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Greening the dream that drives America
Ben Macintyre, Times (UK)
... Modern America was born on the road, behind a wheel. The car forged some of the most enduring elements of American culture: the roadside diner, the billboard, the motel, even the hamburger. For most of the last century, the automobile represented what it meant to be American: going forward at high speed to find new worlds. The road novel, the road movie, these are quintessential American ideas, born of abundant petrol, cheap cars and a never-ending interstate system, the largest public works project in history.

In 1928 Herbert Hoover imagined an America with “a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage”. Ford Motion Pictures, once the largest film producer in the world, churned out more than 3,000 movies extolling the thrill of driving.

... The cars that drove the American Dream have helped to create a global ecological nightmare. Europe's appetite for oil has been restrained by high petrol taxes, small cars and more efficient public transport. In America, by contrast, demand for oil has grown by 22 per cent since 1990.

The extraordinary worldwide rise of the middle class and the demand for an American lifestyle, of which car ownership is a key component, has fuelled a staggering boom. By 2050, perhaps a decade earlier, China will have 130 million cars; Moscow's roads were built for 30,000 vehicles; the city now has three million; India is planning the mass-production of a four-seater car that will cost $2,500.

... [Thomas Friedman in his new book] suggests that a new route is opening up by purusing American self-interest, harnessing the raw power of American patriotism and tackling “a great opportunity disguised as an insoluble problem”. The solution lies not in finger-pointing and self-flagellation, but in persuading America to solve a problem caused, in large part, by America and the great American automobile.

As Henry Ford remarked: “Don't find fault, find a remedy. Anybody can complain.”
(18 September 2008)

Why the Gasoline Engine Isn't Going Away Any Time Soon
Blame it on technology, cost -- and the American way of life
Joseph B. White, Wall Street Journal
An automotive revolution is coming -- but it's traveling in the slow lane.

High oil prices have accomplished what years of pleas from environmentalists and energy-security hawks could not: forcing the world's major auto makers to refocus their engineers and their capital on devising mass-market alternatives to century-old petroleum-fueled engine technology.

With all the glitzy ads, media chatter and Internet buzz about plug-in hybrids that draw power from the electric grid or cars fueled with hydrogen, it's easy to get lulled into thinking that gasoline stations soon will be as rare as drive-in theaters. The idea that auto makers can quickly execute a revolutionary transition from oil to electricity is now a touchstone for both major presidential candidates.

That's the dream. Now the reality: This revolution will take years to pull off -- and that's assuming it isn't derailed by a return to cheap oil. Anyone who goes to sleep today and wakes up in five years will find that most cars for sale in the U.S. will still run on regular gas -- with a few more than today taking diesel fuel. That will likely be the case even if the latter-day Rip Van Winkle sleeps until 2020.
(15 September 2008)
Part of the WSJ's Energy Special.

All-electric vehicles no magic bullet: scientist
Andrew Stern, Reuters
A future of all-electric cars coasting along streets and highways may be illusory, given that their range may be cut in half by aggressive drivers speeding along with the air conditioning blasting, U.S. scientists said on Monday.

That may not be a bad thing, as it will persuade consumers to choose the best blend of electric- and gas-powered hybrid vehicle to suit the type of driving they do.
(1x September 2008)

Creativity Helps Rochester’s Transit System Turn a Profit
William Neuman, New York Times
At a time when public transportation systems around the country are struggling with soaring fuel costs and pinched budgets, the bus system in Rochester has done something that few others would contemplate: This month, it lowered its single-ride fare.

“With gas prices at record highs, there is no better way to convince people who are beginning to look at public transportation,” said Mark R. Aesch, the chief executive of the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority.

Rochester’s Regional Transit Service is no behemoth. It carries 15 million riders a year, as many as the New York City transit system carries in two days. But as economic hard times have reduced tax revenues and increased demand for government transit subsidies, its experiences may provide valuable lessons for larger cities that are planning fare increases, like New York, Minneapolis and Cleveland...

...“With gas prices at record highs, there is no better way to convince people who are beginning to look at public transportation,” said Mark R. Aesch, the chief executive of the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority, which runs the bus system...
(14 September 2008)

The age of speed: how to reduce global fuel consumption by 75 percent
Kris De Decker, Low-tech Magazine
If we cut the average speed of all vehicles by half, fuel consumption would decrease by a whopping 75 percent.

Breaking speed records was an almost daily occurence throughout the 20th century. Cars, ships, planes and trains became faster and faster, year after year. Because the power needed to push an object through air increases with the cube of velocity, this race to ever higher speeds raises energy consumption exponentially...

...A decrease of 75 percent in fuel consumption is not peanuts. More than 60 percent of world oil production is used for transportation, which means that total oil production would be almost halved (-45%). In combination with more efficient engines, better aerodynamics and lighter materials a 75 percent reduction of oil production is not unrealistic.

Yet, when the International Energy Agency argues that the average car sold in 2030 would need to consume 60 percent less fuel than the average car sold in 2005, it claims: "With current technologies, only plug-in hybrids are capable of this”.

This statement is wrong. We could lower the fuel consumption of cars (and other vehicles) by at least 75 percent, we could do it today, and we can do it with present technology.
(11 September 2008)

The car is dying; it's the age of the bike
Chris Coleman, Prague Post
The developed world held its breath early this summer as prices for crude oil climbed to nearly $150 per barrel — five times the 2003 price. Then, with fingers pointing in all directions, strange things started happening: In the car-centric United States, ridership rates on public transit systems shot up to levels unseen since the 1950s, American sales of automobiles dipped 16 percent, and airline pilots were ordered to slow down to conserve fuel. Suddenly, people worldwide were re-evaluating their relationship to transport and the sustainability — triggered by concern for their wallets — of commuting solo in a one-ton machine occupying the space of a small elephant.

On Sept. 22, World Carfree Day seeks to encourage people to leave those cars at home and enter cities in a more sustainable way. The day brings attention to the potential of our streets when priority is given to pedestrians, cyclists and public transport over cars. More than 1,000 cities and 40 countries around the world participate by designating car-free streets for colorful festivities, promoting group cycle rides, reinterpreting parking lots and pushing other creative activities to promote alternate uses of the street.

... if it all comes down to economics, then threats posed by peak oil are certainly worrying.

Geologist M. King Hubbert developed the theory of peak oil in 1956, arguing that the rate of oil extraction in a region — and the planet — follows the shape of a bell-curve. He correctly predicted that the United States would peak in production by 1970, and if he were alive today he wouldn’t be surprised that such major oil players as Russia, Mexico and Iran have all passed their peak.

The author is a member of the Carbusters Magazine editorial collective and assists in coordinating projects for the Prague-based World Carfree Network.
(17 September 2008)