May23

electoral-vote.com

Dem 47

   

GOP 53

This Week in Freudenfreude: Grease Is Sooooo 20th Century

In the above item on the Senate, we note that whether the Republican Party likes it or not, and whether Big Oil likes it or not, and whether the courts like it or not, the march toward more eco-friendly transportation has already commenced, and is picking up speed. Roughly 30% of the emissions that cause global warming come from transportation, and the folks in the business of building cars, trucks, trains, etc. know two things: (1) the United States may be almost the biggest game in town (China is the biggest, and has some of the strictest emissions regulations in the world), but it's not the only game in town, and (2) reactionary administrations, like the one run by Donald Trump, are short-term, whereas the move to green energy and transportation is long-term. To that end, there is much progress being made on more environmentally friendly transportation options. We thought we'd run down a few examples:

• Porsche: If there's any car brand synonymous with "gas guzzler," it's gotta be Porsche, right? Not anymore, though. They're in Europe, of course, and European governments are way more concerned with the environment, in general, than the current American government is. So, Porsche is investing heavily in synthetic fuels, including e-diesel, e-kerosene and e-methanol, which can reduce emissions up to 85%.
  
  
• Brembo Brake Pads: Beyond internal combustion engines, one of the most polluting parts of cars (even EVs) is the brake pads. All that stopping rubs away at the pads, and creates a fine dust that is pretty bad for the environment. This is another place where the Europeans have taken the lead, with strict restrictions on brake particulate production set to go into effect next year. And Italian auto parts manufacturer Brembo has developed a new brake pad, with a "laser metal deposition coating" that leaves the strict new standards, well... in the dust. The pads, as compared to the ones currently in use, cut down on particulates by 90%.
  
  
• BorgWarner: BorgWarner is an American auto parts manufacturer, and specializes in the many and varied parts needed for cars' drivetrains. They recently issued a report laying out, in detail, their plan for their parts to be entirely carbon-neutral by 2035. They have dozens of products in development that should make it possible to accomplish that goal.
  
  
• Logistics: Broadly speaking, "logistics" refers to any business interest that includes a transport element in its model. Since businesses tend to have money, and since they tend to pile up the mileage in a way that civilians do not, there is much room for progress in more eco-friendly logistics transportation, especially long-haul trucks, long-distance trains, and international shipping. And a great many companies are experimenting with electric vehicles, or alternate fuels like hydrogen and HVO100 (recycled grease and oil, basically), or more aerodynamic vehicles. For example, Lime, which specializes in for-rent scooters and other micro-transport vehicles, has reduced its logistics pollution (delivering scooters and other vehicles, picking up broken scooters and other vehicles, etc.) by 90%. Or, to give an example of another approach, UPS is using computer algorithms to design the most fuel-efficient routes for delivery drivers. Now, that either means AI, or something dangerously close to AI, so... we guess AI's not all bad.
  
  
• Public Transport: Public transportation is another high-volume area where there is a lot of potential for impact. Further, because governments have to think about things beyond just dollars and cents, they can afford to do things that might be a little risky for private concerns. To take one example, among many, London has just decreed that its entire bus fleet must be zero-emissions by 2034. That includes the famous double deckers; a zero-emission double-decker cuts carbon dioxide emissions by about 23 tons a year.
  
  
• Airlines: Still another high-volume user is airlines. And it's another industry that's experimenting with new and different fuels. In the case of airplanes, the most promising new alternative is Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), which is very similar to the HVO100 being used for land-based vehicles. By 2030, Boeing expects all new planes it builds to be able to utilize SAF, and by 2050, both Delta and United expect to have all-carbon-neutral fleets.

This is hardly comprehensive; we cut it off at six examples because this stuff is a little dry to most people, outside a small subset of the population. But the lesson could not be clearer: the future of transportation is green. And it's not just politics; green tech is generally more expensive at the outset, but actually tends to be cheaper long-term, because both the fuel and maintenance are less costly than with petroleum-powered vehicles. Big Oil and its political allies may slow things down a bit, but they can't stop the future from arriving, and sooner rather than later.

Have a good weekend, all! (Z)