DETROIT - The world’s major carmakers appeared split this week over which fuel efficient, lower emission engines will prove to be the wave of the future — hybrid, clean diesel or hydrogen fuel cell.

Despite a tiny presence in the US car market, hybrid vehicles were the most popular topic at the North American International Auto Show this week as auto executives gauged the future of the gas/electric and other engine novelties.

Complete article: Hybrid Cars Stir Buzz But Jury Still Out Long-Term (Planet Ark)

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Hydrogen, tested in buses from Amsterdam to Vancouver and used in the rockets of the U.S. space shuttle, is a clean power that promises to break dependence on oil and gas — at least in Iceland.

“Sometimes I have to explain to passengers that it’s just water vapour,” the driver said of white clouds trailing after his bus along the streets of the capital, Reykjavik. “When it’s very cold there’s a lot of white steam.”

With almost unlimited geothermal energy sizzling beneath its surface, Iceland has an official goal of making the country oil-free by shifting cars, buses, trucks and ships over to hydrogen by about 2050.

Complete article: Iceland’s hydrogen buses zip to oil-free economy (Reuters)

General Motors Corp., which sells the gas-gobbling Hummer, urges Americans to “Get Green” on a special website and is producing advertising campaigns trumpeting hydrogen fuel and gas-electric hybrid vehicles.

Ford Motor Co., with the poorest average fuel economy of any major automaker, markets its new hybrid sport utility vehicle in Mother Jones and other politically left magazines and has planted energy-saving grass on the roof of its newest truck plant.

After years of pushing power and performance, the US auto industry has begun to view conservation as a marketable quality. But automakers are stepping cautiously, and so far the green marketing is far outpacing the manufacturing of energy-efficient vehicles.

Complete article: Talk is green, but money’s still on gas guzzlers (Boston Globe)

WASHINGTON - The brakes are controlled by a computer, so the car can stop a full length shorter than most. Each rear wheel has its own motor and can turn by itself, which not only improves traction but also makes parallel parking a snap. And the only thing this car emits is water vapor.

But for all the exotic gizmos on the Sequel, an experimental hydrogen-powered car to be shown today by General Motors Corp., the biggest breakthrough is that it is designed to drive as far and accelerate as quickly as the cars in most driveways.

Complete article: Automakers put hydrogen on fast track (MSNBC)