The 9th Mobility and Road Safety Week will take place between the 16th and the 22nd September 2010. The journal du Développement durable adds that the theme of this year’s edition, which follows the promulgation of the Grenelle II law in July 2010, will be alternative means of transport. The French people will be asked to think about the means of transport most appropriate to their journey. So, car pooling, bicycles, car sharing and electric vehicles will be the bywords of this week’s events, which have already seen a special call for projects launched.

There is, however, no shortage of sustainable mobility projects in France. Cardisiac mentions, for example, the recent signing of a sustainable development charter by the Louvre. Mobility is obviously a major part of the plan’s focus, as it aims to encourage staff to adopt alternative means of transport through the use of car pooling, the creation of bicycle pools and training in green responsibility. Furthermore, the Museum’s 8.5 million visitors will be invited to use alternative means of transport to come to visit its masterpieces.

Caradisiac also talks about how truck manufacturers are interested in green technologies. Renault Trucks has just released a refuse truck model that runs off CNG (compressed natural gas). The value of this technology, which is odourless, is that it emits very few polluting particles and makes less noise than a thermic vehicle.

On the Industrie.com website, we find out about a team of researchers in Munich that has successfully developed black silicon photovoltaic cells. This subtle change could be revolutionary, since it means that much more sunshine can be absorbed, which increases the cells’ output, while making their production less costly and polluting. The development was made possible by technology that etches microscopic holes into the layer of silicon; the holes are so small that the diameter of about 40 of them is equivalent to that of a human hair.

What if energy came from the air and not the sky? This is the unimaginable theory of a team of Brazilian researchers, reported by the scientific website Physorg . Their project is studying the propagation of electricity in the air during lightning strikes. The aim is to develop a cell system that is capable of capturing the energy found in humidity in the air. The researchers have even invented a term for this new energy: “hygroelectricity”.

Finally, an article on the technology website Engadget talks about the discovery made by a team at the University of Birmingham, which has managed to use a strain of bacteria to transform rare metal waste materials, which, until now, could not be recycled. These waste materials could eventually create fuel cells capable of supplying our vehicles or homes.

According to a study by consultancy Pike Research reported by the GreenLaunches blog, a million public charging points for electric vehicles will be installed by 2015 in the United States. The consultancy is predicting a boom in electric vehicles, starting in the second half of 2010, in the country.

In fact, Avem announces that charging terminals are already being installed in public car parks in Manhattan. The project is supported by New York’s municipal council, which carried out a study on the development of electric vehicles at the start of 2010.

A sign of the times in the country of excess; the Voitures du futur blog reports that a competition to reduce vehicle weight has just been launched at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Participants, which include the largest vehicle manufacturers in the United States, have to create a four-seater vehicle that beats weight limits – at 500 kg.

Wired magazine explains that the movement towards sustainable mobility has become a federal priority. The CDC (Centers for Disease Protection and Control), a federal institution charged with the protection of public health in the US, has just announced its plan to encourage the development of “active transportation”. As the number of States with obesity rates over 30% tripled between 2007 and 2009, the institution is going to demand that American cities encourage the development of pedestrian and public transport.

At the Shanghai World Expo, the American manufacturer General Motors has been showing its small innovative vehicle models. The prototypes have been out on the streets of the Chinese city, surprising the passers-by who saw these vehicles that are capable of turning 360°. The Voiture du futur blog has photos.

Finally, the Autopia blog, from Wired magazine, has published an impressive article on Roger Schroer, the driver of the fastest electric vehicle in the world, which reached the speed of 495 km/h  (307.7mph) in August 2010. The car is a prototype built by students at Ohio State University; its energy source is 1,600 Lithium battery cells. The driver confirms that he had the impression he was flying a plane or driving a dragster rather than a car.