Technology Breakthrough Announced by The Alternative Energy Technology Center

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Alternative Energy Technology Center, Inc. (OTC:AETE) announced today that it completed the initial design phase of its Cellulosic Ethanol – Esterified Lignin to Gasoline Unit. This vertically integrated biorefining unit will take advantage of proprietary technology using flexible feedstocks such as forestry waste, dedicated feedstock grasses, sawdust, sorghum and corn stover.

“AETC’s integrated technologies provide the ability to convert cheap, abundant cellulosic plant material into a variety of fuel products that will allow us to efficiently address a part of America’s energy needs,” stated Brown Marks, President and CEO. “America’s energy future must be built on renewable fuels that can be produced at a lower cost and the company’s vertically integrated biorefining technology delivers the answer to this pressing need,” he concluded.

Building on its recent acquisition of Meridian Biorefining, Inc., AETC expects to extend the Cellulosic Ethanol - and Esterified Lignin to Gasoline Unit with a fully functional BioCrude Process Unit. The combination of these proprietary technologies will produce the first fully functioning commercial biorefinery in the U.S. in 2009. Oil is refined using distillation, fractionation and cracking units. AETC uses a sophisticated, energy efficient system to process biomass in a bio-aerosol form into a wide range of transportation fuels, lubricants, and chemical co-products.

Multiple technologies for processing cellulose into fuels are under development at competitors such as DuPont (NYSE:DD), Pacific Ethanol (Nasdaq:PEIX) and SunOpta, Inc. (Nasdaq:STKL) among others.

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Battery solutions for hybrid vehicles

For years carcompanies working on fuel cell cars have wondered about lithium ion batteries. Never the perfect choice, their availability and reliability were both questionable.

Indeed one of the conundrums facing hybrid and fuel cell vehicle developments was how to make sure the lithium ion batteries did not overheat (these by the way are the same batteries that power the laptop).

Now it seems the auto industry is going about things in a more organised fashion. Johnson Controls, which is a world leader in automotive batteries, has tied up with Saft Advanced Power Solutions, which a leader in making lithium ion batteries for a plant that will make the latter specifically for the auto industry.

The plant, located in France, will crank out 5000 units a year but the two partners have indicated a quick ramp up and an Asian footprint are both on the cards.

Which means top customers like General Motors, Toyota, Mercedes Benz, Chrysler and others, who are all betting big on hybrids, will now be able to source lithium ion batteries from a dedicated supplier. All of which means that the joint venture will get plenty of customers to keep it busy over the next couple of months.
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2008 Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon debut gasoline-electric hybrid versions

What weighs more than 2 1/2 tons, has seats for up to nine people, looks conspicuously like a big sport utility vehicle and yet is a gasoline-electric hybrid?

It’s the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and its twin, the GMC Yukon Hybrid, which are the largest passenger-carrying hybrids on the consumer market. You might say these new models introduced early in calendar 2008 are the hybrids for big families because gas-electric hybrid cars are limited to five passengers.

Before these models, the largest hybrid SUV — the Toyota Highlander Hybrid — was a mid-size vehicle with seats for up to seven.

The Tahoe and Yukon Hybrids also are the hybrids for people who need towing power for boats and trailers — at least small to mid-range boats and trailers that aren’t more than 6,200 pounds of tow weight.

The Tahoe and Yukon Hybrids can accomplish this towing because they’re based on truck platforms and team large, 6-liter V-8s with electric motor power to generate a hefty 332 horsepower and 367 foot-pounds of torque at 4,100 rpm.

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