The drive to green mobility got a boost into the New Year with news of heightened efforts to produce fuels from a variety of waste products, word that Queen Elizabeth's Bentleys are going green and the launch of an electric vehicle charging network in Northern California.

Exploration of the power of poop, both bovine and human, made news in the U.S. and Japan.

The energy chief for the state of Idaho, the third-largest milk-producer in the U.S., is looking to go big with the conversion of cow pies to natural gas that can power cars or homes, in addition to using the stuff to run turbines that would create electricity and recycling processed manure as plant bedding.

In Japan, research from the Kajima Corporation and Tokyo University indicates that microbes from sewage could be a source of energy for hydrogen-powered cars, according to hybridcars.com, which cited a report on Japan's Nikkei and noted it could take 10 years to commercialize the concept.

The idea of turning human waste into hydrogen fuel is also being pursued in California, where the Orange County Sanitation District and the University of California, Irvine, are working on an $8 million demonstration project of a conversion device that could begin operation this spring.

In Britain, Queen Elizabeth is poised to use alternative, eco-friendly fuel made from plants. The Queen's two state Bentleys are to be converted to run on biofuel. Her oldest son, Prince Charles, already has several cars that run on green fuel — an Aston Martin using bio-ethanol derived from surplus English wine and an Audi, Range Rover and Jaguars that run on biofuel made from waste cooking oil.

San Jose moved closer to its Green Vision for the city yesterday with the activation of charging stations for electric vehicles through its pilot partnership with Coulomb Technologies of Campbell. 

The charging stations outside San Jose City Hall and at the Fourth Street garage in town are the first in the firm's planned ChargePoint network for electric cars and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The company expects to have several more installed around the city by the end of the year.

Access to the stations is available via an account subscription to the ChargePoint network. Subscribers receive key fobs that enable them to unlock the charging station, plug in, recharge and go.

The launch of the network follows an announcement last summer by San Jose and Coulomb that they were embarking on the project. It is one of several efforts around the country and one of two major plans in Northern California to green mobility.

Last fall, the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose teamed up with the Palo Alto firm Better Place to create an electric vehicle infrastructure throughout the greater Bay Area with EV charging outlets in parking lots, buildings and homes. Better Place has already established similar development arrangements in Australia, Israel and Denmark.

In Japan, the race toward green mobility is focusing on development of mass-produced zero-emission cars. Various firms have announced plans to have specific market launches as early as 2010 with widespread availability in 2012. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. says its iMiEV electric car is due to hit the market next year — which Nissan has also tagged as its launch year for electric cars in Japan and the United States.