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    Discovery Green's a race track

    Green over speed: It's an energy race at Shell Eco-marathon

    Sarah Rufca
    Apr 16, 2011 | 5:12 am
    • A student at St. Paul's School works on their biodiesel car.
      Photo by Sarah Rufca
    • The finish line of the Shell Eco-marathon.
    • An eco-car on the Houston streets last year.
    • Defending champions Laval University work on their updated entry.
      Photo by Sarah Rufca
    • The Granite Falls High School team favors Ferrari doors.
      Photo by Sarah Rufca
    • The 2010 teams
    • Not claustrophobic, I hope: One driver waits to be deemed road-ready.
      Photo by Sarah Rufca

    The inside of the George R. Brown Convention Center had all the trappings of an advanced shop class on Friday, as teams of students sawed, hammered and even taped the final touches on their eco-friendly race cars.

    But this isn't your average race, it's the Shell Eco-marathon, and the goal isn't a car that moves around the track the quickest — it's to get it across the finish line using as little energy as possible.

    The cars feature everything from traditional (if retooled) fuel injection engines to biodiesel, solar and hydrogen cell energy sources. Though some are large and boxy, most aim for an aerodynamic shape, with a few deviating more towards a Jetsons-like egg shape or a long, skinny coffin.

    But don't let the amateur engineers give you the wrong impression — these cars are serious, with price tags of up to $100,000.

    Last year the team from Laval University in Montreal won the competition with an average of 2,487.5 miles per gallon, their second consecutive win. This year the team still has some work to do. They designed a new car since then, but it wasn't quite ready for competition, so they are putting together last year's model with the same engine and carbon fiber frame and a new electrical system.

    "You never know what's going to happen," Laval's Anthony Bernier said. "Last year we had a flat tire and our motor didn't work on the first day. We worked all night and were the first run of the day on Sunday, and it was the best run until we went again in the afternoon. That was the one that won it for us."

    This year Laval's greatest challenge, shared with other teams from the northern part of the country, was tweaking the engine from the cold weather conditions it was built under to work at maximum efficiency in Houston's hot, humid climate.

    "We're mainly just adjusting the engine," University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Eric Wright said. "Since last year we cut the weight of the car from 170 pounds to 95 pounds, and we're using an aluminum honeycomb body instead of steel."

    But while several cars look like mini versions of street-ready vehicles, others didn't limit themselves to traditional materials when working to increase lightness or visibility. The Lamar University team chucked their Mylar roof (which was hard for the driver to see through) for one made of shower curtains, with a heavier carbon fiber top as a back up.

    Though it's mostly colleges competing, a few high schools have entered the fray, including first-timers St. Paul's School from Covington, La. The St. Paul's team built two cars — one one conventional in shape and engine type, and one biodiesel powered with a steel frame (made from recycled bicycle parts) and a clear core plastic.

    "We've learned a lot this year," coach Mike Cobb said. "I learned not to special order anything, because if it breaks you can't replace it on site — that's why we bought this Home Depot motor to take apart and see if we can use any of it."

    One car might be out of commission, but the other is looking good. With the other biodiesel competitors withdrawn, the car only has to successfully make it around the track to win the division.

    One of these prototypes could be the next Tesla or Volt, and the best place to check them out is on the road. The Shell Eco-marathon takes place at Discovery Green throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday, with awards presented Sunday at 6 p.m.

    Hear the NPR report on the Shell Eco-marathon:

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    children don't come cheap

    This is how much the cost to raise a child in Houston increased in one year

    Amber Heckler
    Jun 23, 2025 | 11:38 am
    Family, raising a child
    Photo by Jimmy Dean on Unsplash
    It costs more than $24,000 to raise a child in the Austin area in 2025.

    A new national study has revealed it now costs $472 more to raise a child in the Houston area than it did last year.

    SmartAsset's report "Cost of Raising a Child in Major U.S. Metros – 2025 Study" compared data from MIT's Living Wage Calculator to determine the annual costs for raising a child in 2024 and 2025 across the 48 biggest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Factors that contributed to each metro's total included the cost for childcare, additional housing costs, food, transportation, medical costs, and "other necessities."

    In 2025, it will cost $21,868 annually to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlandsregion, the report found. That amount has risen 2.21 percent since 2024, when childrearing in the Houston area cost $21,396 a year.

    Houston only has the third-highest costs for raising a child out of the four biggest Texas metros, and even though that cost has increased slightly in the last year, it's still on the low end nationally. SmartAsset said Houston is the 8th most affordable U.S. city, ranking 41st (out of 48) in the overall ranking of metros where the cost of raising a child is the highest.

    "The cost of raising a child can change quickly, making it important for budding families to keep an eye on trends in their locale," the report said. "Between 2024 and 2025 alone, the average projected annual cost of raising a small child changed by a range of -15 percent to +22 percent, depending on the metro area."

    Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts led the nation with the highest annual cost for raising a child, totaling more than $39,000, up from $37,758 in 2024.

    Costs for raising a child in other Texas metros
    Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos is – unsurprisingly – the most expensive Texas metro for raising a child, with costs surging nearly eight percent from 2024. It now costs $24,188 to raise a child in the Austin area, compared to $22,406 the year before.

    There's better news for families in San Antonio. The San Antonio-New Braunfels area clocks in as the fifth most affordable U.S. metro in the study. In 2024, it cost $21,014 to raise a child in the Alamo City, but in 2025, it costs 0.33 percent less, at $20,945.

    This is how much it costs to raise a child in San Antonio, according to SmartAsset:

    • Cost of childcare: $9,123
    • Housing costs: $3,232
    • Food costs: $1,644
    • Medical costs: $2,590
    • Transportation costs: $3,090
    • Civic costs: $474
    • Other costs: $791

    Raising a child in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington now costs $22,337 per year, which is only $411 more than it did in 2024.

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