Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Within 20 years, the world’s car population is expected to double from 1 billion to 2 billion cars.
Dan Sperling, author of “Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability”, will offer his take on the booming car population at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in Eaton Hall.
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Lecture Details
Who: Dan Sperling, professor of civil engineering and environmental science and policy at the University of California, Davis
What: Discussion of Sperling’s book “Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability”
When: 3:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Spahr Engineering Classroom in Eaton Hall
Cost: Free and open to the public
Sperling, professor of civil engineering and environmental science and policy at the University of California-Davis, will discuss risks to the environment and how new technologies in the automotive industry could help slow down global warming.
Sperling attributed much of the growth in worldwide auto sales to the booming markets of China and India.
“They’re now able to afford them, and they want them just like we do in the U.S.,” Sperling said.
Although new technologies, such as fuel cell, hybrid and hydrogen, are gaining popularity, Sperling said the environmental effects of automobiles was still getting worse.
Lou McKown, Downington, Pa., senior, said, “No matter which type of vehicles we’re looking at now, there’s still going to be some form of pollution.”
Sperling said new technologies needed to be encouraged, but that change couldn’t be forced on the auto industry.
“This is a market economy,” Sperling said. “It’s not just the companies. It’s the consumers — it’s you and me.”
McKown, an engineering student, said U.S. automakers were already displaying a shift in auto design by moving toward smaller and more environmentally friendly vehicles. McKown attributed the change to consumers.
“People are not buying what’s new, whether it’s because they don’t need it, or just don’t want it,” he said.
McKown said neighborhood electric vehicles, such as the small egg-shaped vehicles seen on campus, were gaining popularity because of their lower fuel costs.
“If a family can find a way to decrease their overall fuel costs per month, that’s definitely something worthwhile,” McKown said.
McKown said the vehicles could be purchased for less than $10,000 and traveled at speeds as fast as 55 miles per hour. The cars are designed for driving around neighborhoods, not for cross-country traveling, he said.
“If you don’t need to drive more than 100 miles per day, you really don’t need a full-fledged vehicle,” McKown said.
In his presentation, Sperling will discuss how China and California — two of the world’s heaviest polluters — are implementing innovative technologies in the auto industry that could help the industry eventually become sustainable.
Charles Sprouse, Tecumseh senior, said Sperling’s book brought up important issues. He said he thought other engineering students and professionals in the auto industry should take global warming and pollution issues more seriously.
“For me personally it’s a pretty big issue,” Sprouse said. “As for other people in engineering, I don’t think it’s a huge deal to them.”
Although car manufacturers have started to move toward more environmentally friendly cars, Sprouse said that there was more that companies could do to increase efficiency and decrease the environmental consequences of automobiles.
Sprouse said hybrids were a good step forward for the industry.
Sperling discussed his book on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” Feb. 11.
“Even though there was a lot of joking,” Sperling said, “I think the key points got across.”
Sperling’s presentation, sponsored by the KU Transportation Research Initiative, is free and open to the public.
— — Edited by Susan Melgren
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