RMI Outlet
Plug Into New Ideas
Look Who’s Talking: Why Whole-System Transportation Efficiency and Connectedness Can Trump MPG
With 2011’s first-ever heavy-duty truck fuel economy standards, 2012’s new 54.5 mpg fuel economy standard for cars and light trucks by 2025, and no shortage of discussion surrounding hybrids and EVs, mpg and MPGe have been much ballyhooed of late.
Shedding Light on the Superdome’s Blackout
Whether you watched the game or not, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the third quarter blackout that put a temporary stop to the on-field action and left teams and fans alike in the dark for more than half an hour. Questions still remain about the root cause of the blackout. Meanwhile, speculation about its cause has been rampant in what amounts to a grand teachable moment.
Will Boeing’s 787 Battery Issues Ground Electric Vehicles, Too?
There is a history of lithium ion batteries catching fire in electronics. Even more troubling, lithium ion batteries have been implicated in, but not proven to cause, two fatal cargo plane accidents in the last seven years: a UPS 747 and an Asiana 747. How will this affect electric vehicles?
Greening the Super Bowl? What the NFL should REALLY do to reduce the big game’s eco impact.
Super Bowl Sunday ranks number one for American TV viewership, rates as one of the top five days for pizza consumption in the U.S., and ranks eighth for beer consumption. But here’s a surprising stat where it ranks far down the list: energy consumption.
As Obama Starts Second Term, Some Ask, Could Climate Be His Legacy?
When President Obama publicly renewed his oath of office on Monday, January 21, he highlighted the urgency of addressing climate change as a priority of his second term. “The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult,” he said.
