Reducing Carbon Footprint in Transport - Essay Sample

In essence, climate change is an internationally recognized challenge. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the highest amount of gas existing in the air composition; it accounts for approximately for 70% of the radiative forcing of the climate. CO2 is a member of the greenhouse gasses, they constitute the cover of gasses above the atmosphere, and these gasses are known to cause global warming. Different organization globally have worked out measures to help in the reduction of the carbon foot print in the world. In any case industrialization, transport and household activities are the biggest contributors of carbon ingestion in the atmosphere (Krishnan, Dr Mahalaxmi). It is imperative to acknowledge that the transport industry is one of the biggest contributors of carbon pump into the atmosphere.

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In a bid to foster carbon reduction strategies, transport industry is a key contributor to the elimination of excess carbon ingestion in the atmosphere. The transport sector CO2 accounts for approximately 96% of all the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in the atmospheres. In California US, the transport sector is the biggest contributor to GHG emissions (Litman, Todd). The impacts of the international transportation emission are not covered in this research, all the same; the research focusses on the current conditions of carbon emission around Redwood City in California. The strategies that are going to be analyzed will be analyzed for their suitability in curbing GHG emissions around the state of California.

The reduction of GHG in the atmosphere is highly difficult in the transport industry, reason being, the movement of people, products and services require the use of transportation systems. The transportation industry of this day and age highly depends on the use of locomotives which represent over 90% of means of transportation. The use of locomotives in the transportation of industrial raw material, finished products, people to work and business premises are the core functions of society.

Technology offers a number of solutions that would help in reduction of carbon foot print in the universe. The latest tech innovations are the use of Hybrid Cars, companies like TESLA believe that in order to create a sustainable future there is need to go green. Going green, in this case, means the use of noncombustible sources of fuel. Electric cars are just one of the many strategies that can be put in place to help reduce the carbon foot print (Bialecki, Tomasz). It is important to acknowledge other available and highly potent strategies of reducing CO2 emission in the transport industry. The use of public transport, car-pooling, car-sharing, biking, walking, hybrid cars and other techniques such as hyper loops help to provide other solutions of curbing the emission of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Hybrid and Electric cars are very convenient; they allow individual to use their vehicles within the city centers without an alteration of their daily life schedules and preferences on the mode of travel (Reducing Emissions,).

Hybrid Vehicles

Hybrid, in this case, means any vehicle that combines two or more sources of energy to allow for its propulsion. In this case, we have combustion engines combine to work with an alternative mortar that works as an extra source of energy. For this research, we will consider a hybrid vehicle that takes up fuel for combustion and an alternative electric motor for extra energy. The vehicle, in this case, offers the ability to use the electric mortar to keep the car moving for longer than the gasoline would do (Godlee, F.).

Hybrid vehicles are able to convert energy into electricity that is usually stored in the vehicles battery bank, this operation goes on as long as it is required, only if the combustion engine stops. In other cases, people swap for the electric motor in a bid to save up on fuel. The combination of the two sources of energy creates high efficiency in the transportation industry. A hybrid car has an engine that is very much similar to that of any car out there in production. The latest designs of the hybrid car have a relatively smaller engine than the usual car; they have an electric motor that couples with the gasoline engine. The coupling of the systems allows reducing the amount of emission reduced by a given vehicle and in the long run it increases efficiency.

The use of hybrid vehicles as a parallel option to the use of combustion engines offers a lot of fuel saving and also helps in reduction of carbon ingestion to the atmosphere. In the case of our home, we have four vehicles that are combustion engine propelled. The carbon output of the four vehicles is definitely too much if we as a family opt to switch to hybrid engines, we stand out to help out in environmental protection. The advantage of hybrid vehicles is that they use quite a number of options to reduce carbon foot print, for instance, aerodynamics, lighter materials in manufacturing and a well-planned out shut down of combustion engines. All the above modifications allow one to be able to save up on the amount of fuel usage per kilometer. Hybrid vehicles cover up to 25Km/liter of fuel. The average combustion vehicles cover up to 13km per liter, this is a meager figure compared to the cost savings incurred in hybrid vehicles. In a day we use approximately $200 on fuel cost for the four vehicles, in any case, if we adopt hybrid cars our traveling costs will cut down to $100 per day (Kitayama, Satoshi et al.). Another important part is that the hybrid vehicles on the other end help in reducing the amount of carbon emitted to the atmosphere by half. The pollutant emission factor was considered at an average of 170g CO2/Km. The amount of CO2 released per Kilometer is much less in hybrid vehicles as compared to combustion engine vehicles.

Looking into the adoption of hybrid vehicles by all residents of Redwood City and even the whole of the State of California would help in the reduction of the carbon foot print in the United States of America. The overall amount of carbon dioxide released into the environment will be reduced by half. There is a need to introduce other control measures such as carpooling and car sharing in California; these strategies will help to reduce the number of vehicles driven into the cities. The only vehicles driven into CA will be lower than the usual; it results in a reduced amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere (Krishnan, Dr Mahalaxmi). There is a need to take up hybrid vehicles as they are much more economical and environmentally friendly. The reduction of Greenhouse Gases leading to global warming is a key goal in environmental protection.

Work Cited

BiaAecki, Tomasz. "Reducing Carbon Footprint Direction Of The Development Of Aviation Fuels / Redukcja Emisji Dwutlenku WAgla Kierunkiem Rozwoju Paliw Lotniczych". Journal Of Konbin, vol 29, no. 1, 2014, Walter De Gruyter Gmbh, doi:10.2478/jok-2014-0007.

Godlee, F. "What's Your Carbon Reduction Strategy?". BMJ, vol 338, no. mar26 1, 2009, pp. b1272-b1272. BMJ, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1272.

Kitayama, Satoshi et al. "Torque Control Strategy And Optimization For Fuel Consumption And Emission Reduction In Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicles". Struct Multidisc Optim, vol 52, no. 3, 2015, pp. 595-611. Springer Science + Business Media, doi:10.1007/s00158-015-1254-8.

Krishnan, Dr Mahalaxmi. "Green Initiatives For Reducing Carbon Footprint". IJSR, vol 1, no. 2, 2012, pp. 78-79. The Global Journals, doi:10.15373/22778179/jul2012/24.

Litman, Todd. "Evaluating Carbon Taxes As An Energy Conservation And Emission Reduction Strategy". Transportation Research Record: Journal Of The Transportation Research Board, vol 2139, 2009, pp. 125-132. Transportation Research Board, doi:10.3141/2139-15.

Reducing Emissions,. "Saving Fuel, Reducing Emissions: Making Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles Cost Effective - ACCESS Magazine". 2012, http://www.accessmagazine.org/articles/spring-2009/saving-fuel-reducing-emissions-making-plug-hybrid-electric-vehicles-cost-effective/.