helping to finance the conversions.

Neapolitan Express includes refrigeration and ovens that run on electricity, charged via solar panels on the truck rooftop.

Even the company’s pizza boxes are eco-friendly, made from recycled and compostable cardboard.

I guess that Mayor Bloomberg is really getting NYC in the mood for green. Half of the city’s taxis are hybrids. There are plenty of other green projects that are ongoing along with converting some roofs to gardens, etc.

I am seeing progress all over the nation. It just seems to be moving at a snails pace. I know that the economy is not moving as fast as it could. However, if more folks jumped onto the going green band wagon, imagine how Mother Earth would be able to take in a full breath.

Either way, cudos to Neopolitan Express for their venture and future endeavors.

Efficiency improvements at 621 7-Eleven stores in California, Oregon and Washington will cut energy costs by $1.2 million a year.

Blue Earth’s subsidiary, Castrovilla, installed anti-sweat heater controls, evaporator fan controls, door closers and strip curtains in 621 7-Eleven Stores in Washington and Oregon. These improvements are projected to save them 9 million kwh annually and reduce their energy expenses of about $9.5 million over the effective life of the equipment.

How did they do this? Well, they used rebates from numerous West Coast utilities to offset 100 percent of the upgrades performed. Therefore, 7-Eleven avoided out of pocket expenses which equated to $1.3 million dollars.

Blue Earth has been very busy in their endeavors. (more…)

Does Google have the smarts enough to ensure our safety, too?

Well, that is the $64 question is it not? Last year, Google was awarded a patent on December 15, 2011 for the transitioning of a mixed mode vehicle to an autonomous mode vehicle. It will have 2 sensors. One for a landing strip for the vehicle to stop which enables the second sensor to decide the position and where to go.

What Can Google Teach Us About Driving?

They currently have been awarded a self driven license in the state of Nevada. It will be the color red to ensure that it stands out. They are also thinking that a driverless car will be an excellent way to view the main strip in Las Vegas.

Google has tested their model in San Francisco which included crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. They report that the car was driven 140,000 miles with a driver (just in case) and not one accident. I can tell you that I have driven that much without an accident as well. But I digress.

Through the use of computers, sensors and other systems, an autonomous vehicle is capable of analyzing the driving environment more quickly and operating the vehicle more safely than a human can. Why, well not only are there sensors but cameras as well. They are placed all around the vehicle to ensure that the blind spot a driver may have will be eliminated and be able to react to any event that may occur.

Now, we all know that a computer, sensor or camera is only as smart as we make them. So, does the Google team have enough folks to work on getting this artificial intelligence off the ground and running? Yes, so far.

However, the big question will be, will you, the consumer, be interested in getting one of these for yourself or better yet, ride in one?

Driverless Cars …. as the green future unfolds.