For the first time ever, the University of Miami is prohibiting cars for freshmen starting this fall. Instead, new students, returning students and faculty alike will be able to travel around campus and the city using fuel-efficient cars available through a university partnership with Zipcar. The car-sharing program offers users hourly, daily or annual access to cars when needed, gas and insurance costs included.

The Zipcar option will also be offered at Maine’s Bowdoin College, where first-year students will be barred from having on-campus cars starting next fall (2009).

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The University of Florida in Gainesville, for example, is launching a campaign to encourage students, faculty members and staff to reduce individual car travel in and around town. UF’s “One Less Car Challenge” (the grammar nag in me has to note it should be the “One Fewer Car Challenge”) asks everyone to explore other ways of commuting, including bicycling, regional transit, car-pooling and car-sharing.

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When we talk about addressing global climate change, the talk is often about greening our homes, changing our source of energy, and cleaning up industry.

In my previous post, I briefly discussed the critical issue of food in addressing this problem.

In this post, I am bringing to attention the great relevance of transportation and our transportation patterns and habits in addressing this critical concern for our planet and our future generations.

Automobile travel is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Department of Energy reported that the transportation sector accounts for approximately 33% of GHG emissions in the United States. Approximately 61% of these emissions are from automobiles and light duty trucks. The Department of Energy’s findings put the transportation sector as the largest contributor to GHGs in the country. Unfortunately, it is also the fastest growing contributor according to the DOE’s findings.

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While the world has been heaping praise upon hybrid technology for its mileage-boosting properties, a forgotten and alienated alternative has quietly been evolving with even more impressive green numbers. I’m speaking of diesel engines, of course, which, up until a few years ago, were nary on the radar of American consumers. Early diesel engines in the U.S. were dirty, loud, and generally associated with some pretty terrible cars. Buried under environmental regulations and poor sales, they faded away to only a handful of brands.

Today, the diesel engine has roared back to life as a versatile, efficient, and green alternative to standard petrol cars. Automakers have taken notice, and diesel options for upcoming models are being included in roadmaps. Of particular interest, earlier this month Honda showed off an Accord that gets 62.8 miles per gallon with its diesel engine. This is right up there with the best current hybrids have to offer — but with even more power. Emissions ratings are about the same, but the diesel Accord picks up points by burning fuel even cleaner when run on biodiesel. Honda expects to release the diesel edition as part of its 2010 model lineup.

Expect additional diesel cars around 2010 from Audi, Saab, BMW, Mini Cooper, and hopefully, Hummer.

via CNET

We call our 1982 Volkswagen Vanagon a "volksvegan" because it is a diesel that my boyfriend modified to run on waste vegetable oil (WVO). This trip has been in the back of our minds since we began looking for a diesel VW over a year ago. Once we finally found one of the rare diesel Vanagons (and my boyfriend drove it from Atlanta, where he bought it, up to Idaho), we immediately began researching and installing a kit from Greasecar that would allow us to run it on veggie oil we collected from local restaurants.

It has been quite a process getting her roadworthy, but after installing a new turbo engine, a second tank and system for the grease, and replacing parts on our old bus bit by bit (including installing the all-important hemp/organic cotton pop-top canvas), we are finally ready to hit the road for the ultimate test of this experimental sustainable fuel.

Now, I'm no scientist, and I'm certainly no mechanic, but here's my understanding of how WVO works… WVO is more sustainable than diesel or gas because it is making use of a waste product that would otherwise be thrown away. Also, it is a closed-loop system, like biodiesel, because it is made from plants that help reduce CO2 while creating oxygen. This way, the emissions from burning the WVO (which are much less than normal diesel or gas) are offset by the plants that created the oil.

Any diesel can easily be converted to a WVO car with a little know-how and a conversion kit (bought or homemade). There are several companies that offer conversion kits, and as I mentioned, we got ours from Greasecar. The conversion consists of a second tank for the WVO, an in-line filter as well as a pre-filtering system, and valves that control whether the car is running on diesel or WVO. Just don't ask me how to install it — my boyfriend did all the grunt work! The car must be started on diesel (we use biodiesel in our diesel tank whenever we can get it), and run for just long enough to warm up the WVO until it reaches the same viscosity as diesel. Coolant lines help heat the WVO, and in the summer especially, it usually only takes a bit before we can flip a switch on our dash and start running on WVO.

We have noticed that running on WVO gets us about the same mileage as diesel (for our bus, this is around 30 miles per gallon) and the engine actually runs a bit quieter since the WVO acts as a lubricant. And yes, it does smell like french fries!

After converting our car and learning about WVO, we began planning for the ultimate road trip. We had been wanting to leave Idaho for quite some time, but we weren't sure where we'd like to end up. So we decided to visit the places we were interested in moving to (and do a lot of camping and backpacking along the way) on one big volksvegan adventure. Once the decision was made, we quit our jobs, sold or stored almost all our belongings, and hit the road.

Our first stop was just 300 miles away in Boise, Idaho, where we both grew up (and where my parents were kind enough to offer some storage space and watch my cat for the summer). We quickly ran into a few kinks when our volksvegan overheated because of a coolant hose leak. Once in Boise, we scrambled to fix the leak before heading to Portland for my cousin's wedding. It was a long trip there, because we found out that the coolant reservoir was also leaking! So in Portland, more parts had to be tracked down, and soon the coolant system was fixed. We headed back to Boise (for another wedding!) and stopped in the Mt. Hood Wilderness to camp. Once back in Boise, we took the bus in to a shop because she wasn't starting up very well, and after dealing with a grumpy mechanic who didn't understand the WVO system or want to work on the bus because of it, we finally got some new glow plugs installed and had everything checked out so that it would start up reliably.

We played the waiting game in Boise for a bit, but while we were there, we did find some WVO thanks to a web site called FillUp4Free. Using our mobile pump and filtration system, we're filtering the WVO and now we're really ready to hit the road! Our next stop will be Yellowstone National Park, where we'll meet a friend before heading up through Montana and Glacier National Park to Canada. We'll also be checking out Oregon and Northern California (where we should have no problems finding WVO), although there is no concrete plan. We'll go wherever the WVO takes us!

Unfortunately, since we'll be on the road with an unpredictable schedule, I must take a hiatus from my weekly art & design column here on Green Options. We did start a web site for our trip though, so feel free to follow our journey at volksvegan.org. I'll update it whenever I can, and may even post now and then on Green Options to share what I'll be learning about sustainable travel and green living on the road. Until the volksvegan adventure leaves us settled in somewhere new, happy trails!

Late last year, the California-based company announced that they would be installing 1.6 megawatts of solar energy atop their Mountain View campus buildings; the largest corporate solar venture in the U.S. Now, they're giving each employee a bike and encouraging everyone to ride to work on two wheels. The program will be available to more than 2,000 permanent employees located in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Each bike will branded with the Google name and come with a free helmet. There will be plenty of options to choose from for both men and women; with even a "fold-up" version available for people who can only bike halfway. According to Google's Director of Human Resources and Staffing overseas, Liane Hornsey, the bikes will give each employee the opportunity "keep fit and healthy, get to know their city better and reduce the environmental impact of their journey to work." Who can argue with that?

It's about time we get more in touch with bikes. Remember when you were a kid and it was the only lifesaving mode of transportation available? I used to bike for miles everyday — and up until recently, covered less ground in my car daily than I used to on my bike. Sure, there's obvious reasons for having a car handy, but biking is something that's so easily overlooked. It's great to see Google actually encouraging the practice and giving people an opportunity to enjoy something we all seem to forget as we get older. Hit the jump for more information!