![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
Kicking the offshore-oil habit * USA - 10 transportation steps for
Electric cars aren't ready to replace fuel-combustion engines ?
Seattle,WA,USA -Grist, by Jonathan Hiskes -24 May 2010: ... The only option, political leaders tell us, is for Americans to choke down the occasional drilling catastrophe and deal with the ugly consequences... Skip Laitner, director of economic analysis at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), gave them an astonishing figure: It could save 46 billion barrels of oil. If the U.S. made an all-out investment in energy efficiency-cutting energy waste out of vehicles, buildings, the electrical grid, and elsewhere in the economy--Laitner believes it could save the energy equivalent of 46 billion barrels by 2030... Domestic offshore drilling produced 537 million barrels a year over the last nine years, according to the Minerals Management Service... Here the Laitner's 10 solutions to our oil addiction: 
1. A better "cash for clunkers." : Congress could pay for it by extending the 1978 gas guzzler tax to light trucks and SUVs--it currently applies only to passenger cars.2. Emergency funding for endangered mass transit. A chilling 59 percent of public transit networks have cut service or raised fares (or both) since January 2009, pushing more commuters into cars. Congress could save both oil and jobs by preserving existing bus and rail lines with emergency funding.
3. A national telecommuting and videoconferencing initiative: Congress could direct federal workers to telecommute and videoconference as much as possible. For everyone else, a campaign would help make these things more normative and socially acceptable.
4. Smarter freight movement. Congress could commission a study to explore a grab-bag of methods to lighten the impact of trucking and rail and jet shipping. "Heavy trucks might save 32 percent of energy use through a combination of improved fuel efficiencies, and better coordination to reduce empty backhauls and unnecessary travel," Laitner writes in a journal article [PDF]. Train design that reduces aerodynamic drag and collects energy from braking (as a Prius does) could produce more savings.5. Smarter land use: Obama's Partnership for Sustainable Communities is already taking steps in this direction.
6. Smarter travel through IT. By equipping its trucks with directional software that helps drivers avoid left-hand turns, UPS saved 3 million gallons of fuel in a year. If the nation's 270,000-some traffic-light systems all used technology that anticipated traffic patterns and reduced stop times, according to Laitner, they could cut transportation petroleum use by 5 to 10 percent. A national study into attacking fuel waste through information technology could yield more such gains.
7. Educating drivers. Teaching energy-efficient driving practices (such as slower acceleration) and maintenance (keeping tires inflated) would lead to fuel-saving behavioral changes.
8. A resolution saying efficiency is a new national priority: An "efficiency is king" resolution from Congress would send a clear signal to businesses, consumers, and energy markets that would encourage them to make their own changes. Congress could also tell government agencies to move immediately on efficiency measures that would pay for themselves-and make funding contingent on that action.
9. Prizes for tech breakthroughs. The privately run Automotive X Prize offers $10 million to the first team of engineers that can invent a commercially viable 100 mpg car. Congress could consider similar incentives to encourage entrepreneurs to focus on efficiency. The Obama administration is already funding potential high-payoff cleantech research ventures.
10. Efficiency "visibility": Efficiency is a largely invisible energy source. To correct that, writes Laitner, "Congress should direct and fund the Department of Commerce, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency (among others) to collaborate in the development of a National Energy Efficiency Data Center (NEEDC)." We're learning more than we ever wanted to know about oil dispersants, blowout preventers, and other offshore rig hardware. Why not learn instead about constructive technologies?
Labels: clean alternative fuels
posted by Unknown @ 10:29 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home