Green+Living+-+Transportation


 * Individual and communal initiatives for environmentally friendly transportation. **




 * Transportation** can move people and goods across different mediums, namely water land and air. The production of motorized units, the usage of these units and the construction of infra-structure to accommodate the units contribute to climate change. Climate change then helps destroy the instar-structure (larger floods, stronger winds, more frequent storms etc.) which requires rebuilding. This is a **positive feedback loop** (a cycle which causes itself to increase in magnitude).

// “Potentially, the greatest impact of climate change for North America’s transportation systems will // // be flooding of coastal roads, railways, transit systems, and runways because of global rising sea levels, // // coupled with storm surges and exacerbated in some locations by land subsidence… //// The Atlantic and // // Gulf Coasts are particularly vulnerable because they have already experienced high levels of erosion, // // land subsidence, and loss of wetlands…” // // U.S. Transportation Board of Research //

The most destructive effects do not come from this positive feedback loop though. They come from the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, used to make gasoline and diesel.

Most of the transportation sector today is powered by fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas. In the U.S., a little over 53.8% of crude oil ends up being used for gasoline, jet fuel, and ship and boat fuel.The use of these fuels releases greenhouse gasses Carbon Dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and unburned hydrocarbons (which do not remain long in the atmosphere but react to form other noxious gasses such as ozone). Greenhouse gasses can accumulate and prevent heat from escaping the atmosphere and even help form cirrus clouds which reflect sunlight but also trap heat in the atmosphere. Transportation is responsible for 21% of global CO2 emissions and this number is expected to increase to 23% by 2030 even with efforts to increase efficiency.



Here are some global pollutant concentrations in the atmosphere with their transportation sources.

Sadly, even though the effects of international aviation and water transport are accounted for, they are not included in the Kyoto Protocol, the main United Nations framework for atmospheric pollution reduction which requires signatory countries to have their emission levels 5% below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012.They certainly should be addressed, however. Aviation has a prominent impact on climate. During the September 11th commercial aviation hiatus, 1.1 degree Celsius variations in low and high temperatures were observed. Sustainable transport cannot be achieved through quick drastic steps. It is a slow, gradual process. Small steps at individual, local and global scales must be taken to increase fuel efficiency, bio-fuel and renewable energy use, and reduce commuting distances and needs as well as the manufacturing and purchasing of new automobiles. Everyone switching immediately to hybrid cars for example, would cause a massive greenhouse gas emission all at once because of the manufacturing of these cars. Sharing and keepings cars for longer and then finally switching to a hybrid or electric car instead of a fossil fuel one would be much better. Here, you will find some more easy tips for green transportation. http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/transport/fuelguide/tips.html

Here are the environmental rankings of transportation means.

High **fuel efficiency** vehicles, boats and aircraft, car sharing, cycling, biofuels, renewable fuels etc. all comprise sustainable transport. Example: In California, only 4% of cars are electric (non- sustainable transport scenario. In the Philipines, trikes and buses are all being converted or replaced by electric models (sustainable transport).
 * Sustainable Transport**- Means of transportation with reduced or no environmental impact.

Example: A motorcyle may run more miles per gallon while transporting one person than a car transporting 4 people, but the car is said to be more fuel efficient because dividing the miles per gallon rate by 4 (the number of people) results in less fuel consumption to transport each person.
 * Fuel Efficiency-** Fuel consumption per distance. Consider the amount of people being transported by the same system/unit for a complete result.

Note: Although adding more people will increase the payload and cause more fuel consumption in a single motor vehicle, avoiding the use of multiple vehicles usually outweights this.


 * Transport infra-structure:** Human made networks**,** routes or transit systems which directly or indirectly allow the movement of goods and people to different locations. Natural paths/ways are also categorized as transport infra-structure. Ex: railways and airports. Natural examples: rivers and air.

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A recognized scientist in the field of mechanical engineering and energy systems is **Ms. Melissa C. Lott**. She has earned master's degrees in Mechanical engineering and Public affairs from U.T. Austin and a B.S. degree in bio-systems engineering from U.C. Davis. She is currently the Energy Modeling and Simulation director at YarCom's department of Energy. Her major publications for Scientific American and Global Energy Matters deal with energy sources and energy policy. She has done innovative analysis on the issue of oil reliance for transportation and has even interned in the White House's Council on Environmental Quality as an Energy and Climate Change expert. She contributes to the switch to greener sources of energy not only due to their positive environmental impact, but also because of the non-reliability of fossil fuels given their limited supply and the political instability of their main suppliers.
 * Melissa C. Lott**

http://www.globalenergymatters.com/archives/category/energy-efficiency/page/3 http://www.globalenergymatters.com/archives/category/energy-efficiency http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/2011/09/14/unreliable-energy-supplies-transportation/ http://www.yarcom.net/people/mellott http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/about.php?author=47 http://www.linkedin.com/pub/melissa-c-lott/a/583/a78

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media type="youtube" key="c0XnRn6rG34" height="315" width="560" Current Event
 * 1) Boeing 747 fllies on biofuel mixture
 * 2) More recent article on the above story

Milestone in commerical aviation (see links).- June 20th, 2011- Boeing 747-8 freighter flies accross the Atlantic using biofuel. All four General Electric engines operated with a 15% camelina (plant) based substance and flew the plane from Seattle to Paris, France for an airshow before it was handed over to Cargolux. The plane was unmodified and Boeing pushes for the implementation of biofuels in regular revenue flights.

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See also
 * @Green Living - Fashion
 * Green Living - Cities

External Links
 * 1) Car-free cities
 * 2) 7 Electric Cars to Expect in 2012
 * 3) Poll- Do you consider the environment when buying a car?


 * Referemce Material**

http://www.petrostrategies.org/Learning_Center/refining.htm http://www.treehugger.com/htgg/how-to-go-green-cars.html http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/transport/fuelguide/environment.html http://www.oecd.org/document/53/0,3746,en_2649_37425_47030453_1_1_1_1,00.html http://www.cicero.uio.no/fulltext/index_e.aspx?id=3032

Tips for fuel efficient driving: http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/transport/fuelguide/tips.html


 * Awesome PDFs with tips and statistics**

http://cdn.intechweb.org/pdfs/11455.pdf http://www.whatcanidorightnow.com.au/sites/default/files/assets/Ride%20to%20Work%20download.pdf http://www.whatcanidorightnow.com.au/sites/default/files/assets/Top%20tips%20for%20Green%20Transport.pdf http://bipartisanpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Transportation%20Adaptation%20%283%29.pdf