The California Air Resources Board has begun enforcing recently enacted anti-idling program for diesel engines that will reduce particulate matter emissions throughout the state.

California ARB staff and local air quality officials throughout the state will monitor sleeper berths and commercial on and off-road diesel vehicles where they operate. First time violations, idling for greater than five minutes, will receive a minimum civil penalty of $300. Subsequent penalties can be from $1,000 to $10,000. Owners, renters or lessees will be responsible for the penalty.

Regulations limiting idling of on-road commercial diesel-engine vehicles to five minutes have been in effect for several years now and for sleeper berth trucks since January of 2008. The regulations addressing the idling of off-road diesel vehicles became effective in June of 2008. Industries were given a grace period allowing them to inform themselves and their staff of the new requirements.

Honda has opened a new "Words of Hybrid" site, featuring the all-new Insight Concept premiered at the Paris Motor Show on October 2, 2008. The site provides details of the Insight Concept and a history of Honda's hybrid development.

Land Rover introduced the Freelander 2 TD4_e featuring a new Stop/Start system at the Paris Motor Show. The Freelander 2 TD4_e is Land Rover’s most fuel-efficient vehicle to date and is the first production vehicle to incorporate technologies from the company’s program of engineering initiatives collectively named e_Terrain Technologies (earlier post).

On the standard EU4 cycle, the CO2 emissions of the Freelander 2 TD4_e are reduced by 8% (15 g/km) compared with the outgoing manual diesel Freelander 2 TD4 (from 194 g/km to 179 g/km). Fuel consumption improves from 7.5 L/100km (31.4 mpg US) to 6.8 L/100km (34.4 mpg US). In additional tests, Land Rover engineers measured fuel savings approaching 20% in heavy urban traffic.

These gains, coupled with the added benefits of the gearshift indicator light, software developments and efficiencies from low-rolling-resistance tires, make the Freelander 2 TD4_e the most fuel-efficient production Land Rover yet built.

In the United States, sales of hybrid cars greatly outpaces the sales of diesel cars; super-size trucks don't count. The leader of the hybrid race globally and in the States is undoubtedly Toyota, but other manufacturers, including Honda, are doing their best to catch up. Despite the fact that the original Honda Insight helped usher in the hybrid age, the automaker has taken a major back seat to its main rival from Japan in recent years. To help combat this issue, Honda is set to revive the Insight nameplate with a Prius-fighting five door hatchback of its own, and it will undercut its competitor by thousands of dollars.

So, what about Europe? Across the pond, hybrid cars and trucks are not nearly as popular as they are in the U.S. There, diesel fuel is priced more attractively than gasoline, and sales of oil-burners are therefore very strong. A recent survey conducted by Honda in the U.K. indicates that 40-percent of those who would not buy a hybrid are put off by their high price. Since the Insight will be the cheapest hybrid available in Europe, Honda hopes to buck the slow-selling trend. We'll see how it works out sometime next year.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is awarding $295,320 each to Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin for their 2008 clean diesel programs under EPA’s Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative (MCDI).

Matching grants from these states total $1.2 million. Nationally, EPA will award $14.8 million to states for clean-diesel programs.

State projects include a variety of diesel emission reduction solutions such as retrofit technologies, idle-reduction technologies, cleaner fuel use, engine upgrades, and vehicle or equipment replacement.

Volvo is introducing a new array of engines next year. Volvo claims that these engines, called EEV (Enhanced Environmental friendly Vehicle), exceed the requirements for Euro V antipollution norms by means of reducing emitted particles and smoke. Not only that, but the new set of EEV engines also reduce fuel consumption. The first engine of the series is the D13 (pictured), which powers the FH (trailer) and FM (heavy) truck series. The D13 is a 12.8-liter I6 engine with power ranging from 400 to 520hp. This engine is the one that the Swedish motor company will use to develop its future Euro VI-compliant engines. Full release after the jump.