Truckin @ 6 Miles per Gallon
April 27, 2009 | Posted by Greg Andeck in Fleet Vehicles, Innovation
Sheer fear. Maybe it's just me, but those 18-wheel truck rigs really scare me. Not only are they big enough to squash my Toyota Corolla should I make a wrong turn, but the air flowing off them at high speeds makes me grab the wheel a little tighter. But that's not what really scares me – it's their contribution to global warming. You see, the average heavy duty truck (known as Class 8 within the industry) achieves a paltry 6 miles to the gallon in fuel economy. Combine that with the fact that an individual truck often logs over 100,000 miles each year, and you've got a mobile smokestack. In fact, these vehicles are the largest source of transportation emissions from the corporate sector. Now, to be fair, these trucks do a whole lot more work – on a ton of goods moved basis – than my Toyota Corolla. But they're still essentially boxes on wheels with hundreds of inefficiencies.
Really we're all to blame. The growth of heavy duty trucks on our highways has occurred because of America's insatiable thirst for affordable goods on demand. Live in Boston and want bananas in the dead of winter? You got it. Want a $50 television from China? You got it. Just bought an iphone on Ebay, but the seller lives in California. No problem. Trucks are there to deliver it all – or part of – the way.
And therein lies the conundrum. Virtually none of us wants to lose our freedom to an affordable choice of goods. We all want those cheap, tasty bananas. But it means that absent a wholesale shift towards local-based economies, or $10 for a gallon of diesel, we're stuck with big trucks that will continue to move our goods 6 measly miles for every gallon of fuel on ever-crowded roads. This is why Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is on the lookout for a game-changing model to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy duty trucks.
Luckily, we're not alone. EDF is engaging with others, including EPA's SmartWay program, Cascade Sierra Solutions, Rocky Mountain Institute, the Department of Energy, and corporate players like Wal-Mart to seek new and innovative technologies and models for hauling goods cheaply and efficiently. Not to mention the dozens of cutting edge aerodynamics, tire, engine, and weight reducing technology companies out there in the labs and achieving early penetration in the marketplace.
At EDF we're building upon a history of developing market-based solutions for two other classes of corporate vehicles – medium duty delivery trucks and corporate car fleets (in partnership with FedEx and PHH Arval, respectively). We're going to be hitching onto lessons we've learned from each of those projects to try and craft a new way forward on heavy duty trucks. These lessons include:
1) Finding the leverage. One of the greatest challenges in getting trucking and fleet companies to improve their fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions is the fragmented state of the marketplace. Unlike many other industries that we've worked with, no fleet goliath exists. In fact, one of the largest fleets – Coca Cola – represents no more than 2% of new truck purchases each year, so the power of a company like Coca Cola or Wal-Mart to push manufacturers to innovative in a way that will benefit other truck purchasers is reduced.
On the other hand, there is concentration in the truck manufacturing sector. But, we've heard time and time again from the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) that they're hesitant to sink investment into energy efficiency innovation unless a clear market for these trucks exist. Solving this chicken and egg problem is critical.
2) Staying technology neutral. In our project with FedEx, we didn't set out to develop the first hybrid delivery truck. Rather, we set out to develop the first delivery truck that was 50% more fuel efficient and no more expensive than a conventional truck over its lifetime. It happened that FedEx's suppliers identified hybrid technology as the most promising innovation to reach this goal, but we didn't pigeonhole them into making that decision.
Too many groups and companies have placed their hope on the next green technology, only to find out later that it has limited greenhouse gas benefits (think ethanol) or is likely to be cost prohibitive in the foreseeable future (think hydrogen fuel cells). It's far better to allow companies and suppliers to stay flexible – by developing a rigorous and measurable performance-based metric, and allowing entrepreneurs to innovate the heck out of the market.
3) Keeping both eyes on the prize. While efficiency goals are helpful, they're the wrong measurement. Efficiency is a means, not an end to carbon reductions. The carbon benefit of a 20% truck efficiency gain could be wiped out if nationwide goods shipment shifts away from rail to truck transport, or the same trucks simply travel more miles. Instead, it's critical for companies to adopt a metric, like tons of carbon per ton-mile of transport, and seek continual improvement.
So, these are just three key "frames" by which EDF is thinking about this problem and potential solutions. But, we can't do it alone. And so I invite you to share your innovative ideas on ways that EDF (and others) can spur widespread innovation in this space. It may not solve my fear of driving next to big rigs on the highway, but the Earth will thank you.
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3 Responses
Comment from Michael Howard
October 30th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Massive Nibble will soon be marketing the Zero Pollution Engine(TM) (ZPE(c)), the world's first Delta Configured Stirling Engine and Heat Pump(c), Solar-Powered Engines to End Global Warming(c). On our drawing board is a 200 lb., 700 hp solar-powered engine, but we can't find money to build a prototype. I'd love to hear any ideas about how to get funding to not only end global warming, but also to make heat pump-based systems to condense water out of air, solving most of the world's water problems as well. Please email mncontact at spitfire dot net for our "Engines Booklet". I'd love to hear any ideas about where to find funding. This is not a hoax, I've spend about $6,000 for the provisional utility patent application, the trademark and putting together a low-power prototype, plus 3 years of shoe-string budget operating expenses. Please help if you can.
Go for free on sunny days, burn renewable fuels on cloudy days and at night. Free geothermal energy for Hawaii and other places with open lava floes. Save that biodigester methane for use at night and on cloudy days. Turn waste heat, manure, trash and/or sewage into power for profit. Many more applications. We have two different solar heating systems suitable for both mobile and stationary applications.
Our engines are a gian leap forward in Stirling cycle engines. They are much more efficient than other designs, have much better internal aerodynamics and can be easily and precisely throttled with no loss of temperature or pressure.
Thank you,
Michael Howard
R&D, General Manager
Massive Nibble
P.O. Box 5
Knightstown, IN 46148 USA
Comment from michaelhoward
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:23 am
Having taken the time to read your post in more detail, I'd going to try to reply more specifically.
1) Finding the leverage. If solar-powered engines cost less than existing diesel engines and they cost much less to operate, no other leverage should be required. What will be required are non-exclusive development and production license agreements that will maintain the competitive nature of the engines market. Massive Nibble does not want to become the biggest engine maker in the world. We want to enable people and existing companies, to profitably make and sell solar-powered engines. They should power everything from models to lawn mowers, cars, trucks, airplanes, tractors, boats, ships, etc. By staying with the existing technologies of crankshafts, connecting rods, pistons, cylinders, etc., existing engine manufacturers have the machinery and tooling to make our engines, on the shelf and plant floor. By providing a rotating crankshaft output (PTO), existing manual and automatic transmissions can be retained. A 700 hp engine should only be about 2 feet long, 4 feet wide and 1.5 feet high, providing a drop-in replacement for most cars, trucks and airplanes, although the radiator capacity will probably need to be doubled.
When driven, the Zero Pollution Engine(TM) becomes a Zero Pollution Heat Pump(c), allowing the it to serve two profitable roles and eliminating most of the fuel expense and (both noise and air) pollution associated with refrigerated trucks. We'd like to use the ZPE(c) to drive a ZPHP(c), mount them on top of refrigerated truck boxes and retain the existing systems for backup. It would also seem like a good idea to put similar units on top of refrigerated warehouses and your car, home and office building.
2) Staying technology neutral. Our solar-powered engines are perfect for use with any battery EV or electric, flywheel or hydraulic hybrid and regenerative systems. They can provide drastic reductions in the demand for fossil fuel, since everyone will be able to go for free on a sunny day. Renewable fuel backup systems for use on cloudy days and at night can be anything from bio-diesel to firewood, wood pellets, grain, weed and straw bales, biodigester methane, trash, even dewatered manure and sewage. By using locally-available renewable fuels, transportation costs and pollution are largely eliminated. Local economies will be strengthened by eliminating the drain on the money supply caused by purchasing fossil fuels.
3) Keeping both eyes on the prize. Measure the emissions from a solar-powered Zero Pollution Engine (TM) any way you want, there aren't any if it's operated only on sunny days. If "tons of carbon per ton-mile of transport" is measured during ZPE(c) use when no sunlight is available, I'll bet we'd still be much more efficient than any other rotating power system (engine).
Since you can't be certain that ours is a viable technology without third party confirmation, we'd be pleased if EDF would pick an engineer that you trust (Dean Kamen?), who is willing to sign a confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement, to inspect our engine and solar heating system designs.
Thank you for the chance to speak out.
Sincerely,
Michael Howard
R&D, General Manager
Massive Nibble
P.O. Box 5
Knightstown, IN 46148 USA
mncontact at spitfire dot net
Comment from Konrad Kwiatkowski
November 17th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Hello;
I would like to take a moment to write a summary of my patent. It's a national solar grid concept, which utilizes our existing infrastructure i.e., the trucking industry and the U.S. highway system, for generation, storage and management of energy, to supplement the national grid.
I would like to give you some numbers to illustrate the impact trucking industry has on the economy and the evironment.
- Nearly 80% of U.S. communities receive their goods by a truck.
- Trucking moves nearly 70% of all freight tonnage in U.S.
- Presently ther are nearly 2 million tractor-trailers registered in U.S., generating combined revenue of over $650 billion.
- Trucking consumes 54 billion gallons of diesel and gasoline per year, and as fuel prices have risen and remained high, profit margins have sharply decreased.
- Truck idling amounts to 1 billion gallons of fuel burned, without advancing the cargo towards its destination.
- Single long haul truck has to take 10 hours off after driving for 11 hours. At 1 gallon of fuel per hour spent idling, that translates to 10 gallons of fuel wasted per day.
- Truck idling emits an estimated 11 million tons of CO2, 18,000 tons of NOx, and 5,000 tons of particulate matter annually.
In view of these circumstances, there is a pressing need to reduce fuel consumption, offset rising fuel costs, and reduce the carbon foot print of each truck on the road, and the carbon foot print of the nation as a whole.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile electricity distribution network that can accumulate, store and distribute electricity into existing power grid, in turn lowering the necessity of power plants to burn fossil fuels. Some of the "by products" of the invention are lowering of the fuel costs by eliminating idling which in turn will drive down the cost of the goods delivered, while reducing the carbon foot print of the trucking industry. This system could power up some of the charging stations for electric vehicles. Also, there is a pressing need to update the inefficient, and antiquated power grid, which will become prone to blackouts, as well as the possibility homeland security issues. By implementig this idea we will be able to create a backup power distribution network, which in the time of need will be at the least a back up system for emergency systems.
The aim of my invention is to lease the roof space of the trailers and install solar panels on them which will be tied to a battery and inverter module, which will be built into the chassis of the trailer. The stored energy will transfer to the power grid where ever the truck stops, for rest, refueling or back at the hub of operation. There the stored trailers will continue to produce power which can be used to power up the facilities or be sold back to the power grid. All of the onboard electric need will be supplied by the battery bank and eliminate idling. Back at the storage facilities the unused trailers will be able to interconnect and become a major power producing plant. This translates into trains and container shipping.
By utilizing thin film PV technology, we will be able to keep the weight down, and with the advancements in battery efficiency, I believe that innovation will catch up to the implementation of this solar grid backup.
This system will create many jobs which at the current state of economy is a very welcome sight. The power discharge stations will be manned by certifed electricians, the racking of the panels and discharge stations will employ many people. There is a very limited impact on the infrastructure as well as landscape, which many are concerned about. It takes care of the space allocation problems as well as the aestetic infrastructure required for installation of solar arrays.
Thank you for your time,
Konrad Kwiatkowski
Managing Partner
Interstate Solar Utilities, LLC
11 Main Street
Old Mystic, CT 06355
Office 860-572-0089
Fax 860-572-0084
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