Transportation Efficiency and Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Most people don’t realize that they use more energy to power their cars than they use to power their homes. For comparison, an energy-efficient home uses about 10 kWh/person/day for lights and appliances and contributes < 200 lbs of CO2/year from the California mix of power plants. Increasing transportation efficiency is clearly the best place to focus our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Experts suggest that in order to stabilize Climate Change the US population must reduce its total CO2 emissions to below 2.5 tons/person/year. Even this low number of 2.5 tons assumes that most developing countries will keep their CO2 emissions below 1 ton/person/year. PHEVs offer zero emission for every day commuting and the convenience of traveling 400 miles on one tank of fuel for trips over the battery's capacity. Long trips are relatively infrequent, so PHEVs can decreased fuel consumption by 90% which increases the feasibility of using fuels like ethanol and hydrogen (H2) produced from renewable sources. H2 produced from solar, wind or Hydro is the fuel of choice because no CO2 is generated in its creation or combustion. Of course the best way to cut CO2 emissions is to build and redevelop energy-efficient communities for people instead of cars but that is a topic for another day. As we approach the peak of world oil production (extraction) it is important to reflect on how it came to pass that the developed world would base its entire economy on finite resources. It is also important to realize that corporations are not conscious beings and, for the most part, are incorporated for one reason: to make money. This gives us, the consumers, the ultimate power to be the corporate conscience by choosing how we spend money. It is also up to us to insure that laws and regulators protect essential resources like air, water and soil.