工人建造电动公交车
Bloomberg

交通运输技术与创新

New technologies are redefining how we move around—but are they all positive changes?

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New technologies are redefining how we move around—but are they all positive changes?

In 1908, the first affordable, mass-produced automobile rolled off assembly lines: the Ford Model T. Its arrival reshaped the country's landscape and put gasoline-powered vehicles firmly in the center of everyday life.

但一百多年过去了, and the negative impacts of gasoline and diesel are clearer than ever. In 2016, transportation became the nation’s primary source of global warming pollution. It’s also a major cause of cancer, bronchitis, asthma, and other health problems.

Today, innovative new technologies promise to displace gasoline and reshape the transportation system once again. 其中一些,比如电动汽车,已经展示了它们的好处. 其他人可能会增加污染——除非我们现在采取措施.

电动汽车

术语“电动汽车”包括 插电式混合动力车, 纯电动汽车, and 燃料电池技术——所有这些至少部分是由电力驱动的. Electric drive can be used to power passenger cars, transit buses, and even big rig tractor trailers.

作为一种能源, 电比石油更清洁、更便宜, 即使电力来自污染最严重的以煤为主的电网. 超过百分之七十 of people and growing live in places where driving on electricity is cleaner than driving a 50 MPG gasoline car.

For a fighting chance at avoiding the worst impacts of climate change, the United States needs to move off oil and electrify the majority of its cars, trucks, 到本世纪中叶,还有公共汽车.

New mobility

A handful of recent innovations—collectively known as “new mobility”—could radically transform how people and goods move around—with profound implications for safety, equity, 还有环境.

自动驾驶汽车 (also know as “driverless cars” or “autonomous vehicles”) are at least partially controlled by computers. If 部署沉思着, 由电力驱动, 自动驾驶汽车可以改善道路安全, 增加获得, 减少排放, 还有其他好处——但这是一个很大的“如果”.”

Ride-hailing服务 like Uber and Lyft offer a convenient option for people to get around, but as currently used may actually increase congestion and emissions. Increasing pooling and transitioning to electric vehicles can ensure that ride-hailing services move us in a better direction.

Whether any of these new technologies offer positive or negative impacts will depend on the policies that govern their deployment.

燃油效率

也称为“燃油经济性”,” fuel efficiency is a measure of how far a vehicle can travel per unit of fuel. In the United States, this is expressed as “miles per gallon” (mpg).

燃油效率高的汽车行驶一定距离所需的汽油更少. 当我们燃烧更少的气体, 我们减少了温室气体排放,减少了污染, 而在汽油上的花费更少 lot less.

Improving the fuel efficiency of US vehicles is the single biggest step we can take to cut the country’s oil consumption. In the United States, automakers are required to meet certain fleet-wide 燃油经济性和污染标准,尽管标准面临 attacks 来自说客和特殊利益集团.

New fuels

For 50 years, 从1958年到2007年, oil supplied more than 95 percent of the transportation energy used in the United States. But since 2008, 石油的份额已经下降, 同时,包括乙醇在内的清洁替代燃料的使用也在增长, biodiesel, 最近 biomethane (或“沼气”)和电.

While these alternative fuels are generally less polluting than gasoline and diesel, 它们的利益最大化取决于它们是如何生产的. Just as an electric vehicle charged on renewable power is cleaner than one charged on coal-fired electricity, 从废料中生产生物燃料, 或者用可持续的耕作方式种植, 能否使617888九五至尊娱乐效益最大化并使负面影响最小化.

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