gasoline
Other Ways To Cut Vehicle Emissions
It is pretty clear that the way to drastically reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions is to switch as many vehicles as possible to electric power. As a result, more and more localities are putting in place policies that encourage electrification.
While there is no doubt that electrification is the long-term solution to vehicle emissions, a recent study by MIT and the Ford Motor Company found that, in the short term, there are some places in the US where electric cars are not the best way to reduce emissions.
The study looked at a variety of factors that affect the relative performance of vehicles. These include the role of low temperatures in reducing battery performance, regional differences in the average number of miles driven annually, and significant differences in the way electricity is generated in different parts of the US.
The results showed that electric vehicles definitely provide the greatest impact in reducing greenhouse gas emissions for most of the country – and particularly on both coasts and in the south – but that there are some places in the upper Midwest where the greatest reduction would be achieved by the use of lightweight gasoline-powered vehicles.
In places like parts of Wisconsin and Michigan, it is mostly rural, there are cold winters, and electricity is predominantly generated by coal-powered plants. In these places, if gas-powered lightweight cars were to be used, the overall benefit would be greater than that of electric cars. Unfortunately, there are no high-volume lightweight gasoline-powered mid-sized cars on the market in the US. Ironically, the only cars of that class using lightweight aluminum construction are Teslas.
While electric cars are truly the long-term solution, the study does demonstrate the benefits of reducing the weight of vehicles.
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What’s the best way to cut vehicle greenhouse-gas emissions?
Photo, posted February 9, 2018, courtesy of Dave Field via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
The New York Climate Plan
New York lawmakers have passed a sweeping climate plan that requires the state to eliminate almost all of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The plan calls for the phase-out of gasoline cars and oil- and gas-burning furnaces and requires all of the state’s electricity to come from carbon-free sources.
The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act requires the state to slash its carbon emissions to 85% below 1990 levels by 2050 and to offset the remaining 15% by other means such as removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The bill requires New York to get 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
The challenges of reaching the program’s goals are daunting. New York has so far only reduced its emissions by 8% since 1990. The state currently does get 60% of its electricity from carbon-free sources – mostly hydroelectric dams and nuclear power plants – but it will require offshore windfarms, ramped-up solar installations, and battery storage systems to push the numbers dramatically higher.
Transportation, which is responsible for a third of New York’s emissions, will be particularly tough to tackle. The Trump administration is rolling back federal vehicle efficiency rules and is trying to prevent states from setting stricter standards. Currently, electric car ownership is primarily attractive for single-family homeowners who can plug in their cars at home. Far more pervasive charging stations – for example, all over the streets of New York City – would be needed to make electric cars practical for everyone.
The plan aims for industries to bear most of the financial burden, but supporters say that the costs of not acting on climate will be vastly greater for businesses. The plan’s deadlines for major emissions reductions are a decade away but there will be much to do quite soon.
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New York to Approve One of the World’s Most Ambitious Climate Plans
Photo, posted September 17, 2009, courtesy of Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
Powering Cars With Cactus Juice
Back in 2016, a company called Nopalimex, located in Micoacan, central Mexico, built the world’s first cactus-powered energy plant. The facility utilizes a biodigester to make biogas from nopal, also known as prickly pear cactus. The nopal plant has been called the ‘Green Gold of Mexico’ and is a staple in Mexican diets, medicine and cosmetics.
Nopalimex is now using the cactus to make biofuel for vehicles.
The fruit of the cactus is pureed, mixed with manure, and then left to decompose, producing methane. The methane produced – about eight tons a day – fuels the biodigester which powers the company’s corn chip and cactus chip production and is being tested in a fleet of government vehicles.
The biogas will cost just 65 cents per liter, which is about a third cheaper than the cost of regular gasoline. Using prickly pear as a feedstock for biofuel is attractive because it can be grown in places where traditional energy crops cannot. One can imagine vast fields of cacti in remote, arid areas of the country where normal crops cannot grow. It would not suck up the resources or space needed to feed people, which is an ongoing criticism of current bioenergy crops.
As long as the nopals are regularly replanted, the process is almost entirely sustainable, producing only water and nopal waste, which can be used to fertilize other crops.
Finding sustainable ways to produce fuel while doing minimal damage to the environment is an important challenge for countries around the world. In Mexico, harnessing the power of the prickly pear cactus is a unique and clever solution.
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Mexico’s ‘green gold’: The company powering cars with cactus juice
Photo, posted July 8, 2006, courtesy of Christian Frausto Bernal via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
Affordable Electric Cars
The main reasons that electric cars haven’t taken over are that they didn’t drive far enough on a charge, it took too long to charge them, and, most of all, they cost too much.
In recent years, the problem with driving range has steadily been disappearing as electric cars that can go over two hundred and even over three hundred miles on a charge have entered the market. Charging time has also become less of a problem. Tesla’s network of Superchargers can provide 200 miles worth of charge in half an hour and their next generation of chargers, which are just starting to appear, can cut that time much further.
As for cost, a new report by transportation analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that electric vehicles will be cost-competitive with combustion-engine cars by 2022.
The main reason is that the cost of EV batteries has been plummeting. In 2015, batteries made up 57% of the total cost of an electric vehicle. Today, that number is down to 33% and is expected to drop to 20% by 2025. In addition, the cost of electric powertrain systems is also dropping. The Bloomberg report predicts that over the next decade, costs for motors, inverters, and power electronics could be 25 to 30% cheaper than today.
The cost of electric vehicles has been dropping faster than predicted. Bloomberg’s report on the subject in 2017 predicted cost parity in 2026. Last year, they changed it to 2024. And now, they are saying 2022.
Given that electric cars are much cheaper to drive than gasoline cars, finding reasons not to drive them is getting harder to do.
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Electric Cars Could Be As Affordable as Conventional Vehicles In Just Three Years
Photo, posted November 17, 2018, courtesy of Jakob Harter via Flickr.
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Fumes From Gas Stations
A study by environmental health scientists at Columbia University examined the release of vapors from gas station vent pipes and found that emissions were 10 times higher than the estimates used to establish setback regulations that determine how close schools, playgrounds, and parks can be to the facilities.
Hydrogen Powered Cars
Hydrogen-powered cars are trying to make inroads in the rapidly-evolving automobile market. Several major automakers – including Hyundai, Toyota and Honda continue to invest heavily in the technology while selling a limited number of cars around the world.
The Fight For Greener Cars
U.S. automakers have always been reluctant partners in the nation’s efforts to reduce air pollution and improve fuel efficiency. There have been struggles for decades between the carmakers and the government in setting Corporate Average Fuel Economy (or CAFÉ) standards. During the Obama administration, some of the most demanding fuel economy and emissions standards were mandated.
Greener Biofuel
Engineers from the National University of Singapore have recently discovered that a naturally occurring bacterium is capable of directly converting cellulose to biobutanol, a promising biofuel.
The Automobile Future: Dream or Nightmare?
Visionaries tout a future in which cars are electric, self-driving, and shared. All three of these things are starting to happen today, but will they come together to produce a future where congestion and pollution are things of the past?
[Read more…] about The Automobile Future: Dream or Nightmare?