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designing vehicles for sustainable mobility |
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Woody Heckeroth on the Future of Transport
It's a well known fact that transportation is one the largest and
fastest growing industries in the US. today. A lesser known fact is that we
send one billion dollars out of the country for oil each week (Gross,
1999). What do we do with it all? Well some is made into plastics and
burned in factories but the vast majority is burned for transportation. Why
is that such a problem? Every gallon of gasoline burned creates 18 pounds
of carbon dioxide (C02). Every year about 51 trillion pounds of C02 are
released into the atmosphere (Time, 1998). Excess C02 in the atmosphere is
the main cause of climate change. Before the industrial revolution
atmospheric C02 levels were at 280 parts per million, now they are at 365
ppm. and are steadily rising (Gammon, 1999). The earth has already warmed
about 1 degree F over the last century and could increase another 2-6.5
degrees F in the next (IPCC, 1995). This change has already caused the
Himalayan glaciers to recede about 100 feet per year (Thomas, 1999).  Motor vehicles put out about 30% of the nitrogen oxide and other volatile organic compounds that create smog (Herbert, 1999). Aside form looking and smelling bad smog and fine soot account for 15,000 premature deaths, 400,000 asthma attacks and 1 million various respiratory problems annually (ALA, 1998). On some days in LA.. People are warned to stay indoors because being outdoors is hazardous to their health. This is not the kind of environment future generations should have to deal with. They won't even enjoy the benefits that we are experiencing now due to the current abundance of oil. Oil is a nonrenewable resource that was created over billions of years. World oil production will peek by 2020 and will be exhausted by 2120 if we continue to burn it at the current rate(Andrews, 1998).  Carbon dioxide and the other pollutants may be the least of our worries. For every gallon of gasoline burned over 400 cu. ft. of free oxygen is consumed. Oxygen is necessary for the existence of all animal life. People can live for 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water but only 3 minutes without oxygen. Free oxygen is the most precious resource on earth. An adult only requires about 20 cu. ft. per day. A car traveling at highway speeds consumes about 20 cu. ft. per minute. In the first six months of life, a baby consumes about the same amount of oxygen as burning one gallon of gasoline. But its even worse then that, The air a baby exhales is part of a natural cycle, breathing car exhaust is a good way to commit suicide. Car exhaust is hundreds of times more dangerous then tobacco smoke. When will the industries responsible pay the $100 billion a year cost of air pollution related medical expenses. Many people think that planting more trees will solve the problem, but plants also suffer from pollution and when a plant decomposes or burns it uses as much oxygen as it created during it's life time. The only reason free oxygen exists in the air is because the undecomposed plant material we call fossil fuel is buried under the ground. When fossil fuel is brought to the surface and burned we reverse the unique chain of events that made life possible on this incredible planet. This is the only planet in this solar system that can sustain life, probably the only planet in this galaxy and maybe the only one in the universe. You may ask yourself why a seemingly intelligent species would risk it's own extinction to drive a sport utilty vehicle (SUV) at cycling speed in rush hour traffic (Heckeroth, 1999). The best way to stay mobile and at the same time improve your health and vitality is to use your legs, walking or cycling. Some people might see this as a step backwards for human kind. The globalization of industry and agriculture has caused an absurd dependence on the transportation of everything we consume or use. Think if you lived in a town where cars didn't exist. Imagine how many more people you would interact with. The only way to get food would be if someone in the community grew it. Most manufactured items would be made using local resources. Reuse and recycling would be a necessity and trash would be a thing of the past. Trading labor would limit your need for money. To rely on your body for transportation and livelihood is to reconnect with nature and the people in your community.  The easiest way to reduce your contribution to the burning of fossil fuel is to work at home or tele-commute. If you live far from town make a list of everything you may need for the next week. If there are other people living with or near you, save them a trip by including the things they need in your list. Carpool whenever possible and pick up hitch-hikers. Use public transportation and suggest that non-polluting, energy efficient vehicles be used. Trade in your gas guzzler for a more fuel efficient car. These are all available ways that you can lessen your impact today.  In the not to distant future hybrid electric cars will get unheard-of mileage. Meanwhile, Honda has already come out with a hybrid electric that gets 70 miles per gallon(Hazleton, 1999). They call it the Insight, a sporty little 2-seater that is part internal combustion and part electric. Purchasing this car instead of a Ferrari or SUV can save you $1,500 a year on fuel and prevent more then 15 tons of greenhouse gas pollution over the life of the vehicle(Browner, 1999). GM and Ford expect to come out with prototypes in January that get as much as 80 mpg(Hazleton, 1999). I think it's safe to say that the mpg will keep on increasing as improvements are made on this new technology. Hydrogen fuel cells also hold promise if the hydrogen they use comes from a source other then fossil fuel.  Electric cars have gotten a bad rap as being slow and not going very far. The Oil and Auto industry have spent millions to reinforce that bad rap and added high cost as another reason for not supporting the development of electric vehicles(Hackleman, 1996). In actuality mass produced electric cars would be less expensive than gas cars(Hackleman, 1996). There is only one moving part in an electric motor and hundreds in an internal combustion engine. Low cost conventional batteries are much safer than a gas tank and can power a converted gas car to go 60 to 70 mph on flat terrain, and 60 to 70 miles per charge. The cost is about $1.20 per charge or two cents a mile (Hackleman, 1996). These batteries can be charged from renewable sources and their only emission is pure O2 and hydrogen. I learned how to drive in an electric car so I know they work. Just imagine if they put the same amount of energy into developing an electric car as they did going to the moon. In spite of resistance from the auto and oil industries, new batteries have been developed that have doubled and tripled the range of electric vehicles. Electric vehicles can also do regenerative braking, which turns an EV's electric motor into a generator when it's going down hill or braking. With new batteries and regenerative braking EV's are more than ten times as efficient as gas engines at converting fuel energy into motion. With the addition of a solar charging station EV's are billions of times more efficient at converting solar energy into motion(Heckeroth, 1999). No matter how efficient electric cars are, as long they remain big and heavy they can only serve as a transition to a lasting solution. The new huge SUV's weigh over 8,000 pounds to avoid having to meet emission standards for cars. As long as a car weighs 20 to 50 times as much as it's cargo, it can not be a solution. Roads divide communities and wildlife corridors. As much as 75% of the land area in cities is dedicated to roads and parking lots for cars.  Imagine a vehicle that weighs less than the operator. It's batteries can be charged form any source including an on-board pedal generator. A typical commute would start at the solar home charging station. Since the vehicle is only 2.5 feet wide it can travel on narrow neighborhood streets to the local ultra-light rail connection. Because its narrow wheels have both road and rail capability, you can drive right onto the rail. At this point your on-board computer takes over to control your speed and mesh with the other raised rail traffic. Now your hands, eyes and mind are free to do whatever you want. I could flip down my key board and type this paper on my way to school, with access to all the information I need. I could choose to have a pedal generator work out to keep the batteries topped off or just plug in when I get to the schools solar charging station. Shit, I could even check the surf on my video monitor and decide if it's worthy of ditching class. Because the rail is raised 15 feet off the ground it doesn't interfere with agriculture wildlife or agriculture and passes right over roads without stops. The two-directional rail is only 8 feet wide and can carry as many people at 60 mph as a 12 lane freeway. It would be much safer and more cost effective than roads. Amusement parks already have the technology. Reliance on cheap fossil fuel is very convenient and makes it almost impossible to convince ourselves that change is needed. It's not going to happen over night. But if we all make conscious choices today, people may be able to enjoy the same quality of life in the future.
written by Woody Heckeroth |
The Heckeroth's Ride of Choice : Modest Proposal to George Lucas
Shelter Design : Permaculture : Products & Services : Transport
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Stephen Heckeroth www.RENEWABLES.com Stephen Heckeroth Box 151 Albion, CA 95410 phone/FAX 707-937-0338 |
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copyright © 2000 by Stephen Heckeroth. All rights reserved