This National Research Council (NRC) report assesses the potential to achieve twin goals of reducing petroleum use and cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from U.S. cars and light trucks to 80 percent below the 2005 level by 2050.
ABSTRACT. Improving the fuel efficiency of automobiles (cars and light trucks) is an important means of addressing transportation oil demand and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This report examines the efficiency attainable through evolutionary changes in U.S. automobiles that have fueling characteristics as well as performance, size and other attributes similar to those of today. The analysis combines results from previous engineering studies of powertrain efficiency and load reduction with new examinations of rates of technology change and cost reduction.
With the backing of 13 car companies, the United Auto Workers and other parties, the Obama Administration announced the biggest step forward on auto efficiency in over a generation. The new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations just finalized target the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent of 54.5 mpg by model year 2025, double the efficiency of this year's vehicle fleet.
Building on the Bush Administration's 2007 proposal to raise automotive fuel economy by up to four percent per year, the Obama Administration is now considering regulations that might target a doubling of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards by 2025. But just how much can the efficiency of cars and light trucks be improved, and at what cost?
Autonomous "robot" vehicles that can drive themselves hold great promise for transforming transportation systems across the world. Part of their appeal is the potential to greatly improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions. Not so fast, notes Bradley Berman in a critical piece on ReadWriteDrive, where he quotes Energy Institute research professor John DeCicco's admonition that technology "doesn't save us from ourselves."
The Hydrogen Energy Technology Laboratory (HETL) supports efforts to the discover and develop materials, processes and systems that have the potential to significantly increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of producing hydrogen from domestic natural resources including research on photoelectrochemical, thermochemical and fuel processing systems, enhance our ability to conveniently and inexpensively store large amounts of hydrogen including research on advanced chemical storage systems, and improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of devices used to convert hydrogen into electrical a
JCESR is a major research partnership that integrates government, academic, and industrial researchers from many disciplines to overcome critical scientific and technical barriers and create new breakthrough energy storage technology.
UMEI/ JCESR projects include:
Deposition/Dissolution Theory: Katsuyo Thornton
New Electrolytes Design for Enhanced Stability and Peroxide Growth Control: Don Siegel
Meta Anode Modification Deposition/Dissolution Dynamics: Emmanuelle Marquis
Three pairs of researchers will be reaching across an ocean this year to spark collaborative energy projects with the receipt of University of Michigan – Ben Gurion University of the Negev Collaboration on Energy Research grants.
The catch? The projects have to feature a research team from each university, working jointly on projects related to global energy security. Teams could choose to focus on one of three topics: photovoltaics and solar technology, liquid fuels and engine combustion, or thermoelectricity, materials, and devices.