• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Earth Wise

A look at our changing environment.

  • Home
  • About Earth Wise
  • Where to Listen
  • Articles
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home / Archives for drivers

drivers

How Environmentally Friendly Are We? | Earth Wise

January 27, 2020 By EarthWise 1 Comment

Many of us are very concerned about the environment and want to try to do the right things as we go about our daily lives.  New research from the University of Gothenburg shows that we tend to overestimate just how much we are actually doing.

A study of over 4,000 people in United States, England, India, and Sweden revealed that most people are convinced that they act more environmentally friendly than the average person.  Their actions might include buying eco-labelled products, saving household energy, recycling, driving a hybrid or electric car, and reducing purchases of plastic bags.  Participants in the survey rated themselves as more environmentally active than other people, including both unknown people as well as their own friends.

The results are in keeping with a general tendency people have to overestimate their own abilities.  Studies over the years have shown that most people consider themselves, for example, to be more honest, more creative, and better drivers than others.  This sort of over-optimism apparently also applies to environmentally friendly behaviors.

The data from the survey revealed that the participants were more likely to overestimate their engagement in activities they perform often and draw the faulty conclusion that the things they do often, they in fact do more often than others.

A consequence of thinking that you are more environmentally friendly than other people is that it can reduce the motivation to act environmentally friendly in the future.  In fact, when we think we are more environmentally friendly than others, we actually end up becoming less environmentally friendly.

Logically speaking, the majority of people cannot be more environmentally friendly than the average person.  We are not living in Lake Wobegone where all children are above average.

**********

Web Links

The majority consider themselves more environmentally friendly than others

Photo, posted March 6, 2014, courtesy of Karlis Dambrans via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Lighting Up Batteries

December 24, 2019 By EarthWise 2 Comments

One of the things that hampers the adoption of electric vehicles is range anxiety.  Drivers worry that they will run out of charge before they get to the closest charging station.   Range anxiety has lessened considerably in recent years as electric cars have incorporated larger and larger battery packs yielding driving ranges well over two hundred and even over three hundred miles.

With these extended driving ranges, drivers then turn their attention to how long it takes to charge.  Tesla’s Superchargers have gotten to the point where a car can add 75 miles of charge in 5 minutes and 200 miles in less than half an hour.  Fast charging systems are improving the charge times for other electric models as well.

Nevertheless, drivers would ideally like to reduce charging times to as little as possible in order to provide the convenience experienced in gasoline cars.

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory have reported a mechanism for speeding up the charging of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.  By exposing the battery cathode to a beam of concentrated light, the charging time can be reduced by a factor of two or more. If this could be commercialized, it could be a real game changer for electric vehicles.

The research used specially crafted lithium-ion cells with transparent quartz windows.  Shining white light into the windows caused a semiconductor material known as LMO to change its charge state and drive the charging reaction more quickly in the lithium ions of the battery.

Using this photo-assisted technology in vehicle batteries would require substantial redesign that would allow concentrated light to illuminate battery electrodes during charging.  How practical that is remains to be seen, but the payoff would be substantial.

**********

Web Links

Shedding new light on the charging of lithium-ion batteries

Photo, posted June 30, 2018, courtesy of Open Grid Scheduler via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Wildlife Bridges

June 17, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Highway accidents involving animals are a big problem for both people and animals.  About 200 people die every year in the U.S. as a result of collisions with animals.  In total, one to two million large animals are killed by motorists every year.  And these crashes are expensive:  deer-car collisions cost an average of more than $8,000 each; elk-vehicle collisions about $25,000; and moose-vehicle collisions over $44,000. 

In the United States, there are 21 threatened and endangered species whose very survival is threatened by road mortalities.   These include Key deer in Florida, bighorn sheep in California, and red-bellied turtles in Alabama.

One solution that has been quite effective around the world in reducing car-animal collisions is wildlife overpasses and underpasses.  Crossings and fencing that guide animals over or under highways reduce collisions by 85-95%.

These traffic-spanning bridges and tunnels have been popular in Europe since the 1950s.  The overpasses usually look much like regular overpasses for cars but are decked out with native flora.  The underpasses, which assist shyer and smaller animals, are typically invisible to drivers.

Washington State has recently started building wildlife bridges and underpasses on Interstate 90.  These passes will allow elk, black bears, mountain lions, pika, and even trout to traverse what was once a near-impenetrable barrier of road.

Some animals that are accustomed to human structures start using the crossings almost immediately.  For others, there is learning curve.  As in many things, the early adapters are important as they provide paths and model behavior that more reticent animals learn to follow.

Wildlife bridges are a very good thing for wildlife and for people.

**********

Web Links

How wildlife bridges over highways make animals—and people—safer

Photo, posted July 22, 2017, courtesy of David Fulmer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Extreme Weather Increasing

May 11, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.129/22d.937.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/EW-05-11-18-Extreme-Weather-Increasing.mp3

It sure seems like extreme weather is increasingly common:  floods, droughts, extreme rainfall, powerful snowstorms, hurricanes and so on.  But we tend to focus on recent events and often give them undue emphasis.  So, it is reasonable to ask whether extreme weather really is more common these days.

[Read more…] about Extreme Weather Increasing

Sustainable Ethanol

August 10, 2017 By EarthWise

https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.129/22d.937.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/EW-08-10-17-Sustainable-Ethanol.mp3

Most gas stations in the U.S. sell a blend of 90% gasoline and 10% ethanol.  Mandated by legislation, the 14 billion gallons of ethanol consumed annually by American drivers is mostly made from fermented corn.   Producing this ethanol requires millions of acres of farmland.

[Read more…] about Sustainable Ethanol

Save The Turtles

June 26, 2017 By EarthWise

https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.129/22d.937.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/EW-06-26-17-Save-the-Turtles.mp3

New York is home to 11 native species of land turtles.  Many of the species can’t breed until age 10 and then they lay just one small clutch of eggs each year by digging in a suitable patch of sandy soil.  As a result, breeding females are at a premium for the welfare of the species.  Overall, turtles are on decline in the Empire State.

[Read more…] about Save The Turtles

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Agriculture
  • Air and Water
  • Climate Change
  • Economy and Policy
  • Energy
  • Health
  • Invasive Species
  • Our Environment
  • Sustainable Living
  • Technology
  • Wildlife and Habitat

Archives

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)

Copyright © 2021 ·

  • Home
  • About Earth Wise
  • Where to Listen
  • Articles