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Sustainable Energy
Published in Stanley E. Manahan, Environmental Chemistry, 2022
Figure 18.9 shows the trend in US automobile fuel economy during recent decades. The gains through about 1990 were very impressive and then dropped off as less fuel-efficient vehicles became more popular. If the same trends from this period would have been maintained, the US automobile fleet would have reached close to 40 miles per gallon (mpg) by around 2012. Such a figure is readily achievable without seriously compromising safety or comfort and, as is obvious from the figure, with much lower emissions from pollutants compared to 1970. In 2007, the US Congress passed legislation mandating higher fuel economy standards for vehicles sold in the United States. By 2016, the average fuel economy for passenger cars and light duty trucks in the United States had increased to 35.5 mpg. In 2012, guidelines raising the fuel economy standards for automobiles and light duty trucks to 54.5 mpg for the year 2025 were announced in the United States.
Public transport and the environment
Published in Corinne Mulley, John D. Nelson, Stephen Ison, The Routledge Handbook of Public Transport, 2021
Another common indicator of evaluating the environmental benefits of public transport is fuel economy. Fuel economy is the ratio of total passenger distance to the total fuel consumption. The higher the ratio, the higher the energy efficiency per passenger-distance. Generally, an increase in public transport ridership and a decrease in fuel consumption can lead to higher fuel economy. Figure 8.3 depicts the average fuel economy of different transport modes per passenger mile in the United States in 2018. The unit is passenger-mile per gasoline-gallon equivalents (GGE). In 2018, the fuel economy of intercity rail was the highest, followed by domestic air, transit rail, commuter rail and transit buses. It is noteworthy that public transport has a lower fuel economy than cars in the United States. The major reason is again largely due to the low ridership, which is usually less than 25 percent of the full capacity (U.S. Department of Energy, 2018). The demand response mode (e.g. taxis) usually has the lowest fuel economy because fuel is consumed to reach passengers.
Polyalkylene Glycols
Published in Leslie R. Rudnick, Synthetics, Mineral Oils, and Bio-Based Lubricants, 2020
Improvements in fuel economy are desired to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and also to reduce fossil fuel consumption. To address this, new engine designs are being developed and also new lubricant technologies. The European Union began phasing in fines for OEMs based on the emissions of their vehicles. In order to address emission legislation and reduce harmful exhaust gases, new after-treatment systems have been introduced such as diesel particulate filters. Their introduction required new low SAPS (sulfated ash, phosphorus, and sulfur) engine oils to be developed which were more compatible with them. Greater use of after-treatment devices will continue. Engine oil durability is increasingly important. With new engine designs and the operating conditions of engine lubricants becoming increasingly stressed, there are increasing requirements for better engine oil durability.
An effective energy management strategy in hybrid electric vehicles using Taguchi based approach for improved performance
Published in Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 2022
Geetha Anbazhagan, Santhakumar Jayakumar, Suresh Muthusamy, Suma Christal Mary Sundararajan, Hitesh Panchal, Kishor Kumar Sadasivuni
Energy management control strategy (EMCS) plays a vital role in sharing of energy among the sources. Most of the EMCSs proposed in the literature follow a rule-based deterministic approach or a fuzzy-based control approach. The rule-based approach (RBA) is simple and easy to implement; however, while uncertainty exists in the driving cycle, it cannot guarantee optimal performance (Santucci, Sorniotti, and Lekakou 2014; Trovao et al. 2013). The fuzzy-based approach (FBA) is an independent control scheme that does not rely on the mathematical modeling of the EV. The FBA achieves a better vehicle drive performance. The abovementioned concepts are almost equally studied by researchers. The papers (Silva et al. 2013b; Yin et al. 2016) focus on those two control strategies. Among these, energy management control strategy, vehicle model, and state of charge of the battery and UC are considered in this article. Also, reducing vehicle weight can also improve the fuel economy. The effects of vehicle mass in the fuel economy of conventional and hybrid EVs are discussed (Gaines and Cuenca 2002; Lin, Talty, and Tonguz 2015).
Using digitalisation to achieve decarbonisation in the shipping industry
Published in Journal of International Maritime Safety, Environmental Affairs, and Shipping, 2021
Pratham Agarwala, Sanjay Chhabra, Nitin Agarwala
With the increase in fuel consumption, there is increased pressure on the industry to improve fuel economy and reduce anthropogenic emissions. Additionally, with the UNFCCC Paris Agreement setting, an ambitious target of limiting the global temperature rise to “below 2°C” by 2050, the pressure is on the shipping industry to reduce its Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission footprints. Accordingly, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) agreed in October 2016 to develop a comprehensive strategy to address GHG emissions from international shipping. The resulting strategy aims to follow a long-term goal of reduction of GHG emissions when compared to 2008 as the baseline year. To achieve this, the industry plans to reduce GHG emissions to 50% by 2050 with a 40% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030 and 70% by 2050 (IMO , n.d.). This has led to the use of power electronic based drives for management of energy of various ship energy loads. Today, many commercial ships such as passenger ships, tankers, ice-breakers, cable laying ships, and floating offshore platforms are built with power electronic drives for greater efficiency and energy management that would help support decarbonisation of the maritime transport industry (Ginn 2015).
Adjusting the need for speed: assessment of a visual interface to reduce fuel use
Published in Ergonomics, 2021
Craig K. Allison, James M. Fleming, Xingda Yan, Roberto Lot, Neville A. Stanton
The desire to reduce emissions and increase the fuel economy associated with road vehicles is shared by governments, automotive manufacturers and drivers. This study demonstrated success in the assessment of a novel feedforward speed optimisation display to coach a driver into fuel-efficient driving and provided evidence that such a device can be used to reduce fuel usage compared to everyday driving behaviours. Although the display was not as effective at reducing total fuel usage as when participants were specifically asked to eco-drive, it was found that participants’ success at unassisted eco-driving was at the cost of increased self-reported effort suggesting that participants may struggle to maintain this behaviour outside of laboratory conditions. Further refinement of the visual interface is possible to facilitate its use.