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Energy-Friendly Transportation

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 October 2010) | Viewed by 121459

Special Issue Editor

Transportation Sustainability Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, 1301 S. 46th Street. Bldg 190, Richmond, CA 94804-4648, USA

Keywords

  • alternative fuels
  • alternative vehicles
  • land use/behavioral innovations

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

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603 KiB  
Article
Measuring the Failure of Planning and Its Impact on Sustainable Travel in Dublin, Ireland
by Simon McDonnell and Brian Caulfield
Energies 2011, 4(5), 727-740; https://doi.org/10.3390/en4050727 - 29 Apr 2011
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 6747
Abstract
With the end of the recent housing boom in Dublin, Ireland, it is perhaps a good time to analyze how the commuting and development patterns have been impacted by this unprecedented level of housing construction in recent years. In this research, the authors [...] Read more.
With the end of the recent housing boom in Dublin, Ireland, it is perhaps a good time to analyze how the commuting and development patterns have been impacted by this unprecedented level of housing construction in recent years. In this research, the authors focus specifically on the commuting patterns of those individuals living in the newest housing stock to see how these patterns adhere to the Irish government’s stated transportation and sustainability goals. Data from the 2006 Census of Ireland is used to explore the commuting patterns of individuals living in the four counties that make up Dublin who lived in the most recently constructed housing stock (built between 2001 and 2006, constituting almost one fifth of all housing units in Dublin). The results demonstrate that the latter populations were more likely to have longer commute times and to depart earlier to get to work. The findings also suggest that, despite ambitious government level goals, housing built during the property boom was more likely to be in low-density areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Friendly Transportation)
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222 KiB  
Article
Impacts of Urban Transportation Mode Split on CO2 Emissions in Jinan, China
by Dongquan He, Fei Meng, Michael Q. Wang and Kebin He
Energies 2011, 4(4), 685-699; https://doi.org/10.3390/en4040685 - 21 Apr 2011
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 9761
Abstract
As the world’s largest developing country, China currently is undergoing rapid urbanization and motorization, which will result in far-reaching impacts on energy and the environment. According to estimates, energy use and carbon emissions in the transportation sector will comprise roughly 30% of total [...] Read more.
As the world’s largest developing country, China currently is undergoing rapid urbanization and motorization, which will result in far-reaching impacts on energy and the environment. According to estimates, energy use and carbon emissions in the transportation sector will comprise roughly 30% of total emissions by 2030. Since the late 1990s, transportation-related issues such as energy, consumption, and carbon emissions have become a policy focus in China. To date, most research and policies have centered on vehicle technologies that promote vehicle efficiency and reduced emissions. Limited research exists on the control of greenhouse gases through mode shifts in urban transportation—in particular, through the promotion of public transit. The purpose of this study is to establish a methodology to analyze carbon emissions from the urban transportation sector at the Chinese city level. By using Jinan, the capital of China’s Shandong Province, as an example, we have developed an analytical model to simulate energy consumption and carbon emissions based on the number of trips, the transportation mode split, and the trip distance. This model has enabled us to assess the impacts of the transportation mode split on energy consumption and carbon emissions. Furthermore, this paper reviews a set of methods for data collection, estimation, and processing for situations where statistical data are scarce in China. This paper also describes the simulation of three transportation system development scenarios. The results of this study illustrate that if no policy intervention is implemented for the transportation mode split (the business-as-usual (BAU) case), then emissions from Chinese urban transportation systems will quadruple by 2030. However, a dense, mixed land-use pattern, as well as transportation policies that encourage public transportation, would result in the elimination of 1.93 million tons of carbon emissions—approximately 50% of the BAU scenario emissions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Friendly Transportation)
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420 KiB  
Article
Transport and Carbon Emissions in the United States: The Long View
by Lee Schipper, Calanit Saenger and Anant Sudardshan
Energies 2011, 4(4), 563-581; https://doi.org/10.3390/en4040563 - 24 Mar 2011
Cited by 51 | Viewed by 14513
Abstract
The following analysis traces U.S. transport CO2 emissions in combustion by mode for 1960–2008. Changes in emissions are divided into components related to overall population and economic growth, transport mode shift, changes in the ratio of fuel used to passenger or tonne-km [...] Read more.
The following analysis traces U.S. transport CO2 emissions in combustion by mode for 1960–2008. Changes in emissions are divided into components related to overall population and economic growth, transport mode shift, changes in the ratio of fuel used to passenger or tonne-km of activity, and changes in the CO2 content of fuels. Where data permit we show how changes in vehicle utilization affected CO2 emissions. We comment on factors causing the changes in components of emissions. A Log-Mean Divisia Index and Laspeyres decompositions of the 1960–2008 changes are calculated. From this decomposition we speculate to what extent the factors associated with the increases in CO2 emissions since 1960 would be important in the future, and what other factors could reduce emissions. This thorough decomposition is imperative for the crafting of transport policy that aims to address climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Friendly Transportation)
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1132 KiB  
Article
Plug-in-Hybrid Vehicle Use, Energy Consumption, and Greenhouse Emissions: An Analysis of Household Vehicle Placements in Northern California
by Brett Williams, Elliot Martin, Timothy Lipman and Daniel Kammen
Energies 2011, 4(3), 435-457; https://doi.org/10.3390/en4030435 - 04 Mar 2011
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 11299
Abstract
We report on the real-world use over the course of one year of a nickel-metal-hydride plug-in hybrid—the Toyota Plug-In HV—by a set of 12 northern California households able to charge at home and work. From vehicle use data, energy and greenhouse-emissions implications are [...] Read more.
We report on the real-world use over the course of one year of a nickel-metal-hydride plug-in hybrid—the Toyota Plug-In HV—by a set of 12 northern California households able to charge at home and work. From vehicle use data, energy and greenhouse-emissions implications are also explored. A total of 1557 trips—most using under 0.5 gallons of gasoline—ranged up to 2.4 hours and 133 miles and averaged 14 minutes and 7 miles. 399 charging events averaged 2.6 hours. The maximum lasted 4.6 hours. Most recharges added less than 1.4 kWh, with a mean charge of 0.92 kWh. The average power drawn was under one-half kilowatt. The greenhouse gas emissions from driving and charging were estimated to be 2.6 metric tons, about half of the emissions expected from a 22.4-mpg vehicle (the MY2009 fleet-wide real-world average). The findings contribute to better understanding of how plug-in hybrids might be used, their potential impact, and how potential benefits and requirements vary for different plug-in-vehicle designs. For example, based on daily driving distances, 20 miles of charge-depleting range would have been fully utilized on 81% of days driven, whereas 40 miles would not have been fully utilized on over half of travel days. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Friendly Transportation)
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370 KiB  
Article
The Health Impacts of Ethanol Blend Petrol
by Tom Beer, John Carras, David Worth, Nick Coplin, Peter K. Campbell, Bin Jalaludin, Dennys Angove, Merched Azzi, Steve Brown, Ian Campbell, Martin Cope, Owen Farrell, Ian Galbally, Stephen Haiser, Brendan Halliburton, Robert Hynes, David Jacyna, Melita Keywood, Steven Lavrencic, Sarah Lawson, Sunhee Lee, Imants Liepa, James McGregor, Peter Nancarrow, Michael Patterson, Jennifer Powell, Anne Tibbett, Jason Ward, Stephen White, David Williams and Rosemary Woodadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Energies 2011, 4(2), 352-367; https://doi.org/10.3390/en4020352 - 21 Feb 2011
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 13148
Abstract
A measurement program designed to evaluate health impacts or benefits of using ethanol blend petrol examined exhaust and evaporative emissions from 21 vehicles representative of the current Australian light duty petrol (gasoline) vehicle fleet using a composite urban emissions drive cycle. The fuels [...] Read more.
A measurement program designed to evaluate health impacts or benefits of using ethanol blend petrol examined exhaust and evaporative emissions from 21 vehicles representative of the current Australian light duty petrol (gasoline) vehicle fleet using a composite urban emissions drive cycle. The fuels used were unleaded petrol (ULP), ULP blended with either 5% ethanol (E5) or 10% ethanol (E10). The resulting data were combined with inventory data for Sydney to determine the expected fleet emissions for different uptakes of ethanol blended fuel. Fleet ethanol compatibility was estimated to be 60% for 2006, and for the air quality modelling it was assumed that in 2011 over 95% of the fleet would be ethanol compatible. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from ULP, E5 and E10 emissions was studied under controlled conditions by the use of a smog chamber. This was combined with meteorological data from Sydney for February 2004 and the emission data (both measured and inventory data) to model pollutant concentrations in Sydney’s airshed for 2006 and 2011. These concentrations were combined with the population distribution to evaluate population exposure to the pollutant. There is a health benefit to the Sydney population arising from a move from ULP to ethanol blends in spark-ignition vehicles. Potential health cost savings for Urban Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth) are estimated to be A$39 million (in 2007 dollars) for a 50% uptake (by ethanol compatible vehicles) of E10 in 2006 and $42 million per annum for a 100% take up of E10 in 2011. Over 97% of the estimated health savings are due to reduced emissions of PM2.5 and consequent reduced impacts on mortality and morbidity (e.g., asthma, cardiovascular disease). Despite more petrol-driven vehicles predicted for 2011, the quantified health impact differential between ULP and ethanol fuelled vehicles drops from 2006 to 2011. This is because modern petrol vehicles, with lower emissions than their older counterparts, will make up a higher proportion of the fleet in the future. Hence the beneficial effects of reductions in particulate matter become less significant as the fleet as a whole produces lower emissions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Friendly Transportation)
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202 KiB  
Article
Energy Chain Analysis of Passenger Car Transport
by Morten Simonsen and Hans Jakob Walnum
Energies 2011, 4(2), 324-351; https://doi.org/10.3390/en4020324 - 17 Feb 2011
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 11659
Abstract
Transport makes up 20 percent of the World’s energy use; in OECD countries this has exceeded 30 percent. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the global energy consumption will increase by 2.1 percent annually, a growth rate that is higher than for [...] Read more.
Transport makes up 20 percent of the World’s energy use; in OECD countries this has exceeded 30 percent. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the global energy consumption will increase by 2.1 percent annually, a growth rate that is higher than for any other sector. The high energy consumption means that transportation accounts for nearly 30 percent of CO2 emission in OECD countries and is also one of the main sources of regional and local air pollution. In this article, we analyze energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from passenger car transport using an energy chain analysis. The energy chain analysis consists of three parts: the net direct energy use, the energy required for vehicle propulsion; the gross direct chain, which includes the net direct energy consumption plus the energy required to produce it; and, finally, the indirect energy chain, which includes the energy consumption for production, maintenance and operation of infrastructure plus manufacturing of the vehicle itself. In addition to energy consumption, we also analyze emissions of greenhouse gases measured by CO2-equivalents. We look at the trade-offs between energy use and greenhouse gas emissions to see whether some drivetrains and fuels perform favourable on both indicators. Except for the case of electric cars, where hydropower is the only energy source in the Norwegian context, no single car scores favourably on both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Friendly Transportation)
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272 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Ferry Boat and Highway Bridge Energy Use
by Wayne D. Cottrell
Energies 2011, 4(2), 239-253; https://doi.org/10.3390/en4020239 - 27 Jan 2011
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 10004
Abstract
Passenger ferries serve a variety of transport needs in the U.S., such as providing vital links across bodies of water, and supplementing highway bridges. In some cases in which there is a ferry connection but no bridge, a bridge would be impractical; in [...] Read more.
Passenger ferries serve a variety of transport needs in the U.S., such as providing vital links across bodies of water, and supplementing highway bridges. In some cases in which there is a ferry connection but no bridge, a bridge would be impractical; in other cases, a bridge might be feasible. The paper compares the energy consumption of ferries and motor vehicles on bridges, to determine which link is more fuel efficient. One finding is that limited data are available on ferry boat fuel consumption: despite there being 208 ferry boat operators in the U.S. as of 2008, only eight were providing energy use data to the National Transit Database. Examinations of three of the systems found that the passenger-MPG of the ferries ranged from 2.61 to 14.00 (1.11 to 5.95 km/L), while that of the motor vehicles on adjacent highway bridge connections ranged from 25.34 to 32.45 (10.77 to 13.79 km/L). Data from the eight systems are used to develop a ferry MPG model. The model is used to show that the Ryer Island and Charles Hall Ferries are less fuel efficient than hypothetical bridges in those locations. The fuel efficiencies and consumptions of the ferries would equal those of motor vehicles on the bridges, however, if smaller vessels were used, and if the frequency of service was reduced. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Friendly Transportation)
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334 KiB  
Article
Estimating the Energy Consumption Impact of Casual Carpooling
by Paul Minett and John Pearce
Energies 2011, 4(1), 126-139; https://doi.org/10.3390/en4010126 - 14 Jan 2011
Cited by 53 | Viewed by 16341
Abstract
Some of the transportation energy consumed during peak commuter periods is wasted through slow running in congested traffic. Strategies to increase average vehicle occupancy (and reduce vehicle counts and congestion) could be expected to be at the forefront of energy conservation policies. Casual [...] Read more.
Some of the transportation energy consumed during peak commuter periods is wasted through slow running in congested traffic. Strategies to increase average vehicle occupancy (and reduce vehicle counts and congestion) could be expected to be at the forefront of energy conservation policies. Casual carpooling (also called “slugging”) is a system of carpooling without trip-by-trip pre-arrangement. It operates in three US cities, and has been suggested in New Zealand as a strategy for managing transportation challenges when oil prices rise. The objective of the paper is to find out if casual carpooling reduces energy consumption, and if so, how much. Energy consumption by single occupant vehicles; casual carpool vehicles; and a mix of buses and single occupant vehicles; are estimated and compared, and the impact on the rest of the traffic is calculated. The paper estimates that casual carpooling in San Francisco is conserving in the order of 1.7 to 3.5 million liters of gasoline per year, or 200-400 liters for each participant, much of which comes from the impact on the rest of the traffic. The paper concludes by calling for applied research to discover how to catalyze casual carpooling in other cities as a means of reducing transportation energy consumption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Friendly Transportation)
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2079 KiB  
Article
Scenario Analyses of Road Transport Energy Demand: A Case Study of Ethanol as a Diesel Substitute in Thailand
by Nuwong Chollacoop, Peerawat Saisirirat, Tuenjai Fukuda and Atsushi Fukuda
Energies 2011, 4(1), 108-125; https://doi.org/10.3390/en4010108 - 12 Jan 2011
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 9890
Abstract
Ethanol is conventionally used as a blend with gasoline due to its similar properties, especially the octane number. However, ethanol has also been explored and used as a diesel substitute. While a low-blend of ethanol with diesel is possible with use of an [...] Read more.
Ethanol is conventionally used as a blend with gasoline due to its similar properties, especially the octane number. However, ethanol has also been explored and used as a diesel substitute. While a low-blend of ethanol with diesel is possible with use of an emulsifier additive, a high-blend of ethanol with diesel may require major adjustment of compression-ignition (CI) diesel engines. Since dedicated CI engines are commercially available for a high-blend ethanol in diesel (ED95), a fuel mixture comprised of 95% ethanol and 5% additive, this technology offers an option for an oil-importing country like Thailand to reduce its fossil import by use of its own indigenous bio-ethanol fuel. Among many strong campaigns on ethanol utilization in the transportation sector under Thailand’s Alternative Energy Strategic Plan (2008–2022), the Thai Ministry of Energy has, for the first time, conducted a demonstration project with ethanol (ED95) buses on the Thai road system. The current investigation thus aims to assess and quantify the impact of using this ED95 technology to reduce fossil diesel consumption by adjusting the commercially available energy demand model called the Long range Energy Alternatives Planning system (LEAP). For this purpose, first, the necessary statistical data in the Thai transportation sector were gathered and analyzed to construct the predicative energy demand model. Then, scenario analyses were conducted to assess the benefit of ED95 technology on the basis of energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reduction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Friendly Transportation)
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Review

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2078 KiB  
Review
Fluidized Bed Gasification as a Mature And Reliable Technology for the Production of Bio-Syngas and Applied in the Production of Liquid Transportation Fuels—A Review
by Marcin Siedlecki, Wiebren De Jong and Adrian H.M. Verkooijen
Energies 2011, 4(3), 389-434; https://doi.org/10.3390/en4030389 - 01 Mar 2011
Cited by 119 | Viewed by 17313
Abstract
Biomass is one of the renewable and potentially sustainable energy sources and has many possible applications varying from heat generation to the production of advanced secondary energy carriers. The latter option would allow mobile services like the transportation sector to reduce its dependency [...] Read more.
Biomass is one of the renewable and potentially sustainable energy sources and has many possible applications varying from heat generation to the production of advanced secondary energy carriers. The latter option would allow mobile services like the transportation sector to reduce its dependency on the fossil fuel supply. This article reviews the state-of-the-art of the fluidization technology applied for the gasification of biomass aimed at the production of gas for subsequent synthesis of the liquid energy carriers via, e.g., the Fischer-Tropsch process. It discusses the advantages of the gasification technology over combustion, considers the size of the conversion plant in view of the local biomass availability, assesses the pros and cons of different gasifier types in view of the application of the product gas. Subsequently the article focuses on the fluidized bed technology to discuss the main process parameters and their influence on the product composition and the operability of the gasifier. Finally a synthesis process (FT) is introduced shortly to illustrate the necessary gas cleaning steps in view of the purity requirements for the FT feed gas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Friendly Transportation)
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