By designing our national infrastructure around the car and the assumption of cheap fuel and roads, we have created a system of dependency that requires an automobile for even the most basic of life tasks. This dangerous dependency on cars would force America to rebuild its infrastructure if any one of the assumptions proves false.

The predominant infrastructure model for the last few decades in America incorporates clusters of large houses surrounded by sprawling strip malls and big box retail stores, all of which are located far from dense urban areas. This form of infrastructure was born on the idea that the further you live from a city center the cheaper the land, buildings, and taxes become. Enabling this idea to take form is the assumption that the cost of driving is so negligible that you can save money and live in a bigger house by living further away from a city center even though it requires longer commutes. The problem with living an urban lifestyle in a rural or ex-urban setting is that it transforms the automobile from a convenience into a lifeline for getting to work and meeting basic life tasks like going to the grocery store. Walking to work or biking to the grocery store are no longer options.

If you have made yourself dependent on an automobile for all your life needs, then you are also at the mercy of the assumptions that enable this infrastructure. Cheap fuel and roads are not a given right of being American. The United States makes up six percent of the world’s population but consumes 24 percent of the world’s oil and “. . . owns over half of the world’s motor vehicles” (Bailey 96). With countries like China and India rapidly becoming industrialized, it is difficult to see how the U.S. can sustain this oil consumption rate without seeing drastic changes in price or availability. From August 1998 to August 2008 the national retail price of gas went from $1.03 per gallon to $3.88 per gallon. How much of this increase was due to growing international demand? While retail gas prices have drastically reduced since this summer the volatility of the price of this vital resource should be unsettling. Even the true cost of roads is obscured from citizens by the federal government paying for up to 90 percent of local road projects (Bailey 95). If budgets get tight and government spending on roads decreases, then the driver pays the difference, either directly through tolls and fees or indirectly through added maintenance to their vehicle from driving on deteriorating roads.

A disruption in the assumptions of cheap fuel and roads would make the current American transportation infrastructure unsustainable. If we ever got to a point where we could not perpetuate the system, we would be forced to begin the lengthy process of rebuilding our infrastructure at great cost. What would be the impact on housing prices if people abandon their far away houses en masse? The two most obvious solutions to the transportation problem are energy independence and mass transit. However, a solution like that would first require Americans to transcend their emotional enchantment with cars.

Works Cited

Bailey, Lee Worth. The Enchantments of Technology. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2005.

Energy Information Administration. “Energy in Brief – What Everyone Should Know About Energy”. 2008. (Aug. 22, 2008). Oct. 26 2008. <http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_brief/foreign_oil_dependence.cfm>.

—. “Weekly U.S. Regular All Formulations Retail Gasoline Prices”. 2008. Department of Energy. Oct. 27 2008. <http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mg_rt_usw.htm>.

So imagine how excited I was when one of the free, digital editions of an aviation industry magazine I am subscribed to opened up an “Eco-Aviation Today” edition!

Air Transport World opened up TODAY with their Eco Aviation Today edition – you can sign up for emails from them, or just go to the “Eco Channel” on their website.

Check it out today to read about Continental Airlines, Boeing, CFM International, and Honeywell planning a January 9th flight using 50% biofuel and 50% regular Jet A fuel.  Nothing new, you say?  I already wrote about bio-jet fuel, you say?

True, but this fuel, according to Continental, is “a special fuel blend including components derived from algae and jatropha plants, sustainable, second-generation [sources] that don’t impact food crops or water resources, and don’t contribute to deforestation.”

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

General Motors has introduced a hybrid Malibu. Sounds like America’s largest automaker is finally getting it, huh? According to reports about the vehicle, it is solid competition for the Toyota Camry or the Honda Accord, both its direct competitors.

A standard Chevy Malibu is rated at 22 miles-per-gallon (MPG) in the city, and 30 MPG on the highway. The Hybrid version Chevy is now producing gets…

wait for it…

24 MPG in the city and 32 MPG on the highway. Yes, you read that right – today, with oil prices reaching a new record of $133 per barrel – General Motors’ hybrid version of one of their most popular vehicles obtains a whopping TWO MPG more than the standard version. I’m going to take a wild guess and say that a feat such as this could have been obtained much more simply than by adding a hybrid drive. Also, there are “standard” vehicles that match, exceed, or even kick the crap out of the Hybrid Malibu’s MPG rating – like, for instance a STANDARD Honda Accord, or a STANDARD Toyota Camry.

So I say – “Way to go GM!” Way to show the world that you are no where near ready to answer the issue of skyrocketing oil prices and help drivers with vehicles that make it not only more affordable to fill the tank, but maybe even are powered by something other than oil.

While I appreciate the gesture of bringing another hybrid to market – GM is greenwashing their product line without pissing off their oil company comrades by actually making any significant improvements.

Blah.

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

Because it is generally so affordable for people to travel nearly at their heart’s desire, it is important to know your impact on the environment when you do so. With that in mind, here are some (damn) statistics:

According to the United Nations:

• Tourism accounts for more than 60% of air travel and is responsible for an estimated 7% of total carbon emitted globally
• A single transatlantic return flight emits roughly half the CO2 emissions produced by all other sources (lighting, heating, car use, etc.) consumed by an average person yearly
• Passenger jets are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC):

• One tree offsets the carbon dioxide emitted by an airplane over 4,000 miles
• Two more trees offset the greenhouse effect caused by nitrogen oxide and water vapor emitted by aircraft at altitude

In a future post, we’ll discuss how to offset the pollution created when you fly, but for now let’s focus on something a little more down-to-earth (pun intended): your rental car at the destination!

I recently saw ad for Avis’s “Cool Car Collection,” which was touting the fact that the company had recently added the Toyota Prius Hybrid vehicle to it’s list of available, “cool” vehicles. Upon further review, I found that most of the vehicles in the “Cool Car Collection” are not, in fact, cool as it relates to the climate – but cool as it relates to your ego size. Corvette and Hummer are included in the “Ultimate Rides,” as well as Mustang and FJ Cruiser in the “Joy Rides” list.

There were only three options in the “Eco Rides” list:

• Toyota Prius Hybrid
• Ford Escape Hybrid
• Nissan Altima Hybrid

Piquing my interest, I decided to look for other rental car companies that offer hybrids or other alternative fuel vehicles.

Here’s what I found:

• Budget offers the Prius and Altima hybrids, as well as having some suggestions on how to save gas in any car.
• Enterprise offers a Carbon Offset program.
• Hertz offers the Prius and some other hybrids, but only guarantees Prius availability.
• Fox Rent-a-Car offers Prius, Civic, and Highlander (or Escape) Hybrids, depending on location
• If you are visiting California or Arizona, you might be able to rent from EV Rental Cars, which offers the Prius, Honda’s Civic Hybrid, and Toyota’s Highlander Hybrid.
• If you’re going to Maui, Hawaii, you can rent from Bio-Beetle, which offers “normal” vehicles that run on bio-diesel:
  • VW Jetta
  • VW Golf
  • VW Beetle
  • Jeep Liberty

I’m sure there are more, and there are most likely limitations as far as availability – hybrids not guaranteed, hybrids only available at certain locations, etc. At the “big name” rental car agencies, expect a small ($5-$10 per day) extra charge to rent a hybrid.

One last thing… even if you aren’t traveling – just using your own car to commute or to take a long-weekend trip – there’s a great way for you to green your life with little change to your daily process. If you are a member of AAA, be aware that the organization regularly campaigns against more strict environmental regulations for the auto industry.

Instead of AAA, join Better World Club! Better World Club is the only environmentally friendly auto club in the USA. If you join, your membership includes eco-travel services, discounts on hybrid car rental, insurance services, free maps, auto maintenance discounts and bicycle roadside assistance. They also donate 1% of annual revenues toward environmental cleanup and advocacy. What could be better? Their price is competitive with AAA as well!

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

The railroad has plans to buy a gross of “green switchers” (that’s 144 of them, folks), as well as joining the American Wind Energy Association (it would be the first railroad to do so) and investing $300 million into greening the Los Angeles Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (that’s fancy talk for “rail yard”). 

As far as transportation goes, rail is already significantly more fuel efficient than road or air (not sure about boat ship - sorry transportation folks) per container, but it’s good to see that at least one railroad is thinking further ahead, environmentally, than just the already-knowns.  Once company that is trying to reduce the pollution from the massive diesel engines on rail locomotives is Railpower Technologies - which focuses on reducing locomotive operators’ operating costs – while reducing emissions at the same time (full disclosure – I am NOT an investor in Railpower… yet).

I find it heartening to hear these stories of big, bad, pollution-spewing industries beginning to talk about their plans to get green.  Even if it ends up just being talk – it encourages the others to start thinking about it as well.  And someday, some of them actually will get green – and leave the others in their (carbon-neutral) dust.

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

And here’s a little link love to A Pinoy Biker’s Philippine Rural Adventures, the blogger who tipped me off to this crazy (but well-intentioned) guy’s daily act of environmental heroism!

Namaste,
A. Claeb Hartley

The contest asks you to “place a simple, colorful flier on high mileage cars that you encounter, showing the vehicle owner that she or he has done something worthy by choosing a leading-edge (in fuel efficiency) vehicle.”  Once you have placed the flyer. snap a picture with a digital camera (or cell phone), then upload the pics (free registration required) to Planet Thoughts.

The vehicles on which flyers are placed must be models that achieve at least 40 Miles-per-Gallon, as listed on the High-Efficiency Cars page on Planet Thoughts.  The person who uploads the most pictures of valid car models will win the grand prize of at least $500.

The contest’s “simple rules” can be found here.  The competition has already started, and runs until June 2, 2008 at 11:59pm Eastern (US) Time (GMT -5).  All pictures must be submitted by that time.

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

This will be the first time a commercial aircraft has run biofuel in-flight. Some airlines and Boeing have joined up in a major initiative to discover sources of sustainable aircraft fuel for the future. 

Branson stated, “This breakthrough will help Virgin Atlantic to fly its planes using clean fuel sooner than expected. The demonstration flight next month will give us crucial knowledge that we can use to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint. Virgin Group pledged to invest all its profits from its transportation companies towards developing clean energy and with this breakthrough we are well down the path to achieving our goals.”

Virgin Atlantic’s vision for the aviation industry’s possibilities is demonstrated by using clean-fuel technology to reduce carbon emissions, and the company’s drive to reduce its environmental impact wherever possible is evident in this announcement, in addition to the other moves it has made, including becoming the first airline in the world to allow passengers to purchase carbon offsets while in the air – during flight. Virgin also placed the largest order for Boeing 787 Dreamliners in Europe in 2007, ordering 15 of the aircraft, and options to purchase another 28 aircraft. The Dreamliner is 60% quieter and uses 30% less fuel than the aircraft that will be replaceed in the airline’s fleet.

This information was announced on Ground Support Worldwide.

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

Consume less, save more; bring your own bag; drive less; plant more trees – snowman will be happier! 

Words we can all live by…

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley