The £15,000 three-wheeled electric car that can go faster than a Porsche

A car manufacturer has announced they are on the verge of creating a three-wheeled electric sports car that can travel faster than a Porsche.

The enviromentally friendly Zap Alias will cost just £15,000 and does 0 to 60mph in just 5.7 seconds with a top speed of 156mph.
The futuristic looking two-seater is being developed with the help of British car company Lotus. It should go on sale next year though speculation is rife that the launch of the vehicle will be delayed.

It is powered by two electric wheel motors, one driving each of the car's front wheels. Unlike a Reliant Robin the single wheel is at the back. Together the Alias's motors generate an impressive 321.85 horse power - as much as a Porsche 911 Carrera which costs £60,000.
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The hypersonic plane

he project is part of an EU drive to push forward the boundaries of air travel. Scientists were asked to find out if it was possible to build a commercial plane that used the sort of technology more closely associated with travel to the edge of space and beyond.

Oxfordshire-based Reaction Engines designs and develops space transport and hi-tech propulsion systems. Its directors are experts in fields ranging from space rockets and weapons systems to nuclear power. One of the firm's main projects is the development of Skylon, an unpiloted reusable spaceplane intended to provide inexpensive and reliable access to space, which is expected to take approximately 10 years to develop and be capable of transporting 12 tonnes of cargo into space.
Reaction Engines estimates that the cost of the flight would be similar to a current first class fare. Moreover, the company claims, the plane would not leave much of a carbon footprint.
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biohydrogen production from palm oil waste

A few years ago, we referred to the large potential for the production of bioproducts and next-generation biofuels from the waste biomass that accumulates at palm oil plantations and mills. The palm oil tree is one of the most productive plants on the planet.
A group of researchers from the Universiti Sains Malaysia now finds that this vast stream of waste biomass holds a considerable potential for the efficient and cost-competitive production of renewable biohydrogen via a process known as supercritical water gasification (SCWG) - of growing interest to bioenergy researchers. The process yields hydrogen twenty times less costly than H2 from electrolysis of water when the primary energy comes from renewables like wind or solar, and one fifth less costly than H2 obtained from steam reforming natural gas - the most likely candidate for large scale hydrogen production in the future. The chemical and energetic properties of the residual palm biomass, especially its high moisture content, make it a 'perfect' feedstock for the novel gasification process. The energy balance ('EROEI') of the biohydrogen was found to be 9.9, indicating a highly efficient use of the resource. The researchers discuss their findings in a recent issue of the scientific journal Energy Policy.
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Climate set for 'sudden shifts'

The melting of Arctic sea ice is one "tipping element"
Many of Earth's climate systems will undergo a series of sudden shifts this century as a result of human-induced climate change, a study suggests.

A number of these shifts could occur this century, say the report's authors.

They argue that society should not be lulled into a false sense of security by the idea that climate change will be a gradual process.

At greatest risk is Arctic sea ice, the Greenland ice sheet and the west Antarctic ice sheet.

The researchers have listed and ranked nine ecological systems that they say could be lost this century as a result of global warming. The nine tipping elements and the time it will take them to undergo a major transition are:


Melting of Arctic sea-ice (about 10 years)
Decay of the Greenland ice sheet (about 300 years)
Collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet (about 300 years)
Collapse of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation (about 100 years)
Increase in the El Nino Southern Oscillation (about 100 years)
Collapse of the Indian summer monsoon (about 1 year)
Greening of the Sahara/Sahel and disruption of the West African monsoon (about 10 years)
Dieback of the Amazon rainforest (about 50 years)
Dieback of the Boreal Forest (about 50 years)
The paper also demonstrates how, in principle, early warning systems could be established using real-time monitoring and modelling to detect the proximity of certain tipping points.
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