BMW's profit slides nearly 33 percent

Germany automaker BMW says second-quarter net profit slid nearly 33 percent and it has abandoned its yearly profit forecast, blaming a drop in U.S. sales, rising costs for raw materials and the strong euro.
The Munich-based company is the world's biggest maker of luxury cars. It said Friday it earned euro507 million (US$791.5 million) in the April-June period, down 32.7 percent from last year.
Sales fell half a percent to euro14.6 billion (US$22.8 billion) in the quarter compared with a year earlier.The company has revised its earnings forecast. Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer says BMW now expects pre-tax return on sales for the year of at least 4 percent.The news spooked investors, who sent the company's shares plunging before they leveled off to euro26.90 (US$41.89), down 6.9 percent.

GM looks to an electric avenue

GM has high hopes for its Chevy Volt, but unless drivers have easy access to recharging points, the development of electric cars is doomed. A new deal with 30 US utilities will help.

General Motors China President Kevin Wale introduces the Chevrolet Volt Fuel Cell concept at the Shanghai Auto show.The eyes of the world are now on the Volt. It's the future of America and the world." That was the US presidential candidate John McCain talking to car industry workers a few days ago, referring to General Motors' promised new electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt. The future of the world, no less. No pressure, then."Together we can transform automotive transportation as we know it, and get our nation and the world past oil dependence and heading toward a future that is electric," said Jon Lauckner, GM's vice-president of global programme management. "We are focused on creating affordable, highly desired, vehicles that will take advantage of the grid, and on providing accessible, reliable, convenient, low-cost electricity to plug-in customers."

Engineer: We can use food waste to generate electricity

Nigerian civil engineer, Dr Joseph Adelegan for instance.
He firmly believes that the world's future fuel demands can be met through renewable energy. And he is using increasingly innovative methods to achieve these results. Three years ago Adelegan won plaudits for his "Cows to Kilowatts" project, which used effluents and waste products from abattoirs to produce cooking gas. The project was a winner of the prestigious 2005 Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and It is still going strong and being used to provide cooking fuel for nearly 6000 homes in Ibadan, southern Nigeria. Adelegan tells there are now plans to roll it out across most of Africa, including Zimbabwe, Kenya and Egypt.

Latest Little ThinkPad Delivers Big Performance

Bolstered by the new Intel Centrino 2 mobile platform, the all-new Lenovo ThinkPad X200 ultraportable notebook delivers better-than-average speed in a smaller-than-average package.

GM’s challenge: Automaker not known for cars

After convincing consumers it is known for trucks, it must change business. Chevrolet plans to replace the clunky Cobalt small car, shown here, with the leek Cruze that is powered by a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that will allow it to get around 45 miles per gallon.