Similar to the Ansari X Prize that challenged inventors to come up with an aircraft that could enter space, the X PRIZE Foundation and Progressive jointly announced the company’s Title Sponsorship of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE competition and its funding of the $10 million prize purse.

Since I’m enthusiastic about cars, I’m going to start following the Automotive X PRIZE competition and their auto blog more closely and comment, discuss, and analyze what’s going on in the competition.

An overview of the competition from the Automotive X PRIZE website:

The newly renamed Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is an international competition designed to inspire a new generation of viable, super fuel-efficient vehicles. The independent and technology-neutral competition is open to teams from around the world that can design, build and bring to market 100 MPGe (miles per gallon energy equivalent) vehicles that people want to buy, and that meet market needs for price, size, capability, safety and performance.

It will be fun and interesting to see how everything develops. There have already been more than 60 teams that have signed up to participate in the contest and it will be fun to check out all of the teams and interview their key players.

The reason why I like the X PRIZE competition is because in today’s world it’s corporations and private companies, not government, that drive many big social changes. These companies and organizations involved with the Automotive X PRIZE will be the ones that invent, create, develop, and manufacture fuel efficient or alternative energy vehicles that we will drive in the future.

Stay tuned, because it will be exciting!

Auto X PRIZE

The Group of Eight developed member nations plus China, India, and South Korea met in Aomori, Japan to talk amid issues, with the biggest being the high oil prices.

They agreed to promote energy efficiency for stable market

The ministers believed that energy saving and efficiency is one of the quickest, greenest, and most cost-effective way to address energy security, climate change, and ensuring economic growth, according to the declaration.

This just seems to state the obvious. We had oil prices skyrocket in the 70’s, and since they weren’t more proactive over the years, we’ve seen oil prices skyrocket again. The ministers also stated that they will enhance cooperation and exchange information on environment-friendly technologies for united efforts over cut in oil demands and emissions.

Everyone knows that developing energy efficiency and technology is the only way that we are going to be able to stabilize the energy prices back to an affordable level, but until they actually do something, they aren’t doing anything but blowing smoke up our…

They called for oil production boost

We affirm the need to maximise investment in our own domestic production and we call on other oil producing countries to increase investment to keep markets well supplied in response to rising world demand,” the joint statement said on Sunday.

And in the same breathe that they want to increase energy efficiency and improve alternative energy sources, the G8 called for an immediate increase in oil production in view of rising fuel prices. This is largely due to the fact that the 11 countries that were in attendance consume nearly two-thirds of the world’s energy. Of course they’re going to want OPEC to increase production. It is those countries that are hurting the most because of high oil prices.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said no new decision will be made until its meeting in Vienna in 9 September. I don’t blame OPEC for saying this. Why would they want to increase production? They’re reaping the benefit of the world’s dependency on oil at the moment and taking full advantage of it. I don’t think it would even matter if they increased production, because we’re still going to use more. It’s the way the trend has always been.

They fear that soaring oil prices could damage the global economy

Japan urged consumer-nations to use less energy and warned that soaring oil prices could trigger a global recession.

Since we know that they will not be able to move fast enough to bring down the cost of oil, develop more efficient technologies, or find a readily available alternative energy source, this quote should read “Japan urged consumer-nations to use less energy and warned that soaring oil prices WILL trigger a global recession”. Also, they still aren’t in agreement on which countries need to reduce energy subsidies.

Since the G8 didn’t come up with anything that can lessen the impact of high oil prices at the moment, I think things will get worse before they get better. I can only hope that it passes by quickly. If the G8 can execute on the things that they agreed upon in their deceleration, we may not have to have another energy crisis in 30 years. However, if they fail, we will be right back where we started.

This is a great video illustrating peak oil. Where we started and where we’re going to finish.

Congress lead their second round of questioning for the execs of the major oil companies on why gas prices were so high and how they can be okay with making so much money while people are paying so much for gasoline.

Don’t they understand that the oil industry is a byproduct of the transportation industry. I liken the analogy of bringing in the oil men instead of the auto men to trying to treat the symptoms and not actually find a cure for the disease. As long as the disease is still there, there will always be symptoms.

In fact, we’ve been here before and unless the transportation industry changes, we will come here again in the future.

Why doesn’t Congress hold the auto industry more accountable for the fuel efficiency of automobiles?

In that same article, John Dillin says:

John DeCicco, an engineer and fuel efficiency specialist, told me in the early 1990s that we could boost the mileage of US vehicles by 20 percent, even 30 percent, just by using the technology we already had. But people weren’t listening.

A few political leaders also sounded the alarm. In 1991, Sen. Richard Bryan (D) of Nevada urged Congress to mandate more-efficient cars and trucks. He called it a matter of national security.

Senator Bryan’s bill would have required that gas mileage rise to approximately 34 mpg in 1996, and 40 mpg in 2001. But Congress sat o­n its hands. Not until last year, with gas prices again soaring, did it mandate 35 mpg by 2020.

David Steckling, founder of Vapor Systems Technology, says that the technology for 100+ miles per gallon is already here but the auto industry along with the oil industry doesn’t want it to be widely known.

I’m pointing my finger back at Congress, stop wasting your time trying to treat the symptoms of high oil prices and find a solution to increasing the mpg for automobiles or how alternative fuels can alleviate our dependency on oil.