Green Options

When I was looking at Delhi’s environment almost a decade back, Delhi was entering its bitter battle against being the ‘fourth most polluted city’ in the world. Much thought and action (or shall we say reaction) was devoted to the problem. Delhi was able to remedy both its ‘fourth most polluted’ status and its air quality with unprecedented ‘hyper-activity:’ remarkable for being so well concerted across the different levels and different arms of the government.

Picture: Delhi Smog in January 2009

As I revisited the problem more recently, I was both shocked and saddened to see a decline so visibly and so quickly. Examining Delhi’s data, in January this year, I found an increase in vehicular pollution. I was not expecting this to happen in face of the phenomenal and difficult measures that Delhi had undertaken: like relocation of industries out of residential areas (something that had come about as a result of the developmental dream for Delhi in the 1950s) and conversion of the entire fleet of Delhi Transportation Corporation (DTC) buses into Compressed Natural gas or CNG (resulting in the largest CNG-operated public transportation in the world).

AT&T just announced that it will spend over half a billion dollars over the next 10 years in an attempt to reduce fuel usage and ostensibly, stimulate the economy. CEO Randall Stephenson stated that companies like AT&T have an “obligation to make investments that will drive the nation’s economic growth and productivity.”

To meet this obligation, AT&T will expand its alternative-fuel vehicle fleet from 100 to 8,000 vehicles by 2020. These vehicles will be U.S.-made compressed natural gas vehicles, amounting to $350 million worth of the total $565 million. Another 7,100 vehicles in AT&T’s passenger fleet will swapped out for electric-hybrids.

Waste Management of Seattle has begun construction on a new compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station and unveiled a fleet of CNG-fueled solid waste collection trucks. The Seattle project is part of a larger national effort to cut the company’s CO2 emissions by 15% by 2020.

Waste Management is investing $29 million in 106 new vehicles and an additional $7.5 million to build a compressed natural gas fueling station in Seattle. When complete, the station will open to the public and within five years all 180 collection trucks in the Seattle fleet will be fueled by CNG.

Nationally, Waste Management already has 265 CNG and has 418 LNG (liquified natural gas) vehicles; and by the end of 2009, the company expects to have 500 LNG vehicles and 299 CNG vehicles in service.

As part of a broader national effort to convert trucks to CNG, the plan would seem to dovetail nicely with what has been proposed by T. Boone Pickens. In addition to advocating for more wind energy to power our light cars and trucks, Pickens supports converting the nation’s truck-fueling infrastructure to natural gas.

A man from San Jose, California, has been pulled over by the California Highway Patrol more than 40 times for driving solo in the carpool lane, but has never gotten a ticket. The reason: His 1995 Dodge Caravan compressed natural gas (CNG) conversion is, apparently, too much for California cops to compute.

In California, the CNG conversion qualifies Carl Tankersley to drive solo in those highly desirable diamond lanes. Yet, although he prominently displays his carpool and CNG stickers as required by law, that doesn’t seem to be enough to stop the cops from disturbing his 30 minute commute on a fairly regular basis.

Taking a big picture view of the world and our future, the only realistic expectation is that liquid and gas fuels will be needed and used for a long time to come. In light of this we should embrace biofuels and compressed natural gas as much better alternatives to petroleum.

Don’t get me wrong. As a daily commuter, I drool over the upcoming swath of electric cars and plug-in hybrids. I fantasize about the day when I can ditch my car entirely and ride a high-speed, internet-connected, ultra-quiet Maglev train to work. And, as an avid fan of sci-fi, I also imagine a time when we’ve tapped the power of fusion to run anti-gravity personal transporter devices that fit on our belts.

But I’m also a realist. And, as realist, it’s pretty obvious that any of these pie-in-the-sky fantasies in which we won’t be using liquid fuel at all within 10 years time are missing the bigger picture.

So, to bring us back to reality, for a while now I’ve been chewing on this list of reasons why we’ll still be using liquid fuels in 10, 20, and even 30 years’ time. Look it over and let me know what you think.

In the spirit of the season, lets look at winter weather performance of five alternative fuels. After all, what good is your electric, hydrogen or CNG car if it won’t start in the cold?

As 90% of the world’s freight travels by sea, burning over half a billion tons of fossil fuel per year, it is no surprise that environmentalists are searching for cost effective, green enhancements to this traditional industry’s methods.

Seatrade Middle East Maritime 2008, set to run from December 14-16 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center is expected to be the stage from which several exciting new innovations in green shipping are unveiled.  As another hot topic for discussion at this event will be the effect of the economic downturn on the shipping industry, industry greening that shaves costs is certain to be highlighted.

One of exhibitors presenting during this event is Greenwave, a UK based charity that is focused on finding workable solutions to the 1.2B tons of CO2 (greenhouse emissions) released into the atmosphere every year by the global shipping industry. Greenwave has four programs in place, all of which are designed to enhance fuel economy.  As fuel costs for a single ship is roughly $3M/year, Greenwave’s programs also have a positive impact on the bottom line. 

Much of the attention surrounding the upcoming 2008 LA Auto Show (Nov. 21-30) has been directed at cars like the 2010 Ford Mustang and the 2009 Nissan 370Z. Yet, while glitzy, fast, and heart-poundingly desirable, these types of cars already seem like relics of a different era — a weird and surreal window on the past. To celebrate them feels mostly cheap and material, and does a disservice to the reality of our current world.

Given announcements last Friday that the American auto industry is on the brink of extinction, it seems to me that the more important cars at the show are the ones that, if they’re smart, the American auto industry will quickly turn to as the future of transportation. In honor of these sentiments, it’s only fitting for Gas 2.0 to do a preview of the cars and technologies you care about, and leave the relics to the pros.

I’ll be covering the LA Auto Show during press days on November 19-20, so stay tuned to Gas 2.0 for live coverage. Until then, check out the small taste of what’s to come below.

A decade after their first unpopular attempt at a natural-gas vehicle, Toyota says they are looking to CNG for the future.

High gas prices have made natural-gas vehicles more desirable, but Honda is still the only major carmaker currently offering a CNG vehicle. While their car is only available in California and New York, Honda says they can’t keep their Civic GX in stock due to popularity, and plans to build 2,000 more for 2009. Toyota wants some of the pie.

There is nothing really new about using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a vehicle fuel. It works well in internal combustion engines and it is possible to squeeze enough energy on board in a reasonable size tank at a reasonable pressure to provide gasoline or diesel equivalent range. There are modification kits available for a number of automobiles, there is at least one production automobile (Honda Civic GX) and there are a number of options for buses (Viking CNG BS-III, New Flyer C/L30LF, C/L35LF, C/L40LF, etc.) suitable for municipal fleets.

The new thing, the reason that talk about CNG is growing, is that natural gas now costs about half as much per unit energy as gasoline and has an even greater cost advantage over diesel fuel.

Robert Bryce, the managing editor of Energy Tribune is one of my favorite energy thinkers. He is a throwback journalist with an inquiring mind who asks hard questions and really thinks through the answers. He has recently written a book titled Gusher of Lies.

I have not yet had a chance to read the book, but I recently listened to a Tavis Smiley show interview with Robert where he talked a little about one of the topics discussed in the book - the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel.

This topic caught my interest as my energy obsessed brain began weaving several threads into a new pattern. One thread is the growing disconnect between the cost per unit energy of natural gas compared to diesel fuel in the United States. Another thread is a story that has been playing on my drive time radio station about the challenges that local school districts are facing as they prepare their student transportation budgets in the face of rapid increases in the cost of diesel fuel. The final thread is my continuing belief that new nuclear power plants have a role to play in alleviating our current energy crisis.