Autoblog

LA Preview: Mazda2 to make its North American debut

2011 Mazda2 – click above for high-res image gallery
Mazda has finally made it official this morning: it will be bringing its B-segment Mazda2 to the North American market late next year. As you are likely aware, the current generation Mazda2 has…

Autoblog

Detroit Preview: MINI Beachcomber concept

MINI Beachcomber concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
We still have few more months to wait before the production version of the new MINI Crossover arrives, but the folks in Oxford will be dropping a new concept in Detroit next month to…

Autoblog

Oil refiner CEO advocates for higher fuel taxes

In recent weeks, as the price of crude oil and refined gasoline have continued to decline from their summertime highs, an increasing number of people have been jumping on the gas tax bandwagon. Many analysts and pundits have come out in favor of a…

Autoblog

BP buys 50 percent stake in Brazilian ethanol venture

British Petroleum is acquiring a 50 percent stake in Tropical BioEnergia SA, a Brazilian company that's currently building a new ethanol plant in Edéia, Goias State, Brazil and planning a second plant. The new plant will have a capacity of 115…

Autoblog

Norway adds bicycle trams to help cyclists up hills

Click on the drawing to go see a video of the bicycle tram in action
On RocketBoom the other day, Joanne mentioned a Norwegian city that has bicycle trams to help people climb hills. Norway is a very mountainous country and riding a bicycle can be…

Autoblog

Our future does not include an energy monoculture

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a monoculture as:
1 : the cultivation or growth of a single crop or organism especially on agricultural or forest land
2 : a crop or a population of a single kind of organism grown on land in monoculture
3 : a…