Mitsubishi's PX-MiEV plug-in hybrid/diesel concept vehicle.
The road to the future of climate change in the U.S. is paved with, well, pavement. In the U.S., transportation accounts for about a third of all national greenhouse gas emissions. As of 2006, the United States produced nearly 2840 million tons of carbon dioxide from petroleum products, according to the Energy Information Administration—over 23 percent of the world total for the year.
While improved infrastructure for mass transportation is one way to reduce carbon emissions—and time-sucking gridlock—it is a solution that will take a long time (a high-speed rail project that has broken ground in California, for example, connecting San Francisco and San Diego, has a 2030 deadline). It is also not feasible for all parts of the country, such as the wide-open Midwest. Americans, for the most part, drive to work and will need to continue doing so. And the demand for cars is rising: In 2007, there was an average of 1.77 cars for a household (measured as 2.4 people), according to the Department of Transportation. While we're not likely to reach more than one car per person in this country, the population is expected to increase 23 percent by 2030.
Following the summer high, oil prices plummeted, taking pressure off of the imperative to bring fuel-efficient innovations to market immediately. "All [the oil price drop] did was bankrupt a whole lot of companies that were investing in advanced vehicle technology," says Donald Hillebrand, director of the Center for Transportation Research at Argonne National Laboratory. Oil is climbing past the 80 dollars per barrel mark again, but the panic is not as palpable, in part because auto companies are already lining up new hybrids, diesels and other high-mpg vehicles.
The industry's recent epiphany is partly due to government mandates: Current CAFE standards require that automakers achieve a fleet-wide average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The energy and climate bill that the House passed last summer goes much further, requiring an 83 percent reduction in overall carbon emissions by 2050.
Reducing emissions from cars could mean improving fuel economy, exploring new fuels or ditching liquid fuel altogether. Most likely, it will mean all of the above. This transformation comes at a tough time for American automakers, who are clawing their way back from the brink of financial ruin. "At a point when they have nothing to invest, the car companies have to invest enormous amounts of money in research and development," says Brett Smith, director of the Automotive Analysis Group at the Center for Automotive Research. "All of these things they have to have their hand in, because they don't know which is going to be the winner."
In the race to keep Americans on the road while actively reducing carbon dioxide, which technologies will win and which will be lost to history?
Source URL: http://carrevieeeew.blogspot.com/2009/12/us-transportation-accounts-for-about.htmlWhile improved infrastructure for mass transportation is one way to reduce carbon emissions—and time-sucking gridlock—it is a solution that will take a long time (a high-speed rail project that has broken ground in California, for example, connecting San Francisco and San Diego, has a 2030 deadline). It is also not feasible for all parts of the country, such as the wide-open Midwest. Americans, for the most part, drive to work and will need to continue doing so. And the demand for cars is rising: In 2007, there was an average of 1.77 cars for a household (measured as 2.4 people), according to the Department of Transportation. While we're not likely to reach more than one car per person in this country, the population is expected to increase 23 percent by 2030.
The Challenge
In the summer of 2008, car drivers became inadvertent environmentalists. Oil prices peaked at nearly 150 dollars per barrel, and even some of the most devoted SUV owners found themselves eyeing the Prius at the neighboring gas pump. Politicians, investors and engineers all felt the pressure to find gasoline's successor. Would it be a hybrid—already so popular that the wait for a new Prius could be as much as six months? Could it be ethanol? Or something more exotic?Following the summer high, oil prices plummeted, taking pressure off of the imperative to bring fuel-efficient innovations to market immediately. "All [the oil price drop] did was bankrupt a whole lot of companies that were investing in advanced vehicle technology," says Donald Hillebrand, director of the Center for Transportation Research at Argonne National Laboratory. Oil is climbing past the 80 dollars per barrel mark again, but the panic is not as palpable, in part because auto companies are already lining up new hybrids, diesels and other high-mpg vehicles.
The industry's recent epiphany is partly due to government mandates: Current CAFE standards require that automakers achieve a fleet-wide average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The energy and climate bill that the House passed last summer goes much further, requiring an 83 percent reduction in overall carbon emissions by 2050.
Reducing emissions from cars could mean improving fuel economy, exploring new fuels or ditching liquid fuel altogether. Most likely, it will mean all of the above. This transformation comes at a tough time for American automakers, who are clawing their way back from the brink of financial ruin. "At a point when they have nothing to invest, the car companies have to invest enormous amounts of money in research and development," says Brett Smith, director of the Automotive Analysis Group at the Center for Automotive Research. "All of these things they have to have their hand in, because they don't know which is going to be the winner."
In the race to keep Americans on the road while actively reducing carbon dioxide, which technologies will win and which will be lost to history?
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