Nissan Leaf

Nissan will start taking reservations for the Leaf electric vehicle in April, start building them by October and have the first of them rolling into driveways in December.

Specifications

The Leaf uses a front-mounted electric motor driving the wheels, powered by a 24 kWh/90 kW lithium ion battery pack. The expected cruising range is the same as the EV-11 prototype, as is the motor. The battery pack is made of air-cooled stacked modules.

Price and sales

Although an exact price has not been announced, the car is expected to cost US$25,000–33,000. The Leaf's pricing will be announced in April 2010, and Nissan will sell or lease the Leaf only with batteries included, forgoing the initial idea of leasing batteries to reduce the price of the car.

Nissan LEAF - Technische Daten

• length: 4.445 Millimeter
• width: 1.770 Millimeter
• height: 1.550 Millimeter
• wheelbase: 2.700 Millimeter

Motor

• Type: electromotor (AC)
• power: 80 kW
• torisional: 280 Newtonmeter
• range: 160 Kilometer / 100 Meilen (US LA4)
• maximum speed: over 140 km/h (90 mph)

Chevrolet Volt

Volt is an electric car that can create its own electricity. Plug it in, let it charge overnight, and it’s ready to run on a pure electric charge for up to 40 miles — gas and emissions free. After that, Volt keeps going, even if you can’t plug it in. Volt uses a range-extending gas generator that produces enough energy to power it for hundreds of miles on a single tank of gas.

Technology
Volt is an electric vehicle with a range extender. Well, what does that mean? It means Volt runs on electricity from its battery, and then it runs on electricity it creates from gas. Let's assume you have a fully charged battery. Now, depending on the weather, the electrical features that are turned on and how you drive, you can drive up to 40 miles on the electricity stored in the battery — totally gas and emissions free. After that, its gas-powered, range-extending generator automatically kicks in to provide electrical power. So Volt can go for several hundred additional miles, until you can plug it in or fill it up again.

Power Grid
The power that you use for heating, cooling, cooking, refrigeration, light, sound, computers and entertainment comes to your house from the power plant through a network of transmissions and distribution power lines called the power grid. Various sources generate this power: wind, sunlight, water, natural gas, coal, oil and biofuels. You can see evidence of the power grid every time you drive past an electricity pole and see power lines. To put it simply, the power grid is the system by which electricity is brought to your home.

Christoph Zodl

The Tesla Roadster
The Roadster is the only highway-capable electric automobile for sale as of early 2010; all other highway-capable EVs are prototypes or evaluation series from automakers that are trying to determine whether to go forward with an electric vehicle program. The Roadster has a base price of €84,000. Next you will see some interesting questions about the Tesla Roadster.
When Do You Charge?
You charge your Tesla Roadster the same way you charge your cellular phone: You plug it into a wall socket whenever convenient. The vast majority of Tesla owners charge overnight. Each morning they wake up with the equivalent of a “full tank,” without ever visiting a gas station.
How Do You Charge?
Charging your Roadster is easy with one of our three connectors. The Roadster's charger is on board the car, integrated into the powertrain. That means you can plug it into conventional 120-volt outlets or 240-volt outlets that electric clothes dryers use.
How Far Can You Drive On A Charge?
Driving in normal conditions (mixed city and highway conditions in a range of temperatures) results in “real world” range of 244 miles per charge. In fact, in October 2009 the Roadster set an EV record when owner, Simon Hackett, drove his car 313 miles on a single charge during the 10th Annual Global Green Challenge in Australia.

Christoph Zodl

United Nations Environment Programme

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) coordinates United Nations environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and encourages sustainable development through sound environmental practices. It was founded as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in June 1972 and has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. UNEP also has six regional offices and various country offices.

UNEP is the designated authority of the United Nations system in environmental issues at the global and regional level. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action. The mandate and objectives of UNEP emanate from United Nations General Assembly resolution 2997 (XXVII) of 15 December 1972 and subsequent amendments adopted at UNCED in 1992, the Nairobi Declaration on the Role and Mandate of UNEP, adopted at the Nineteenth Session of the UNEP Governing Council, and the Malmö Ministerial Declaration of 31 May 2000.

Its activities cover a wide range of issues regarding the atmosphere, marine and terrestrial ecosystems. It has played a significant role in developing international environmental conventions, promoting environmental science and information and illustrating the way those can work in conjunction with policy, working on the development and implementation of policy with national governments and regional institution and working in conjunction with environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). UNEP has also been active in funding and implementing environmentally related development projects.

UNEP has aided in the development of guidelines and treaties on issues such as the international trade in potentially harmful chemicals, transboundary air pollution, and contamination of international waterways.

The World Meteorological Organization and the UNEP established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988. UNEP is also one of several Implementing Agencies for the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

UNSC

The Security Council is the United Nations' most powerful body, with "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security." Five powerful countries sit as "permanent members" along with ten elected members with two-year terms. Since 1990, the Council has dramatically increased its activity and it now meets in nearly continuous session. It dispatches military operations, imposes sanctions, mandates arms inspections, deploys election monitors and more.

This site presents a useful Introductory Article as well as a wide range of other information. There is material on Membership of the Security Council, including a list of current and former Council members, information on Council presidencies and sanctions committees, and information about the often controversial process of Membership Elections. We also presentTables and Charts on the Security Council, including the frequency of its meetings, number of resolutions, etc.

United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (UNAEC)

The United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (UNAEC) was founded on 24 January 1946 by the first resolution of the United Nations General Assenmbly "to deal with the problems raised by the discovery of atomic energy.”

On 14 December 1946 the General Assembly passed a follow-up resolution urging an expeditious completion of the report by the Commission as well as its consideration by the United Nations Security Council. The Security Council received the report on 31 December 1946 and passed a resolution on 10 March 1947 "recognizing that any agreement expressed by the members of the Council to the separate portions of the report is preliminary" and requesting a second report to be made. On 4 November 1948 the General Assembly passed a resolution stating that it had examined the first, second and third reports of the Commission and expressed its deep concern at the impasse which as been reached, as shown in its third report.

On 14 June 1946, the United States representative to the Commission, Bernard Baruch, presented the Baruch Plan wherein the United States (at the time the only state possessing atomic weapons) would destroy its atomic arsenal on condition that the U.N. imposed controls on atomic development that would not be subject to United Nations Security Council veto. These controls would allow only the peaceful use of atomic energy. The plan was passed by the Commission, but not agreed to by the Soviet Union who abstained on the proposal in the Security Council. Debate on the plan continued into 1948, but by early 1947 it was clear that agreement was unlikely.

In 1949 the Commission decided to adjourn indefinitely.