Transport - Horizon

I'll start by looking at some cars coming out in the near future.

Ford Fiesta ST. 
(Ford Motor Company. 2011). 

Ford are bringing out many new models of cars, one of which is the Ford Fiesta ST. What I found interesting when I saw this car was the engine; it uses a 1.6 litre Ecoboost petrol engine. (Which Car Magazine. 2011). I wanted to find out what an Ecoboost engine was so I researched it a bit more. The Ecoboost engine gives a 20% better fuel efficiency and reduced greenhouse emissions than similar sized engines. Ford also apparently see these as an alternative to hybrid cars, leading to them promising to use them much more in the future. (Ford Motor Company. 2008. Ecoboost Engine Technology.)

Ecoboost Engine Logo.
(Ford Motor Company. 2011).

I was also interested to learn about a new Toyota Prius for 2012 which now also allows you to charge it up from a plug in to the mains electricity, whereas previously it could only be charged by the electricity generated by the car. Because it is a hybrid car the charge time is also only one and a half hours long! (Which Car Magazine. 2011. Toyota Prius Plug In.)

Toyota Prius Plug In Hybrid.
(Toyota. 2011).

Another interesting car I found was the BMW i3 which is an electric car from BMW.

 BMW i3.
(BMW. 2011).  

Apparently it ill be able to do 90 miles before it needs recharging and will be able to reach 60mph in 8 seconds. I found this car interesting though for the design of it (which will probably change) and because I didn't think BMW, a company famed for making more expensive semi luxury cars, would make an electric car. (Which Car Magazine. 2011. BMW i3.)

All of the cars above were shown recently at the Frankfurt Motorshow 2011, however some of them, like the BMW i3 will most likely be seen next year at the Paris Motorshow 2012. (Amc Promotion. 2011).

Also when these cars come out they should be represented well in the media, with magazines (such as Which Car Magazine) and TV shows (such as Top Gear) featuring the cars and reviewing them.

Racing

Formula 1 will of course be taking place again in 2012, starting in Melbourne, Australia in march and ending in Sao Paulo, Brazil in November. (Formula 1. 2011. Formula 1 2012 Race Calendar)

 (Boullier, E. 2010).

You can already buy tickets for the Valencia Grand Prix, ranging from £43 to £471! (Valencia Grand Prix. 2011).

I was interested to find that Jenson Button will be releasing an autobiography in 2013 called My World and its available to preorder on Amazon. (Button, J. 2013).

(Fun Box Media. 2012). 

There are also a lot of racing games coming out in 2012, such as Glacier 3 for the Wii and Ben 10: Galactic Racing for the Nintendo DS. (Amazon. 2011. Racing Game Search.)

 (Original Film. 2001).

Fast and Furious 6 is the next film in the series to be released in 2013, staring Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel. (Original Film, 2013).
 

I think because this is the 6th film in the long running series it shows quite an interest in the racing genre. From the media I've currently collected I think its safe to say that racing will still be quite popular in the next few years.

Trains

(Slipstreamjc. 2005).

 

I was looking for a new train being released in 2012 when I saw an interesting article about how they are improving the railway network in London for the 2012 Olympics. (Net Resources International. 2011).

 "By 2012 there will be a total of ten public transport lines feeding into Stratford, representing the capability of a train arriving in the area every 15 seconds." (Net Resources International. 2011).

(Philips, A. 2013).

I came across an interesting book on Amazon called Flying Scotsman Manual: An Insight into Maintaining, Operating and Restoring the Legendary Steam Locomotive by Philip Atkins. It describes the process of restoring, maintaining and operating the old train, the first one to achieve 100mph. I found this book interesting because it links the future and past of trains in my reach together. (Philips, A. 2013).

Planes
Whilst researching I found a very interesting prediction by Airbus on what commercial flights might look like in 40 years time: http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/airbus-transparent-plane-of-future-146498

A350 XWB.
(Airbus. 2011).

The Airbus A350 is scheduled to have its first flight in 2012, with commercial flights starting in 2014. (Ref. (Airbus. 2011. A350 XWB.) I really like the look of the Airbus A350, the interior looks nice and spacious in the business class of the airliner.

A350 XWB.

(Airbus. 2011.)

Heathrow.
(Getty Images. 2011).

I wondered if anything was happening at Heathrow during the Olympics whilst doing my research. I found a very interesting article in The Daily Telegraph about how for one day Heathrow will have an 'athletes only' terminal to ease congestion from everyone leaving after the games have finished. I think this is a really good and cool idea, it will stop the athletes being bothered by the public as they wait for planes and should be a nice environment for them - even if it is set up in a cargo area!

Combat Wings: The Great Battles of World War 2.
(Nintendo. 2012).

I found that a game called Combat Wings: The Great Battles of World War 2 is being released in 2012. (Nintendo. 2012. Combat Wings: the Great Battles of World War 2).   I found this interesting as well because it shows a continuing interest of planes from the world war 2 era, and the combat associated with them.

(O'Connor, W. 2012).

I saw this book on Amazon and was really interested by it. It would be very interesting to read about the pilot and his experiences with the F-117 Stealth Nighthawk and the NATO campaign over Kosovo.

FCV-R.
(Toyota. 2011). 

I decided to have a look and see if there is anything in the near future about hydrogen fuel cells and found an article about Toyota who have announced 3 concept cars they will show at next years Tokyo Motor Show. The FCV-R is their fuel cell car, boasting a range of 430 miles they hope to be offering them to the public by 2015. (Wood,C. 2011). I'm interested to see that car companies are planning to offer hydrogen fuel cell cars to the mass market in the near future. I think these are a more viable option than electric cars, although the problem with them is that it takes a lot of energy to get the hydrogen.

This got me thinking about renewable energies and so I found in 2012 Berlin will have a Solar Energy fair, which is described as a "World Trade Fair for Renewable Energies". (Events Eye. 2011).

(Tomas, F. 2005).

I also found a canceled deal to put solar panels on 600 buildings in London. (Eysenck, J. 2011).

(Kuhn, S. 2005).

I had a look at nuclear power and found that the UK is building 8 new nuclear reactors by 2025. (Pfeifer, S. 2011). There has been critisim over this action though following the Fukushima plant incident, but also because it is said that the UK will be left behind in the movement to change to renewable energy sources rather than using nuclear, coal and gas.(Carrington, D. 2011).

(Dahlkamp, F. 2013).

There are a lot of books coming out in the near future relating to nuclear power, however one that interested me was Uranim Deposits of the World by Franz J. Dahlkamp being released in 2013. The book topic seems a little weird to me, however I think its more for industry professionals than the casual reader. What also amazed me was the price of the book which is £1,147.50!