Fuel Efficiency in Transportation Systems

Abstract

Transportation of people and of goods plays an important role in modern life. It is a major source of anthropogenic CO 2. This chapter, after introducing some fundamentals of natural climate fluctuations as described by Milankovitch cycles, describes the causes and consequences of man-made climate change and the motivation for increased fuel efficiency in transportation systems. To this end, contemporary and future ground-based and air-based transportation technologies are discussed. It is shown that concepts that were already given up, such as turbine-driven cars, might be worthwhile for further studies. Alternative fuels such as hydrogen, ethanol and biofuels, and alternative power sources, e.g., compressed air engines and fuel cells, are presented from various perspectives. The chapter also addresses the contribution of CO 2 emissions of the supply chain and over the entire life cycle for different transportation technologies.

Practical Improvement Scenarios for an Innovative Waste-Collection Recycling Program Operating with Mobile Green Points (MGPs)

“…As a result, rising transportation costs can severely affect the inflation of each country and increase the prices of almost every good that needs to be transported. Generally, in strong economies like that of the United Kingdom, fuel costs are amongst the highest of all operating costs that both the producers and the consumers have to face regularly [8].…”

“…Three main practical ways to achieve high fuel efficiency in the transportation sector are a) a reduction in the total distance travelled through improved routing and scheduling, b) a reduction in the total consumed fuels for the transportation of goods through the use of high-capacity trucks or double-deck trailers and c) the improvement in fuel-consumption-efficiency measuring through the sufficient training of drivers in primary-fuel efficiency measurements for vehicles, such as the MPG (miles per gallon) measurement [9]. Additionally, energy efficiency improvement reduces CO 2 emissions from engines, primarily in the transportation and industrial sectors, which operate using fossil fuels [8,9]. Therefore, improvements in fuel and energy efficiency, notably in the transportation sector, can considerably reduce many of the negative financial, social and environmental impacts of rising fuel prices [8,9].…”

“…Additionally, energy efficiency improvement reduces CO 2 emissions from engines, primarily in the transportation and industrial sectors, which operate using fossil fuels [8,9]. Therefore, improvements in fuel and energy efficiency, notably in the transportation sector, can considerably reduce many of the negative financial, social and environmental impacts of rising fuel prices [8,9]. This study presents and compares two different practical improvement scenarios for THE GREEN CITY recycling program's current situation in the region of Attica.…”