General Motors has found a way to convert the oil-soaked plastic boom materials in the Gulf of Mexico into useful products by turning these wastes into plastic under hood auto parts. According to Mike Robinson, GM Vice President of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy, “Creative recycling is one extension of GM’s overall strategy to reduce its environmental impact. We reuse and recycle material by-products at our 76 landfill-free facilities every day. This is good example of using this expertise and applying it to a greater magnitude.”

GM has been able to produce more than 100,000 pounds of plastic resin for vehicle components from recycling the booms. Just imagine if GM did not recycle these wastes, the same quantity would have been thrown to the landfills. To produce the auto parts, GM is combining the oil-soaked plastic boom materials either with used tires or post-consumer recycled plastics and other polymers.

GM is working with several partners in its effort to clean the Mexican Gulf. The Heritage Environmental takes care of the collection of the boom materials which are in turn collected by the Mobile Fluid Recovery that spun clean the booms until dried from all waste water and oil. Then the Lucent Polymers changed the booms into materials with consistency making it suitable for plastic die-mold production. GDC Inc., a Tier-One supplier, with its patented Enduraprene TM material process and combined the resin with other plastic compounds to produce the auto parts.

John Bradburn, Manager of GM’s waste-reduction efforts said, “This was purely a matter of helping out. If the send to a landfill, these materials would have taken hundreds of years to begin to break down, and we didn’t want to see the spill further impact the environment. We knew we could identify a beneficial re-use of this material given our experience.”

GM is committed to reducing waste and pollutants, as a matter of fact, 85% of the materials used for the production of its trucks and other vehicles are made up of recycled materials. And not only that, all GM’s facilities around the globe also recycle 90% of the wastes they generate.

By the way, GM’s Chevy Volt has been awarded as the Green Car of the Year by Green Car Journal. The Volt is the first electric vehicle launched with extended range.

Good news to all Ford fanatics! The 2011 Ford Explorer has finally obtained the 25 percent improvement in fuel economy that it promised. I guess some promises are really worth keeping and not meant to be broken as the old adage say. The 25 percent improvement in fuel economy is not just a mere claim but was confirmed by no less than the Environmental Protection Agency. Basing on the agency’s ratings, the Explorer was able to obtain an average of 17 mpg in the city and an average of 25 miles per gallon on the highway.

The front-drive-base of the 2011 Ford Explorer was made lighter and with more aerodynamic body. And that’s not all! It was also given a more efficient 292 horsepower 3.5-Liter V6 with Ti-VCT or Twin independent Variable Camshaft Timing that is mated to a 6-speed auto transmission and equipped with Blue Oval’s latest electronic power steering system. The 2011 Ford Explorer is scheduled to hit showrooms towards the end of this year.

The Blue Oval is not stopping at 25 percent, they intend to go higher up to 30 percent fuel economy with the production of a turbocharged 2.0-Liter EcoBoost four-cylinder which is due for release next year, 2011.

Let’s face it, Toyota’s Prius despite its being an environmentally friendly vehicle is not that price friendly. With its starting price of $22,800 (Prius II) to $28,070 (Prius V) it’s not a practical choice with the worsening recession. In fact, there was a drop in sales of Prius from 11,731 in October to 10,224 in November, recording a significant 13% decrease in sales. But compared to last year, Prius sales this year was up by 6% making it not a total lost for Toyota’s green car. Hopefully they will be able to surpass the negative impact of the recalls that they had this year if they want to get positive sales growth before the end of this year.

Next Generation Prius

In other news, there are reports saying that the next generation of Priuses of which the Japanese automaker has designated with letters A, B, and C will resemble its current lineup. Prius A will sport the same size as Yaris while B will be made bigger. Prius C will be made smaller than the Camry but in terms of design it will take after the Hybrid X concept car. If you have forgotten what the X looks like, you may search for 2007 Geneva Motor Show - it’s where the X-concept has made its debut.

Nissan’s green LEAF is set to hit dealership this December. The LEAF is an electric vehicle sporting a love it or hate it design. Distinctive features of the LEAF include a low hood sandwiched in between two V-shaped headlights that looks like shark fins. The unusual headlights were not installed for statement alone, but were designed for a purpose – to split and redirect airflow away from the door mirrors minimizing noise and drag in the process.

The LEAF doesn’t have emissions equipment which gives the rear hatch a cavernous depth giving you so much storage space than you could ever imagine. There’s also plenty of headroom and legroom both on the front seat as well as the passenger seat. So it’s not going to be a problem if you are more than 6 feet tall.

In terms of connectivity, the LEAF utilizes an exclusive advanced IT system which is linked to a global data center providing the user with support, information as well as entertainment 24 hours a day. Its dash-mounted monitor displays the status of LEAF’s power and even shows the areas of nearby charging stations. You can also use your mobile phone to turn on air-conditioning and set the charging functions even when the LEAF is low on charged. The LEAF can travel 100 miles on a single charged. How much does the LEAF cost? The introductory price is $25,000 but according to Nissan it still can go down considering local and state incentives.

A new wave of green cars is scheduled to go on sale on the next two succeeding years, 2011 and 2012. This new wave would comprise of eight hybrids and a dozen plug-in cars. Unfortunately, the electric cars would only be sold on selected cities with already setup charging stations. The rollout of the green cars would start from California then to other states including New York, Texas, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Tennessee. Some of the green cars to watch out for includes: Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid SUV, Lexus CT 200h compact, Volkswagen Touareg SUV hybrid, VW Jetta Hybrid, Coda sedan, Think City, Focus compact electric version, and RAV4 SUV electric version.

To get a head start, General Motors and Nissan will be having an early introduction of their green cars this December with the Chevrolet Volt and Leaf. You might want to check one out in dealers in your area.