In my vision of a perfect world, one where climate change is not a question of concern and transit congestion would never total an average of 80 kilometers daily in a city such as in Sao Paulo (“VEJA”), most of the population would use public transit paired up with alternative forms of transportation such as bicycling and walking to access activity sites. However, being realistic, that is an extremely difficult, if not impossible, goal to achieve since we live in an intense car dependent culture and only through governmental regulation we would be able to change that, and our politicians need to get reelected every four years. They will hardly ever adopt such unpopular policies. Changes are its not going to happen. Therefore, since it is unviable to change the method our population moves itself then the only practical solution to reduce green house gas emissions is to change and innovate the method itself.
It comes with no surprise the finding that cars are the transit mode that produces the most green house gas emissions per mile (Weigel); therefore it is of uttermost importance that automobiles be innovated and adapted to the needs of our 21st century.
One possible solution, which already exists in the market in its embryonic state, is the creation of higher-efficiency cars such as the diesel-electric hybrid. This is a viable option in our present time since these automobiles are more efficient in producing less green house gas emissions and our industries already have some products that have developed this technology to a usable and dependable standard. However, this option has a significant setback. These automobiles would be reducing green house emissions however not to an extent in which it would be satisfactory enough to achieve our nation’s aim regarding green house emissions since most of the electricity used to power these automobiles would come from the burning of fossil fuels and therefore producing green house gases still the same.
In the fields of futuristic technologies lies the key to solve this problem. There are innumerous options for what mankind can create and innovate; however, already being developed are alternative fuels for automobiles such as bio-diesel, natural gas, and hydrogen. Personally, a hydrogen-fueled car is what I believe, and hope, will become the answer in the future. As its name suggests, these automobiles are fueled by hydrogen hydrolyzed from regular water. This technology already exists however it is expensive and most people think it’s dangerous as hydrogen is highly reactive. I would be lying if I said that this technology is not expensive, however it is possible for it not to be dangerous. Most of the problems with hydrogen explosions are that hydrogen stored, from crashed vehicles or sites, leak and react with other chemicals causing big and dangerous explosions. For these cars, hydrogen would be stored as water, and production of hydrogen would occur while the automobile is being used. Therefore, the automobile would only produce as much hydrogen as it needs to use, thus not storing any additional hydrogen and reducing to almost zero the risks of explosion from crashes and leaks. This technology already exists and would be a final solution for reducing green house gas emissions, however its biggest obstacle, once again, is that it is expensive.
Finally, many small-scale solutions could be implemented to lower green house gas emissions. These solutions would not solve the problem by its entirety, however if highly adopted, they could respectably lower green house gas emissions. Some possible solutions include regularly inflating tire thus reducing higher fuel consumption derived from deflated tires, readjusting commonly used routes for shorter routes thus decreasing fuel consumption, and reducing idling consumption of fuel by stopped vehicles (Weigel).
My vision of an attainable perfect world in my generation is one in which our scientists will be worried about finding a cure for cancer instead of lowering green house gas emission. With the help of new technologies such as hydrogen-fueled automobiles and small routine changes, such as regularly inflating tires, our generation can significantly lower these emissions. Now, it is up to us to embrace and adopt these solutions that will change our lives.
Work Cited
Weigel, Brent. Lecture. ENGL 1101: Rhetoric of Mass Transportation. Georgia Institute of Technology, 30 Sept. 2011
"Em Profundidade: Transito." VEJA. n.d. n. page. Web. 5 Oct. 2011. <http://veja.abril.com.br/idade/exclusivo/transito/contexto1.html>.
Hydrogen isn't really a fuel: it is a method of storing energy. In order to do the hydrolysis in the car, you would have to have another energy source (battery or internal combustion engine) on board. It would be more efficent to just use the energy directly. However, there is mse/nanotech research going on looking at how to store hydrogen safely in solids.
ReplyDeleteHydrogen cars are not only the future, they are here, now. When hydrogen cars become the status quo, the U. S. can lessen its dependence upon foreign oil, achieve lower prices at the fuel pumps and cut down on the greenhouse gases that produce global warming. The future of hydrogen cars is not a pipe dream, as there are already many hydrogen fuel cell cars and H2ICE vehicles on the roads. California, Japan and the European Union (especially Germany) have many hydrogen fuel cars being used as fleet vehicles now.
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