Today, NPR had an interesting story about “Hypermilers”, a group of people who try and get every last bit of distance out of each gallon of gas they use in their cars. In an ideal world, record high gas prices and the threat of global warming would inspire large scale systemic change where automobile companies produce ultra high efficiency cars, cities curb sprawl while fostering high-density mixed-use development, and where investment in mass transit is a top priority.
However, we don’t live in an ideal world. So, in the absence of that kind of change people can take it upon themselves, like these Hypermilers, to protect their wallet and the environment by changing the way they drive. What the Hypermilers are doing is a part of “EcoDriving“, a way of driving that decreases the amount of fuel you use and the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions that you emit. It’s not a substitute for deeper, big picture solutions that get to the root of these problems, but in the meantime, it sure can help.

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Photo by POPOEVER.

The New York Times reports today that the Hummer, that vehicle which has drawn the wrath of environmentalists and spawned websites like FUH2, might become a thing of the past. That’s because gas prices are now hovering around $4 a gallon in the United States - still a far cry from Europe, where they can be as high as $10 - making gas guzzling vehicles like the Hummer less attractive to consumers feeling the pinch of high fuel prices. As the Times reports, GM is “…considering selling its Hummer brand, an emblem of the megavehicle. Rick Wagoner, G.M.’s chairman, explained the moves by saying that he thought the shift toward more efficient cars was “by and large, permanent.””

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Via Dot Earth.

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Photo by mocodragon.

While the fuel economy standards in the latest energy bill are a welcome first step, giving us some relief from stagnation in fuel economy from vehicle fleet, the California approach, which treats greenhouse gases as pollutants, and sets performance standards, is the right way to go for the longer term.

In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, we need to get to a full systems approach, looking at fuels and vehicles as a system, and set up a regulatory approach that can keep steady downward pressure on allowable emissions from the fleet of vehicles on American roads.

The EPA’s decision to deny California the waiver to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from tailpipes of passenger cars and trucks doesn’t bode well for the EPA’s own proposed rule making on the same issue.

Since the US EPA won’t lead, California - and the 17 other states that want to join it - will. And with past as prologue, the courts are likely to support California. Then the EPA will follow and we’ll have a national emissions standard for greenhouse gas emissions, eventually.

It’s just too bad that the Bush Administration is going to force everything into the courts, before the inevitable occurs.

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Photo by mj*laflaca

In 2002 the National Academy of Sciences wrote a report suggesting a modest raise in new car fuel efficiency - from 28 miles per gallon to around 32 - was justified. The Bush Administration ignored this finding. A few years later it thumbed its nose at the environmental community by dissolving the “Partnership for a new Generation of Vehicles,” a joint government-auto industry initiative to put a super fuel-efficient, low-emissions diesel car on the road by the end of this decade. As if that weren’t enough, the Bush Administration has constantly opposed higher fuel taxes, ruling out an important step for reducing what the president calls our ‘addiction’ to oil. I must say that it’s strange that after repeatedly acknowledging the current energy problem he has so passively ignored or actively obstructed almost every effort to find a solution.

So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise yesterday when the EPA announced that it opposes California’s 2002 initiative to regulate CO2, a move that will once again put off the reckoning this country has with oil and carbon. Since this initiative in its original form has been law in California since 2002, it’s goals are no surprise to the Administration or automobile manufacturers. They’ve had roughly five years and little to show; perhaps instead of hiring the engineers to make their cars comply with the law, the auto industry hired the lawyers to take the law down.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Legislation passed by Congress to raise fuel effiency is a welcome first step. Photo by Storm Crypt.

As an engineer working in the field of sustainable transport I am very excited about the latest efforts to improve fuel efficiency, which will certainly help in the fight against climate change, a global phenomenon dating back to the start of the industrial revolution. (As an aside, the New York Times has a really neat graphic on this). One has to praise the US Congress for moving ahead legislation which will boost automobile and SUV fuel efficiency for the first time since 1975.

Nevertheless, as we have been claiming on this blog, this effort will not be enough! We have to do more. Lee Schipper, a colleague of mine and a fellow contributor to TheCityFix, says it well: “We also need to drive smaller, lighter vehicles. And we need to drive them less.”

The reason why he’s right has to do with an algebraic formula that’s really quite simple:

Using this equation, we can see that by improving fuel efficiency, we’re only effecting one of several variables related to total carbon emissions. But if people continue to buy more polluting cars, regardless of whether they are fuel efficient, and drive them longer distances, any gains in fuel efficiency might not do all that much.

The way the transport sector can fight climate change is by adopting a holistic approach that focuses on all three variables: total car travel, fuel efficiency, and carbon emissions per gallon of fuel. Here’s how we can do it:

• Reducing total car travel by promoting zero-emissions modes like walking and biking. Of course you can’t expect people to walk to work who live 50 miles from their office; after all, in the United States car commuters spend around 100 minutes on average getting to work and back. In many cases this is totally unnecessary because advances in telecommunications make telecommuting easier than ever. What’s more sprawling suburbs and satellite exurbs where walking is impossible are vestiges of the past. The urgency of global warming and energy insecurity demands that cities regulate the way that land is used, making mixed-use, high-density neighborhoods a priority.

• Reducing total car travel by improving public transportation. Currently, only 4.7% of people get to work using public transportation whereas 87.8% of people go by automobile. What this means is that buses, streetcars, and subways must be attractive alternatives to get people out of their cars. So they must come often, cover a large portion of the city, have seamless integration with other transit infrastructure like airports, and be comfortable and cost effective.
• Increasing fuel efficiency through technology improvements mandated by legislation.
• Increasing emissions standards through technology.

Even when considering all the various ways for reducing carbon emissions, raising the fuel efficiency standards, a move that was accepted by the auto industry, should still be considered a good step, especially considering the recent political environment. But with that said, we still need more!

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Photo by gisleh from Flickr.

On Friday, the US House of Representative voted 235-181 to approve a major energy bill that would substantially raise fuel efficiency standards for the first time since 1975 when the OPEC oil embargoes, triggering oil shortages and long-lines at the pump, drove Congress to increase fuel economy.

Under the new bill, fuel economy for cars and light trucks would rise 40% from its current level of roughly 25 miles per gallon to 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020. While the change would be significant, it’s still a far cry from the much more ambitious aim of European nations to achieve 38 miles per gallon for gasoline-fueled vehicles by 2008. Japan, another country with fuel efficiency standards, is more in line with the Europeans, aiming for 35 miles per gallon by 2010.

In addition to increased fuel efficiency, the bill also mandates the introduction of 36 billion barrels of ethanol into the national fuel mix by 2022. It also includes new energy efficiency standards for buildings, which account for nearly 40% of the nation’s energy use. Read the rest of this entry »

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