There have been a number of posts on the blog talking about the stimulus package that is making its way around the Capitol. Emily has a great post on the breakdown of what's in the stimulus package relating to energy. I mean, $900 B is a lot of money, it's good to know what's in it, right? I've been wondering what the stimulus package has in store for Austin though.
Almost by chance, I came across this post from a blog here in Austin, Downtown Austin. Of interest is money to expand the commuter rail line in Austin. It's good to see Austin taking steps to implement better public transportation to reduce fuel consumption, traffic delays and emissions. The neat thing is you can go on to the site and vote for different stimulus items you like. The full website lists the other stimulus items requested for Austin.
What do you think of some of these requests? Is there anything you think Austin could benefit from?
Showing posts with label transportation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transportation. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Thursday, May 1, 2008
diesel car podcast
I created a podcast to discuss the potential of diesel cars in the future of the U.S. transportation mix. Rising fuel costs are leading people to reconsider their choices in vehicles, and I want to know if people would consider diesels. This is important because diesel cars will be coming back to the U.S. market after finally meeting our emission requirements.
I already know what I think about diesel cars (I mean, I drive one), so I created a survey to find out what others think about them. Do you think they're dirty? Clean? Would you buy one? Etc...
What I found out was that the perception of diesels being dirty and slow is still strong. People tend to think of big trucks or old Mercedes Turbo Diesels from the 80's spewing out soot everywhere. This influenced whether people would choose a diesel car, even knowing that it got better fuel economy. But when asked again when a diesel was as clean as a gasoline car, over 83% said they would reconsider the diesel.
This is important because it reinforces another result from the survey, that is: fuel economy and environmental impact are two of the most important aspects of a car. This suggests that diesels might be a promising alternative...but there's a problem. The price of diesel fuel has been significantly higher than gasoline in recent months, so any potential financial savings might be negated by the higher fuel costs.
To determine the savings associated with price increases, I created a basic cost analysis using a diesel fuel cost of $4.19/gal and $3.49/gal for gas. At the current diesel price, gasoline would have to drop to under $2.50/gal for diesel to be uneconomical. Alternatively, at current gas prices, diesel would have to jump to $5.85/gal. It's safe to say for now that gasoline won't drop that low (at least not accompanied by a decrease in diesel as well), or the increase in gasoline costs.
Diesels meet two critical demands for consumers, that is they have potentially lower fuel costs and do this while being as clean as a gasoline car. They also offer great opportunities for biofuels use (non food competing feedstocks, of course) since they require little to no modification. As fuel prices continue to increase and emission standards become stricter, I believe diesels will play a significant role in America.
Look for the podcast on iTunes next week! If you haven't taken the survey, it's still up. Take it here!
I already know what I think about diesel cars (I mean, I drive one), so I created a survey to find out what others think about them. Do you think they're dirty? Clean? Would you buy one? Etc...
What I found out was that the perception of diesels being dirty and slow is still strong. People tend to think of big trucks or old Mercedes Turbo Diesels from the 80's spewing out soot everywhere. This influenced whether people would choose a diesel car, even knowing that it got better fuel economy. But when asked again when a diesel was as clean as a gasoline car, over 83% said they would reconsider the diesel.
This is important because it reinforces another result from the survey, that is: fuel economy and environmental impact are two of the most important aspects of a car. This suggests that diesels might be a promising alternative...but there's a problem. The price of diesel fuel has been significantly higher than gasoline in recent months, so any potential financial savings might be negated by the higher fuel costs.
To determine the savings associated with price increases, I created a basic cost analysis using a diesel fuel cost of $4.19/gal and $3.49/gal for gas. At the current diesel price, gasoline would have to drop to under $2.50/gal for diesel to be uneconomical. Alternatively, at current gas prices, diesel would have to jump to $5.85/gal. It's safe to say for now that gasoline won't drop that low (at least not accompanied by a decrease in diesel as well), or the increase in gasoline costs.
Diesels meet two critical demands for consumers, that is they have potentially lower fuel costs and do this while being as clean as a gasoline car. They also offer great opportunities for biofuels use (non food competing feedstocks, of course) since they require little to no modification. As fuel prices continue to increase and emission standards become stricter, I believe diesels will play a significant role in America.
Look for the podcast on iTunes next week! If you haven't taken the survey, it's still up. Take it here!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Thoughts on Transportation in the Near Term
We discuss and read a lot about new technologies and fuels for transportation, but some of these are years off for being a widespread alternative to using petroleum based fuels. What I want to throw out here are some ideas of what we could do in the short term that could make a significant impact on our consumption, and consequently, our emissions.
First on the list is always conservation and changing driving habits, changing public behavior (at least in the U.S.) is difficult. So while some of us will drive less, move closer or carpool, the majority of people will still take the Tahoe into work during rush hour.
What I think has the potential to make a difference in the near term is standardizing hybrid powertrain components on all cars. Instead of making the hybrid powertrain a trim level option, the components should be included in every model. All cars could come with regenerative breaking and idle-off capabilities, among other things.
Much like what has been done with power steering, A/C, ABS and many other features that are now commonplace in cars, the same could be done for hybrid technology.
By making hybrid technology standard, prices for components would come down and overall fuel economy would improve. Even more importantly, emissions would be reduced. In the end, everyone wins. It’s senseless to have hundreds of millions of cars on the roads idling at stop lights or in drive-thrus.
Hybrids are one the of the better short term solutions for reducing consumption and emissions, so it would make sense to expand the technology. By not limiting hybrid technology to a select few models, the benefits would increase. I think it’s inevitable that we’ll see more of these features become standard, and I hope that its sooner than later.
First on the list is always conservation and changing driving habits, changing public behavior (at least in the U.S.) is difficult. So while some of us will drive less, move closer or carpool, the majority of people will still take the Tahoe into work during rush hour.
What I think has the potential to make a difference in the near term is standardizing hybrid powertrain components on all cars. Instead of making the hybrid powertrain a trim level option, the components should be included in every model. All cars could come with regenerative breaking and idle-off capabilities, among other things.
Much like what has been done with power steering, A/C, ABS and many other features that are now commonplace in cars, the same could be done for hybrid technology.
By making hybrid technology standard, prices for components would come down and overall fuel economy would improve. Even more importantly, emissions would be reduced. In the end, everyone wins. It’s senseless to have hundreds of millions of cars on the roads idling at stop lights or in drive-thrus.
Hybrids are one the of the better short term solutions for reducing consumption and emissions, so it would make sense to expand the technology. By not limiting hybrid technology to a select few models, the benefits would increase. I think it’s inevitable that we’ll see more of these features become standard, and I hope that its sooner than later.
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