In this lesson, we will continue the discussion about energy but will turn to transportation. Other than power (electricity) generation, the largest consumer of fossil fuel and renewable energy is the transportation sector. But unlike the power generation sector, the transportation sector is not yet as advanced or as diverse in terms of alternatives as power generation. For the most part, the bulk of transportation is still propelled by fossil fuels. Even electric cars are indirectly powered mainly by fossil fuels since that is how most of our electricity is generated. Hence, when we speak of future trends in the fossil fuel to renewables transition, how that relates to transportation is critically important.
Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to
Read | Lesson 6 content and all assigned readings |
---|---|
Participate | Graded Discussion |
Calculate | Your carbon footprint |
If you have questions, please feel free to post them to the Questions about EGEE 401 Discussion forum in Canvas. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help a classmate.
We can explore energy in the transportation sector the same way we looked at power generation. First, energy for transportation is driven by the same four attributes as electricity- accessibility, reliability, security, and sustainability. And the definitions of these four parameters are the same as we learned in an earlier lesson, except that they manifest themselves in quite different ways. For example, use of fossil fuels is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore climate change. Striving for sustainability in the transportation sector becomes a key issue.
Second, accessibility takes on a different impact. Even though an area may have adequate access to electricity, unless it is made available in a way that can be used in transportation, such as an adequate network of charging stations, one can argue that it is not accessible.
Third, reliability may be a factor of spacing between charging stations or time to recharge batteries. If the spacing between charging stations is greater than the distance I can get from my electric vehicle on one charge, then the system is not reliable.
Finally, security becomes important as we switch sources of energy. The more electric cars we have, the more important the security of the power grid becomes. If something were to disrupt our power grid, we would not only lose electricity to run our homes and businesses but would then also lose the ability to move about.
With the advent of electric vehicles, we now must deal with two aspects of supporting the transportation sector. There is the direct use of fuels for transportation, such as gasoline or diesel for cars, trucks, planes, and trains. Even compressed natural gas or hydrogen-powered vehicles use a fuel source directly on board the vehicle. However, we now must contend with indirect fuel use. This is true of electric vehicles. The electricity must come from somewhere, and the fossil fuel to renewables transition means that it will impact the transportation sector in terms of how the electricity is generated.
We are also realizing opportunities for direct use of renewables. For example, there are experimental trains, aircraft and seafaring vessels powered by solar energy. As you can imagine, the practicality of powering something in motion with renewable energy sources becomes somewhat of an engineering and logistical challenge. That said, some of the earliest transportation, ships on the ocean, for example, were powered by wind first, before the advent of steam power (fueled by burning coal onboard).
We will once again return to Project Drawdown to explore energy use in the transportation sector. Recall that Project Drawdown explores examples of innovative approaches and technologies to lead to more sustainable energy production and use, especially energy with a lower carbon footprint.
https://drawdown.org/sectors/transportation [4]
Scan the "Solutions in this Sector" examples at the bottom of the page. You will explore some exciting options for more efficient and sustainable solutions, realizing the point made above that transportation sector has a significant carbon footprint. And you will also note that the answer is not always a more efficient vehicle. Sometimes the solution is looking at mobility in a completely different way.
For example, a more well-known alternative in transportation that has been around for a long time is mass transit and carpooling. The idea behind these options is to put more people in fewer vehicles. Even if the vehicle itself is not any more efficient than in the past, the overall impact is still less because you move more people per unit energy. But in the Project Drawdown examples, we also see the evolving concept of “virtual transportation.” That is being somewhere else, but not physically having to move. Telecommuting and virtual meeting is on the rise. And the COVID pandemic has propelled society into the virtual realm much faster than may have been originally expected, or desired! Finally, there are examples of moving from point A to point B, but using more mechanical energy forms of transportation, such as bicycle. And of course, there is always good old fashion walking. But whereas walking is probably the most sustainable, it is not practical unless the distances to cover are manageable. And this is the catalyst behind walkable cities and communities.
Now that we have learned some about what energy means to the transportation, let us revisit some of the outlooks we studied before to see what they say about transportation. But first, we will visit the EPA website regarding greenhouse gas emissions and the transportation sector. Review the website:
EPA Greenhouse Gas Emissions [5]
Particularly note the graphic "Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Transportation,1990-2020." As you will note it is relatively flat, indicating only minor changes in the long-run with a slight upward trend until the pandemic hit. Of note also is the footnote that states the GHG emissions related to electricity used in transportation is negligible (less than 1%). We have heard so much about the shift to more electric vehicles, you can imagine the usage percentage will climb above 1%, and unless it is using renewably generated energy, the GHG emissions will start to climb at a higher rate as well.
You can test this hypothesis by visiting the EIA Outlook that we studied before and going to the summary PDF for the transportation sector.
PDF on Transportation Emissions [6]
This section of the outlook focuses on the transportation sector and illustrates trends in fuel type and related GHG emission trends.
Questions to guide your reading (for both the EPA and EIA references):
In this lesson we learned about the role of energy in transportation. Now, you’re going to engage in an activity to demonstrate your understanding of the role you, personally, play in the consumption of energy through the creation of an infographic.
To successfully complete this assignment, you will create an infographic that illustrates your carbon footprint.
One interesting exercise is to see how you fit in the national averages for carbon footprint resulting from transportation. For this lesson’s assignment, you will calculate your GHG footprint related to your transportation habits using the following equations. Transportation accounts for about 28% of global GHG emissions, and that average applies to personal GHG emissions as well. In other words, the average per capita emissions is about 17 tons of carbon, of which 6-9 tons of carbon come from our personal automobiles.
But first, let us look at an example prepared by the previous instructor, Ed Pinero, by viewing this video (4:20):
The equations we will use for this exercise are as follows:
Based on your driving habits, and your vehicle's city/highway fuel efficiency rating, calculate your annual GHG emissions in pounds. Prepare an infographic that shows the math and the assumptions you used. In the infographic, also note things that you could do to reduce that footprint.
The best way to start working on your infographic is to start by reviewing the assigned online readings. You may wish to scan the assignments in advance to know which lessons have an infographic. As you work your way through the lesson, pause to write down key points you feel are especially important. You may also find it beneficial to create a quick drawing or sketch to visually support your learning and retention of information. This process is called sketch-noting. Sketch-noting is essentially capturing content in a visual format. The drawings do not have to be elaborate. They can be simple and use basic shapes. By sketching key concepts from the course, it enables your brain to remember more effectively.
Once you have completed the online chapter, you will need to conduct your own investigation on a topic relating to the information discussed within the online lesson. Use the online readings as a starting point. You may consider the following questions to help you begin your independent research. First, is there something you found interesting in your readings and want to learn more about? Is there a point in which you wish to gain further clarity? Are you interested in seeing how the statistics may have changed over your lifetime? For example, comparing the data today, to the year you were born. After you have found at least one suitable article, follow the same process of note taking or sketch noting that you implemented when you reviewed the online readings. You may review as many articles as you wish to further your understanding of the topic, but you are required to submit an infographic that includes reference to a minimum of one external source. Note that some of the infographic assignments define the topic and this may help focus your research and modify the proposed steps.
In reviewing your notes or sketches, find the points you feel are most important and want to insure you remember beyond the semester. The infographic should be more than simply recapping the online readings. These points will likely be the most interesting, or thought provoking aspects of the various articles and readings you reviewed. Distill those points down to approximately ten, plus or minus a few is perfectly acceptable. This will help you narrow your focus on the points you want to convey in your infographic. Following this strategy will also give you the ability to quickly identify the connections between the course readings and other sources of information. Your submissions must include a connection between the course content and another source.
Now we’re going to create the infographic as Step 4. When you’re ready to create your infographic, open Adobe Spark, Canva, or another program of your choice. It is recommended that you use one of the available templates in the software. This will save you a significant amount of time in creating the infographic. It will also ensure the readability and view-ability of your infographic. You are welcome to create something original, however this is recommended only for individuals who have advanced knowledge of color theory and graphic design. Mixing certain color types, such as red and green, or red and black, make text unreadable. Select the template you think your content will transfer to ,easily. Replacing text in the template with your own and change out the graphics for ones that tie more strongly to your content. When adding quotes, graphics or other data to your infographic, be sure to clearly identify the source from where it came. Simply adding a list of citations at the end of the page is not an appropriate way to cite a source and will result in a loss of points. You should also acknowledge the program where the template came from as part of the citations.
Once your infographic is complete, you can download a copy and submit it to canvas. Then you’re done! Infographics are an innovative and effective way to convey ideas that will help your intended audience grasp the content. These take practice but will help you with your communication of ideas in the future.
Links
[1] https://www.pexels.com/@theidahoan?utm_content=attributionCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pexels
[2] https://www.pexels.com
[3] https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/
[4] https://drawdown.org/sectors/transportation
[5] https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions#transportation
[6] https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/pdf/AEO2022_ChartLibrary_Transportation.pdf