Jim Harris

Transportation

There’s More Oil in Detroit than Saudi Arabia

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Transportation accounts for 29 percent of US and 26 percent of Canada’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. It also accounts for 70 per cent of oil consumed in North America is used for transportation.

On average the US consumes about 367 million gallons (1,389 million litres) of gas a day, driving 8 billion miles (13 billion kilometres) per day while in Canada we consume 264 million litres daily.

In the US, passenger cars, SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans account for 59 per cent of transportation GHG emissions while freight trucks represent 19 per cent and commercial aircraft (both domestic and international) account for 12 per cent.

Canadians drive more than 300 billion kilometres (186 billion miles), each driving on average 16,000 km per year.

All in all, it is billions of barrels per year. And what’s the potential for savings? Huge!

First off, if every car in North America got the same fuel efficiency as Jim’s Toyota Prius, there’d be no need for oil imports into North America. And there’d be no need to drill in the Gulf of Mexico or to drill in the Arctic.

In other words, the billions of dollars that the US sends to Middle Eastern countries to import is a choice. By choosing not to regulate for higher fuel efficiency standards, the US voluntarily sends billions of dollars to foreign countries every year and unnecessarily exposes itself to environmental, economic and political risk. Roughly half the US oil consumption is from imports.

This has led Amory Lovins to state that there’s more oil in Detroit than in Saudi Arabia. There’s actually no oil in Detroit, but the reluctance of auto executives to pursue higher fuel efficiency standards, imposes billions of dollars of cost on North American companies and car owners.

What can companies do?

Taxis drive 10 times the distance of a normal car a year, so converting a taxi from a Ford Crown Victoria to a Toyota Prius has a payback of less than two years in fuel savings. Vancouver’s largest taxi company, Yellow Cabs, saves $3 million a year in fuel with its hybrid fleet.

Canadians put an average of 16,000 kms a year on a car. Logically, high-use cars — taxis, and those used by sales reps, repair people, and long-distance commuters — should be the most efficient vehicles possible. If cars are company owned, simply ensure that they’re an efficient model. Or ensure that only efficient cars are available for high-use functions.

Similarly, if the company re-imburses employees for the use of their cars, the CRA standard is 53¢ a kilometre, a policy paying a premium for using high-efficiency vehicle — such as a Toyota Prius, Smart Car, Nissan LEAF, Mitsubishi i-MiEVm, Honda Civic Hybrid, Honda Insight — might seem counter intuitive, but it would help shift employees into more efficient vehicles. When oil rises to the $225 a barrel — as former CIBC Chief Economist Jeff Rubin predicts it will — companies that have incented employees to shift to high efficiency vehicles will reap significant financial benefits for their leadership.

Long-Haul Trucking —the average long-haul truck in North America is only loaded to 50 per cent capacity! Empty backhauls or deadhead miles are the largest contributor to fuel waste. Some experts suggest that load optimization software and freight matching web-based systems could cut deadheading by 90 per cent. In Canada, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) notes that empty backhauling results in one in every three trucks on Canadian highways being empty and more than half are not fully loaded.

Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) — allow the cab to be heated or cooled while the driver sleeps without having to keep the truck idling. This can save up to eight per cent of fuel use for long-haul trucks.

Low Resistance Tires & Proper Inflation — can cut fuel use by up to 4-8 per cent.

Hybrid Chilling — can save 10 per cent of fuel use.

Aerodynamic Design — of the tractor and trailers, side-skirts on the trailer and rear fairing can reduce fuel consumption by up to five per cent according to the EPA, but according to the Rocky Mountain Institute, futuristic design could save up to 10 per cent.

Altogether these strategies can reduce the fuel consumption by more than 50 per cent in the North American trucking fleet. And each 1 per cent increase in efficiency reduces diesel use by 245 million gallons (927 million litres) a year!

So the available savings are significant. Which contributes to our thesis for this blog — that sustainability can save business.

Original Article

$2500 Tata Nano gets 67mpg

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tata-nanoBy: Jordana Levine

The Tata Nano, launched in March 2009, is by far the cheapest car on the market, costing a mere $2,500.  It gets an average of 57mpg — and with careful driving can get up to 67mpg, which is better than almost any car on the road; the Toyota Prius gets 48mpg driving in the city – and even the SmartCar can’t compete, getting 33mpg on city streets and 41mpg on the highway.[1]

The Nano is in high demand; the first 100,000 cars produced will be distributed through a lottery.  Although the cars are cheap, customers are expected to pay deposits totalling up to $1 billion if they want to get their hands on the first batch of Nanos.  Also, while the basic Nano is only $2500, it is likely that the majority of the cars sold will be the more upscale models since the basic one doesn’t even include air conditioning or cup holders.[2][3]

There are expected to be up to 300,000 Nanos on the roads in India by 2010[4], and although the car is exceptionally fuel efficient, critics are worried about the traffic and noise and air pollution that the sudden increase in cars could create.[5] Hopefully this innovation will help the environment, though, rather than hurt it, by providing developing countries with affordable cars that conserve fuel.

1  “Most and Least Efficient Vehicles.”  http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/best/bestworstNF.shtml
2  “The new people’s car.”  The Economist.  28 Mar 2009.
3  “Tata ‘NANO’ – The People’s Car from Tata Motors.”  2008.  http://tatanano.inservices.tatamotors.com/tatamotors/index.php?option=com_whynano&task=features&Itemid=301
4  “The new people’s car.”
5  “Tata Motors rolls out Nano, the world’s cheapest car.”  The Associated Press.  10 Jan 2008. http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/01/10/nano-tata.html

 

Jim Harris is a disruptive innovation speaker, who has appeared on Idea City, Canada’s version TED Talks on numerous occasions. Contact him today to book him for your next event.

Biodiesel can result in no GHG emissions

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img_0263crop2By: Jordana Levine

Biodiesel can produce 100 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum diesel, depending on the components used to create it.[1]  The non-toxic diesel is a new way to decrease emissions from vehicles, without having to eliminate the concept of putting fuel in a car.

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel that is usually made from vegetable oil, reused cooking oil, animal fat.  It is most often created through a process called transesterification, meaning the oil is combined with alcohol and a catalyst.  This results in the production of biodiesel.[2]  The biodisel can be used in any diesel engine and blended with regular diesel in any intensity. While pure biodiesel can emit 60 to 100 percent fewer greenhouse gases than petroleum, a 20 percent blend, called B-20, which is more commonly used, still produces 12 to 18 percent fewer emissions. In fact, even a two percent blend (B-2) has a small impact.[3]

Biodiesel is kinder to the environment than regular petroleum diesel.  Not only is it a biodegradable fuel, it reduces greenhouse gas emissions, as well as particulate matter from tailpipes, hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide in many engines. Although lower concentrations of biodiesel are often used, pure biodiesel can eliminate 67 percent of unburned hydrocarbons and 48 percent of carbon monoxide compared to petroleum diesel.  The numbers change when using different concentrations of biodiesel, but they are still significant.[4]

It also helps fight against global warming because it has a closed carbon cycle, meaning that the CO2 released when biodiesel is burned is absorbed fully by plants that are growing.  The plants are then processed and used to create clean fuel again.  With fossil fuels, it does not work the same way and the CO2 is left to linger in the air.  Unfortunately, it still takes some fossil fuel use to create biodiesel, so the carbon footprint is not completely eliminated.[5]  Also, the crops that are grown to create biodiesel release emissions and take up land.

biobus-cote
Montreal Biobus

Although it is not yet widely available, biodiesel has been tested and mandates have been proposed for increased use of the diesel. In Canada, biodiesel has been tested on buses in Montreal, Saskatoon, Halifax and Toronto: Toronto Hydro fleet vehicles are using B-5 (five percent concentrations) and B-20;[6] Saskatoon Transit Services is comparing two buses with B-5 with two non-biodiesel buses; downtown Montreal has 155 buses fueled with B-5 and B-20 to examine how biodiesel reacts in cold weather, and also to look at economic and environmental effects of biodiesel.[7]

The Canadian government also helped fund the construction of a demonstration plant in Oakville, Ontario that could produce one million litres of biodiesel.[8]  Other plants have been created as well.  Rothsay Biodiesel is one example of a company that has built biodiesel plants.  The company, which is a division of Maple Leaf Foods, recycles 6.7 million kilograms of food by-products from meat processing plants daily.[9]

rothsayplant_l

Rothsay Bodiesel Plant in Montreal

The US is also jumping into biodiesel.  In early May of 2009, President Barack Obama instructed the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to form a group supporting the development of biodiesel.  The EPA has already started the implementation of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), which says there should be 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022 – enough to cut petroleum consumption by 11 percent.  Some states, such as Illinois and Iowa and Minnesota have passed biodiesel mandates.[10]

1  Natural Resources Canada, Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE).  http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportation/fuels/biodiesel/biodiesel-benefits.cfm?attr=16
2  Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA). http://www.greenfuels.org/biofaq.php?id=db0fb154-4132-102b-b3dc-0030488d2a96
3  OEE.  http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportation/fuels/biodiesel/biodiesel-benefits.cfm?attr=16
4  CRFA.  http://www.greenfuels.org/biofaq.php?id=c1fa7953-4285-102b-b3dc-0030488d2a96
5  CRFA. http://www.greenfuels.org/biofaq.php?id=f1397af8-4285-102b-b3dc-0030488d2a96
6  OEE. http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportation/fuels/biodiesel/biodiesel-availability.cfm?attr=16
7  OEE. http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportation/fuels/biodiesel/biodiesel-research.cfm?attr=16
8  Ibid.
9  Rothsay Biodiesel.  http://www.rothsaybiodiesel.com/about/
10  Delta Farm Press. http://deltafarmpress.com/biofuels/biodiesel-epa-calculations-0520/

“Locavores” shorten the gap between farmer and plate

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Jordana LevineBy: Jordana Levine

In North America, food travels an average of 1,500 to 3,000 miles before it reaches your plate.[1]  This means high levels of greenhouse gases are emitted from the vehicles that get it there.

“Locavores” are some of the latest environmentalists, eating only foods that are produced within a 100-mile radius.  Although these people may feel that they are eating locally for the environment, the truth is that their best contribution is to their own communities.  Locally grown food is great for the local economy, providing distinction for small businesses and promoting unity within the community.

“On the other hand,” says Mike Schreiner, co-founder of Local Food Plus (LFP), a national organization in Canada that certifies farmers and food processors committed to sustainable food, and links them to local buyers, “There’s a whole host of other environmental ramifications from production.”

Animal waste from an industrial farm is disposed of
Animal waste from an industrial farm

“One issue,” Schreiner says, “Is just the scale of production.”  He mentions that large-scale farms limit biodiversity and use more fertilizers, heavier equipment, and lead to more greenhouse gas emissions than on smaller farms.  He adds, “There are some studies out there suggesting that methane gas emissions from cattle [contribute] more to greenhouse gases than any other part of a food system.”

“Those are issues… that are of equal concern to the transporting of food and/or of greater concern,” says Schreiner.

Eating locally grown food will not be the ultimate solution for eating to support the environment.  Although “locavores” make choices that involve less transportation, and therefore less greenhouse gas emissions, in reality, delivering food to the consumer only contributes to 4 percent, on average, of emissions in a household’s food-related carbon footprint.  Actually, 83 percent of the footprint comes from the food’s origins, which include raising cows and manufacturing dairy products.[2]

Even if locally grown foods produce less greenhouse gases than those that have to be shipped, it may still create more emissions to grow plants in local heated greenhouses rather than to ship them from warmer climates.  A study by Lincoln University in New Zealand found that, if the use of fuel, electricity, pesticides, animal feed, transportation, storage, and others were factored in, a ton of New Zealand apples emitted the equivalent of 407lbs of carbon dioxide compared to nearly 600lbs in the U.K.; this means that it is still significantly less harmful for the U.K. to import the apples than grow them locally.[3]   More important than eating locally is to know what you’re eating and how the food has been grown and manufactured.

LFP’s goal is “to narrow the distance between farmer and shopper,” says Schreiner.  He says it provides people, especially those in developed countries who eat highly processed, unhealthy foods that lead to obesity, with healthier, fresher products.  Also, “Local foods help stabilize markets.”

The perks of eating local food are not to be ignored.  There is a lot to be said for knowing where your food comes from.  Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for people to buy local, seasonal food right from the farmer.  This enables the farmer to receive money before the crops are ready and lets consumers interact with the farmer, visit the farm, learn about how their food is being grown and find out exactly what’s in it.  Tens of thousands of Americans have joined CSAs and, although the government does not keep track of how many there are, approximately 2500 have signed up with LocalHarvest, which has the most extensive list of American CSAs.[4]

THe Fifth Town Artisan Cheese team
The Fifth Town Artisan Cheese team

Ideally, foods would be grown locally, but also sustainably, to support the community and keep the environment healthy.  A good example of a farm that does both of these things is Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Company, which is LFP-certified and recently won the Premier’s Award of $100,000 at the Premier’s Agri-Food Innovation Awards in Ontario.  It won the award for their use of solar, wind and geothermal energy, green cleaning agents, biodegradable packaging and environmentally friendly waste treatment.[5]

1  MacKinnon, J.B. and Aliza Smith.  The 100-Mile Diet.  Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2007.
2  Liaw, Jane.  “Food miles are less important to environment than food choices, study concludes.”  2 Jun 2008. http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0602-ucsc_liaw_food_miles.html
3  Woods, Richard.  “Why long-haul foods may be greener than local food with low air-miles.”  3 Feb 2008. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3294448.ece
4  LocalHarvest. “Community Supported Agriculture.” http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
5  Local Food Plus.  “LFP Certified Farmer Wins Premier’s Innovation Award.”  http://www.localfoodplus.ca/Fifth_Town.htm

Jim Harris is an expert on disruptive innovation, who has appeared on Idea City, Canada’s version TED Talks on numerous occasions. Contact him today to book him for your next event.

 

US carmakers need 7 years to match Toyota’s efficiency

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vw-235-mpg-car-action-193Yesterday was historic: US car makers agreed to produce 35 mpg cars by 2016. Wow! My Prius gets 60 mpg now. But US car makers apparently aren’t that innovative. European car makers by 2016 are going to have to get 45 mpg. So this ensures that US car makers market share will continue to decline as oil prices inevitably rise. If you doubt oil prices will rise here’s an interesting tidbit: Chinese consumer are now buying more than a million cars a month — that’s going to increase demand for oil and drive the price up. Just wait till we come out of the current recession and oil prices race back to $147 a barrel.

But back to fuel efficiency: Volkswagen has a 235 mpg car — already. But US car makers need another seven years to take a baby step. Now a truly impressive goal would be to see the US commit to 100 mpg average fuel efficiency by 2016. That’s what I would call a stretch goal. A goal akin to JFK telling the nation that within a decade the US would put a man on the moon — and then eight years later acheiving it.

Saving 1.5B tonnes of gravel

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jordana levineBy: Jordana Levine

On April 15, the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) released Dig Conservation, Not Holes: A Report on the GTA’s Thirst for Gravel and How to Quench it. The report shows how the Greater Toronto Area is destroying rural lands and wildlife through its demands for gravel around the city.  The report urges municipalities in the GTA to start using less virgin gravel and more recycled materials to build roads, sidewalks and buildings.  It also says that there should be policies to limit the projected use of 1.5 billion tonnes of aggregate over the next 25 years.[1]

The latest data from The Ontario Aggregate Resources Corporation showed that Ontario used 173 million tones of aggregate in 2007 and, if the estimate is correct, the next 25 years’ worth of aggregate used would be enough to create the equivalent of a 60-foot deep hole roughly 35 square kilometres.[2]   This would fill the area between Toronto’s Bloor Street and the waterfront, between Greenwood Avenue and The Kingsway:

TEA, http://www.torontoenvironment.org/ recycling
TEA, http://www.torontoenvironment.org/

This sort of extraction from the earth could have a devastating impact on the environment and its inhabitants.

As the TEA explains in its report, because the process of retrieving the aggregate impacts the landscape so dramatically, it can have highly detrimental effects on the environment.  Pits or quarries must be created to extract the pebbles, stones, and sand used to make gravel, which impacts everything near, or in the way of, the pit.

Creating the pits means that all plants and soil in the area have to be removed, which can affect the wildlife that depends on the plants.  It also decreases biodiversity because both plants and habitats are ruined in the process.

The pits or quarries also contribute to air, water, and noise pollution in neighbouring ecosystems.  They disturb the movements and the cleanliness of both surface and groundwater, which can damage the health and well being of both animals and humans.  The quality and quantity of drinking water becomes diminished for wildlife living downstream and people who live in the area.

The majority of the aggregate has come from the Greenbelt that surrounds the GTA.  The Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine, two essential parts of the Greenbelt, are home to farmers, rural communities, tourist destinations and diverse ecosystems.   Failure to be sensitive to the impacts of aggregate mining on the Greenbelt, in particular, will have a powerful impact on farming, tourism and the resources that allow Ontarians to thrive.

“We’re just trying to get the concept of recycling through to this industry,” says Jamie Kirkpatrick of the TEA.  “There are some recycling methods that are being used regularly by the municipal decision-makers, but we want to look at the best practices and see those applied as widely as possible.”  Kirkpatrick mentions the UK’s progress, which is used as an example in the TEA’s report, since it has been able to achieve 25% of aggregate demand through recycled material.

“We want to see places like Ontario strive towards goals like that,” Kirkpatrick says.  “To take a look at what we already have used, see what we can reuse, reduce… and then recycle whatever materials we have used that are already reduced.”

The TEA has made four main recommendations that it hopes all municipalities will follow:

  1. Municipalities should require construction companies using aggregate for a project to use the most recycled content allowable for each project.
  2. Municipalities and construction companies should publish detailed information on how aggregate will be used within their municipality, including its type, how much is recycled or from alternative sources, and where the materials are from.
  3. Municipalities should look into how other areas are limiting the use of new materials and try to integrate those practices.
  4. Municipalities should ensure that the three Rs (recycle, reduce, reuse) are an essential part of producing sustainable aggregate.

Fortunately, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation already makes 100% of old or ruined pavement available to contractors so they can combine it with new and recycled materials for roads.  The province uses non-traditional materials, such as roofing shingles, glass and ash.  This saves energy, while taking less away from the environment, leaving more of nature at peace, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions that would be created if the province manufactured new materials.

“On places like the 400 series highways in Ontario, the Ministry of Transportation, fur a number of years, has been using an in-place recycling method that basically scrapes of the top layer of roadway, either heats it or applies a medium to it, and then replaces the same asphalt as a new road,” Kirkpatrick explains.  “They can achieve nearly 100% recycling.”  He says asphalt is often described as the most recyclable material in North America.

Even with the steps Ontario has taken already, Canada is still far from making aggregate a sustainable resource and has not caught up to the progress of many European countries.  The TEA hopes Dig Conservation, Not Holes will lead to greater things.

“If we create a bigger value for this material and we put more restrictions on where virgin aggregate can be extracted from, we’ll see this greater interest in using more recycled materials,” Kirkpatrick hopes.  “And maybe then they’ll start treating it like a resource as opposed to just a waste… and hopefully a few less holes in the Greenbelt.”

“With this report, we were just taking… the first step.  Here’s what municipalities can do now,” says Kirkpatrick.

1  TEA, Dig Conservation, Not Holes, Apr 2009. www.torontoenvironment.org/
2  David Suzuki Foundation, Ontario’s Wealth Canada’s Future, Sept 2008. www.greenbelt.ca/sites/ourgreenbelt.ca/files/DSF-Greenbelt-Web1.pdf
3  Ministry of Transportation, Southern Highways Program 2008 to 2012, 20 Feb 2009.   http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/pubs/highway-construction/southern-highway-2008/index.shtml

Clearing the air: Milan’s Ecopass

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Photo: Damien Meyer
Photo: Damien Meyer

By: Jordana Levine

Milan’s Ecopass is curbing pollution and traffic. The city has one of the highest levels of car ownership in the world, in a country known across Europe to be heavily polluted.[1]   However, the Ecopass is changing Milan’s grimy image.

The Ecopass involves a toll that is based on the amount of emissions a vehicle gives off, and is meant to control the levels of emissions and congestion in the streets of downtown Milan.

The eight-square-kilometre area controlled by the Ecopass, called the ZTL (Zona a Traffico Limitato), has 43 electric gates to enter and exit from with cameras to monitor the area.  To come in, drivers must buy a daily or annual pass that admits them into the area. The price of the ticket is based on how kind their vehicle is to the environment.  While hybrid and electric cars can enter for free, old or large vehicles that pollute the air can be charged up to 10 Euros (approximately $16 Canadian) every day.

The test period in 2008 was a success, causing the scheme to extend until the end of 2009. In 2008, over 21,000 fewer vehicles entered Milan’s ZTL every day and an additional 19,100 people began using public transportation daily. The largest drop in cars was seen with those that polluted the most, since it’s so expensive for them to enter the ZTL zone.[2]

With the decrease in traffic, the smog has begun to clear. Milan Ecopass noted that the number of high pollution days in the ZTL dropped by 60, compared to the average number of high pollution days between 2002 and 2007.[3]

Congestion pricing, which charges vehicles to drive through congested areas, is used in several cities around the world, including London, Stockholm, Singapore, San Diego and Minneapolis.  They charge vehicles to drive through specific passageways during peak hours, though, rather than having a barrier around a large area the way that Milan does.[4]

Singapore became the first city with a cordon-based congestion pricing system in 1975.  Since then, an ERP (Electronic Road Pricing) system was initiated in 1998 that automatically charges for different times and locations as the vehicle passes through.[5]  Singapore now has 25% less accidents and 45% less congestion.[6]

In London, congestion has dropped 30% since its program was put in place in 2003.  Buses are faster and more reliable, more people ride bicycles, and, while the city used to have the most polluted air in the UK, London has seen a 20% drop in fossil fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions.[7]   Although the city was originally concerned that the Congestion Zone could mean less business in the area, London is the UK’s leading city in economic growth.[8]

The systems have maneuvered their way towards both of their destinations, lowering pollution and traffic levels in every city.  They have also increased road safety, the use and quality of public transportation, and gained the majority of the public’s approval.

 

1  BBC.  “Milan introduces traffic charge.”  2 Jan 2008.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7167992.stm
2  Ecopass.  “Report Ecopass.” 9 Dec 2008.  http://www.comune.milano.it/dseserver/ecopass/report.html
3  Ibid.
4  Transportation Alternatives. “Congestions Pricing | International Examples.”  2009.  http://www.transalt.org/campaigns/congestion/international
5  Ibid.
6  Environmental Defense Fund.  “Congestion Pricing.” 1 Apr 2009. http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=6241
7  EDF.  “Congestion Pricing.”
8  Transportation Alternatives. “Congestion Pricing.”