[Reducing occupational burnout and enhancing job performance in new nurses: the efficacy of "last mile" programs].

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Hsiu-Mei; Liu, Pei-Fen; Ho, Hsueh-Hua; Chen, Ping-Ling; Chao, Hui-Lin; Chen, Hsiao-Lien

2012-08-01

-commitment, with associated Cronbach's α ranging from .84-.90. Data was collected at one, three, and six months after employment. Repeated measures ANOVA and an independent t-test were used to analyze data. The average age of the 123 participants surveyed was 23 years, with no differences identified between last-mile and non-last-mile groups in terms of education level, work unit, or other demographic variables. New nurses who participated in the last mile program achieved significantly higher performance scores for job-task support, volunteering for additional duties, and overall task and contextual performance than those who did not. Last-mile-program group participants also had significantly lower client-related burnout than their non-last-mile-program peers. The last mile program facilitates new nurses' contextual performance and reduces incidence of care burnout. The cooperative education model linking universities and hospitals can be a positive component in a new nurse retention strategy for hospital administrators and educators.

Investigating the Potential of Ridesharing to Reduce Vehicle Emissions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roozbeh Jalali

2017-06-01

Full Text Available As urban populations grow, cities need new strategies to maintain a good standard of living while enhancing services and infrastructure development. A key area for improving city operations and spatial layout is the transportation of people and goods. While conventional transportation systems (i.e., fossil fuel based are struggling to serve mobility needs for growing populations, they also represent serious environmental threats. Alternative-fuel vehicles can reduce emissions that contribute to local air pollution and greenhouse gases as mobility needs grow. However, even if alternative-powered vehicles were widely employed, road congestion would still increase. This paper investigates ridesharing as a mobility option to reduce emissions (carbon, particulates and ozone while accommodating growing transportation needs and reducing overall congestion. The potential of ridesharing to reduce carbon emissions from personal vehicles in Changsha, China, is examined by reviewing mobility patterns of approximately 8,900 privately-owned vehicles over two months. Big data analytics identify ridesharing potential among these drivers by grouping vehicles by their trajectory similarity. The approach includes five steps: data preprocessing, trip recognition, feature vector creation, similarity measurement and clustering. Potential reductions in vehicle emissions through ridesharing among a specific group of drivers are calculated and discussed. While the quantitative results of this analysis are specific to the population of Changsha, they provide useful insights for the potential of ridesharing to reduce vehicle emissions and the congestion expected to grow with mobility needs. Within the study area, ridesharing has the potential to reduce total kilometers driven by about 24% assuming a maximum distance between trips less than 10 kilometers, and schedule time less than 60 minutes. For a more conservative maximum trip distance of 2 kilometers and passenger

Implementation Scenarios for Electric Vehicle Roadway Wireless Power Transfer; NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meintz, A.; Markel, T.; Burton, E.; Wang, L.; Gonder, J.; Brooker, A.

2015-06-05

Analysis has been performed on the Transportation Secure Data Center (TSDC) warehouse of collected GPS second-by-second driving profile data of vehicles in the Atlanta, Chicago, Fresno, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco Consolidated Statistical Areas (CSAs) to understand in-motion wireless power transfer introduction scenarios. In this work it has been shown that electrification of 1% of road miles could reduce fuel use by 25% for Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) in these CSAs. This analysis of strategically located infrastructure offers a promising approach to reduced fuel consumption; however, even the most promising 1% of road miles determined by these seven analysis scenarios still represent an impressive 2,700 miles of roadway to electrify. Therefore to mitigate the infrastructure capital costs, integration of the grid-tied power electronics in the Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) system at the DC-link to photovoltaic and/or battery storage is suggested. The integration of these resources would allow for the hardware to provide additional revenue through grid services at times of low traffic volumes and conversely at time of high traffic volumes these resources could reduce the peak demand that the WPT system would otherwise add to the grid.

The association of graduated driver licensing with miles driven and fatal crash rates per miles driven among adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Motao; Cummings, Peter; Zhao, Songzhu; Coben, Jeffrey H; Smith, Gordon S

2015-04-01

Graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws are associated with reduced crash rates per person-year among adolescents. It is unknown whether adolescents crash less per miles driven or drive less under GDL policies. We used data from the US National Household Travel Survey and Fatality Analysis Reporting System for 1995-1996, 2001-2002 and 2008-2009. We compared adolescents subject to GDL laws with those not by estimating adjusted IRRs for being a driver in a crash with a death per person-year (aIRRpy) and per miles driven (aIRRm), and adjusted miles driven ratios (aMR) controlling for changes in rates over time. Comparing persons subject to GDL policies with those not, 16 year olds had fewer fatal crashes per person-year (aIRRpy 0.63, 95% CI 0.47 to 0.91), drove fewer miles (aMR 0.79, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.98) and had lower crash rates per miles driven (aIRRm 0.83, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.06). For age 17, the aIRRpy was 0.83 (95% CI 0.60 to 1.17), the aMR 0.80 (95% CI 0.63 to 1.03) and the aIRRm 1.03 (95% CI 0.80 to 1.35). For age 18, the aIRRpy was 0.93 (95% CI 0.72 to 1.19), the aMR 0.92 (95% CI 0.77 to 1.09) and the aIRRm 1.01 (95% CI 0.84 to 1.23). If these associations are causal, GDL laws reduced crashes per person-year by about one-third among 16 year olds; half the reduction was due to fewer crashes per miles driven and half to less driving. For ages 17 and 18, there was no evidence of reduced crash rates per miles driven. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Reduced Attitude Control of a Robotic Underwater Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bláha Lukáš

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with stabilization and reduced attitude control of a robotic underwater vehicle. The vehicle is assumed to be able to perform a full stable rotations around all axes in underwater space, that is why the standard bottom-heavy structure is not used. The system preferably uses a vectored-thrust arrangement and is built as an overactuated system, which enables to gain a better robustness and guarantees a stable controlled motion even if some thruster suddenly stop working. Because the heading angle cannot be measured, the reduced attitude control strategy is designed and the stability of reduced state of the system is proved using perturbation method.

Are vehicle travel reduction targets justified? Evaluating mobility management policy objectives such as targets to reduce VMT and increase use of alternative modes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Litman, T.

2009-09-17

This article presented several reasons for reforming current transportation policies to include targets to reduce vehicle miles of travel (VMT) and encourage use of alternative modes such as walking, cycling or public transit. Demographic and economic trends are increasing the demand for alternative modes, and economic competitiveness will require increased efficiency. As such, a variety of integrated transportation and land use policy reforms are needed to prepare for the future. Mobility management strategies that reduce vehicle travel include efficient road and parking pricing; more flexible zoning codes; and ridesharing incentives. Most mobility management strategies help solve a variety of problems and provide many benefits, including congestion reduction, road and parking cost savings, consumer savings, traffic safety, improved mobility for non-drivers, energy conservation, emission reductions, efficient land development, and improved public fitness and health. Improvements to public transit, road and parking pricing, and commute trip reduction programs also tend to reduce urban-peak traffic. The article suggested that VMT reduction targets are the first step in implementing mobility management policies. Although automobile travel will not disappear, it will decrease compared with current planning practices. 55 refs., 8 tabs., 6 figs.

Field Operations Program Neighborhood Electric Vehicles - Fleet Survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Francfort, James Edward; Carroll, M.

2001-07-01

This report summarizes a study of 15 automotive fleets that operate neighborhood electric vehicles(NEVs) in the United States. The information was obtained to help Field Operations Program personnel understand how NEVs are being used, how many miles they are being driven, and if they are being used to replace other types of fleet vehicles or as additions to fleets. (The Field Operations Program is a U.S. Department of Energy Program within the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Transportation Technologies). The NEVs contribution to petroleum avoidance and cleaner air can be estimated based on the miles driven and by assuming gasoline use and air emissions values for the vehicles being replaced. Gasoline and emissions data for a Honda Civic are used as the Civic has the best fuel use for a gasoline-powered vehicle and very clean emissions. Based on these conservation assumptions, the 348 NEVs are being driven a total of about 1.2 million miles per year. This equates to an average of 3,409 miles per NEV annually or 9 miles per day. It is estimated that 29,195 gallons of petroleum use is avoided annually by the 348 NEVs. This equates to 87 gallons of petroleum use avoided per NEV, per year. Using the 348 NEVs avoids the generation of at least 775 pounds of smog- forming emissions annually.

Field Operations Program - Neighborhood Electric Vehicle Fleet Use

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Francfort, J. E.; Carroll, M. R.

2001-07-02

This report summarizes a study of 15 automotive fleets that operate neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) in the United States. The information was obtained to help Field Operations Program personnel understand how NEVs are being used, how many miles they are being driven, and if they are being used to replace other types of fleet vehicles or as additions to fleets. (The Field Operations Program is a U.S. Department of Energy Program within the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Transportation Technologies). The NEVs contribution to petroleum avoidance and cleaner air can be estimated based on the miles driven and by assuming gasoline use and air emissions values for the vehicles being replaced. Gasoline and emissions data for a Honda Civic are used as the Civic has the best fuel use for a gasoline-powered vehicle and very clean emissions. Based on these conservation assumptions, the 348 NEVs are being driven a total of about 1.2 million miles per year. This equates to an average of 3,409 miles per NEV annually or 9 miles per day. It is estimated that 29,195 gallons of petroleum use is avoided annually by the 348 NEVs. This equates to 87 gallons of petroleum use avoided per NEV, per year. Using the 348 NEVs avoids the generation of at least 775 pounds of smog-forming emissions annually.

Tackling Fragmented Last Mile Deliveries to Nanostores by Utilizing Spare Transportation Capacity—A Simulation Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bram Kin

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Last mile deliveries in urban areas cause a disproportionate unsustainable impact, while it is also the most expensive part of the supply chain. This is particularly true for freight flows that are characterized by fragmentation. Logistically, this becomes apparent in vehicles that are driving around with a low vehicle fill rate, leading to the unnecessary presence of freight vehicles in our cities. This study focuses on the operational feasibility of utilizing the spare transportation capacity of a service-driven company as a potential solution to supply small independent retailers, or nanostores. The aim is to reduce inefficient vehicle movement. Based on a real-life implementation, we use SYnchronization Model for Belgian Inland Transport (SYMBIT, an agent-based model, to simulate various bundling scenarios. Results show the total vehicle kilometers and lead times to supply nanostores for the service-driven company to serve its customers. There is a potential to utilize spare capacity to supply nanostores while maintaining a decent service level. The number of vehicle kilometers driven highly depends on the location of the distribution center where the service-driven company operates. Based on these results, the conditions that have to be met to replicate this solution in other urban areas are discussed.

Predicting the market potential of plug-in electric vehicles using multiday GPS data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, Mobashwir; Kockelman, Kara M.

2012-01-01

GPS data for a year's worth of travel by 255 Seattle households illuminate how plug-in electric vehicles can match household needs. The results suggest that a battery-electric vehicle (BEV) with 100 mi of range should meet the needs of 50% of one-vehicle households and 80% of multiple-vehicle households, when charging once a day and relying on another vehicle or mode just 4 days a year. Moreover, the average one-vehicle Seattle household uses each vehicle 23 mi per day and should be able to electrify close to 80% of its miles, while meeting all its travel needs, using a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) with 40-mile all-electric range. Households owning two or more vehicles can electrify 50 to 70% of their total household miles using a PHEV40, depending on how they assign the vehicle across drivers each day. Cost comparisons between the average single-vehicle household owning a Chevrolet Cruze versus a Volt PHEV suggest that, when gas prices are $3.50 per gallon and electricity rates are at 11.2 ct/kWh, the Volt will save the household $535 per year in operating costs. Similarly, the Toyota Prius PHEV will provide an annual savings of $538 per year over the Corolla. - Highlights: ► Daily travel distances over a year were obtained for 255 Seattle households. ► 100-mi-range BEVs can meet 99% of daily needs for 50% of one-vehicle households. ► 100-mi-range BEVs can meet 99% of needs for 80% of multi-vehicle households. ► One-vehicle households will electrify close to 80% of their miles using a PHEV40 while meeting all trip-distance needs. ► Two-vehicle households can electrify 50 to 70% of household miles using a PHEV40 while meeting all trip-distance needs.

Impacts of Electrification of Light-Duty Vehicles in the United States, 2010 - 2017

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gohlke, David [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division; Zhou, Yan [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division

2018-01-25

This report examines the sales of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in the United States from 2010 to 2017, exploring vehicle sales, electricity consumption, petroleum reduction, and battery production, among other factors. Over 750,000 PEVs have been sold, driving nearly 16 billion miles on electricity, thereby reducing gasoline consumption by 0.1% in 2016 and 600 million gallons cumulatively through 2017, while using over 5 terawatt-hours of electricity. Over 23 gigawatt-hours of battery capacity has been placed in vehicles, and 98% of this is still on the road, assuming typical scrappage rates.

Advanced Vehicle and Power Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-29

optimize vehicle operation, and capture vehicle kinetic energy during braking ( regenerative energy). As much as two-thirds of this imported oil comes... categories . Figure 4 provides a visual representation of many of the HEV and BEV options available on the 2010 GSA Schedule. Figure 4 - GSA...gallon • Renewable energy generated 24 • Vehicle miles driven by vehicle category • Implementation costs – Infrastructure modifications required

Autonomous Vehicles: Disengagements, Accidents and Reaction Times.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vinayak V Dixit

Full Text Available Autonomous vehicles are being viewed with scepticism in their ability to improve safety and the driving experience. A critical issue with automated driving at this stage of its development is that it is not yet reliable and safe. When automated driving fails, or is limited, the autonomous mode disengages and the drivers are expected to resume manual driving. For this transition to occur safely, it is imperative that drivers react in an appropriate and timely manner. Recent data released from the California trials provide compelling insights into the current factors influencing disengagements of autonomous mode. Here we show that the number of accidents observed has a significantly high correlation with the autonomous miles travelled. The reaction times to take control of the vehicle in the event of a disengagement was found to have a stable distribution across different companies at 0.83 seconds on average. However, there were differences observed in reaction times based on the type of disengagements, type of roadway and autonomous miles travelled. Lack of trust caused by the exposure to automated disengagements was found to increase the likelihood to take control of the vehicle manually. Further, with increased vehicle miles travelled the reaction times were found to increase, which suggests an increased level of trust with more vehicle miles travelled. We believe that this research would provide insurers, planners, traffic management officials and engineers fundamental insights into trust and reaction times that would help them design and engineer their systems.

Autonomous Vehicles: Disengagements, Accidents and Reaction Times.

Science.gov (United States)

Dixit, Vinayak V; Chand, Sai; Nair, Divya J

2016-01-01

Autonomous vehicles are being viewed with scepticism in their ability to improve safety and the driving experience. A critical issue with automated driving at this stage of its development is that it is not yet reliable and safe. When automated driving fails, or is limited, the autonomous mode disengages and the drivers are expected to resume manual driving. For this transition to occur safely, it is imperative that drivers react in an appropriate and timely manner. Recent data released from the California trials provide compelling insights into the current factors influencing disengagements of autonomous mode. Here we show that the number of accidents observed has a significantly high correlation with the autonomous miles travelled. The reaction times to take control of the vehicle in the event of a disengagement was found to have a stable distribution across different companies at 0.83 seconds on average. However, there were differences observed in reaction times based on the type of disengagements, type of roadway and autonomous miles travelled. Lack of trust caused by the exposure to automated disengagements was found to increase the likelihood to take control of the vehicle manually. Further, with increased vehicle miles travelled the reaction times were found to increase, which suggests an increased level of trust with more vehicle miles travelled. We believe that this research would provide insurers, planners, traffic management officials and engineers fundamental insights into trust and reaction times that would help them design and engineer their systems.

Autonomous Vehicles: Disengagements, Accidents and Reaction Times

Science.gov (United States)

Dixit, Vinayak V.; Chand, Sai; Nair, Divya J.

2016-01-01

Autonomous vehicles are being viewed with scepticism in their ability to improve safety and the driving experience. A critical issue with automated driving at this stage of its development is that it is not yet reliable and safe. When automated driving fails, or is limited, the autonomous mode disengages and the drivers are expected to resume manual driving. For this transition to occur safely, it is imperative that drivers react in an appropriate and timely manner. Recent data released from the California trials provide compelling insights into the current factors influencing disengagements of autonomous mode. Here we show that the number of accidents observed has a significantly high correlation with the autonomous miles travelled. The reaction times to take control of the vehicle in the event of a disengagement was found to have a stable distribution across different companies at 0.83 seconds on average. However, there were differences observed in reaction times based on the type of disengagements, type of roadway and autonomous miles travelled. Lack of trust caused by the exposure to automated disengagements was found to increase the likelihood to take control of the vehicle manually. Further, with increased vehicle miles travelled the reaction times were found to increase, which suggests an increased level of trust with more vehicle miles travelled. We believe that this research would provide insurers, planners, traffic management officials and engineers fundamental insights into trust and reaction times that would help them design and engineer their systems. PMID:27997566

Tribal motor vehicle injury prevention programs for reducing disparities in motor vehicle-related injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

West, Bethany A; Naumann, Rebecca B

2014-04-18

A previous analysis of National Vital Statistics System data for 2003-2007 that examined disparities in rates of motor vehicle-related death by race/ethnicity and sex found that death rates for American Indians/Alaska Natives were two to four times the rates of other races/ethnicities. To address the disparity in motor vehicle-related injuries and deaths among American Indians/Alaska Natives, CDC funded four American Indian tribes during 2004-2009 to tailor, implement, and evaluate evidence-based road safety interventions. During the implementation of these four motor vehicle-related injury prevention pilot programs, seat belt and child safety seat use increased and alcohol-impaired driving decreased. Four American Indian/Alaska Native tribal communities-the Tohono O'odham Nation, the Ho-Chunk Nation, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, and the San Carlos Apache Tribe-implemented evidence-based road safety interventions to reduce motor vehicle-related injuries and deaths. Each community selected interventions from the Guide to Community Preventive Services and implemented them during 2004-2009. Furthermore, each community took a multifaceted approach by incorporating several strategies, such as school and community education programs, media campaigns, and collaborations with law enforcement officers into their programs. Police data and direct observational surveys were the main data sources used to assess results of the programs. Results included increased use of seat belts and child safety seats, increased enforcement of alcohol-impaired driving laws, and decreased motor vehicle crashes involving injuries or deaths. CDC's Office of Minority Health and Health Equity selected the intervention analysis and discussion as an example of a program that might be effective for reducing motor vehicle-related injury disparities in the United States. The Guide to Community Preventive Services recognizes these selected interventions as effective; this report examines the

Baseline test data for the EVA electric vehicle. [low energy consumption automobiles

Science.gov (United States)

Harhay, W. C.; Bozek, J.

1976-01-01

Two electric vehicles from Electric Vehicle Associates were evaluated for ERDA at the Transportation Research Center of Ohio. The vehicles, loaded to a gross vehicle weight of 3750 pounds, had a range of 56.3 miles at a steady speed of 25 mph and a 27.4 miles range during acceleration-deceleration tests to a top speed of 30 mph. Energy consumption varied from 0.48 kw-hr/mi. to 0.59 kw-hr/mi.

An Analysis of the Relationship between Casualty Risk Per Crash and Vehicle Mass and Footprint for Model Year 2003-2010 Light-Duty Vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wenzel, Tom P. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2018-01-05

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office funds research on development of technologies to improve the fuel economy of both light- and heavy-duty vehicles, including advanced combustion systems, improved batteries and electric drive systems, and new lightweight materials. Of these approaches to increase fuel economy and reduce fuel consumption, reducing vehicle mass through more extensive use of strong lightweight materials is perhaps the easiest and least expensive method; however, there is a concern that reducing vehicle mass may lead to more fatalities. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has conducted several analyses to better understand the relationship between vehicle mass, size and safety, in order to ameliorate concerns that down-weighting vehicles will inherently lead to more fatalities. These analyses include recreating the regression analyses conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that estimate the relationship between mass reduction and U.S. societal fatality risk per vehicle mile of travel (VMT), while holding vehicle size (i.e. footprint, wheelbase times track width) constant; these analyses are referred to as LBNL Phase 1 analysis. In addition, LBNL has conducted additional analysis of the relationship between mass and the two components of risk per VMT, crash frequency (crashes per VMT) and risk once a crash has occurred (risk per crash); these analyses are referred to as LBNL Phase 2 analysis.

Cost Analysis of Plug-In Hybred Electric Vehicles Using GPS-Based Longitudinal Travel Data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Xing [Lamar University; Dong, Jing [Iowa State University; Lin, Zhenhong [ORNL

2014-01-01

Using spatial, longitudinal travel data of 415 vehicles over 3 18 months in the Seattle metropolitan area, this paper estimates the operating costs of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) of various electric ranges (10, 20, 30, and 40 miles) for 3, 5, and 10 years of payback period, considering different charging infrastructure deployment levels and gasoline prices. Some key findings were made. (1) PHEVs could help save around 60% or 40% in energy costs, compared with conventional gasoline vehicles (CGVs) or hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), respectively. However, for motorists whose daily vehicle miles traveled (DVMT) is significant, HEVs may be even a better choice than PHEV40s, particularly in areas that lack a public charging infrastructure. (2) The incremental battery cost of large-battery PHEVs is difficult to justify based on the incremental savings of PHEVs operating costs unless a subsidy is offered for largebattery PHEVs. (3) When the price of gasoline increases from $4/gallon to $5/gallon, the number of drivers who benefit from a larger battery increases significantly. (4) Although quick chargers can reduce charging time, they contribute little to energy cost savings for PHEVs, as opposed to Level-II chargers.

Assessment of the Potential to Reduce Emissions from Road Transportation, Notably NOx, Through the Use of Alternative Vehicles and Fuels in the Great Smoky Mountains Region; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheffield, J.

2001-01-01

Air pollution is a serious problem in the region of the Great Smoky Mountains. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may designate non-attainment areas by 2003 for ozone. Pollutants include nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO(sub 2)), carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), lead, and particulate matter (PM), which are health hazards, damage the environment, and limit visibility. The main contributors to this pollution are industry, transportation, and utilities. Reductions from all contributors are needed to correct this problem. While improvements are projected in each sector over the next decades, the May 2000 Interim Report issued by the Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative (SAMI) suggests that the percentage of NOx emissions from transportation may increase. The conclusions are: (1) It is essential to consider the entire fuel cycle in assessing the benefits, or disadvantages, of an alternative fuel option, i.e., feedstock and fuel production, in addition to vehicle operation; (2) Many improvements to the energy efficiency of a particular vehicle and engine combination will also reduce emissions by reducing fuel use, e.g., engine efficiency, reduced weight, drag and tire friction, and regenerative braking; (3) In reducing emissions it will be important to install the infrastructure to provide the improved fuels, support the maintenance of advanced vehicles, and provide emissions testing of both local vehicles and those from out of state; (4) Public transit systems using lower emission vehicles can play an important role in reducing emissions per passenger mile by carrying passengers more efficiently, particularly in congested areas. However, analysis is required for each situation; (5) Any reduction in emissions will be welcome, but the problems of air pollution in our region will not be solved by a few modest improvements. Substantial reductions in emissions of key pollutants are required both in East Tennessee and in

Reducing the fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions of the US vehicle fleet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bandivadekar, Anup; Cheah, Lynette; Evans, Christopher; Groode, Tiffany; Heywood, John; Kasseris, Emmanuel; Kromer, Matthew; Weiss, Malcolm

2008-01-01

The unrelenting increase in the consumption of oil in the US light-duty vehicle fleet (cars and light trucks) presents an extremely challenging energy and environmental problem. A variety of propulsion technologies and fuels have the promise to reduce petroleum use and greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. Even so, achieving a noticeable reduction on both fronts in the near term will require rapid penetration of these technologies into the vehicle fleet, and not all alternatives can meet both objectives simultaneously. Placing a much greater emphasis on reducing fuel consumption rather than improving vehicle performance can greatly reduce the required market penetration rates. Addressing the vehicle performance-size-fuel consumption trade-off should be the priority for policymakers rather than promoting specific vehicle technologies and fuels

Reducing supply chain energy use in next-generation vehicle lightweighting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hanes, Rebecca J.; Das, Sujit; Carpenter, Alberta

2016-09-29

Vehicle lightweighting reduces the amount of fuel consumed in a vehicle's use phase, but depending on what lightweight materials replace the conventional materials, and in what amounts, the manufacturing energy may increase or decrease. For carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), a next-generation lightweighting material, the increase in vehicle manufacturing energy is greater than the fuel savings, resulting in a net increase in energy consumption over a vehicle's manufacturing and use relative to a standard non-lightweighted car. [1] This work explores ways to reduce the supply chain energy of CFRP lightweighted vehicles through alternative production technologies and energy efficiency improvements. The objective is to determine if CFRP can offer energy savings comparable to or greater than aluminum, a conventional lightweighting material. Results of this analysis can be used to inform additional research and development efforts in CFRP production and future directions in lightweight vehicle production. The CFRP supply chain is modeled using the Material Flows through Industry (MFI) scenario modeling tool, which calculates 'mine to materials' energy consumption, material inventories and greenhouse gas emissions for industrial supply chains. In this analysis, the MFI tool is used to model the supply chains of two lightweighted vehicles, an aluminum intensive vehicle (AIV) and a carbon fiber intensive vehicle (CFV), under several manufacturing scenarios. Vehicle specifications are given in [1]. Scenarios investigated cover alternative carbon fiber (CF) feedstocks and energy efficiency improvements at various points in the vehicle supply chains. The alternative CF feedstocks are polyacrylonitrile, lignin and petroleum-derived mesophase pitch. Scenarios in which the energy efficiency of CF and CFRP production increases are explored using sector efficiency potential values, which quantify the reduction in energy consumption achievable when process

Fuel-cycle greenhouse gas emissions impacts of alternative transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, M. Q.

1998-01-01

At an international conference on global warming, held in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997, the United States committed to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 7% over its 1990 level by the year 2012. To help achieve that goal, transportation GHG emissions need to be reduced. Using Argonne's fuel-cycle model, I estimated GHG emissions reduction potentials of various near- and long-term transportation technologies. The estimated per-mile GHG emissions results show that alternative transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies can help significantly reduce transportation GHG emissions. Of the near-term technologies evaluated in this study, electric vehicles; hybrid electric vehicles; compression-ignition, direct-injection vehicles; and E85 flexible fuel vehicles can reduce fuel-cycle GHG emissions by more than 25%, on the fuel-cycle basis. Electric vehicles powered by electricity generated primarily from nuclear and renewable sources can reduce GHG emissions by 80%. Other alternative fuels, such as compressed natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, offer limited, but positive, GHG emission reduction benefits. Among the long-term technologies evaluated in this study, conventional spark ignition and compression ignition engines powered by alternative fuels and gasoline- and diesel-powered advanced vehicles can reduce GHG emissions by 10% to 30%. Ethanol dedicated vehicles, electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and fuel-cell vehicles can reduce GHG emissions by over 40%. Spark ignition engines and fuel-cell vehicles powered by cellulosic ethanol and solar hydrogen (for fuel-cell vehicles only) can reduce GHG emissions by over 80%. In conclusion, both near- and long-term alternative fuels and advanced transportation technologies can play a role in reducing the United States GHG emissions

Fuel-cycle greenhouse gas emissions impacts of alternative transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, M. Q.

1998-12-16

At an international conference on global warming, held in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997, the United States committed to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 7% over its 1990 level by the year 2012. To help achieve that goal, transportation GHG emissions need to be reduced. Using Argonne's fuel-cycle model, I estimated GHG emissions reduction potentials of various near- and long-term transportation technologies. The estimated per-mile GHG emissions results show that alternative transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies can help significantly reduce transportation GHG emissions. Of the near-term technologies evaluated in this study, electric vehicles; hybrid electric vehicles; compression-ignition, direct-injection vehicles; and E85 flexible fuel vehicles can reduce fuel-cycle GHG emissions by more than 25%, on the fuel-cycle basis. Electric vehicles powered by electricity generated primarily from nuclear and renewable sources can reduce GHG emissions by 80%. Other alternative fuels, such as compressed natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, offer limited, but positive, GHG emission reduction benefits. Among the long-term technologies evaluated in this study, conventional spark ignition and compression ignition engines powered by alternative fuels and gasoline- and diesel-powered advanced vehicles can reduce GHG emissions by 10% to 30%. Ethanol dedicated vehicles, electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and fuel-cell vehicles can reduce GHG emissions by over 40%. Spark ignition engines and fuel-cell vehicles powered by cellulosic ethanol and solar hydrogen (for fuel-cell vehicles only) can reduce GHG emissions by over 80%. In conclusion, both near- and long-term alternative fuels and advanced transportation technologies can play a role in reducing the United States GHG emissions.

FY2015 Vehicle Systems Annual Progress Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2016-01-31

The Vehicle Systems research and development (R&D) subprogram within the DOE Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) provides support and guidance for many cutting-edge automotive technologies under development. Research focuses on addressing critical barriers to advancing light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicle systems to help maximize the number of electric miles driven and increase the energy efficiency of transportation vehicles.

Are the Costs of Reducing Greenhouse Gases from Passenger Vehicles Negative?

OpenAIRE

Parry, Ian W.H.

2006-01-01

Energy models suggest that the cost of reducing carbon emissions from the transportation sector is high relative to other sectors, such as electricity generation. However, this paper shows that taxes to reduce passenger vehicle emissions produce large net benefits, rather than costs, when account is taken of (a) their impact on reducing non-carbon externalities from passenger vehicle use, and (b) interactions with the broader fiscal system. Both of these considerations also strengthen the cas...

Approaches for reducing structural vibration of the carbody railway vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dumitriu Mădălina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Reducing the weight of the railway vehicles stands as a decisive rule in their design, entailed by higher velocities, the need to consume less energy and lower the manufacturing costs, along with the maximization of the use of loads on the axle. Once complied with this rule, the vehicle flexibility increases and leads to an easy excitation of the structural vibrations in the carbody, with an impact upon the ride comfort in the railway vehicle. For a better ride comfort in lightweight railway vehicles, both vibration isolation approaches and structural damping approaches have been introduced. The paper herein submits a brief review of the main structural damping approaches aiming to reduce the amplitude in the carbody structural vibrations, based on the use of the piezoelectric elements in passive control schemes. The paper outcomes show the potential of the presented methods concerning the reduction of the flexible vibrations in the carbody and the ride comfort improvement.

Can Electricity Powered Vehicles Serve Traveler Needs?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianhe Du

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Electric vehicles (EV, Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV or Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV are believed to be a promising substitute for current gas-propelled vehicles. Previous research studied the attributes of different types of EVs and confirmed their advantages. The feasibility of EVs has also been explored using simulation, retrospective survey data, or a limited size of field travel data. In this study, naturalistic driving data collected from more than 100 drivers during one year are used to explore naturalistic driver travel patterns. Typical travel distance and time and qualified dwell times (i.e., the typical required EV battery recharging time between travels as based on most literature findings are investigated in this study. The viability of electric cars is discussed from a pragmatic perspective. The results of this research show that 90 percent of single trips are less than 25 miles; approximately 70 percent of the average annual daily travel is less than 60 miles. On average there are 3.62 trips made between four-hour dwell times as aggregated to 60 minutes and 50 miles of travel. Therefore, majority of trips are within the travel range provided by most of the currently available EVs. A well-organized schedule of recharging will be capable of covering even more daily travels.

Optimization of a fuel cell powertrain for a sport utility vehicle. Paper no. IGEC-1-087

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stevens, M.B.; Mendes, C.; Mali, T.J.; Fowler, M.W.; Fraser, R.A.

2005-01-01

A central composite design was utilized to study the effects of fuel cell powertrain sizing and efficiencies on vehicle performance based on a Chevrolet Equinox platform. Simulations were performed using the Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit (PSAT), a vehicle simulator that constructs and executes various Simulink vehicle models. Once parametric equations relating performance metrics and subcomponent sizing and efficiency were fit, optimal design points were obtained using non-linear optimization. Optimized architectures were used to compare fuel cell powertrains incorporating ultracapacitors, nickel-metal hydride battery packs, and lithium-ion battery packs. The performance metrics also provided a basis for comparison with conventional, battery, and hybrid configurations. The fuel cell configurations exhibited similar or improved acceleration performance, with approximately double the mileage of the stock vehicle. The range of the fuel cell Equinox was reduced from the stock vehicle to approximately 300 miles. The battery vehicles showed the highest efficiencies and mileages, but exhibited an unacceptable range of approximately 100 miles. The hybrid configuration showed notable improvements over the stock vehicle, but still lacked the degree of benefits provided by the fuel cell (FCVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Also, the acceleration time for the hybrid vehicle was sluggish, likely due to the increase weight of the configuration. The work described in this study was performed by members of the University Of Waterloo Alternate Fuels Team (UWAFT) as part of the Challenge X Vehicle Competition. (author)

A Review of Last Mile Logistics Innovations in an Externalities Cost Reduction Vision

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luigi Ranieri

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a review of the recent scientific literature contributions on innovative strategies for last mile logistics, focusing on externalities cost reduction, is presented. Transport is causing problems in urban areas, in particular in freight transport: modern cities need solutions to reduce externalities costs such as congestion, pollution and others, which have increased in the last few years, especially due to the growth of goods delivery. Online sales and globalization lead to new trends in freight transport, and moreover, a larger quantity of goods is expected to be delivered in the next future. In this context, most of the delivered goods end up in the city centers. Last mile logistics is the least efficient stage of the supply chain and comprises up to 28% of the total delivery cost. Therefore, the improvement of last mile logistics and a significant externalities reduction are very important challenges for researchers. New technologies and transport means, innovative techniques and organizational strategies allow handling in a more effective way the last mile delivery in urban areas. Based on the Systematic Literature Review (SLR method, recent papers that significantly contributed, with original proposals, to the reduction of externalities in urban logistics are identified and analyzed in this work. Furthermore, a classification of the papers dealing with the externality reduction problem is presented. It is consistent with a general formulation proposed to evaluate external costs in urban area. The innovative contributions are classified into five main categories: innovative vehicles, proximity stations or points, collaborative and cooperative urban logistics, optimization of transport management and routing, innovations in public policies and infrastructures. The new paradigm of smart logistics is based on the combination of these concepts and on the proposed innovations.

Plug-in-Hybrid Vehicle Use, Energy Consumption, and Greenhouse Emissions: An Analysis of Household Vehicle Placements in Northern California

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Kammen

2011-03-01

Full Text Available We report on the real-world use over the course of one year of a nickel-metal-hydride plug-in hybrid—the Toyota Plug-In HV—by a set of 12 northern California households able to charge at home and work. From vehicle use data, energy and greenhouse-emissions implications are also explored. A total of 1557 trips—most using under 0.5 gallons of gasoline—ranged up to 2.4 hours and 133 miles and averaged 14 minutes and 7 miles. 399 charging events averaged 2.6 hours. The maximum lasted 4.6 hours. Most recharges added less than 1.4 kWh, with a mean charge of 0.92 kWh. The average power drawn was under one-half kilowatt. The greenhouse gas emissions from driving and charging were estimated to be 2.6 metric tons, about half of the emissions expected from a 22.4-mpg vehicle (the MY2009 fleet-wide real-world average. The findings contribute to better understanding of how plug-in hybrids might be used, their potential impact, and how potential benefits and requirements vary for different plug-in-vehicle designs. For example, based on daily driving distances, 20 miles of charge-depleting range would have been fully utilized on 81% of days driven, whereas 40 miles would not have been fully utilized on over half of travel days.

Psychological impact of the Three Mile Island incident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cleary, P.D.; Houts, P.S.

1984-01-01

This study examines the psychological impact of the Three Mile Island incident. The results are based on data from a panel study of 403 persons living within five miles of Three Mile Island (TMI), and a telephone survey of 1,506 people living within 55 miles of that area. Active coping strategies were associated with continued high levels of distress. Having more friends was related to reduced distress, but introspection, taking protective actions, being active in organizations, and seeking out others were all related to higher levels of distress. High self-esteem was related to a decrease in symptoms and psychotropic drug use, and avoidance behaviors were related to higher than expected numbers of symptoms. Efforts to profile those who used different coping strategies were relatively unsuccessful. The results emphasize the need to consider the nature of the stressor when developing models of coping and response to stressful situations

Reducing global warming though advanced vehicle design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Evans, R.L. [British Columbia Univ., Vancouver, BC (Canada). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

2005-07-01

This paper examines the complete energy conversion chain in order to make the choice of primary energy source for any particular application easier to understand. Alternatives to the internal combustion engine as the sole power source for vehicular propulsion are discussed. Some form of hybrid electric vehicle propulsion system is suggested as being a likely choice to reduce fossil fuel consumption and CO{sub 2} emissions from the transportation sector. The paper concluded that the use of hydrogen as a carrier does not appear to be particularly attractive. However, when hydrogen is made by electrolysis using electricity from sustainable primary resources, such as renewable energy or nuclear power, there is no production of greenhouse gases. The development of the plug-in or grid-connected hybrid electric vehicle that uses electricity from the grid to charge a battery rather than to generate hydrogen and maintains a small fossil-fuelled engine as a back-up device appears to lead to significant greenhouse gas reductions comparable to those from a conventional fossil-fuelled vehicle. 3 refs., 1 tab., 5 figs.

Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Composite Data Products | Hydrogen and Fuel

Science.gov (United States)

Cells | NREL Vehicle Composite Data Products Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Composite Data Products The following composite data products (CDPs) focus on current fuel cell electric vehicle evaluations Cell Operation Hour Groups CDP FCEV 39, 2/19/16 Comparison of Fuel Cell Stack Operation Hours and Miles

NASA Green Flight Challenge: Conceptual Design Approaches and Technologies to Enable 200 Passenger Miles per Gallon

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Douglas P.

2011-01-01

The Green Flight Challenge is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration s Centennial Challenges designed to push technology and make passenger aircraft more efficient. Airliners currently average around 50 passenger-miles per gallon and this competition will push teams to greater than 200 passenger-miles per gallon. The aircraft must also fly at least 100 miles per hour for 200 miles. The total prize money for this competition is $1.65 Million. The Green Flight Challenge will be run by the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation September 25 October 1, 2011 at Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in California. Thirteen custom aircraft were developed with electric, bio-diesel, and other bio-fuel engines. The aircraft are using various technologies to improve aerodynamic, propulsion, and structural efficiency. This paper will explore the feasibility of the rule set, competitor vehicles, design approaches, and technologies used.

The psychological impact of the Three Mile Island incident.

Science.gov (United States)

Cleary, P D; Houts, P S

1984-01-01

This study examines the psychological impact of the Three Mile Island incident. The results are based on data from a panel study of 403 persons living within five miles of Three Mile Island (TMI), and a telephone survey of 1,506 people living within 55 miles of that area. Active coping strategies were associated with continued high levels of distress. Having more friends was related to reduced distress, but introspection, taking protective actions, being active in organizations, and seeking out others were all related to higher levels of distress. High self-esteem was related to a decrease in symptoms and psychotropic drug use, and avoidance behaviors were related to higher than expected numbers of symptoms. Efforts to profile those who used different coping strategies were relatively unsuccessful. The results emphasize the need to consider the nature of the stressor when developing models of coping and response to stressful situations.

Affordability of electric vehicles for a sustainable transport system: An economic and environmental analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tseng, Hui-Kuan; Wu, Jy S.; Liu, Xiaoshuai

2013-01-01

This paper compares the economic and environmental benefits of electric and hybrid electric vehicles with that of conventional vehicles. Without tax credits, only the hybrids without plug-in incur lifetime total costs equivalent to a conventional vehicle whereas the consumer affordability for all other vehicles is less encouraging and depends on changes in gasoline prices. With the provision of federal tax incentives, the lifetime total cost for all electric vehicle types that are driven for 120,000 miles over 12 years was found to be generally affordable with no more than 5% higher in lifetime total cost than a conventional vehicle, except the hybrid electric plug-in equipped with a 35-mile electric driving range. Results of sensitivity analysis reveal that a greater lifetime driven mileage would promote further overall cost savings even at a greenhouse gas abatement cost as low as $42 per ton. Our study has demonstrated the importance of an energy policy that includes tax credits to address the inadequacy of cost differentials and consumer affordability. The environmental benefits provided by the electric and hybrid electric vehicles should satisfy consumers' interest in protecting the environment, reducing the dependence on imported fossil fuels, and switching from traditional to alternative fuel vehicles. - Highlights: • Electric/hybrid vehicles exhibit at least 27% lower in lifetime energy cost. • Electric/hybrid cars with tax credits are <5% higher in lifetime ownership cost, except PHEV35. • Hybrid electric vehicles provide more than 28% reduction in GHG tailpipe emission, as compared with a CV. • Upstream energy production elevates the lifetime emission cost at high gas prices. • The lifetime total cost with tax credits are affordably <5% higher than CVs, except PHEV35

Conventional, Hybrid, or Electric Vehicles: Which Technology for an Urban Distribution Centre?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philippe Lebeau

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Freight transport has an important impact on urban welfare. It is estimated to be responsible for 25% of CO2 emissions and up to 50% of particles matters generated by the transport sector in cities. Facing that problem, the European Commission set the objective of reaching free CO2 city logistics by 2030 in major urban areas. In order to achieve this goal, electric vehicles could be an important part of the solution. However, this technology still faces a number of barriers, in particular high purchase costs and limited driving range. This paper explores the possible integration of electric vehicles in urban logistics operations. In order to answer this research question, the authors have developed a fleet size and mix vehicle routing problem with time windows for electric vehicles. In particular, an energy consumption model is integrated in order to consider variable range of electric vehicles. Based on generated instances, the authors analyse different sets of vehicles in terms of vehicle class (quadricycles, small vans, large vans, and trucks and vehicle technology (petrol, hybrid, diesel, and electric vehicles. Results show that a fleet with different technologies has the opportunity of reducing costs of the last mile.

Conventional, Hybrid, or Electric Vehicles: Which Technology for an Urban Distribution Centre?

Science.gov (United States)

Lebeau, Philippe; De Cauwer, Cedric; Van Mierlo, Joeri; Macharis, Cathy; Verbeke, Wouter; Coosemans, Thierry

2015-01-01

Freight transport has an important impact on urban welfare. It is estimated to be responsible for 25% of CO2 emissions and up to 50% of particles matters generated by the transport sector in cities. Facing that problem, the European Commission set the objective of reaching free CO2 city logistics by 2030 in major urban areas. In order to achieve this goal, electric vehicles could be an important part of the solution. However, this technology still faces a number of barriers, in particular high purchase costs and limited driving range. This paper explores the possible integration of electric vehicles in urban logistics operations. In order to answer this research question, the authors have developed a fleet size and mix vehicle routing problem with time windows for electric vehicles. In particular, an energy consumption model is integrated in order to consider variable range of electric vehicles. Based on generated instances, the authors analyse different sets of vehicles in terms of vehicle class (quadricycles, small vans, large vans, and trucks) and vehicle technology (petrol, hybrid, diesel, and electric vehicles). Results show that a fleet with different technologies has the opportunity of reducing costs of the last mile.

Conventional, Hybrid, or Electric Vehicles: Which Technology for an Urban Distribution Centre?

Science.gov (United States)

Lebeau, Philippe; De Cauwer, Cedric; Macharis, Cathy; Verbeke, Wouter; Coosemans, Thierry

2015-01-01

Freight transport has an important impact on urban welfare. It is estimated to be responsible for 25% of CO2 emissions and up to 50% of particles matters generated by the transport sector in cities. Facing that problem, the European Commission set the objective of reaching free CO2 city logistics by 2030 in major urban areas. In order to achieve this goal, electric vehicles could be an important part of the solution. However, this technology still faces a number of barriers, in particular high purchase costs and limited driving range. This paper explores the possible integration of electric vehicles in urban logistics operations. In order to answer this research question, the authors have developed a fleet size and mix vehicle routing problem with time windows for electric vehicles. In particular, an energy consumption model is integrated in order to consider variable range of electric vehicles. Based on generated instances, the authors analyse different sets of vehicles in terms of vehicle class (quadricycles, small vans, large vans, and trucks) and vehicle technology (petrol, hybrid, diesel, and electric vehicles). Results show that a fleet with different technologies has the opportunity of reducing costs of the last mile. PMID:26236769

Hidden benefits of electric vehicles for addressing climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Canbing; Cao, Yijia; Zhang, Mi; Wang, Jianhui; Liu, Jianguo; Shi, Haiqing; Geng, Yinghui

2015-03-19

There is an increasingly hot debate on whether the replacement of conventional vehicles (CVs) by electric vehicles (EVs) should be delayed or accelerated since EVs require higher cost and cause more pollution than CVs in the manufacturing process. Here we reveal two hidden benefits of EVs for addressing climate change to support the imperative acceleration of replacing CVs with EVs. As EVs emit much less heat than CVs within the same mileage, the replacement can mitigate urban heat island effect (UHIE) to reduce the energy consumption of air conditioners, benefitting local and global climates. To demonstrate these effects brought by the replacement of CVs by EVs, we take Beijing, China, as an example. EVs emit only 19.8% of the total heat emitted by CVs per mile. The replacement of CVs by EVs in 2012 could have mitigated the summer heat island intensity (HII) by about 0.94°C, reduced the amount of electricity consumed daily by air conditioners in buildings by 14.44 million kilowatt-hours (kWh), and reduced daily CO2 emissions by 10,686 tonnes.

Experience of the Surveyor Mobile robot at Nine Mile Point

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kniazewycz, B.G.; Irving, T.L.

1987-01-01

A successful test and evaluation program was recently conducted on a commercial-ready, wireless, remotely operated surveillance system for use in nuclear power plants. This evaluation of the Surveyor Mobile Surveillance System took place at Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation's (NMPC) Nine Mile Point (NMP) Nuclear Power Station. The remotely operated vehicles measures radiation, temperature and relative humidity and provides optical inspection capability. The vehicle is readily maneuvered through 36 inch wide passageways and labyrinth entries and can climb stairs, negotiating 180 degree turns on stair landings. The Surveyor systems consists of a Supervisory Control Station and a rugged, remotely operated, battery-powered vehicle. The Surveyor system is specifically designed to decrease personnel radiation exposure by supplementing the functions of an auxiliary operator or Health Physics Technician to perform periodic component inspections inside particular areas within a nuclear power plant. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the recent efforts, achievements and experiences of the personnel at NMP Unit 1. In particular, this will address the test and evaluation program for the Surveyor Mobile Surveillance Robot

Relationship between US Societal Fatality Risk per Vehicle Miles of Travel and Mass, for Individual Vehicle Models over Time (Model Year)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wenzel, Tom P. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Environmental Technologies Area. Building Technology and Urban Systems Division

2016-07-27

This report presents a new approach to analyze the relationship between vehicle mass and risk: tracking fatality risk by vehicle model year and mass, for individual vehicle models. This approach is appealing as it greatly minimizes the influence of driver characteristics and behavior, and crash circumstances, on fatality risk. However, only the most popular vehicle models, with the largest number of fatalities, can be analyzed in this manner. While the analysis of all vehicle models of a given type suggests that there is a relationship between increased mass and fatality risk, analysis of the ten most popular four-door car models separately suggests that this relationship is weak: in many cases when the mass of a specific vehicle model is increased societal fatality risk is unchanged or even increases. These results suggest that increasing the mass of an individual vehicle model does not necessarily lead to decreased societal fatality risk.

VT Mile Points - 1/10-Mile Intervals

Data.gov (United States)

Vermont Center for Geographic Information — The mile points data layer is comprised of discrete locations based on specific measured intervals along a route. These intervals are represented along a...

FY2014 Vehicle and Systems Simulation and Testing Annual Progress Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-03-01

The Vehicle and Systems Simulation and Testing research and development (R&D) subprogram within the DOE Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) provides support and guidance for many cutting-edge automotive technologies under development. Research focuses on addressing critical barriers to advancing light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicle systems to help maximize the number of electric miles driven and increase the energy efficiency of transportation vehicles.

Hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle performance testing by the US Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity

Science.gov (United States)

Karner, Donald; Francfort, James

The Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity (AVTA), part of the U.S. Department of Energy's FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program, has conducted testing of advanced technology vehicles since August 1995 in support of the AVTA goal to provide benchmark data for technology modeling, and vehicle development programs. The AVTA has tested full size electric vehicles, urban electric vehicles, neighborhood electric vehicles, and hydrogen internal combustion engine powered vehicles. Currently, the AVTA is conducting baseline performance, battery benchmark and fleet tests of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). Testing has included all HEVs produced by major automotive manufacturers and spans over 2.5 million test miles. Testing is currently incorporating PHEVs from four different vehicle converters. The results of all testing are posted on the AVTA web page maintained by the Idaho National Laboratory.

Diabetes MILES--The Netherlands

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nefs, Giesje; Bot, Mariska; Browne, Jessica L

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND: As the number of people with diabetes is increasing rapidly worldwide, a more thorough understanding of the psychosocial aspects of living with this condition has become an important health care priority. While our knowledge has grown substantially over the past two decades with respect...... to the physical, emotional and social difficulties that people with diabetes may encounter, many important issues remain to be elucidated. Under the umbrella of the Diabetes MILES (Management and Impact for Long-term Empowerment and Success) Study International Collaborative, Diabetes MILES--The Netherlands aims...... to examine how Dutch adults with diabetes manage their condition and how it affects their lives. Topics of special interest in Diabetes MILES--The Netherlands include subtypes of depression, Type D personality, mindfulness, sleep and sexual functioning. METHODS/DESIGN: Diabetes MILES--The Netherlands...

Characteristics of Single Vehicle Crashes with a Teen Driver in South Carolina, 2005-2008.

Science.gov (United States)

Shults, Ruth A; Bergen, Gwen; Smith, Tracy J; Cook, Larry; Kindelberger, John; West, Bethany

2017-09-22

Teens' crash risk is highest in the first years of independent driving. Circumstances surrounding fatal crashes have been widely documented, but less is known about factors related to nonfatal teen driver crashes. This study describes single vehicle nonfatal crashes involving the youngest teen drivers (15-17 years), compares these crashes to single vehicle nonfatal crashes among adult drivers (35-44 years) and examines factors related to nonfatal injury producing crashes for teen drivers. Police crash data linked to hospital inpatient and emergency department data for 2005-2008 from the South Carolina Crash Outcomes Data Evaluation System (CODES) were analyzed. Nonfatal, single vehicle crashes involving passenger vehicles occurring on public roadways for teen (15-17 years) drivers were compared with those for adult (35-44 years) drivers on temporal patterns and crash risk factors per licensed driver and per vehicle miles traveled. Vehicle miles traveled by age group was estimated using data from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey. Multivariable log-linear regression analysis was conducted for teen driver crashes to determine which characteristics were related to crashes resulting in a minor/moderate injury or serious injury to at least one vehicle occupant. Compared with adult drivers, teen drivers in South Carolina had 2.5 times the single vehicle nonfatal crash rate per licensed driver and 11 times the rate per vehicle mile traveled. Teen drivers were nearly twice as likely to be speeding at the time of the crash compared with adult drivers. Teen driver crashes per licensed driver were highest during the afternoon hours of 3:00-5:59 pm and crashes per mile driven were highest during the nighttime hours of 9:00-11:59 pm. In 66% of the teen driver crashes, the driver was the only occupant. Crashes were twice as likely to result in serious injury when teen passengers were present than when the teen driver was alone. When teen drivers crashed while

Leveraging socially networked mobile ICT platforms for the last-mile delivery problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Suh, Kyo; Smith, Timothy; Linhoff, Michelle

2012-09-04

Increasing numbers of people are managing their social networks on mobile information and communication technology (ICT) platforms. This study materializes these social relationships by leveraging spatial and networked information for sharing excess capacity to reduce the environmental impacts associated with "last-mile" package delivery systems from online purchases, particularly in low population density settings. Alternative package pickup location systems (PLS), such as a kiosk on a public transit platform or in a grocery store, have been suggested as effective strategies for reducing package travel miles and greenhouse gas emissions, compared to current door-to-door delivery models (CDS). However, our results suggest that a pickup location delivery system operating in a suburban setting may actually increase travel miles and emissions. Only once a social network is employed to assist in package pickup (SPLS) are significant reductions in the last-mile delivery distance and carbon emissions observed across both urban and suburban settings. Implications for logistics management's decades-long focus on improving efficiencies of dedicated distribution systems through specialization, as well as for public policy targeting carbon emissions of the transport sector are discussed.

Impact of battery weight and charging patterns on the economic and environmental benefits of plug-in hybrid vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shiau, Ching-Shin Norman; Samaras, Constantine; Hauffe, Richard; Michalek, Jeremy J.

2009-01-01

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) technology is receiving attention as an approach to reducing US dependency on foreign oil and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector. PHEVs require large batteries for energy storage, which affect vehicle cost, weight, and performance. We construct PHEV simulation models to account for the effects of additional batteries on fuel consumption, cost, and GHG emissions over a range of charging frequencies (distance traveled between charges). We find that when charged frequently, every 20 miles or less, using average US electricity, small-capacity PHEVs are less expensive and release fewer GHGs than hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) or conventional vehicles. For moderate charging intervals of 20-100 miles, PHEVs release fewer GHGs, but HEVs have lower lifetime costs. High fuel prices, low-cost batteries, or high carbon taxes combined with low-carbon electricity generation would make small-capacity PHEVs cost competitive for a wide range of drivers. In contrast, increased battery specific energy or carbon taxes without decarbonization of the electricity grid would have limited impact. Large-capacity PHEVs sized for 40 or more miles of electric-only travel do not offer the lowest lifetime cost in any scenario, although they could minimize GHG emissions for some drivers and provide potential to shift air pollutant emissions away from population centers. The tradeoffs identified in this analysis can provide a space for vehicle manufacturers, policymakers, and the public to identify optimal decisions for PHEV design, policy and use. Given the alignment of economic, environmental, and national security objectives, policies aimed at putting PHEVs on the road will likely be most effective if they focus on adoption of small-capacity PHEVs by urban drivers who can charge frequently.

Urban sprawl as a risk factor in motor vehicle crashes

Science.gov (United States)

Ewing, Reid; Hamidi, Shima; Grace, James B.

2016-01-01

A decade ago, compactness/sprawl indices were developed for metropolitan areas and counties which have been widely used in health and other research. In this study, we first update the original county index to 2010, then develop a refined index that accounts for more relevant factors, and finally seek to test the relationship between sprawl and traffic crash rates using structural equation modelling. Controlling for covariates, we find that sprawl is associated with significantly higher direct and indirect effects on fatal crash rates. The direct effect is likely due to the higher traffic speeds in sprawling areas, and the indirect effect is due to greater vehicle miles driven in such areas. Conversely, sprawl has negative direct relationships with total crashes and non-fatal injury crashes, and these offset (and sometimes overwhelm) the positive indirect effects of sprawl on both types of crashes through the mediating effect of increased vehicle miles driven. The most likely explanation is the greater prevalence of fender benders and other minor accidents in the low speed, high conflict traffic environments of compact areas, negating the lower vehicle miles travelled per capita in such areas.

New Materials for Electric Drive Vehicles - Final CRADA Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carter, J. David [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2016-10-18

This project was sponsored by the US DOE Global Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention. The object was for Ukrainian and US partners, including Argonne, AETC, and Dontech to develop special carbon materials and factory production equipment with the goal of making better car batteries to achieve DOE's goals for all-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Carbon materials are used in designs for lithium-ion batteries and metal-air batteries, both leading contenders for future electric cars. Specifically, the collaborators planned to use the equipment derived from this project to develop a rechargeable battery system that will use the carbon materials produced by the innovative factory process equipment. The final outcome of the project was that the Ukrainian participants consisting of the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology (KIPT), the Institute of Gas of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Materials Research Center, Ltd. designed, built, tested and delivered 14 pieces of processing equipment for pilot scale carbon production lines at the AETC, Arlington Heights facilities. The pilot scale equipment will be used to process materials such as activated carbon, thermally expanded graphite and carbon coated nano-particles. The equipment was shipped from Ukraine to the United States and received by AETC on December 3, 2013. The equipment is on loan from Argonne, control # 6140. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and all-electric vehicles have already demostrated success in the U.S. as they begin to share the market with older hybrid electric designs. When the project was conceived, PHEV battery systems provided a ~40 mile driving range (2011 figures). DOE R&D targets increased this to >100 miles at reduced cost less than $250/kWh (2011 figures.) A 2016 Tesla model S has boasted 270 miles. The project object was to develop pilot-production line equipment for advanced hybrid battery system that achieves cycle life of 1000, an energy

Maintenance of remote reconnaissance vehicle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schein, D.C.

1985-01-01

A description is provided of the maintenance program developed for remote reconnaissance vehicles, such as RRV-1, in use at the Three Mile Island Unit 2. The described approach, which is simple, effective, and flexible, helped to make the effort successful. It will be applied to future projects

Emission rates of regulated pollutants from on-road heavy-duty diesel vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Shah, Sandip D.; Johnson, Kent C.; Wayne Miller, J.; Cocker, David R.

Emissions from heavy-duty diesel (HDD) vehicles are affected by many factors. Changes in engine technology, operating mode, fuel properties, vehicle speed and ambient conditions can have significant effects on emission rates of regulated species. This paper presents the results of on-road emissions testing of 11 HDD vehicles (model years 1996-2000) over the ARB Four Phase driving schedule and the urban dynamometer driving schedule (UDDS). Emission rates were found to be highly dependent on vehicle operating mode. Per mile NO x emission rates for vehicle operation at low speeds, in simulated congested traffic, were three times higher per mile emissions then while cruising on the freeway. Comparisons of NO x emission factors to EMFAC baseline emission factors were within 5-40% for vehicles of various model years tested over the UDDS. A comparison of NO x emission factors for a weighted average of the ARB four phase driving schedule yielded values within 17-57% of EMFAC values. Generally, particulate matter (PM) emission rates were lower than EMFAC values.

Fleet average NOx emission performance of 2004 model year light-duty vehicles, light-duty trucks and medium-duty passenger vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-05-01

The On-Road Vehicle and Engine Emission Regulations came into effect on January 1, 2004. The regulations introduced more stringent national emission standards for on-road vehicles and engines, and also required that companies submit reports containing information concerning the company's fleets. This report presented a summary of the regulatory requirements relating to nitric oxide (NO x ) fleet average emissions for light-duty vehicles, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty passenger vehicles under the new regulations. The effectiveness of the Canadian fleet average NO x emission program at achieving environmental performance objectives was also evaluated. A summary of the fleet average NO x emission performance of individual companies was presented, as well as the overall Canadian fleet average of the 2004 model year based on data submitted by companies in their end of model year reports. A total of 21 companies submitted reports covering 2004 model year vehicles in 10 test groups, comprising 1,350,719 vehicles of the 2004 model year manufactured or imported for the purpose of sale in Canada. The average NO x value for the entire Canadian LDV/LDT fleet was 0.2016463 grams per mile. The average NO x values for the entire Canadian HLDT/MDPV fleet was 0.321976 grams per mile. It was concluded that the NO x values for both fleets were consistent with the environmental performance objectives of the regulations for the 2004 model year. 9 tabs

Reducing Aerodynamic Drag on Empty Open Cargo Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, James C.; Storms, Bruce L.; Dzoan, Dan

2009-01-01

Some simple structural modifications have been demonstrated to be effective in reducing aerodynamic drag on vehicles that have empty open cargo bays. The basic idea is to break up the airflow in a large open cargo bay by inserting panels to divide the bay into a series of smaller bays. In the case of a coal car, this involves inserting a small number (typically between two and four) of vertical full-depth or partial-depth panels.

Techno-economic and behavioural analysis of battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid vehicles in a future sustainable road transport system in the UK

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Offer, G.J., E-mail: gregory.offer@imperial.ac.u [Department Earth Science Engineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ London (United Kingdom); Contestabile, M. [Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Howey, D.A. [Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Clague, R. [Energy Futures Lab, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Brandon, N.P. [Department Earth Science Engineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ London (United Kingdom)

2011-04-15

This paper conducts a techno-economic study on hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCV), Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and hydrogen Fuel Cell plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FCHEV) in the UK using cost predictions for 2030. The study includes an analysis of data on distance currently travelled by private car users daily in the UK. Results show that there may be diminishing economic returns for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) with battery sizes above 20 kWh, and the optimum size for a PHEV battery is between 5 and 15 kWh. Differences in behaviour as a function of vehicle size are demonstrated, which decreases the percentage of miles that can be economically driven using electricity for a larger vehicle. Decreasing carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation by 80% favours larger optimum battery sizes as long as carbon is priced, and will reduce emissions considerably. However, the model does not take into account reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from hydrogen generation, assuming hydrogen will still be produced from steam reforming methane in 2030. - Research highlights: {yields} Report diminishing returns for plug-in hybrids with battery sizes above 20 kWh. {yields} The optimum size for a PHEV battery is between 5 and 15 kWh. {yields} Current behaviour decreases percentage electric only miles for larger vehicles. {yields} Low carbon electricity favours larger battery sizes as long as carbon is priced. {yields} Reinforces that the FCHEV is a cheaper option than conventional ICE vehicles in 2030.

Techno-economic and behavioural analysis of battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid vehicles in a future sustainable road transport system in the UK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Offer, G.J.; Contestabile, M.; Howey, D.A.; Clague, R.; Brandon, N.P.

2011-01-01

This paper conducts a techno-economic study on hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCV), Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and hydrogen Fuel Cell plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FCHEV) in the UK using cost predictions for 2030. The study includes an analysis of data on distance currently travelled by private car users daily in the UK. Results show that there may be diminishing economic returns for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) with battery sizes above 20 kWh, and the optimum size for a PHEV battery is between 5 and 15 kWh. Differences in behaviour as a function of vehicle size are demonstrated, which decreases the percentage of miles that can be economically driven using electricity for a larger vehicle. Decreasing carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation by 80% favours larger optimum battery sizes as long as carbon is priced, and will reduce emissions considerably. However, the model does not take into account reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from hydrogen generation, assuming hydrogen will still be produced from steam reforming methane in 2030. - Research highlights: → Report diminishing returns for plug-in hybrids with battery sizes above 20 kWh. → The optimum size for a PHEV battery is between 5 and 15 kWh. → Current behaviour decreases percentage electric only miles for larger vehicles. → Low carbon electricity favours larger battery sizes as long as carbon is priced. → Reinforces that the FCHEV is a cheaper option than conventional ICE vehicles in 2030.

Earth Observatory Satellite system definition study. Report no. 1: Orbit/launch vehicle tradeoff studies and recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

1974-01-01

A study was conducted to determine the recommended orbit for the Earth Observatory Satellite (EOS) Land Resources Mission. It was determined that a promising sun synchronous orbit is 366 nautical miles when using an instrument with a 100 nautical mile swath width. The orbit has a 17 day repeat cycle and a 14 nautical mile swath overlap. Payloads were developed for each mission, EOS A through F. For each mission, the lowest cost booster that was capable of lifting the payload to the EOS orbit was selected. The launch vehicles selected for the missions are identified on the basis of tradeoff studies and recommendations. The reliability aspects of the launch vehicles are analyzed.

Multiyear Program Plan: Reducing Friction and Wear in Heavy Vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

R.R. Fessler; G.R. Fenske

1999-12-13

As described in its multiyear program plan for 1998-2000, the Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies (OHVT) envisions the development of a fuel-flexible, energy-efficient, near-zero-emissions, heavy-duty U.S. diesel engine technology devolving into all truck classes as a real and viable strategy for reducing energy requirements for commercial transport services and the rapidly growing multipurpose vehicle market (pickups, vans, and sport utility vehicles). Implementation of the OHVT program plan will have significant national benefits in energy savings, cleaner air, more jobs, and increased gross domestic product (GDP). Successful implementation will reduce the petroleum consumption of Class 1-8 trucks by 1.4 million barrels of oil per day by 2020 and over 1.8 million by 2030, amounting to a reduction in highway petroleum consumption of 13.2% and 18.6%, respectively. All types of regulated emissions will be reduced, that is, 20% drop in PM10 emissions (41,000 metric tons per year) by 203 0, 17% reduction in CO2 greenhouse gases (205 million metric tons per year), 7% reduction in NOx, 20% reduction in NMHC, and 30% reduction in CO. An increase of 15,000 jobs by 2020 is expected, as is an increase of $24 billion in GDP. The strategy of OHVT is to focus primarily on the diesel engine since it has numerous advantages. It has the highest efficiency of any engine today, 45% versus 30% for production gasoline engines; and it can be made more efficient at least to 55% and possibly up to 63%. It is the engine of choice for heavy vehicles (trucks), because it offers power, efficiency, durability, and reliability and is used extensively in rail, marine, and off-road applications. Its emission can be ultra-low to near zero, and the production infrastructure is already in place. The primary goals of OHVT are as follows: (1) Develop by 2002 the diesel-engine enabling technologies to support large-scale industry dieselization of light trucks, achieving a 35% fuel efficiency

System safety engineering in the development of advanced surface transportation vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Arnzen, H. E.

1971-01-01

Applications of system safety engineering to the development of advanced surface transportation vehicles are described. As a pertinent example, the paper describes a safety engineering efforts tailored to the particular design and test requirements of the Tracked Air Cushion Research Vehicle (TACRV). The test results obtained from this unique research vehicle provide significant design data directly applicable to the development of future tracked air cushion vehicles that will carry passengers in comfort and safety at speeds up to 300 miles per hour.

Determining the Effectiveness of Incorporating Geographic Information Into Vehicle Performance Algorithms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sera White

2012-04-01

This thesis presents a research study using one year of driving data obtained from plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) located in Sacramento and San Francisco, California to determine the effectiveness of incorporating geographic information into vehicle performance algorithms. Sacramento and San Francisco were chosen because of the availability of high resolution (1/9 arc second) digital elevation data. First, I present a method for obtaining instantaneous road slope, given a latitude and longitude, and introduce its use into common driving intensity algorithms. I show that for trips characterized by >40m of net elevation change (from key on to key off), the use of instantaneous road slope significantly changes the results of driving intensity calculations. For trips exhibiting elevation loss, algorithms ignoring road slope overestimated driving intensity by as much as 211 Wh/mile, while for trips exhibiting elevation gain these algorithms underestimated driving intensity by as much as 333 Wh/mile. Second, I describe and test an algorithm that incorporates vehicle route type into computations of city and highway fuel economy. Route type was determined by intersecting trip GPS points with ESRI StreetMap road types and assigning each trip as either city or highway route type according to whichever road type comprised the largest distance traveled. The fuel economy results produced by the geographic classification were compared to the fuel economy results produced by algorithms that assign route type based on average speed or driving style. Most results were within 1 mile per gallon ({approx}3%) of one another; the largest difference was 1.4 miles per gallon for charge depleting highway trips. The methods for acquiring and using geographic data introduced in this thesis will enable other vehicle technology researchers to incorporate geographic data into their research problems.

40 CFR 600.006-87 - Data and information requirements for fuel economy vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

..., motor controller, battery configuration, or other components performed within 2,000 miles prior to fuel... fuel economy vehicles. 600.006-87 Section 600.006-87 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) ENERGY POLICY FUEL ECONOMY AND CARBON-RELATED EXHAUST EMISSIONS OF MOTOR VEHICLES Fuel...

40 CFR 600.006-08 - Data and information requirements for fuel economy vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... controller, battery configuration, or other components performed within 2,000 miles prior to fuel economy... fuel economy vehicles. 600.006-08 Section 600.006-08 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) ENERGY POLICY FUEL ECONOMY AND CARBON-RELATED EXHAUST EMISSIONS OF MOTOR VEHICLES Fuel...

Consideration of black carbon and primary organic carbon emissions in life-cycle analysis of Greenhouse gas emissions of vehicle systems and fuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Hao; Wang, Michael Q

2014-10-21

The climate impact assessment of vehicle/fuel systems may be incomplete without considering short-lived climate forcers of black carbon (BC) and primary organic carbon (POC). We quantified life-cycle BC and POC emissions of a large variety of vehicle/fuel systems with an expanded Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation model developed at Argonne National Laboratory. Life-cycle BC and POC emissions have small impacts on life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of gasoline, diesel, and other fuel vehicles, but would add 34, 16, and 16 g CO2 equivalent (CO2e)/mile, or 125, 56, and 56 g CO2e/mile with the 100 or 20 year Global Warming Potentials of BC and POC emissions, respectively, for vehicles fueled with corn stover-, willow tree-, and Brazilian sugarcane-derived ethanol, mostly due to BC- and POC-intensive biomass-fired boilers in cellulosic and sugarcane ethanol plants for steam and electricity production, biomass open burning in sugarcane fields, and diesel-powered agricultural equipment for biomass feedstock production/harvest. As a result, life-cycle GHG emission reduction potentials of these ethanol types, though still significant, are reduced from those without considering BC and POC emissions. These findings, together with a newly expanded GREET version, help quantify the previously unknown impacts of BC and POC emissions on life-cycle GHG emissions of U.S. vehicle/fuel systems.

Household vehicles energy consumption 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-08-01

Household Vehicles Energy Consumption 1994 reports on the results of the 1994 Residential Transportation Energy Consumption Survey (RTECS). The RTECS is a national sample survey that has been conducted every 3 years since 1985. For the 1994 survey, more than 3,000 households that own or use some 6,000 vehicles provided information to describe vehicle stock, vehicle-miles traveled, energy end-use consumption, and energy expenditures for personal vehicles. The survey results represent the characteristics of the 84.9 million households that used or had access to vehicles in 1994 nationwide. (An additional 12 million households neither owned or had access to vehicles during the survey year.) To be included in then RTECS survey, vehicles must be either owned or used by household members on a regular basis for personal transportation, or owned by a company rather than a household, but kept at home, regularly available for the use of household members. Most vehicles included in the RTECS are classified as {open_quotes}light-duty vehicles{close_quotes} (weighing less than 8,500 pounds). However, the RTECS also includes a very small number of {open_quotes}other{close_quotes} vehicles, such as motor homes and larger trucks that are available for personal use.

Research of reducing the shielding effect caused by vehicles passing the radioactivity monitor system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng Xianqi; Li Jianmin; Wang Xiaobing

2008-01-01

A kind of Radioactivity Monitor System with Vehicle Contour Acquisition Module based on Optical Screen is developed. The system can reduce the shielding effect caused by the passing vehicles, so that the alarming sensitivity is improved. This paper introduces the work situation of the system and preliminary experimental results. (authors)

U.S. Light-duty Vehicle Air Conditioning Fuel Use and the Impact of Four Solar/Thermal Control Technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rugh, John P [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kekelia, Bidzina [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kreutzer, Cory J [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Titov, Eugene V [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-11-28

The U.S. uses 7.6 billion gallons of fuel per year for vehicle air conditioning (A/C), equivalent to 5.7 percent of the total national light-duty vehicle (LDV) fuel use. This equates to 30 gallons/year per vehicle, or 23.5 grams (g) of carbon dioxide (CO2) per mile, for an average U.S. vehicle. A/C is a significant contribution to national fuel use; therefore, technologies that reduce A/C loads may reduce operational costs, A/C fuel use, and CO2 emissions. Since A/C is not operated during standard EPA fuel economy testing protocols, EPA provides off-cycle credits to encourage OEMs to implement advanced A/C technologies that reduce fuel use in the real world. NREL researchers assessed thermal/solar off-cycle credits available in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Final Rule for Model Year 2017 and Later Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Corporate Average Fuel Economy. Credits include glazings, solar reflective paint, and passive and active cabin ventilation. Implementing solar control glass reduced CO2 emissions by 2.0 g/mi, and solar reflective paint resulted in a reduction of 0.8 g/mi. Active and passive ventilation strategies only reduced emissions by 0.1 and 0.2 g/mi, respectively. The national-level analysis process is powerful and general; it can be used to determine the impact of a wide range of new vehicle thermal technologies on fuel use, EV range, and CO2 emissions.

Three Mile Island revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacLeod, G.K.

1986-01-01

The accident at Three Mile Island proved that the Pennsylvania Department of Health lacked the tools to deal with the serious health consequences that occurred during and after this emergency. Despite the relative safety of nuclear power generation, we must be better prepared for the health and medical consequences of serous radiation emergencies. The author reviews the Three Mile Island accident through the eyes of newspaper reporters

Accelerated Evaluation of Automated Vehicles Safety in Lane-Change Scenarios Based on Importance Sampling Techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Ding; Lam, Henry; Peng, Huei; Bao, Shan; LeBlanc, David J; Nobukawa, Kazutoshi; Pan, Christopher S

2017-03-01

Automated vehicles (AVs) must be thoroughly evaluated before their release and deployment. A widely used evaluation approach is the Naturalistic-Field Operational Test (N-FOT), which tests prototype vehicles directly on the public roads. Due to the low exposure to safety-critical scenarios, N-FOTs are time consuming and expensive to conduct. In this paper, we propose an accelerated evaluation approach for AVs. The results can be used to generate motions of the other primary vehicles to accelerate the verification of AVs in simulations and controlled experiments. Frontal collision due to unsafe cut-ins is the target crash type of this paper. Human-controlled vehicles making unsafe lane changes are modeled as the primary disturbance to AVs based on data collected by the University of Michigan Safety Pilot Model Deployment Program. The cut-in scenarios are generated based on skewed statistics of collected human driver behaviors, which generate risky testing scenarios while preserving the statistical information so that the safety benefits of AVs in nonaccelerated cases can be accurately estimated. The cross-entropy method is used to recursively search for the optimal skewing parameters. The frequencies of the occurrences of conflicts, crashes, and injuries are estimated for a modeled AV, and the achieved accelerated rate is around 2000 to 20 000. In other words, in the accelerated simulations, driving for 1000 miles will expose the AV with challenging scenarios that will take about 2 to 20 million miles of real-world driving to encounter. This technique thus has the potential to greatly reduce the development and validation time for AVs.

Reducing environmental damage through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles as the best available technology

Science.gov (United States)

Fedulova, E. A.; Akulov, A. O.; Rada, A. O.; Alabina, T. A.; Savina, Ju Ju

2018-01-01

The article examines the possibilities of using unmanned aerial vehicles as the best available technologies in the field of agriculture and mining. The object of the study is the use of unmanned aerial vehicles as the best available technology. The main areas of application of this technology are identified: agro technical operations, aerial photography of mining operations. The technology of unmanned aerial vehicles is compared with the technologies of ground agricultural machinery. The research methodology includes an expert evaluation of the unmanned aerial vehicle technology belonging to the class of the best available technologies by the criteria: the level of environmental impact, resource saving, the use of low-waste, non-waste processes, the existence of at least two objects, economic efficiency. Expert evaluations were processed using the apparatus of fuzzy sets, which make it possible to construct membership functions. This allowed us to prove that the technology of unmanned aerial vehicles belongs to a fuzzy set of the best available technologies. The results of the research show that the use of unmanned aerial vehicles provides a saving of resources, especially non-renewable combustible minerals, reduces emissions and discharges of pollutants into the atmosphere, and also reduces soil erosion. Unmanned aerial vehicles should be included in the national directories of the best available technologies for the mining industry and agriculture.

Reducing deaths in single vehicle collisions.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Adminaite, D. Jost, G. Stipdonk, H. & Ward, H.

2017-01-01

A third of road deaths in the EU are caused by collisions that involve a single motorised vehicle where the driver, rider and/or passengers are killed but no other road users are involved. These single vehicle collisions (SVCs), and how to prevent them occurring, are the subject of this report.

Electric personnel carrier introduced : RES Equipment Sales spearheads development of electric underground vehicle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tollinsky, N.

2010-01-01

RES Equipment Sales of Dryden, Ontario is leading the development of a battery-powered personnel utility vehicle for underground mining applications. Among the advantages of the battery-powered personnel carrier are quietness of the carrier and zero emissions, which eliminates particulates from diesel engines and reduces the need for ventilation. This article discussed the design and building of the vehicle. It was designed to accommodate up to 3 battery packs, depending on the frequency of use. Swapping batteries takes between 2 or 3 minutes. Spent batteries must be plugged in for 6 hours and rest for another 6 to 8 hours before being ready for service. The vehicle accommodates 2 or 3 people and travels at speeds of 6 to 8 miles per hour. This article also provided background information on RES Equipment Sales. The company remanufactures underground mining equipment, including load-haul-dump machines, jumbos, haul trucks and utility vehicles. In addition, the company sells and services new equipment, including Oldenburg Cannon jumbos, scalers and utility vehicles, as well as Canun International pneumatic rock drills and NPK rock breakers. 1 ref., 1 fig.

Improvements in BTS estimation of ton-miles

Science.gov (United States)

2004-08-01

Ton-miles (one ton of freight shipped one mile) is the primary physical measure of freight transportation output. This paper describes improved measurements of ton-miles for air, truck, rail, water, and pipeline modes. Each modal measure contains a d...

Reducing Traffic Congestions by Introducing CACC-Vehicles on a Multi-Lane Highway Using Agent-Based Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Arnaout, Georges M.; Bowling, Shannon R.

2011-01-01

Traffic congestion is an ongoing problem of great interest to researchers from different areas in academia. With the emerging technology for inter-vehicle communication, vehicles have the ability to exchange information with predecessors by wireless communication. In this paper, we present an agent-based model of traffic congestion and examine the impact of having CACC (Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control) embedded vehicle(s) on a highway system consisting of 4 traffic lanes without overtaking. In our model, CACC vehicles adapt their acceleration/deceleration according to vehicle-to-vehicle inter-communication. We analyze the average speed of the cars, the shockwaves, and the evolution of traffic congestion throughout the lifecycle of the model. The study identifies how CACC vehicles affect the dynamics of traffic flow on a complex network and reduce the oscillatory behavior (stop and go) resulting from the acceleration/deceleration of the vehicles.

Association between commercial vehicle driver at-fault crashes involving sleepiness/fatigue and proximity to rest areas and truck stops.

Science.gov (United States)

Bunn, Terry L; Slavova, Svetla; Rock, Peter J

2017-11-22

There is ongoing concern at the national level about the availability of adequate commercial vehicle rest areas and truck stops for commercial vehicle drivers to rest or to wait for a delivery window. A retrospective case-control study was conducted to determine the association between the occurrence of sleepiness/fatigue-related (cases) vs. all other human factor-related commercial vehicle driver at-fault crashes (controls) and proximity to rest areas, weigh stations with rest havens, and truck stops. Commercial vehicle driver at-fault crashes involving sleepiness/fatigue were more likely to occur on roadways where the nearest rest areas/weigh stations with rest havens/truck stops were located 20 miles or more from the commercial vehicle crash site (Odds Ratio [OR]=2.32; Confidence Interval [CI] 1.615, 3.335] for 20-39.9 miles vs. commercial vehicle at-fault driver crashes with human factors other than sleepiness/fatigue cited in crash reports. Commercial vehicle driver at-fault crashes involving sleepiness/fatigue also were more likely to occur on parkways compared to interstates (adjusted OR=3.747 [CI 2.83, 4.95]), during nighttime hours (adjusted OR=6.199 [CI 4.733, 8.119]), and on dry pavement (adjusted OR 1.909, [CI 1.373, 2.655]). The use of statewide crash data analysis coupled with ArcGIS mapping capabilities provided the opportunity to both statistically determine and to visualize the association between rest area/weigh station with rest haven/truck stop distance and the occurrence of commercial vehicle driver at-fault crashes involving sleepiness/fatigue. Implementation and evaluation of commercial vehicle employer policies and interventions such as the use of commercial vehicle driver fatigue alert systems may help to reduce fatigue and sleepiness in commercial vehicle drivers. These results can be used by state and local highway transportation officials to inform and increase truck parking availability, especially on parkways. Copyright © 2017

Investigating impact of motor oil quality on vehicles engine induced noise level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Arefian

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Vehicle engine id one of the main sources of noise which its level is influenced by various parameters. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of motor oils quality before and after oil change on the variability of vehicle engine induced noise level. In this study it is tried to follow-up the efficacy of motor oil quality on engines sound level. Material and Method: First, engine noise of 94 vehicles were recorded for 30 seconds before and after oil change and all the vehicles technical information including mileage, type of motor oil, and type of vehicle were registered. Following, the recorded noises were calibrated in semi-anechoic chamber and the sound pressure levels were measured with A and C-weighting network and main octav bands, using a sound level meters. The obtained results analyzed using SPSS software version 17. Results: The effects of motor oil quality on different noise levels of engines were determined and a significant reduction in noise level of vehicles engine was observed. Investigation of the relationship between mileage and motor oil quality on various engines sound level manifested that vehicles with mileage ranged 100000-150000 miles had significant reduction in their sound pressure levels in comparison with other vehicles. Conclusion: The results revealed that engine oil is among factors reducing the vehicle engine induced noise level. Moreover, the engine oil type and the vehicle mileage are key variables which determine the impact of engine oil quality on reduction of the sound level of vehicles engine.

Multiyear Program Plan: Reducing Friction and Wear in Heavy Vehicles; FINAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

R.R. Fessler; G.R. Fenske

1999-01-01

As described in its multiyear program plan for 1998-2000, the Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies (OHVT) envisions the development of a fuel-flexible, energy-efficient, near-zero-emissions, heavy-duty U.S. diesel engine technology devolving into all truck classes as a real and viable strategy for reducing energy requirements for commercial transport services and the rapidly growing multipurpose vehicle market (pickups, vans, and sport utility vehicles). Implementation of the OHVT program plan will have significant national benefits in energy savings, cleaner air, more jobs, and increased gross domestic product (GDP). Successful implementation will reduce the petroleum consumption of Class 1-8 trucks by 1.4 million barrels of oil per day by 2020 and over 1.8 million by 2030, amounting to a reduction in highway petroleum consumption of 13.2% and 18.6%, respectively. All types of regulated emissions will be reduced, that is, 20% drop in PM10 emissions (41,000 metric tons per year) by 2030, 17% reduction in CO2 greenhouse gases (205 million metric tons per year), 7% reduction in NOx, 20% reduction in NMHC, and 30% reduction in CO. An increase of 15,000 jobs by 2020 is expected, as is an increase of$24 billion in GDP. The strategy of OHVT is to focus primarily on the diesel engine since it has numerous advantages. It has the highest efficiency of any engine today, 45% versus 30% for production gasoline engines; and it can be made more efficient at least to 55% and possibly up to 63%. It is the engine of choice for heavy vehicles (trucks), because it offers power, efficiency, durability, and reliability and is used extensively in rail, marine, and off-road applications. Its emission can be ultra-low to near zero, and the production infrastructure is already in place. The primary goals of OHVT are as follows: (1) Develop by 2002 the diesel-engine enabling technologies to support large-scale industry dieselization of light trucks, achieving a 35% fuel efficiency

Fair Miles? The concept of 'food miles' through a sustainable development lens

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

MacGregor, James; Vorley, Bill

2006-10-15

The concept of 'food miles' presents an argument to buy goods which have travelled the shortest distance from farm to table, and to discriminate against long-haul transportation, especially air-freighted goods. The long-distance transport of food is associated with additional emissions due to increased transportation coupled with greater packaging, as well as a disconnection between the public and local farming. Furthermore, 'food miles' encapsulates (and is at the vanguard of) the climate change debate in the UK. In light of growing international concern over the speed and scale of climate change, the concept of 'food miles' has captured public attention and apparently is changing some consumers' behaviour, although only around one-third of shoppers know of the concept.

Alternating-Current Motor Drive for Electric Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Krauthamer, S.; Rippel, W. E.

1982-01-01

New electric drive controls speed of a polyphase as motor by varying frequency of inverter output. Closed-loop current-sensing circuit automatically adjusts frequency of voltage-controlled oscillator that controls inverter frequency, to limit starting and accelerating surges. Efficient inverter and ac motor would give electric vehicles extra miles per battery charge.

U.S. regional greenhouse gas emissions analysis comparing highly resolved vehicle miles traveled and CO2 emissions: mitigation implications and their effect on atmospheric measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Mendoza, D. L.; Gurney, K. R.

2010-12-01

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas and projections of fossil fuel energy demand show CO2 concentrations increasing indefinitely into the future. After electricity production, the transportation sector is the second largest CO2 emitting economic sector in the United States, accounting for 32.3% of the total U.S. emissions in 2002. Over 80% of the transport sector is composed of onroad emissions, with the remainder shared by the nonroad, aircraft, railroad, and commercial marine vessel transportation. In order to construct effective mitigation policy for the onroad transportation sector and more accurately predict CO2 emissions for use in transport models and atmospheric measurements, analysis must incorporate the three components that determine the CO2 onroad transport emissions: vehicle fleet composition, average speed of travel, and emissions regulation strategies. Studies to date, however, have either focused on one of these three components, have been only completed at the national scale, or have not explicitly represented CO2 emissions instead relying on the use of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) as an emissions proxy. National-level projections of VMT growth is not sufficient to highlight regional differences in CO2 emissions growth due to the heterogeneity of vehicle fleet and each state’s road network which determines the speed of travel of vehicles. We examine how an analysis based on direct CO2 emissions and an analysis based on VMT differ in terms of their emissions and mitigation implications highlighting potential biases introduced by the VMT-based approach. This analysis is performed at the US state level and results are disaggregated by road and vehicle classification. We utilize the results of the Vulcan fossil fuel CO2 emissions inventory which quantified emissions for the year 2002 across all economic sectors in the US at high resolution. We perform this comparison by fuel type,12 road types, and 12 vehicle types

Effect of Using Different Vehicle Weight Groups on the Estimated Relationship Between Mass Reduction and U.S. Societal Fatality Risk per Vehicle Miles of Travel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wenzel, Tom P. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Environmental Technologies Area. Building Technology and Urban Systems Division

2016-08-22

This report recalculates the estimated relationship between vehicle mass and societal fatality risk, using alternative groupings by vehicle weight, to test whether the trend of decreasing fatality risk from mass reduction as case vehicle mass increases, holds over smaller increments of the range in case vehicle masses. The NHTSA baseline regression model estimates the relationship using for two weight groups for cars and light trucks; we re-estimated the mass reduction coefficients using four, six, and eight bins of vehicle mass. The estimated effect of mass reduction on societal fatality risk was not consistent over the range in vehicle masses in these weight bins. These results suggest that the relationship indicated by the NHTSA baseline model is a result of other, unmeasured attributes of the mix of vehicles in the lighter vs. heavier weight bins, and not necessarily the result of a correlation between mass reduction and societal fatality risk. An analysis of the average vehicle, driver, and crash characteristics across the various weight groupings did not reveal any strong trends that might explain the lack of a consistent trend of decreasing fatality risk from mass reduction in heavier vehicles.

A review on idling reduction strategies to improve fuel economy and reduce exhaust emissions of transport vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shancita, I.; Masjuki, H.H.; Kalam, M.A.; Rizwanul Fattah, I.M.; Rashed, M.M.; Rashedul, H.K.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Introduce various idling reduction technologies for transport vehicles. • Exhibit their energy use, advantages, disadvantages to understand their capability. • Conduct critical review to improve fuel economy and exhaust emissions. • Suggest better technology according to their performance ability. - Abstract: To achieve reductions in vehicle idling, strategies and actions must be taken to minimize the time spent by drivers idling their engines. A number of benefits can be obtained in limiting the idling time. These benefits include savings in fuel use and maintenance costs, vehicle life extension, and reduction in exhaust emissions. The main objective of idling reduction (IR) devices is to reduce the amount of energy wasted by idling trucks, rail locomotives, and automobiles. During idling, gasoline vehicles emit a minimum amount of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and negligible particulate matter (PM). However, generally a large amount of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC) are produced from these vehicles. Gasoline vehicles consume far more fuel at an hourly rate than their diesel counterparts during idling. Higher NOx and comparatively larger PM are produced by diesel vehicles than gasoline vehicles on the average during idling. Auxiliary power unit (APU), direct-fired heaters, fuel cells, thermal storage system, truck stop electrification, battery-based systems, engine idle management (shutdown) systems, electrical (shore power) solutions, cab comfort system, and hybridization are some of the available IR technologies whose performances for reducing fuel consumption and exhaust emissions have been compared. This paper analyzes the availability and capability of most efficient technologies to reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions from diesel and gasoline vehicles by comparing the findings of previous studies. The analysis reveals that among all the options direct fired heaters, APUs and electrified parking spaces exhibit better

Simultaneously reducing CO2 and particulate exposures via fractional recirculation of vehicle cabin air.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Heejung S; Grady, Michael L; Victoroff, Tristan; Miller, Arthur L

2017-07-01

Prior studies demonstrate that air recirculation can reduce exposure to nanoparticles in vehicle cabins. However when people occupy confined spaces, air recirculation can lead to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) accumulation which can potentially lead to deleterious effects on cognitive function. This study proposes a fractional air recirculation system for reducing nanoparticle concentration while simultaneously suppressing CO 2 levels in the cabin. Several recirculation scenarios were tested using a custom-programmed HVAC (heat, ventilation, air conditioning) unit that varied the recirculation door angle in the test vehicle. Operating the recirculation system with a standard cabin filter reduced particle concentrations to 1000 particles/cm 3 , although CO 2 levels rose to 3000 ppm. When as little as 25% fresh air was introduced (75% recirculation), CO 2 levels dropped to 1000 ppm, while particle concentrations remained below 5000 particles/cm 3 . We found that nanoparticles were removed selectively during recirculation and demonstrated the trade-off between cabin CO 2 concentration and cabin particle concentration using fractional air recirculation. Data showed significant increases in CO 2 levels during 100% recirculation. For various fan speeds, recirculation fractions of 50-75% maintained lower CO 2 levels in the cabin, while still reducing particulate levels. We recommend fractional recirculation as a simple method to reduce occupants' exposures to particulate matter and CO 2 in vehicles. A design with several fractional recirculation settings could allow air exchange adequate for reducing both particulate and CO 2 exposures. Developing this technology could lead to reductions in airborne nanoparticle exposure, while also mitigating safety risks from CO 2 accumulation.

Commercial viability of hybrid vehicles : best household use and cross national considerations.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santini, D. J.; Vyas, A. D.

1999-07-16

Japanese automakers have introduced hybrid passenger cars in Japan and will soon do so in the US. In this paper, we report how we used early computer simulation model results to compare the commercial viability of a hypothetical near-term (next decade) hybrid mid-size passenger car configuration under varying fuel price and driving patterns. The fuel prices and driving patterns evaluated are designed to span likely values for major OECD nations. Two types of models are used. One allows the ''design'' of a hybrid to a specified set of performance requirements and the prediction of fuel economy under a number of possible driving patterns (called driving cycles). Another provides an estimate of the incremental cost of the hybrid in comparison to a comparably performing conventional vehicle. In this paper, the models are applied to predict the NPV cost of conventional gasoline-fueled vehicles vs. parallel hybrid vehicles. The parallel hybrids are assumed to (1) be produced at high volume, (2) use nickel metal hydride battery packs, and (3) have high-strength steel bodies. The conventional vehicle also is assumed to have a high-strength steel body. The simulated vehicles are held constant in many respects, including 0-60 time, engine type, aerodynamic drag coefficient, tire rolling resistance, and frontal area. The hybrids analyzed use the minimum size battery pack and motor to meet specified 0-60 times. A key characteristic affecting commercial viability is noted and quantified: that hybrids achieve the most pronounced fuel economy increase (best use) in slow, average-speed, stop-and-go driving, but when households consistently drive these vehicles under these conditions, they tend to travel fewer miles than average vehicles. We find that hours driven is a more valuable measure than miles. Estimates are developed concerning hours of use of household vehicles versus driving cycle, and the pattern of minimum NPV incremental cost (or benefit) of

Ecological investigations to select mitigation options to reduce vehicle-caused mortality of a threatened butterfly

Science.gov (United States)

Sara B. Zielin; Jalene Littlejohn; Catherine E. de Rivera; Winston P. Smith; Sandra L. Jacobson

2016-01-01

Whereas roads that bisect habitat are known to decrease population size through animal-vehicle collisions or interruption of key life history events, it is not always obvious how to reduce such impacts, especially for flying organisms. We needed a quick, cost-efficient and effective way to determine how best to decrease vehicle-caused mortality while maintaining...

Implementing electric vehicles in urban distribution: A discrete event simulation

OpenAIRE

Lebeau, Philippe; Macharis, Cathy; Mierlo, Joeri Van; Maes, Guillaume

2013-01-01

Urban freight transport becomes increasingly important with the development of cities. However, it generates also inefficiencies on social, economic and environmental aspects. A possible solution is the use of urban distribution centres in order to rationalise the deliveries and to operate the last miles with clean vehicles. Electric vehicles are gaining attention lately but some barriers remain. Since costs barriers were already investigated, the paper aimed at evaluating the difference of p...

Total Particle Number Emissions from Modern Diesel, Natural Gas, and Hybrid Heavy-Duty Vehicles During On-Road Operation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tianyang; Quiros, David C; Thiruvengadam, Arvind; Pradhan, Saroj; Hu, Shaohua; Huai, Tao; Lee, Eon S; Zhu, Yifang

2017-06-20

Particle emissions from heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) have significant environmental and public health impacts. This study measured total particle number emission factors (PNEFs) from six newly certified HDVs powered by diesel and compressed natural gas totaling over 6800 miles of on-road operation in California. Distance-, fuel- and work-based PNEFs were calculated for each vehicle. Distance-based PNEFs of vehicles equipped with original equipment manufacturer (OEM) diesel particulate filters (DPFs) in this study have decreased by 355-3200 times compared to a previous retrofit DPF dynamometer study. Fuel-based PNEFs were consistent with previous studies measuring plume exhaust in the ambient air. Meanwhile, on-road PNEF shows route and technology dependence. For vehicles with OEM DPFs and Selective Catalytic Reduction Systems, PNEFs under highway driving (i.e., 3.34 × 10 12 to 2.29 × 10 13 particles/mile) were larger than those measured on urban and drayage routes (i.e., 5.06 × 10 11 to 1.31 × 10 13 particles/mile). This is likely because a significant amount of nucleation mode volatile particles were formed when the DPF outlet temperature reached a critical value, usually over 310 °C, which was commonly achieved when vehicle speed sustained over 45 mph. A model year 2013 diesel HDV produced approximately 10 times higher PNEFs during DPF active regeneration events than nonactive regeneration.

An Optimal Domestic Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy for Reducing Network Transmission Loss While Taking Seasonal Factors into Consideration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuancheng Zhao

2018-01-01

Full Text Available With the rapid growth of domestic electric vehicle charging loads, the peak-valley gap and power fluctuation rate of power systems increase sharply, which can lead to the increase of network losses and energy efficiency reduction. This paper tries to regulate network loads and reduce power system transmission loss by optimizing domestic electric vehicle charging loads. In this paper, a domestic electric vehicle charging loads model is first developed by analyzing the key factors that can affect users’ charging behavior. Subsequently, the Monte Carlo method is proposed to simulate the power consumption of a cluster of domestic electric vehicles. After that, an optimal electric vehicle charging strategy based on the 0-1 integer programming is presented to regulate network daily loads. Finally, by taking the IEEE33 distributed power system as an example, this paper tries to verify the efficacy of the proposed optimal charging strategy and the necessity for considering seasonal factors when scheduling electric vehicle charging loads. Simulation results show that the proposed 0-1 integer programming method does have good performance in reducing the network peak-valley gap, voltage fluctuation rate, and transmission loss. Moreover, it has some potential to further reduce power system transmission loss when seasonal factors are considered.

78 FR 36660 - Safety Zone; Mississippi River Mile 95.5-Mile 96.5; New Orleans, LA

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-19

...-AA00 Safety Zone; Mississippi River Mile 95.5-Mile 96.5; New Orleans, LA AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS... of the Port New Orleans or a designated representative. DATES: This rule is effective from 9:45 p.m... email Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) Brandon Sullivan, Sector New Orleans, U.S. Coast Guard; telephone (504...

Analyzing The Impacts of the Biogas-to-Electricity Purchase Incentives on Electric Vehicle Deployment with the MA3T Vehicle Choice Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Podkaminer, Kara [U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); Xie, Fei [ORNL; Lin, Zhenhong [ORNL

2017-01-01

This analysis represents the biogas-to-electricity pathway under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as a point of purchase incentive and tests the impact of this incentive on EV deployment using a vehicle consumer choice model. The credit value generated under this policy was calculated in a number of scenarios based on electricity use of each power train choice on a yearly basis over the 15 year vehicle lifetime, accounting for the average electric vehicle miles travelled and vehicle efficiency, competition for biogas-derived electricity among electric vehicles (EVs), the RIN equivalence value and the time value of money. The credit value calculation in each of these scenarios is offered upfront as a point of purchase incentive for EVs using the Market Acceptance of Advanced Automotive Technologies (MA3T) vehicle choice model, which tracks sales, fleet size and energy use over time. The majority of the scenarios use a proposed RIN equivalence value, which increases the credit value as a way to explore the analysis space. Additional model runs show the relative impact of the equivalence value on EV deployment. The MA3T model output shows that a consumer incentive accelerates the deployment of EVs for all scenarios relative to the baseline (no policy) case. In the scenario modeled to represent the current biogas-to-electricity generation capacity (15 TWh/year) with a 5.24kWh/RIN equivalence value, the policy leads to an additional 1.4 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and 3.5 million battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in 2025 beyond the no-policy case of 1.3 million PHEVs and 2.1 million BEVs when the full value of the credit is passed on to the consumer. In 2030, this increases to 2.4 million PHEVs and 7.3 million BEVs beyond the baseline. This larger impact on BEVs relative to PHEVs is due in part to the larger credit that BEVs receive in the model based on the greater percentage of electric vehicle miles traveled by BEVs relative to PHEVs. In this

An Analysis of the Relationship between Casualty Risk Per Crash and Vehicle Mass and Footprint for Model Year 2000-2007 Light-Duty Vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wenzel, Tom [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Environmental Energy Technologies Division. Building Technology and Urban Systems Dept.

2012-08-01

NHTSA recently completed a logistic regression analysis (Kahane 2012) updating its 2003 and 2010 studies of the relationship between vehicle mass and US fatality risk per vehicle mile traveled (VMT). The new study updates the previous analyses in several ways: updated FARS data for 2002 to 2008 involving MY00 to MY07 vehicles are used; induced exposure data from police reported crashes in several additional states are added; a new vehicle category for car-based crossover utility vehicles (CUVs) and minivans is created; crashes with other light-duty vehicles are divided into two groups based on the crash partner vehicle’s weight, and a category for all other fatal crashes is added; and new control variables for new safety technologies and designs, such as electronic stability controls (ESC), side airbags, and methods to meet voluntary agreement to improve light truck compatibility with cars, are included.

SMART PLATFORM FOR SUPPORT ISSUES AT THE FIRST AND LAST MILE IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN - THE CONCEPT OF THE S-MILE PROJECT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcin STANIEK

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The concept of an innovative support tool for freight transport used in planning, organization and realization is presented in this paper. In addition to the basic functions of a fleet management tool, the educative approach towards environmentally friendly behaviour will be based on promoting ecological solutions, such as unconventionally powered cars, e.g., electric vehicles (EVs. The suggested criteria for a routing algorithm, which will be implemented in the freight transport planner tool, not only allows routing in relation to time and cost criteria, but also the criterion regarding the limitation of emissions of harmful factors. The implementation of innovative the S-mile platform gives rise to environmentally friendly cognition behaviour in the freight transport sector. This is a fundamental aspect to its application, which could help to move the planning, organization and realization of freight transport in the direction of more environmental friendly solutions

Control concepts for vehicle drive line to reduce fuel consumption

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ossyra, J.C.

2005-07-01

In this work advanced drive line control concepts for off-road vehicles have been developed and investigated to reduce the power losses and finally the fuel consumption of the entire drive system by use of on-line optimization procedure. Two separate closed loop speed controls have been developed for the use on a microcontroller onboard the vehicle: one to control the hydrostatic transmission and the other to control the engine speed. Considering the loss characteristics of the displacement machines in the hydrostatic transmission and the steady state characteristics of the combustion engine by use of pure mathematical approximations of measured curves, a direct optimization strategy is used, which works on-line on a microcontroller. A laboratory hardware-in-the loop test rig has been used to investigate the proposed control concepts. For different typical and desired work cycles of an off-road machine on level ground and uphill a slope the effectiveness of the proposed control concepts have been proven. (orig.)

Online Traffic Signal Control for Reducing Vehicle Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Oda, Toshihiko; Otokita, Tohru; Niikura, Satoshi

In Japan, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions caused by vehicles have been increasing year by year and it is well known that CO2 causes a serious global warming problem. For urban traffic control systems, there is a great demand for realization of signal control measures as soon as possible due to the urgency of the recent environmental situation. This paper describes a new traffic signal control for reducing vehicle CO2 emissions on an arterial road. First, we develop a model for estimating the emissions using the traffic delay and the number of stops a driver makes. Second, to find the optimal control parameters, we introduce a random search method with rapid convergence suitable for an online traffic control. We conduct experiments in Kawasaki to verify the effectiveness of our method. The experiments show that our approach decreases not only the emissions but also congestion and travel time significantly, compared to the method implemented in the real system.

Criteria development of remotely controlled mobile devices for TMI-2 [Three Mile Island Unit 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fillnow, R.; Bengel, P.; Giefer, D.

1988-01-01

Since 1982, GPU Nuclear Corporation has used a series of remote mobile devices for data collection and cleanup of highly contaminated areas in the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) nuclear facilities. This paper describes these devices and the general criteria established for their design. Until 1984, the remote equipment used at TMI was obtained from industry sources. This included devices called SISI, FRED, and later LOUIE-1. Following 1984, the direction was to obtain custom-made devices to assure a design that would be more appropriate for the TMI-2 environment. Along with this approach came more detailed criteria and a need for a thorough understanding of the task to be accomplished by the devices. The following families of equipment resulted: (1) remote reconnaissance vehicles (RRVs), (2) the LOUIE family, and (3) remote working vehicle (RWV) family

Analysis of the Effects of Connected–Automated Vehicle Technologies on Travel Demand

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Auld, Joshua [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL 60439; Sokolov, Vadim [Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research, Volgenau School of Engineering, George Mason University, MS 4A6, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030; Stephens, Thomas S. [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL 60439

2017-01-01

Connected–automated vehicle (CAV) technologies are likely to have significant effects not only on how vehicles operate in the transportation system, but also on how individuals behave and use their vehicles. While many CAV technologies—such as connected adaptive cruise control and ecosignals—have the potential to increase network throughput and efficiency, many of these same technologies have a secondary effect of reducing driver burden, which can drive changes in travel behavior. Such changes in travel behavior—in effect, lowering the cost of driving—have the potential to increase greatly the utilization of the transportation system with concurrent negative externalities, such as congestion, energy use, and emissions, working against the positive effects on the transportation system resulting from increased capacity. To date, few studies have analyzed the potential effects on CAV technologies from a systems perspective; studies often focus on gains and losses to an individual vehicle, at a single intersection, or along a corridor. However, travel demand and traffic flow constitute a complex, adaptive, nonlinear system. Therefore, in this study, an advanced transportation systems simulation model—POLARIS—was used. POLARIS includes cosimulation of travel behavior and traffic flow to study the potential effects of several CAV technologies at the regional level. Various technology penetration levels and changes in travel time sensitivity have been analyzed to determine a potential range of effects on vehicle miles traveled from various CAV technologies.

Strategy for reducing ozone levels in the northeast United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bradley, M.

1992-01-01

In the northeast USA, ozone episodes are frequent during the summer; most of these episodes last 3-4 days. The duration and frequency of these episodes is mainly determined by weather conditions. The persistence of ozone episodes in the region is explained by the fact that emissions of ozone precursors (nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC)) are like those of other regions of the USA affected by acute ozone problems. The population density, industry, and use of automobiles are other factors contributing to the difficulty of maintaining acceptable ozone levels. The ozone problem is especially severe in the New York metropolitan area and most of New Jersey. Strategies for combating ozone precursors have relied entirely on reducing emissions of VOCs, while little has been done to reduce NOx, except for automobile emissions. The Clean Air Act of 1990 provides for significant reductions of NOx and VOC from mobile sources and insists on VOC emissions reductions from stationary sources. In California, stricter emission standards for VOC and NOx have been implemented for new vehicles, requiring wider use of low- or zero-emission vehicles. The Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) organization, formed by the state agencies responsible for air quality, is aiding the northeast states to evaluate the advantages of adopting California standards for vehicles. Twelve northeast states propose to adopt the Californian low-emission vehicle program and are examining other options such as reformulated gasolines, improved maintenance and verification programs, and measures to reduce the number of miles travelled. 1 fig., 1 tab

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions for climate stabilization: framing regional options.

Science.gov (United States)

Olabisi, Laura Schmitt; Reich, Peter B; Johnson, Kris A; Kapuscinski, Anne R; Su, Sangwon H; Wilson, Elizabeth J

2009-03-15

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that stabilizing atmospheric CO2 concentrations will require reduction of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by as much as 80% by 2050. Subnational efforts to cut emissions will inform policy development nationally and globally. We projected GHG mitigation strategies for Minnesota, which has adopted a strategic goal of 80% emissions reduction by 2050. A portfolio of conservation strategies, including electricity conservation, increased vehicle fleet fuel efficiency, and reduced vehicle miles traveled, is likely the most cost-effective option for Minnesota and could reduce emissions by 18% below 2005 levels. An 80% GHG reduction would require complete decarbonization of the electricity and transportation sectors, combined with carbon capture and sequestration at power plants, or deep cuts in other relatively more intransigent GHG-emitting sectors. In order to achieve ambitious GHG reduction goals, policymakers should promote aggressive conservation efforts, which would probably have negative net costs, while phasing in alternative fuels to replace coal and motor gasoline over the long-term.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions for climate stabilization: framing regional options

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laura Schmitt Olabisi; Peter B. Reich; Kris A. Johnson; Anne R. Kapuscinski; Sangwon Suh; Elizabeth J. Wilson [University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN (United States). Ecosystem Science and Sustainability Initiative

2009-03-15

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that stabilizing atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentrations will require reduction of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by as much as 80% by 2050. Subnational efforts to cut emissions will inform policy development nationally and globally. We projected GHG mitigation strategies for Minnesota, which has adopted a strategic goal of 80% emissions reduction by 2050. A portfolio of conservation strategies, including electricity conservation, increased vehicle fleet fuel efficiency, and reduced vehicle miles traveled, is likely the most cost-effective option for Minnesota and could reduce emissions by 18% below 2005 levels. An 80% GHG reduction would require complete decarbonization of the electricity and transportation sectors, combined with carbon capture and sequestration at power plants, or deep cuts in other relatively more intransigent GHG-emitting sectors. In order to achieve ambitious GHG reduction goals, policymakers should promote aggressive conservation efforts, which would probably have negative net costs, while phasing in alternative fuels to replace coal and motor gasoline over the long-term. 31 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

Securing Public Safety Vehicles: Reducing Vulnerabilities by Leveraging Smart Technology and Design Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-01

there are technologies available today that would reduce the risk of vehicle theft and misuse by fortifying vulnerabilities. They offer several levels...confirm identity by identify “what I am (what I do)” in the electronic context of “who am I?”80 Furthermore, biometrics is a digital representation of...can build a comprehensive and effective biometric identification system, improve overall performance, improve system robustness, and reduce the

Implementation of remote equipment at TMI-2 [Three Mile Island Unit 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giefer, D.; Jeffries, A.B.

1988-01-01

Each of the remote vehicles in use, or planned for use, at Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) during the period from 1984 to the present had certain distinct common features. These were proven to be desirable for remote application in the TMI-2 environment. Proper implementation requires consideration of the following: control systems, rigging systems, power supplies, operator/support interface, maintenance concerns, viewing systems, contamination control, and communications. Design and component fabrication of these features allowed deployment of each of the remote devices. This paper discusses these systems and their impact for the use of remote mobile equipment at TMI-2. In most cases, the means of implementation dictated the design features of the devices

78 FR 77592 - Safety Zone; Lower Mississippi River Mile 94.1-Mile 95.1; New Orleans, LA

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-24

... 1625-AA00 Safety Zone; Lower Mississippi River Mile 94.1-Mile 95.1; New Orleans, LA AGENCY: Coast Guard... zone is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port New Orleans or a... temporary rule, call Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) Brandon Sullivan, Sector New Orleans, at (504) 365-2281 or...

What does it mean to be average? : the miles per gallon versus gallons per mile paradox revisited

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haans, A.

2008-01-01

In the efficiency paradox, which was introduced by Hand (1994; J R Stat Soc A, 157, 317-356), two groups of engineers are in disagreement about the average fuel efficiency of a set of cars. One group measured efficiency on a miles per gallon scale, the other on a gallons per mile scale. In the

Reduction in global warming due to fuel economy improvements and emissions control of criteria pollutants: New US light-duty vehicles (1968--1991)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pitstick, M.E.; Santini, D.J. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States); Chauhan, H. [Delaware Univ., Newark, DE (United States). Dept. of Civil Engineering

1992-08-01

This paper explores the impact of US emission controls and fuel economy improvements on the global warming potential (GWP) of new light-duty vehicles. Fuel economy improvements have reduced the GWP of both passenger cars and light-duty trucks by lowering the per mile emissions of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}). Further GWP reductions have been achieved by emission standards for criteria pollutants: carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrogen oxides (NO{sub x}). The GWP of a criteria pollutant was calculated by multiplying the emission rate by a relative global warming factor to obtain a CO{sub 2} equivalent emission rate. Both CO{sub 2} and criteria pollutant emission rates per vehicle have decreased substantially for new light-duty vehicles over the period from 1968 to 1991. Over that period, the GWP from CO{sub 2} was reduced by almost 50% in new vehicles by improving fuel economy. In that same time period, the GWP from criteria pollutants from new vehicles was reduced with emission controls by from 80% to 90% depending on the global warming time frame of interest. Consequently, total reductions in the GWP of new passenger cars and light-duty trucks have been on the order of 55 to 75 percent compared to precontrol (before 1968) new vehicles. However, the reduction in GWP caused by emission control of criteria pollutants has been larger than the reduction caused by improved fuel economy (i.e., reduced CO{sub 2}). The contribution of criteria pollutants to the GWP of precontrol new vehicles was substantial, but their contribution has been reduced significantly due to US emission controls. As a result, the contribution of criteria pollutants to global warming is now much less than the contribution of CO{sub 2} from fuel consumption.

Reduction in global warming due to fuel economy improvements and emissions control of criteria pollutants: New US light-duty vehicles (1968--1991)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pitstick, M.E.; Santini, D.J. (Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)); Chauhan, H. (Delaware Univ., Newark, DE (United States). Dept. of Civil Engineering)

1992-01-01

This paper explores the impact of US emission controls and fuel economy improvements on the global warming potential (GWP) of new light-duty vehicles. Fuel economy improvements have reduced the GWP of both passenger cars and light-duty trucks by lowering the per mile emissions of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}). Further GWP reductions have been achieved by emission standards for criteria pollutants: carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrogen oxides (NO{sub x}). The GWP of a criteria pollutant was calculated by multiplying the emission rate by a relative global warming factor to obtain a CO{sub 2} equivalent emission rate. Both CO{sub 2} and criteria pollutant emission rates per vehicle have decreased substantially for new light-duty vehicles over the period from 1968 to 1991. Over that period, the GWP from CO{sub 2} was reduced by almost 50% in new vehicles by improving fuel economy. In that same time period, the GWP from criteria pollutants from new vehicles was reduced with emission controls by from 80% to 90% depending on the global warming time frame of interest. Consequently, total reductions in the GWP of new passenger cars and light-duty trucks have been on the order of 55 to 75 percent compared to precontrol (before 1968) new vehicles. However, the reduction in GWP caused by emission control of criteria pollutants has been larger than the reduction caused by improved fuel economy (i.e., reduced CO{sub 2}). The contribution of criteria pollutants to the GWP of precontrol new vehicles was substantial, but their contribution has been reduced significantly due to US emission controls. As a result, the contribution of criteria pollutants to global warming is now much less than the contribution of CO{sub 2} from fuel consumption.

Reduction in global warming due to fuel economy improvements and emissions control of criteria pollutants: New US light-duty vehicles (1968--1991)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pitstick, M.E.; Santini, D.J.; Chauhan, H.

1992-01-01

This paper explores the impact of US emission controls and fuel economy improvements on the global warming potential (GWP) of new light-duty vehicles. Fuel economy improvements have reduced the GWP of both passenger cars and light-duty trucks by lowering the per mile emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). Further GWP reductions have been achieved by emission standards for criteria pollutants: carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrogen oxides (NO x ). The GWP of a criteria pollutant was calculated by multiplying the emission rate by a relative global warming factor to obtain a CO 2 equivalent emission rate. Both CO 2 and criteria pollutant emission rates per vehicle have decreased substantially for new light-duty vehicles over the period from 1968 to 1991. Over that period, the GWP from CO 2 was reduced by almost 50% in new vehicles by improving fuel economy. In that same time period, the GWP from criteria pollutants from new vehicles was reduced with emission controls by from 80% to 90% depending on the global warming time frame of interest. Consequently, total reductions in the GWP of new passenger cars and light-duty trucks have been on the order of 55 to 75 percent compared to precontrol (before 1968) new vehicles. However, the reduction in GWP caused by emission control of criteria pollutants has been larger than the reduction caused by improved fuel economy (i.e., reduced CO 2 ). The contribution of criteria pollutants to the GWP of precontrol new vehicles was substantial, but their contribution has been reduced significantly due to US emission controls. As a result, the contribution of criteria pollutants to global warming is now much less than the contribution of CO 2 from fuel consumption

Design of Hydraulic Bushing and Vehicle Testing for Reducing the Judder Vibration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim Youngman

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Generally, judder vibration is a low-frequency vibration phenomenon caused by a braking force imbalance that occurs when a vehicle is lightly decelerated within a range of 0.1 to 0.2g at a speed of 120 to 60 km/h. This comes from the change in the brake disk thickness (DTV, which is mainly caused by the side run-out (SRO and thermal deformation. The adoption of hydro-bushing in the low arm G bushings of the vehicle front suspension has been done in order to provide great damping in a particular frequency range (<20Hz in order to prevent this judder vibration from being transmitted to the body. The hydro bushing was formulated using a lumped parameter model. The fluid passage between the two chambers was modelled as a nonlinear element such as an orifice, and its important parameters (resistance, compliance were measured using a simplified experimental setup. The main design parameters are the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the chamber to the fluid passage, the length of the fluid passage, etc., and their optimal design is such that the loss angle is greater than 45 ° in the target frequency range of 10 to 20 Hz. The hydro bushing designed for reducing the judder vibration was prepared for the actual vehicle application test and applied to the actual vehicle test. In this study, the proposed hydro bushing was applied to the G bushing of the low arm of the front suspension system of the vehicle. The loss angle of the manufactured hydro bushing was measured using acceleration signals before and after passing through the bushing. The actual vehicle test was performed on the noise dynamometer for the performance analysis of the judder vibration reduction.

Toward an Effective Long-Term Strategy for Preventing Motor Vehicle Crashes and Injuries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony R. Mawson

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Casualties due to motor vehicle crashes (MVCs include some 40,000 deaths each year in the United States and one million deaths worldwide. One strategy that has been recommended for improving automobile safety is to lower speed limits and enforce them with speed cameras. However, motor vehicles can be hazardous even at low speeds whereas properly protected human beings can survive high-speed crashes without injury. Emphasis on changing driver behavior as the focus for road safety improvements has been largely unsuccessful; moreover, drivers today are increasingly distracted by secondary tasks such as cell phone use and texting. Indeed, the true limiting factor in vehicular safety is the capacity of human beings to sense and process information and to make rapid decisions. Given that dramatic reductions in injuries and deaths from MVCs have occurred over the past century due to improvements in safety technology, despite increases in the number of vehicles on the road and miles driven per vehicle, we propose that an effective long-term strategy for reducing MVC-related injury would be continued technological innovation in vehicle design, aimed at progressively removing the driver from routine operational decision-making. Once this is achieved, high rates of speed could be achieved on open highways, with minimal risk of crashes and injury to occupants and pedestrians.

Toward an effective long-term strategy for preventing motor vehicle crashes and injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Mawson, Anthony R; Walley, E Kenneth

2014-08-11

Casualties due to motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) include some 40,000 deaths each year in the United States and one million deaths worldwide. One strategy that has been recommended for improving automobile safety is to lower speed limits and enforce them with speed cameras. However, motor vehicles can be hazardous even at low speeds whereas properly protected human beings can survive high-speed crashes without injury. Emphasis on changing driver behavior as the focus for road safety improvements has been largely unsuccessful; moreover, drivers today are increasingly distracted by secondary tasks such as cell phone use and texting. Indeed, the true limiting factor in vehicular safety is the capacity of human beings to sense and process information and to make rapid decisions. Given that dramatic reductions in injuries and deaths from MVCs have occurred over the past century due to improvements in safety technology, despite increases in the number of vehicles on the road and miles driven per vehicle, we propose that an effective long-term strategy for reducing MVC-related injury would be continued technological innovation in vehicle design, aimed at progressively removing the driver from routine operational decision-making. Once this is achieved, high rates of speed could be achieved on open highways, with minimal risk of crashes and injury to occupants and pedestrians.

Inland Waterway Mile Markers

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — Contains 11,201 sequential mile positions of navigable inland waterways and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. Records include eight fields; id, latitude, longitude,...

The importance of grid integration for achievable greenhouse gas emissions reductions from alternative vehicle technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tarroja, Brian; Shaffer, Brendan; Samuelsen, Scott

2015-01-01

Alternative vehicles must appropriately interface with the electric grid and renewable generation to contribute to decarbonization. This study investigates the impact of infrastructure configurations and management strategies on the vehicle–grid interface and vehicle greenhouse gas reduction potential with regard to California's Executive Order S-21-09 goal. Considered are battery electric vehicles, gasoline-fueled plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-fueled fuel cell vehicles, and plug-in hybrid fuel cell vehicles. Temporally resolved models of the electric grid, electric vehicle charging, hydrogen infrastructure, and vehicle powertrain simulations are integrated. For plug-in vehicles, consumer travel patterns can limit the greenhouse gas reductions without smart charging or energy storage. For fuel cell vehicles, the fuel production mix must be optimized for minimal greenhouse gas emissions. The plug-in hybrid fuel cell vehicle has the largest potential for emissions reduction due to smaller battery and fuel cells keeping efficiencies higher and meeting 86% of miles on electric travel keeping the hydrogen demand low. Energy storage is required to meet Executive Order S-21-09 goals in all cases. Meeting the goal requires renewable capacities of 205 GW for plug-in hybrid fuel cell vehicles and battery electric vehicle 100s, 255 GW for battery electric vehicle 200s, and 325 GW for fuel cell vehicles. - Highlights: • Consumer travel patterns limit greenhouse gas reductions with immediate charging. • Smart charging or energy storage are required for large greenhouse gas reductions. • Fuel cells as a plug-in vehicle range extender provided the most greenhouse gas reductions. • Energy storage is required to meet greenhouse gas goals regardless of vehicle type. • Smart charging reduces the required energy storage size for a given greenhouse gas goal

Increasing Intelligence in Inter-Vehicle Communications to Reduce Traffic Congestions: Experiments in Urban and Highway Environments.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodolfo I Meneguette

Full Text Available Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS rely on Inter-Vehicle Communication (IVC to streamline the operation of vehicles by managing vehicle traffic, assisting drivers with safety and sharing information, as well as providing appropriate services for passengers. Traffic congestion is an urban mobility problem, which causes stress to drivers and economic losses. In this context, this work proposes a solution for the detection, dissemination and control of congested roads based on inter-vehicle communication, called INCIDEnT. The main goal of the proposed solution is to reduce the average trip time, CO emissions and fuel consumption by allowing motorists to avoid congested roads. The simulation results show that our proposed solution leads to short delays and a low overhead. Moreover, it is efficient with regard to the coverage of the event and the distance to which the information can be propagated. The findings of the investigation show that the proposed solution leads to (i high hit rate in the classification of the level of congestion, (ii a reduction in average trip time, (iii a reduction in fuel consumption, and (iv reduced CO emissions.

FASTSim: A Model to Estimate Vehicle Efficiency, Cost and Performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brooker, A.; Gonder, J.; Wang, L.; Wood, E.; Lopp, S.; Ramroth, L.

2015-05-04

The Future Automotive Systems Technology Simulator (FASTSim) is a high-level advanced vehicle powertrain systems analysis tool supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office. FASTSim provides a quick and simple approach to compare powertrains and estimate the impact of technology improvements on light- and heavy-duty vehicle efficiency, performance, cost, and battery batches of real-world drive cycles. FASTSim’s calculation framework and balance among detail, accuracy, and speed enable it to simulate thousands of driven miles in minutes. The key components and vehicle outputs have been validated by comparing the model outputs to test data for many different vehicles to provide confidence in the results. A graphical user interface makes FASTSim easy and efficient to use. FASTSim is freely available for download from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s website (see www.nrel.gov/fastsim).

Effectiveness of Wildlife Underpasses and Fencing to Reduce Wildlife–Vehicle Collisions

Science.gov (United States)

,; McCollister, Matthew F.

2010-01-01

Transportation planners are increasingly incorporating roadway design features to mitigate impacts of highways on wildlife and to increase driver safety. We used camera and track surveys to evaluate wildlife use before and after construction of 3 wildlife underpasses and associated fencing on a new section of United States Highway 64 in Washington County, North Carolina, USA. We recorded 242 occasions of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) use of underpass areas before highway construction began. Following completion of the highway, we collected 2,433 photographs of 9 species with deer representing 93% of all crossings. Adjusting for differences in number of monitoring days, white-tailed deer use of underpass areas averaged 6.7 times greater after the new highway and underpasses were completed. We recorded 3,614 wildlife crossings of ≥20 species based on track counts, representing most medium and large mammals known to occur in the area and several reptiles and birds. After completion of the highway, we documented wildlife mortality due to vehicle collisions during a 13-month period and recorded 128 incidences representing ≥24 species. Within fenced highway segments, mortalities were lowest near underpasses and increased with distance from the underpasses. However, we also documented more mortalities in fenced areas compared with unfenced areas. With greater distance from an underpass, animals with smaller home ranges seemed less likely to reach the underpass and instead attempted to climb over or crawl under fencing. Based on collision reports from adjacent highway sections, the new section of United States Highway 64 experienced approximately 58% fewer wildlife mortalities (primarily white-tailed deer), suggesting underpasses and fencing reduced the number of deer–vehicle collisions. Continuous fencing between underpasses may further reduce the number of vehicle collisions for deer but additional design features (e.g., buried fencing) should be

Performance of electric and hybrid vehicles at the 1995 American Tour de Sol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quong, S.; LeBlanc, N.; Buitrago, C.; Duoba, M.; Larsen, R.

1995-12-31

Energy consumption and performance data were collected on more than 40 electric and hybrid vehicles during the 1995 American Tour de Sol. At this competition, one electric vehicle drove 229 miles on one charge using nickel metalhydride batteries. The results obtained from the data show that electric vehicle efficiencies reached 9.07 mi./kWh or 70 equivalent mpg of gasoline when compared to the total energy cycle efficiency of electricity and gasoline. A gasoline-fueled 1995 Geo Metro that drove the same route attained 36.4 mpg.

Heavy-Duty Vehicle Port Drayage Drive Cycle Characterization and Development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prohaska, Robert; Konan, Arnaud; Kelly, Kenneth; Lammert, Michael

2016-10-06

In an effort to better understand the operational requirements of port drayage vehicles and their potential for adoption of advanced technologies, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers collected over 36,000 miles of in-use duty cycle data from 30 Class 8 drayage trucks operating at the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles in Southern California. These data include 1-Hz global positioning system location and SAE J1939 high-speed controller area network information. Researchers processed the data through NREL's Drive-Cycle Rapid Investigation, Visualization, and Evaluation tool to examine vehicle kinematic and dynamic patterns across the spectrum of operations. Using the k-medoids clustering method, a repeatable and quantitative process for multi-mode drive cycle segmentation, the analysis led to the creation of multiple drive cycles representing four distinct modes of operation that can be used independently or in combination. These drive cycles are statistically representative of real-world operation of port drayage vehicles. When combined with modeling and simulation tools, these representative test cycles allow advanced vehicle or systems developers to efficiently and accurately evaluate vehicle technology performance requirements to reduce cost and development time while ultimately leading to the commercialization of advanced technologies that meet the performance requirements of the port drayage vocation. The drive cycles, which are suitable for chassis dynamometer testing, were compared to several existing test cycles. This paper presents the clustering methodology, accompanying results of the port drayage duty cycle analysis and custom drive cycle creation.

33 CFR 207.249 - Ouachita and Black Rivers, Ark. and La., Mile 0.0 to Mile 338.0 (Camden, Ark.) above the mouth of...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... not provided as part of the Red River Locks and Dams. When water levels rise to within 2 feet of the.... and La., Mile 0.0 to Mile 338.0 (Camden, Ark.) above the mouth of the Black River; the Red River, La., Mile 6.7 (Junction of Red, Atchafalaya and Old Rivers) to Mile 276.0 (Shreveport, La.); use...

Memories of Miles – Miles Blackwell and his contribution to South African librarianship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.S.C. Hooper

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The contribution of BH Blackwell (BHB, and specifically of Miles Blackwell, to the development of libraries and librarians in South Africa is explored based on available literature sources and personal reminiscences. This article tells how Miles was true to his personal values and how he demonstrated his integrity in the exercise of his office. Miles integrated in his mind the history of the “firm” of BHB and the times that it lived though with his sense of his responsibility to his customers. He was prepared to stand up against enormous political pressure from his peers in Europe and North America, and perhaps his fellow board members in BHB, to make sure that the channels of published information flow remained open to his customers in South Africa. The value of books and information was what he believed in. His service to his customers in South Africa reflected the self-sacrificing service ethic that he understood to be the essence of the family firm of which he had the great privilege of leading. He contributed to the development of the new, post-apartheid South Africa by ensuring that the people who needed the enlightened word to become part of the global society, benefited by what he had done.

Linking mileage to auto accident risk and urban form.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-01

Pricing auto insurance on a per-mile basis provides a beneficial, cost-based incentive to : reduce vehicle miles traveled compared with traditional rating plans that charge annual : premiums with little or no consideration of miles driven. : The rese...

Current and Future United States Light-Duty Vehicle Pathways: Cradle-to-Grave Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Economic Assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elgowainy, Amgad [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States; Han, Jeongwoo [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States; Ward, Jacob [United States Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States; Joseck, Fred [United States Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States; Gohlke, David [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States; Lindauer, Alicia [United States Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States; Ramsden, Todd [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States; Biddy, Mary [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States; Alexander, Mark [Electric Power Research Institute, Palo; Barnhart, Steven [FCA US LLC, Auburn Hills, Michigan 48326, United States; Sutherland, Ian [General Motors, Pontiac, Michigan 48340, United States; Verduzco, Laura [Chevron Corporation, Richmond, California 94802, United States; Wallington, Timothy J. [Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan 48121, United States

2018-01-30

This article presents a cradle-to-grave (C2G) assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and costs for current (2015) and future (2025-2030) light-duty vehicles. The analysis addressed both fuel cycle and vehicle manufacturing cycle for the following vehicle types: gasoline and diesel internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), flex fuel vehicles, compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Gasoline ICEVs using current technology have C2G emissions of ~450 gCO2e/mi (grams of carbon dioxide equivalents per mile), while C2G emissions from HEVs, PHEVs, H2 FCEVs, and BEVs range from 300-350 gCO2e/mi. Future vehicle efficiency gains are expected to reduce emissions to ~350 gCO2/mi for ICEVs and ~250 gCO2e/mi for HEVs, PHEVs, FCEVs, and BEVs. Utilizing low-carbon fuel pathways yields GHG reductions more than double those achieved by vehicle efficiency gains alone. Levelized costs of driving (LCDs) are in the range $0.25-$1.00/mi depending on time frame and vehicle-fuel technology. In all cases, vehicle cost represents the major (60-90%) contribution to LCDs. Currently, HEV and PHEV petroleum-fueled vehicles provide the most attractive cost in terms of avoided carbon emissions, although they offer lower potential GHG reductions. The ranges of LCD and cost of avoided carbon are narrower for the future technology pathways, reflecting the expected economic competitiveness of these alternative vehicles and fuels.

Analysis and simulation of 'low-cost' strategies to reduce fuel consumption and emissions in conventional gasoline light-duty vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Carla; Ross, Marc; Farias, Tiago

2009-01-01

This paper focuses on technology analysis and simulation to mitigate the transportation impacts on energy and environment, with the major goal of estimating the technology contribution towards the 125 g/km CO 2 target in Europe. The authors analyse cheap- and low-complexity measures, while keeping the same power/weight ratio, for several vehicle categories. The measures are: regenerative braking; fuel cut while coasting; engine stop/start; and engine downsizing and turbocharging. Simulation of these mechanisms for several road vehicles categories and driving cycles, allow us to conclude that with the last three mechanisms fuel consumption and CO 2 emissions can be reduced by 15-49%, compared to the original vehicle. HC, CO and NO x emissions can be reduced by similar percentages. Regenerative braking is valuable only if the additional weight is compensated by diminishing the body weight. The simulations confirm that the use of 'slightly' modified conventional vehicles can reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, without the complexity and high cost of full-hybrid powertrains

Potential for Electrified Vehicles to Contribute to U.S. Petroleum and Climate Goals and Implications for Advanced Biofuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Paul J; Cronin, Keith R; Frost, Ethan A; Runge, Troy M; Dale, Bruce E; Reinemann, Douglas J; Detlor, Jennifer

2015-07-21

To examine the national fuel and emissions impacts from increasingly electrified light-duty transportation, we reconstructed the vehicle technology portfolios from two national vehicle studies. Using these vehicle portfolios, we normalized assumptions and examined sensitivity around the rates of electrified vehicle penetration, travel demand growth, and electricity decarbonization. We further examined the impact of substituting low-carbon advanced cellulosic biofuels in place of petroleum. Twenty-seven scenarios were benchmarked against a 50% petroleum-reduction target and an 80% GHG-reduction target. We found that with high rates of electrification (40% of miles traveled) the petroleum-reduction benchmark could be satisfied, even with high travel demand growth. The same highly electrified scenarios, however, could not satisfy 80% GHG-reduction targets, even assuming 80% decarbonized electricity and no growth in travel demand. Regardless of precise consumer vehicle preferences, emissions are a function of the total reliance on electricity versus liquid fuels and the corresponding greenhouse gas intensities of both. We found that at a relatively high rate of electrification (40% of miles and 26% by fuel), an 80% GHG reduction could only be achieved with significant quantities of low-carbon liquid fuel in cases with low or moderate travel demand growth.

Black carbon concentrations in California vehicles and estimation of in-vehicle diesel exhaust particulate matter exposures

Science.gov (United States)

Fruin, Scott A.; Winer, Arthur M.; Rodes, Charles E.

This research assessed in-vehicle exposures to black carbon (BC) as an indicator of diesel particulate matter (DPM) exposures. Approximately 50 h of real-time Aethalometer BC measurements were made inside vehicles driven on freeway and arterial loops in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Video tapes of the driver's view were transcribed to record the traffic conditions, vehicles followed, and vehicle occupant observations, and these results were tested for their associations with BC concentration. In-vehicle BC concentrations were highest when directly following diesel-powered vehicles, particularly those with low exhaust pipe locations. The lowest BC concentrations were observed while following gasoline-powered passenger cars, on average no different than not following any vehicle. Because diesel vehicles were over-sampled in the field study, results were not representative of real-world driving. To calculate representative exposures, in-vehicle BC concentrations were grouped by the type of vehicle followed, for each road type and congestion level. These groupings were then re-sampled stochastically, in proportion to the fraction of statewide vehicle miles traveled (VMT) under each of those conditions. The approximately 6% of time spent following diesel vehicles led to 23% of the in-vehicle BC exposure, while the remaining exposure was due to elevated roadway BC concentrations. In-vehicle BC exposures averaged 6 μg m -3 in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, the regions with the highest congestion and the majority of the state's VMT. The statewide average in-vehicle BC exposure was 4 μg m -3, corresponding to DPM concentrations of 7-23 μg m -3, depending on the Aethalometer response to elemental carbon (EC) and the EC fraction of the DPM. In-vehicle contributions to overall DPM exposures ranged from approximately 30% to 55% of total DPM exposure on a statewide population basis. Thus, although time spent in vehicles was only 1.5 h day -1 on average, vehicles may be the most

Laser Safety Evaluation of the MILES and Mini MILES Laser Emitting Components; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

AUGUSTONI, ARNOLD L.

2002-01-01

Laser safety evaluation and output emission measurements were performed (during October and November 2001) on SNL MILES and Mini MILES laser emitting components. The purpose, to verify that these components, not only meet the Class 1 (eye safe) laser hazard criteria of the CDRH Compliance Guide for Laser Products and 21 CFR 1040 Laser Product Performance Standard; but also meet the more stringent ANSI Std. z136.1-2000 Safe Use of Lasers conditions for Class 1 lasers that govern SNL laser operations. The results of these measurements confirmed that all of the Small Arms Laser Transmitters, as currently set (''as is''), meet the Class 1 criteria. Several of the Mini MILES Small Arms Transmitters did not. These were modified and re-tested and now meet the Class 1 laser hazard criteria. All but one System Controllers (hand held and rifle stock) met class 1 criteria for single trigger pulls and all presented Class 3a laser hazard levels if the trigger is held (continuous emission) for more than 5 seconds on a single point target. All units were Class 3a for ''aided'' viewing. These units were modified and re-tested and now meet the Class 1 hazard criteria for both ''aided'' as well as ''unaided'' viewing. All the Claymore Mine laser emitters tested are laser hazard Class 1 for both ''aided'' as well as ''unaided'' viewing

Heavy-Duty Vehicle Port Drayage Drive Cycle Characterization and Development: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prohaska, Robert; Konan, Arnaud; Kelly, Kenneth; Lammert, Michael

2016-08-01

In an effort to better understand the operational requirements of port drayage vehicles and their potential for adoption of advanced technologies, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers collected over 36,000 miles of in-use duty cycle data from 30 Class 8 drayage trucks operating at the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles in Southern California. These data include 1-Hz global positioning system location and SAE J1939 high-speed controller area network information. Researchers processed the data through NREL's Drive-Cycle Rapid Investigation, Visualization, and Evaluation tool to examine vehicle kinematic and dynamic patterns across the spectrum of operations. Using the k-medoids clustering method, a repeatable and quantitative process for multi-mode drive cycle segmentation, the analysis led to the creation of multiple drive cycles representing four distinct modes of operation that can be used independently or in combination. These drive cycles are statistically representative of real-world operation of port drayage vehicles. When combined with modeling and simulation tools, these representative test cycles allow advanced vehicle or systems developers to efficiently and accurately evaluate vehicle technology performance requirements to reduce cost and development time while ultimately leading to the commercialization of advanced technologies that meet the performance requirements of the port drayage vocation. The drive cycles, which are suitable for chassis dynamometer testing, were compared to several existing test cycles. This paper presents the clustering methodology, accompanying results of the port drayage duty cycle analysis and custom drive cycle creation.

Unregulated greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions from current technology heavy-duty vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Thiruvengadam, Arvind; Besch, Marc; Carder, Daniel; Oshinuga, Adewale; Pasek, Randall; Hogo, Henry; Gautam, Mridul

2016-11-01

The study presents the measurement of carbonyl, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene), ammonia, elemental/organic carbon (EC/OC), and greenhouse gas emissions from modern heavy-duty diesel and natural gas vehicles. Vehicles from different vocations that included goods movement, refuse trucks, and transit buses were tested on driving cycles representative of their duty cycle. The natural gas vehicle technologies included the stoichiometric engine platform equipped with a three-way catalyst and a diesel-like dual-fuel high-pressure direct-injection technology equipped with a diesel particulate filter (DPF) and a selective catalytic reduction (SCR). The diesel vehicles were equipped with a DPF and SCR. Results of the study show that the BTEX emissions were below detection limits for both diesel and natural gas vehicles, while carbonyl emissions were observed during cold start and low-temperature operations of the natural gas vehicles. Ammonia emissions of about 1 g/mile were observed from the stoichiometric natural gas vehicles equipped with TWC over all the driving cycles. The tailpipe GWP of the stoichiometric natural gas goods movement application was 7% lower than DPF and SCR equipped diesel. In the case of a refuse truck application the stoichiometric natural gas engine exhibited 22% lower GWP than a diesel vehicle. Tailpipe methane emissions contribute to less than 6% of the total GHG emissions. Modern heavy-duty diesel and natural gas engines are equipped with multiple after-treatment systems and complex control strategies aimed at meeting both the performance standards for the end user and meeting stringent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emissions regulation. Compared to older technology diesel and natural gas engines, modern engines and after-treatment technology have reduced unregulated emissions to levels close to detection limits. However, brief periods of inefficiencies related to low exhaust thermal energy have been shown to

Electric vehicle test report Cutler-Hammer Corvette

Science.gov (United States)

1981-01-01

Vehicles were characterized for the state of the art assessment of electric vehicles. The vehicle evaluated was a Chevrolet Corvette converted to electric operation. The original internal combustion engine was replaced by an electric traction motor. Eighteen batteries supplied the electrical energy. A controller, an onboard battery charger, and several dashboard instruments completed the conversion. The emphasis was on the electrical portion of the drive train, although some analysis and discussion of the mechanical elements are included. Tests were conducted both on the road (actually a mile long runway) and in a chassis dynamometer equipped laboratory. The majority of the tests performed were according to SAE Procedure J227a and included maximum effort accelerations, constant speed range, and cyclic range. Some tests that are not a part of the SAE Procedure J227a are described and the analysis of the data from all tests is discussed.

Effects of Mid-Level Ethanol Blends on Conventional Vehicle Emissions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knoll, K.; West, B.; Huff, S.; Thomas, J.; Orban, J.; Cooper, C.

2010-06-01

Tests were conducted in 2008 on 16 late-model conventional vehicles (1999-2007) to determine short-term effects of mid-level ethanol blends on performance and emissions. Vehicle odometer readings ranged from 10,000 to 100,000 miles, and all vehicles conformed to federal emissions requirements for their federal certification level. The LA92 drive cycle, also known as the Unified Cycle, was used for testing because it more accurately represents real-world acceleration rates and speeds than the Federal Test Procedure. Test fuels were splash-blends of up to 20 volume percent ethanol with federal certification gasoline. Both regulated and unregulated air-toxic emissions were measured. For the 16-vehicle fleet, increasing ethanol content resulted in reductions in average composite emissions of both nonmethane hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide and increases in average emissions of ethanol and aldehydes.

Potential for reducing GHG emissions and energy consumption from implementing the aluminum intensive vehicle fleet in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du, J.D.; Han, W.J.; Peng, Y.H.; Gu, C.C.

2010-01-01

The automobile industry in China has rapidly developed in recent years which resulted in an increase in gasoline usage and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Focus on climate change has also accelerated to grow pressure on reducing vehicle weight and improving fuel efficiency. Aluminum (Al) as a light metal has demonstrated a great potential for weight savings in applications such as engine blocks, cylinder heads, wheels, hoods, tailgates etc. However, primary Al production requires intensive energy and the cost of Al is more than traditional steel, which may affect the total benefits realized from using Al in automobiles. Therefore, it is very essential to conduct a study to quantify the life cycle GHG emissions and energy consumption if the plan is to achieve fleet-wide Al intensive vehicles. This paper describes a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology and the general modeling assumptions used to evaluate the impact of Al intensive vehicle on GHG emissions and energy consumption. The results indicated that the reductions in life cycle GHG emissions and energy consumption were not significant when the maximum Al content in an automobile is 145 kg, which is the average level of Al usage in automobiles in North America. A neural network methodology was used to forecast the vehicle stock in China from 2010 to 2020 and a vehicle fleet model was established to track GHG emissions and energy consumption of the vehicle fleet. A material availability factor was also introduced into the LCA methodology to further assist decision makers in providing rational proposals for a widespread implementation of Al in automobiles. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to study the impact of the Al content in a vehicle on the final outcomes. The GHG emissions and energy consumption could be further reduced when the Al content in an automobile increases.

Connected vehicle applications : safety.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

Connected vehicle safety applications are designed to increase situational awareness : and reduce or eliminate crashes through vehicle-to-infrastructure, vehicle-to-vehicle, : and vehicle-to-pedestrian data transmissions. Applications support advisor...

Current and Future United States Light-Duty Vehicle Pathways: Cradle-to-Grave Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Economic Assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Elgowainy, Amgad; Han, Jeongwoo; Ward, Jacob; Joseck, Fred; Gohlke, David; Lindauer, Alicia; Ramsden, Todd; Biddy, Mary; Alexander, Mark; Barnhart, Steven; Sutherland, Ian; Verduzco, Laura; Wallington, Timothy J

2018-02-20

This article presents a cradle-to-grave (C2G) assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and costs for current (2015) and future (2025-2030) light-duty vehicles. The analysis addressed both fuel cycle and vehicle manufacturing cycle for the following vehicle types: gasoline and diesel internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), flex fuel vehicles, compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Gasoline ICEVs using current technology have C2G emissions of ∼450 gCO 2 e/mi (grams of carbon dioxide equivalents per mile), while C2G emissions from HEVs, PHEVs, H 2 FCEVs, and BEVs range from 300-350 gCO 2 e/mi. Future vehicle efficiency gains are expected to reduce emissions to ∼350 gCO 2 /mi for ICEVs and ∼250 gCO 2e /mi for HEVs, PHEVs, FCEVs, and BEVs. Utilizing low-carbon fuel pathways yields GHG reductions more than double those achieved by vehicle efficiency gains alone. Levelized costs of driving (LCDs) are in the range $0.25-$1.00/mi depending on time frame and vehicle-fuel technology. In all cases, vehicle cost represents the major (60-90%) contribution to LCDs. Currently, HEV and PHEV petroleum-fueled vehicles provide the most attractive cost in terms of avoided carbon emissions, although they offer lower potential GHG reductions. The ranges of LCD and cost of avoided carbon are narrower for the future technology pathways, reflecting the expected economic competitiveness of these alternative vehicles and fuels.

Current and Future United States Light-Duty Vehicle Pathways: Cradle-to-Grave Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Economic Assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elgowainy, Amgad [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States; Han, Jeongwoo [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States; Ward, Jacob [United States Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States; Joseck, Fred [United States Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States; Gohlke, David [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States; Lindauer, Alicia [United States Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States; Ramsden, Todd [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States; Biddy, Mary [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States; Alexander, Mark [Electric Power Research Institute, Palo; Barnhart, Steven [FCA US LLC, Auburn Hills, Michigan 48326, United States; Sutherland, Ian [General Motors, Pontiac, Michigan 48340, United States; Verduzco, Laura [Chevron Corporation, Richmond, California 94802, United States; Wallington, Timothy J. [Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan 48121, United States

2018-01-30

This article presents a cradle-to-grave (C2G) assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and costs for current (2015) and future (2025–2030) light-duty vehicles. The analysis addressed both fuel cycle and vehicle manufacturing cycle for the following vehicle types: gasoline and diesel internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), flex fuel vehicles, compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Gasoline ICEVs using current technology have C2G emissions of ~450 gCO2e/mi (grams of carbon dioxide equivalents per mile), while C2G emissions from HEVs, PHEVs, H2 FCEVs, and BEVs range from 300–350 gCO2e/mi. Future vehicle efficiency gains are expected to reduce emissions to ~350 gCO2/mi for ICEVs and ~250 gCO2e/mi for HEVs, PHEVs, FCEVs and BEVs. Utilizing low-carbon fuel pathways yields GHG reductions more than double those achieved by vehicle efficiency gains alone. Levelized costs of driving (LCDs) are in the range $0.25–$1.00/mi depending on timeframe and vehicle-fuel technology. In all cases, vehicle cost represents the major (60–90%) contribution to LCDs. Currently, HEV and PHEV petroleum-fueled vehicles provide the most attractive cost in terms of avoided carbon emissions, although they offer lower potential GHG reductions The ranges of LCD and cost of avoided carbon are narrower for the future technology pathways, reflecting the expected economic competitiveness of these alternative vehicles and fuels.

Increasing electric vehicle policy efficiency and effectiveness by reducing mainstream market bias

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Green, Erin H.; Skerlos, Steven J.; Winebrake, James J.

2014-01-01

Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) provide an opportunity for reducing energy use and emissions in the transportation sector. Currently, a number of federal policies are in place to incentivize deployment of PEVs to mainstream consumers with demographics and vehicle attribute preferences most common to today's new vehicle purchasers. This article argues that policies intending to give PEVs a foothold in the market should not focus on mainstream consumers and should instead focus on niche markets—specifically carsharing and postal fleets—and early adopters including green consumers. Two arguments can be made in support of eliminating the mainstream market bias of current policies toward a policy of cultivating niche markets. The first is efficiency: so far PEV policies featuring a mainstream market bias have proven to be inefficient and costly. The second is effectiveness: it is becoming increasingly evident that PEV policies would be more effective in achieving potential societal benefits if they focused on early adopters and niche markets using such approaches as strategic niche management, accessible loans and financing, and appropriately targeted incentives. PEV policies focused on early adopters and niche markets would create complementary system effects that will lead to increased PEV market penetration and realization of intended societal benefits. - Highlights: • We argue that U.S. electric vehicle policies are inefficient and ineffective. • We introduce “mainstream consumer bias” as an explanation for policy deficiencies. • We propose an alternative policy agenda to address some of these policy problems. • Proposed policy options include strategic niche management, targeted R and D and incentives, and loans

Miles-Ezzell's WACC Approach Yields Arbitrage

OpenAIRE

Löffler, Andreas

2002-01-01

A simple counterexample shows the the widely used WACC approach to value leverage firms developed by Miles and Ezzell can create an arbitrage opportunity. The only consequence to be drawn is that their WACC approach cannot be applied under the circumstances assumed by Miles and Ezzell. We show how the WACC has to be modified in order to obtain proper results. We develop a theory in continuous as well as discrete time. In discrete time it turns out that with a further assumption on the cash fl...

Consumer adoption and grid impact models for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in Wisconsin.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-01

This proposed study focuses on assessing the demand for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) in Wisconsin and its economic : impacts on the States energy market and the electric grid. PHEVs are expected to provide a range of about 40 miles per ...

Commuter exposure to PM2.5, BC, and UFP in six common transport microenvironments in Sacramento, California

Science.gov (United States)

Ham, Walter; Vijayan, Abhilash; Schulte, Nico; Herner, Jorn D.

2017-10-01

This study was designed to estimate and compare the air pollution exposures experienced by commuters in six common transportation modes utilized by California residents, and to evaluate the impact of practical exposure mitigation strategies in reducing commute exposures. We measured concentrations of fine particle matter (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), and ultrafine particles (UFP) for 161 commutes between April 2014 and November 2015 in Sacramento, CA. We collected measurements for six modes including single occupancy vehicles, high occupancy vehicles (multiple occupants), buses, light rail, train, and bicycling. The largest average concentrations for most pollutants were measured during train commutes and the lowest average concentrations were observed during light-rail commutes. Mitigation options were explored for personal vehicles, bicycling, and train commute modes. We found that ventilation settings of personal vehicles can reduce in-vehicle PM2.5, BC, and UFP concentrations by up to 75%. Similarly, bicycle route choice can reduce exposures by 15-75% with the lowest concentrations observed during commutes on dedicated bicycle paths away from traffic sources. Train commuters experienced UFP concentrations an order of magnitude greater when the locomotive engine was pulling the rail cars versus pushing the rail cars. We found that UFP concentrations during bus, bicycling, and train commutes were 1.6-5.3 times greater than personal vehicle commutes, while light rail commutes had 30% lower UFP concentrations than personal vehicle commutes. The largest exposure per mile occurred during bicycle commutes with PM2.5, BC, and UFP exposures of 1.312 μg/mile, 0.097 μg/mile, and 3.0 × 109 particles/mile, respectively. Train commutes experienced the largest exposure per mile of all of the combustion-derived transportation commute modes. BC accounted for 5-20% of total PM mass across all commute modes with an average fraction of ∼7% of PM2.5.

Membrane-Based Air Composition Control for Light-Duty Diesel Vehicles: A Benefit and Cost Assessment; FINAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

K. Stork; R. Poola

1998-01-01

This report presents the methodologies and results of a study conducted by Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) to assess the benefits and costs of several membrane-based technologies. The technologies evaluated will be used in automotive emissions-control and performance-enhancement systems incorporated into light-duty diesel vehicle engines. Such engines are among the technologies that are being considered to power vehicles developed under the government-industry Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV). Emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO(sub x)) from diesel engines have long been considered a barrier to use of diesels in urban areas. Recently, particulate matter (PM) emissions have also become an area of increased concern because of new regulations regarding emissions of particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers or less (PM(sub 2.5)). Particulates are of special concern for diesel engines in the PNGV program; the program has a research goal of 0.01 gram per mile (g/mi) of particulate matter emissions under the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) cycle. This extremely low level (one-fourth the level of the Tier II standard) could threaten the viability of using diesel engines as stand-alone powerplants or in hybrid-electric vehicles. The techniques analyzed in this study can reduce NO(sub x) and particulate emissions and even increase the power density of the diesel engines used in light-duty diesel vehicles

Vehicle underbody fairing

Science.gov (United States)

Ortega, Jason M.; Salari, Kambiz; McCallen, Rose

2010-11-09

A vehicle underbody fairing apparatus for reducing aerodynamic drag caused by a vehicle wheel assembly, by reducing the size of a recirculation zone formed under the vehicle body immediately downstream of the vehicle wheel assembly. The fairing body has a tapered aerodynamic surface that extends from a front end to a rear end of the fairing body with a substantially U-shaped cross-section that tapers in both height and width. Fasteners or other mounting devices secure the fairing body to an underside surface of the vehicle body, so that the front end is immediately downstream of the vehicle wheel assembly and a bottom section of the tapered aerodynamic surface rises towards the underside surface as it extends in a downstream direction.

VersiCharge-SG - Smart Grid Capable Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) for Residential Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wei, Dong [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Haas, Harry [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Terricciano, Paul [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-09-30

In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama called for one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 [1]. With large-scale Electric Vehicle (EV) or Plug-in Electric Vehicle (PEV or EV for short) or Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) penetration into the US market, there will be drastic reduction in fossil fuel consumption, thus significantly reducing our dependency on foreign oil [2-6]. There will also be significant reduction on Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and smog in the major US cities [3, 7, 8]. Similar studies have also been done other industrial counties [9]. For the fuel cost, with the home electricity rate around $0.13 per kWh, it would cost about $0.05 per mile for DC operation and $0.03 cents per mile for AC operation. But, assuming 25 miles per gallon for a typical vehicle and $4 per gallon, fossil fuel will cost $0.16 per mile [10]. The overall lifecycle cost of PEVs will be several folds lower than the existing fossil fueled vehicles. Despite the above advantages of the EVs, the current cost of EVSE is not affordable for the average consumer. Presently, the cost of installing state-of-the-art residential EVSE ranges from $1500 to $2500 [11]. Low priced EVSE technology, which is easy to install, and affordable to operate and maintain by an average consumer, is essential for the large-scale market penetration of EVs. In addition, the long-term success of this technology is contingent on the PEVs having minimal excessive load and shift impact on the grid, especially at peak times. In a report [2] published by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the exiting electric power generation infrastructure, if used at its full capacity 24 hours a day, would support up to 84% of the nation’s cars, pickup trucks and SUVs for an average daily drive of 33 miles. This mileage estimate is certainly much below what an average driver would drive his/her vehicle per day. Another report [3] by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

US Department of Energy Hybrid Electric Vehicle Battery and Fuel Economy Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Karner, Donald; Francfort, James

The advanced vehicle testing activity (AVTA), part of the US Department of Energy's FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program, has conducted testing of advanced technology vehicles since August 1995 in support of the AVTA goal to provide benchmark data for technology modelling, and research and development programs. The AVTA has tested over 200 advanced technology vehicles including full-size electric vehicles, urban electric vehicles, neighborhood electric vehicles, and internal combustion engine vehicles powered by hydrogen. Currently, the AVTA is conducting a significant evaluation of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) produced by major automotive manufacturers. The results are posted on the AVTA web page maintained by the Idaho National Laboratory. Through the course of this testing, the fuel economy of HEV fleets has been monitored and analyzed to determine the 'real world' performance of their hybrid energy systems, particularly the battery. The initial fuel economy of these vehicles has typically been less than that determined by the manufacturer and also varies significantly with environmental conditions. Nevertheless, the fuel economy and, therefore, battery performance, has remained stable over the life of a given vehicle (160 000 miles).

Connected vehicle application : safety.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

Connected vehicle safety applications are designed to increase situational awareness : and reduce or eliminate crashes through vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), and vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) data transmissions. Applications...

Reducing CO2 emissions of conventional fuel cars by vehicle photovoltaic roofs

OpenAIRE

LODI CHIARA; SEITSONEN ANTTI; PAFFUMI ELENA; DE GENNARO MICHELE; HULD THOMAS; MALFETTANI STEFANO

2017-01-01

The European Union has adopted a range of policies aiming at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from road transport, including setting binding targets for tailpipe CO2 emissions for new light-duty fleets. The legislative framework for implementing such targets allows taking into account the CO2 savings from innovative technologies that cannot be adequately quantified by the standard test cycle CO2 measurement. This paper presents a methodology to define the average productivity of vehicle-moun...

Three Mile Island accident. Local reactions; L'accident de Three Mile Island. Reactions locales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1979-04-15

Local reactions to the Three Mile Island are presented as well as newspaper articles covering this accident. In addition, this document presents a plan to set forth procedures and guidelines to be utilized by authorized emergency personnel in Middletown, Royalton, Londonderry Township, and Lower Swatara Township located in Pennsylvania, United States. The plan will provide for the orderly and efficient handling of area residents during time of serious incidents emanating from Three Mile Island facility. Emergency personnel in each community should be familiar with portions of the plan that pertain to the other near-by communities. The cooperation of all parties concerned will insure that a maximum effort is being made to help protect the public against injuries and v/ill in some cases keep any damages to communities to a minimum.

Clean Cities Annual Metrics Report 2009 (Revised)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnson, C.

2011-08-01

Document provides Clean Cities coalition metrics about the use of alternative fuels; the deployment of alternative fuel vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and idle reduction initiatives; fuel economy activities; and programs to reduce vehicle miles driven.

Inhibiting mild steel corrosion from sulfate-reducing bacteria using antimicrobial-producing biofilms in Three-Mile-Island process water.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuo, R; Ornek, D; Syrett, B C; Green, R M; Hsu, C-H; Mansfeld, F B; Wood, T K

2004-04-01

Biofilms were used to produce gramicidin S (a cyclic decapeptide) to inhibit corrosion-causing, sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). In laboratory studies these biofilms protected mild steel 1010 continuously from corrosion in the aggressive, cooling service water of the AmerGen Three-Mile-Island (TMI) nuclear plant, which was augmented with reference SRB. The growth of both reference SRB (Gram-positive Desulfosporosinus orientis and Gram-negative Desulfovibrio vulgaris) was shown to be inhibited by supernatants of the gramicidin-S-producing bacteria as well as by purified gramicidin S. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and mass loss measurements showed that the protective biofilms decreased the corrosion rate of mild steel by 2- to 10-fold when challenged with the natural SRB of the TMI process water supplemented with D. orientis or D. vulgaris. The relative corrosion inhibition efficiency was 50-90% in continuous reactors, compared to a biofilm control which did not produce the antimicrobial gramicidin S. Scanning electron microscope and reactor images also revealed that SRB attack was thwarted by protective biofilms that secrete gramicidin S. A consortium of beneficial bacteria (GGPST consortium, producing gramicidin S and other antimicrobials) also protected the mild steel.

Measuring a conceptual model of the relationship between compulsive cell phone use, in-vehicle cell phone use, and motor vehicle crash.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Stephen S; Shain, Lindsey M; Whitehill, Jennifer M; Ebel, Beth E

2017-02-01

Previous research suggests that anticipation of incoming phone calls or messages and impulsivity are significantly associated with motor vehicle crash. We took a more explanative approach to investigate a conceptual model regarding the direct and indirect effect of compulsive cell phone use and impulsive personality traits on crash risk. We recruited a sample of 307 undergraduate college students to complete an online survey that included measures of cell phone use, impulsivity, and history of motor vehicle crash. Using a structural equation model, we examined the direct and indirect relationships between factors of the Cell Phone Overuse Scale-II (CPOS-II), impulsivity, in-vehicle phone use, and severity and frequency of previous motor vehicle crash. Self-reported miles driven per week and year in college were included as covariates in the model. Our findings suggest that anticipation of incoming communication has a direct association with greater in-vehicle phone use, but was not directly or indirectly associated with increasing risk of previous motor vehicle crash. Of the three latent factors comprising the CPOS-II, only anticipation was significantly associated with elevated cell phone use while driving. Greater impulsivity and use of in-vehicle cell phone use while driving were directly and significantly associated with greater risk of motor vehicle crash. Anticipation of incoming cellular contacts (calls or texts) is associated with greater in-vehicle phone use, while greater in-vehicle cell phone use and impulsive traits are associated with elevated risk of motor vehicle crashes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Siren system designed for Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, V.M.

1984-01-01

Since the Three Mile Island (TMI) incident in 1979, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) guidelines require utilities operating nuclear reactors to warn all civilian populations within a 10-mile radius by audible alarms in the event of a nuclear plant emergency. The case history presented involves the planning and implementation of a suitable siren-alarm system by General Public Utilities and its consultant firm. 1 figure

Miles better? how 'fair miles' stack up in the sustainable supermarket

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garside, Ben; MacGregor, James; Vorley, Bill

2007-12-15

In 2007, 'food miles' shot to the top of consumer concerns in the UK. Buying goods that took the shortest route from farm to table was widely seen as a way of shrinking carbon footprints. This left airfreighted produce singled out as the epitome of unsustainable consumption, and some UK retailers began to label flown items such as green beans from Kenya. Yet looking at the bigger picture, fresh produce airfreighted from Africa accounts for less than 0.1 per cent of UK emissions, and per capita emissions from sub-Saharan Africa are minuscule compared to those in industrialised countries. Against this background are the million-plus African livelihoods supported by growing the produce. Within the grocery supply chain the time is ripe for 'fair miles' — a working idea that puts development in the South on the environmental agenda, and allows UK retailers a more balanced response on behalf of their millions of customers.

Opportunities for Low Cost Titanium in Reduced Fuel Consumption, Improved Emissions, and Enhanced Durability Heavy Duty Vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kraft, E.H.

2002-07-22

The purpose of this study was to determine which components of heavy-duty highway vehicles are candidates for the substitution of titanium materials for current materials if the cost of those Ti components is very significantly reduced from current levels. The processes which could be used to produce those low cost components were also investigated. Heavy-duty highway vehicles are defined as all trucks and busses included in Classes 2C through 8. These include heavy pickups and vans above 8,500 lbs. GVWR, through highway tractor trailers. Class 8 is characterized as being a very cyclic market, with ''normal'' year volume, such as in 2000, of approximately 240,000 new vehicles. Classes 3-7 are less cyclic, with ''normal'' i.e., year 2000, volume totaling approximately 325,000 new vehicles. Classes 3-8 are powered about 88.5% by diesel engines, and Class 2C at very roughly 83% diesel. The engine portion of the study therefore focused on diesels. Vehicle production volumes were used in estimates of the market size for candidate components.

Three Mile Island Accident Data

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Three Mile Island Accident Data consists of mostly upper air and wind observations immediately following the nuclear meltdown occurring on March 28, 1979, near...

California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Projections: 2017-2025 - Future Infrastructure Needs for Reaching the State's Zero Emission-Vehicle Deployment Goals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood, Eric W [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Rames, Clement L [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bedir, Abdulkadir [California Energy Commission; Crisostomo, Noel [California Energy Commission; Allen, Jennifer [California Energy Commission

2018-03-27

This report analyzes plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) infrastructure needs in California from 2017 to 2025 in a scenario where the State's zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) deployment goals are achieved by household vehicles. The statewide infrastructure needs are evaluated by using the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Projection tool, which incorporates representative statewide travel data from the 2012 California Household Travel Survey. The infrastructure solution presented in this assessment addresses two primary objectives: (1) enabling travel for battery electric vehicles and (2) maximizing the electric vehicle-miles traveled for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The analysis is performed at the county-level for each year between 2017 and 2025 while considering potential technology improvements. The results from this study present an infrastructure solution that can facilitate market growth for PEVs to reach the State's ZEV goals by 2025. The overall results show a need for 99k-130k destination chargers, including workplaces and public locations, and 9k-25k fast chargers. The results also show a need for dedicated or shared residential charging solutions at multi-family dwellings, which are expected to host about 120k PEVs by 2025. An improvement to the scientific literature, this analysis presents the significance of infrastructure reliability and accessibility on the quantification of charger demand.

77 FR 31725 - Safety Zone; Belle Pass Dredge Operations, Belle Pass, Mile Marker 1.0 to Mile Marker (−0.2...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-30

... Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks. This rule is not an economically significant rule and does not create an environmental risk to health or risk to safety that may disproportionately affect children. 11...-AA00 Safety Zone; Belle Pass Dredge Operations, Belle Pass, Mile Marker 1.0 to Mile Marker (-0.2), Port...

Electric Vehicles in Colorado: Anticipating Consumer Demand for Direct Current Fast Charging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood, Eric W. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Rames, Clement L. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-07-01

To support the State of Colorado in planning for growth in direct current fast charging (DCFC) for electric vehicles, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has partnered with the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to analyze a number of DCFC investment scenarios. NREL analyzed existing electric vehicle registration data from IHS Markit (IHS) to highlight early trends in the electric vehicle market, which were compared with sales forecasts predicting large growth in the Colorado electric vehicle market. Electric vehicle forecasts were then used to develop future DCFC scenarios to be evaluated in a simulation environment to estimate consumer benefits of the hypothetical DCFC networks in terms of increased driving range and electric vehicle miles traveled (eVMT). Simulated utilization of the hypothetical DCFC networks was analyzed for geographic trends, particularly for correlations with vehicle electric range. Finally, a subset of simulations is presented for consumers with potentially inconsistent access to charging at their home location and presumably greater reliance on public DCFC infrastructure.

The characters God and Hamlet by Jack Miles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tania de Fátima da Silva

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In the book “God - A Biography,” Jack Miles aims to introduce ourselves Creator-God as a literary character. Miles developed a narrative based on concept aristotelian, in other words, the structure of the work is made from beginning to end. This procedure established a harmony arising from the interaction between the parties, which contributes to scrutinize the precise details of the story of the main protagonist. We decided to highlight that time some characteristics of the main character of the work and compare them to the character Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, because from the beginning of the narrative to completion Miles calls the reader’s attention to the play Shakespeare.

Medium and Heavy Duty Vehicle Field Evaluations (Presentation)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walkowicz, K.

2014-06-01

This presentation discusses field evaluations of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles performed by NREL. The project provides medium-duty (MD) and heavy-duty (HD) test results, aggregated data, and detailed analysis, including 3rd party unbiased data (data that would not normally be shared by industry in an aggregated and detailed manner). Over 5.6 million miles of advanced technology MD and HD truck data have been collected, documented, and analyzed on over 240 different vehicles since 2002. Data, analysis, and reports are shared within DOE, national laboratory partners, and industry for R&D planning and strategy. The results help guide R&D for new technology development, help define intelligent usage of newly developed technology, and help fleets/users understand all aspects of advanced technology.

Analysis of policies to reduce oil consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions from the US transportation sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ross Morrow, W.; Gallagher, Kelly Sims; Collantes, Gustavo; Lee, Henry

2010-01-01

Even as the US debates an economy-wide CO 2 cap-and-trade policy the transportation sector remains a significant oil security and climate change concern. Transportation alone consumes the majority of the US's imported oil and produces a third of total US Greenhouse-Gas (GHG) emissions. This study examines different sector-specific policy scenarios for reducing GHG emissions and oil consumption in the US transportation sector under economy-wide CO 2 prices. The 2009 version of the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) National Energy Modeling System (NEMS), a general equilibrium model of US energy markets, enables quantitative estimates of the impact of economy-wide CO 2 prices and various transportation-specific policy options. We analyze fuel taxes, continued increases in fuel economy standards, and purchase tax credits for new vehicle purchases, as well as the impacts of combining these policies. All policy scenarios modeled fail to meet the Obama administration's goal of reducing GHG emissions 14% below 2005 levels by 2020. Purchase tax credits are expensive and ineffective at reducing emissions, while the largest reductions in GHG emissions result from increasing the cost of driving, thereby damping growth in vehicle miles traveled. (author)

Vehicle technologies, fuel-economy policies, and fuel-consumption rates of Chinese vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huo Hong; He Kebin; Wang, Michael; Yao Zhiliang

2012-01-01

One of the principal ways to reduce transport-related energy use is to reduce fuel-consumption rates of motor vehicles (usually measured in liters of fuel per 100 km). Since 2004, China has implemented policies to improve vehicle technologies and lower the fuel-consumption rates of individual vehicles. Policy evaluation requires accurate and adequate information on vehicle fuel-consumption rates. However, such information, especially for Chinese vehicles under real-world operating conditions, is rarely available from official sources in China. For each vehicle type we first review the vehicle technologies and fuel-economy policies currently in place in China and their impacts. We then derive real-world (or on-road) fuel-consumption rates on the basis of information collected from various sources. We estimate that the real-world fuel-consumption rates of vehicles in China sold in 2009 are 9 L/100 km for light-duty passenger vehicles, 11.4 L/100 km for light-duty trucks, 22 L/100 km for inter-city transport buses, 40 L/100 km for urban transit buses, and 24.9 L/100 km for heavy-duty trucks. These results aid in understanding the levels of fuel consumption of existing Chinese vehicle fleets and the effectiveness of policies in reducing on-road fuel consumption, which can help in designing and evaluating future vehicle energy-efficiency policies. - Highlights: ► Vehicle fuel-consumption rate (VFCR) data are rarely available in China. ► We review the fuel-economy policies currently in place in China and their impacts. ► We derive real-world VFCRs on the basis of information collected from various sources. ► Results aid in understanding the fuel consumption levels of Chinese vehicle fleets. ► Results help in designing and evaluating future vehicle energy-efficiency policies.

The Three Mile Island Disaster.

Science.gov (United States)

Crosby, Emeral

1980-01-01

For the past decade, education has been experiencing meltdown, explosions, radiation leaks, heat pollution, and management crises, just like the Three Mile Island disaster. This article offers suggestions on how to deal with these problems. (Author/LD)

Health effects of the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fabrikant, J.I.

1980-05-01

Between March 28 and April 15, 1979 the collective dose resulting from the radioactivity released to the population living within a 50-mile radius of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant was about 2000 person-rems, less than 1% of the annual natural background level. The average dose to a person living within 5 miles of the nuclear plant was less than 10% of annual background radiation. The maximum estimated radiation dose received by any one individual in the general population (excluding the nuclear plant workers) during the accident was 70 mrem. The doses received by the general population as a result of the accident were so small that there will be no detectable additional cases of cancer, developmental abnormalities, or genetic ill-health. Three Three Mile Island nuclear workers received radiation doses of about 3 to 4 rem, exceeding maximum permissible quarterly dose of 3 rem. The major health effect of the accident at Three Mile Island was that of a pronounced demoralizing effect on the general population in the Three Mile Island area, including teenagers and mothers of preschool children and the nuclear plant workers. However, this effect proved transient in all groups studied except the nuclear workers

Signal Control for Reducing Vehicle NOx and CO2 Emissions Based on Prediction of Arrival Traffic Flows at Intersections

Science.gov (United States)

Oda, Toshihiko

Nitrogen oxide (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from vehicles have been increasing every year because of the growing number of vehicles, and they cause serious environmental problems such as air pollution and global warming. To alleviate these problems, this paper proposes a new traffic signal control method for reducing vehicle NOx and CO2 emissions on arterial roads. To this end, we first model the amount of vehicle emissions as a function of the traffic delay and the number of stops at intersections. This step is necessary because it is difficult to obtain the amount of emissions directly using traffic control systems. Second, we introduce a signal control model in which the control parameters are continuously updated on the basis of predictions of arrival traffic flows at intersections. The signal timings are calculated in such a manner so as to minimize the weighted sum of the two emissions, which depend on the traffic flow. To evaluate the validity of this method, simulation experiments are carried out on an arterial road. The experiments show that the proposed method significantly outperforms existing methods in reducing both the emissions and travel time.

ADOPT: A Historically Validated Light Duty Vehicle Consumer Choice Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brooker, A.; Gonder, J.; Lopp, S.; Ward, J.

2015-05-04

The Automotive Deployment Option Projection Tool (ADOPT) is a light-duty vehicle consumer choice and stock model supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office. It estimates technology improvement impacts on U.S. light-duty vehicles sales, petroleum use, and greenhouse gas emissions. ADOPT uses techniques from the multinomial logit method and the mixed logit method estimate sales. Specifically, it estimates sales based on the weighted value of key attributes including vehicle price, fuel cost, acceleration, range and usable volume. The average importance of several attributes changes nonlinearly across its range and changes with income. For several attributes, a distribution of importance around the average value is used to represent consumer heterogeneity. The majority of existing vehicle makes, models, and trims are included to fully represent the market. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations are enforced. The sales feed into the ADOPT stock model. It captures key aspects for summing petroleum use and greenhouse gas emissions This includes capturing the change in vehicle miles traveled by vehicle age, the creation of new model options based on the success of existing vehicles, new vehicle option introduction rate limits, and survival rates by vehicle age. ADOPT has been extensively validated with historical sales data. It matches in key dimensions including sales by fuel economy, acceleration, price, vehicle size class, and powertrain across multiple years. A graphical user interface provides easy and efficient use. It manages the inputs, simulation, and results.

A reduced order aerothermodynamic modeling framework for hypersonic vehicles based on surrogate and POD

OpenAIRE

Chen Xin; Liu Li; Long Teng; Yue Zhenjiang

2015-01-01

Aerothermoelasticity is one of the key technologies for hypersonic vehicles. Accurate and efficient computation of the aerothermodynamics is one of the primary challenges for hypersonic aerothermoelastic analysis. Aimed at solving the shortcomings of engineering calculation, computation fluid dynamics (CFD) and experimental investigation, a reduced order modeling (ROM) framework for aerothermodynamics based on CFD predictions using an enhanced algorithm of fast maximin Latin hypercube design ...

Three Mile Island: prologue or epilogue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, D.

1980-01-01

This book contains a minute-by-minute account of the opening hours of the Three Mile Island accident. The testimony of technicians in the plant, people in the state emergency system, and federal observers given before the President's Commission, Congress, and the Pennsylvania Select Committee is documented here. Basic information about the theory and structure of a reactor is explained so clearly that the reader grasps the full meaning of the mechanical failure at Three Mile Island. As the development of the accident is chronicled, details of the governmental response are given. Particular attention is focused on communication difficulties between the state and federal government and on jurisdictional disputes among agencies involved in emergency response and public health. The licensing and inspection processes for nuclear reactors is described, and in particular, the history of Three Mile Island's Unit II, to elucidate the weaknesses in the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions's safety procedures. The qualifications and training requirements for nuclear powerplant operators are also examined. Beyond structural and regulatory problems, the author argues that reactors can never be made fail-safe; the assumption that we can envision all possible combinations of multiple system failures is unreasonable. We must then decide whether the benefits of nuclear energy warrant the risks

The health effects of the accident at Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fabrikant, J.I.

1988-01-01

The major healt effect of the accident at Three Mile Island was that of a pronounced demoralizing effect on the general population living in the Three Mile Island area, including teenagers and mothers of preschool children, and the nuclear plant workers. However, this effect has proved transient in all groups studied except the nuclear workers, who continued to show relatively high levels of demoralization some months after the accident. Moreover, the groups in the general population and the workers, in their differen ways, had continuing problems of trust that stemmed directly from the Three Mile Island accident. For both the nuclear workers and general population, the mental health and behavioral effects are understandable in terms of the objective realities of the threats they faced during the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island

Integrated Vehicle Thermal Management - Combining Fluid Loops in Electric Drive Vehicles (Presentation)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rugh, J. P.

2013-07-01

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles have increased vehicle thermal management complexity, using separate coolant loop for advanced power electronics and electric motors. Additional thermal components result in higher costs. Multiple cooling loops lead to reduced range due to increased weight. Energy is required to meet thermal requirements. This presentation for the 2013 Annual Merit Review discusses integrated vehicle thermal management by combining fluid loops in electric drive vehicles.

Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, M.S.; Shultz, S.M.

1988-01-01

This bibliography is divided into the following categories: Accident Overviews, Sequence and Causes; International Commentary and Reaction; Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Planning; Health Effects; Radioactive Releases and the Environment; Accident Investigations/Commissions; Nuclear Industry: Safety, Occupational, and Financial Issues; Media and Communications; Cleanup; Sociopolitical Response and Commentary; Restart; Legal Ramifications; Federal Documents: President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island; Federal Documents: Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Federal Documents: United States Department of Energy; Federal Documents: Miscellaneous Reports; Pennsylvania State Documents; Federal and State Hearings; and Popular Literature

Planning for economic and environmental resilience

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

economy, including the transportation sector. Slowing growth in vehicle miles traveled : (VMT) will be necessary for reducing transportation GHG emissions, even with major : breakthroughs in vehicle technologies and low-carbon fuels (Winkelman et al....

Hybrid Vehicle Technologies and their potential for reducing oil use

Science.gov (United States)

German, John

2006-04-01

Vehicles with hybrid gasoline-electric powertrains are starting to gain market share. Current hybrid vehicles add an electric motor, battery pack, and power electronics to the conventional powertrain. A variety of engine/motor configurations are possible, each with advantages and disadvantages. In general, efficiency is improved due to engine shut-off at idle, capture of energy during deceleration that is normally lost as heat in the brakes, downsizing of the conventional engine, and, in some cases, propulsion on the electric motor alone. Ongoing increases in hybrid market share are dependent on cost reduction, especially the battery pack, efficiency synergies with other vehicle technologies, use of the high electric power to provide features desired by customers, and future fuel price and availability. Potential barriers include historically low fuel prices, high discounting of the fuel savings by new vehicle purchasers, competing technologies, and tradeoffs with other factors desired by customers, such as performance, utility, safety, and luxury features.

Estimated Bounds and Important Factors for Fuel Use and Consumer Costs of Connected and Automated Vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stephens, T. S. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Gonder, Jeff [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Chen, Yuche [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Lin, Z. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Liu, C. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Gohlke, D. [US Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States)

2016-11-01

This report details a study of the potential effects of connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies on vehicle miles traveled (VMT), vehicle fuel efficiency, and consumer costs. Related analyses focused on a range of light-duty CAV technologies in conventional powertrain vehicles -- from partial automation to full automation, with and without ridesharing -- compared to today's base-case scenario. Analysis results revealed widely disparate upper- and lower-bound estimates for fuel use and VMT, ranging from a tripling of fuel use to decreasing light-duty fuel use to below 40% of today's level. This wide range reflects uncertainties in the ways that CAV technologies can influence vehicle efficiency and use through changes in vehicle designs, driving habits, and travel behavior. The report further identifies the most significant potential impacting factors, the largest areas of uncertainty, and where further research is particularly needed.

"Can Vehicle-to-Grid Revenue Help Electric Vehicles on the Market?"

OpenAIRE

George R. Parsons; Michael K. Hidrue; Willett Kempton; Meryl P. Gardner

2011-01-01

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) electric vehicles can return power stored in their batteries back to the power grid and be programmed to do so at times when power prices are high. Since providing this service can lead to payments to owners of vehicles, it effectively reduces the cost of electric vehicles. Using data from a national stated preference survey (n = 3029), this paper presents the first study of the potential consumer demand for V2G electric vehicles. In our choice experiment, 3029 responden...

Contribution of vehicle exhaust to the global N2O budget

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, K.H.; Loerzer, J.C.; Kurtenbach, R.; Wiesen, P.; Jensen, T.E.; Wallington, T.J.

2000-01-01

Assessment of the impact of vehicle emissions on the global environment requires accurate data concerning nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions. We report herein 'real world' N 2 O emissions from road vehicles in a tunnel in Wuppertal, Germany, together with 'laboratory' emission measurements conducted at the Ford Motor Company using a chassis dynamometer with a standard driving cycle for 26 different cars and trucks. Consistent results were obtained from both approaches suggesting that a good approximation of the average emission factor (g N 2 O/g CO 2 )=(4±2) x 10 -5 . This corresponds to an emission rate of 11-5 mg N 2 O/km for vehicles with fuel economies of 12-6 1/100 km (20-40 miles/US gallon). N 2 O emissions from vehicles have a global warming impact, which is 1-2% of that of the CO 2 emissions from vehicles. We estimate an annual emission of (0.12±0.06) Tg yr -1 of N 2 O (0.08±0.04 Tg N yr -1 ) from the global vehicle fleet which represents 1-4% of the atmospheric growth rate of this species. These results update and supersede our previous study of N 2 O emissions from vehicles. (author)

Reducing drag of a commuter train, using engine exhaust momentum

Science.gov (United States)

Ha, Dong Keun

The objective of this thesis was to perform numerical investigations of two different methods of injecting fluid momentum into the air flow above a commuter train to reduce its drag. Based on previous aerodynamic modifications of heavy duty trucks in improving fuel efficiency, two structural modifications were designed and applied to a Metrolink Services commuter train in the Los Angeles (LA) County area to reduce its drag and subsequently improve fuel efficiency. The first modification was an L-shaped channel, added to the exhaust cooling fan above the locomotive roof to divert and align the exhaust gases in the axial direction. The second modification was adding an airfoil shaped lid over the L-shape channel, to minimize the drag of the perturbed structure, and thus reduce the overall drag. The computational fluid dynamic (CFD) software CCM+ from CD-Adapco with the ?-? turbulence model was used for the simulations. A single train set which consists of three vehicles: one locomotive, one trailer car and one cab car were used. All the vehicles were modeled based on the standard Metrolink fleet train size. The wind speed was at 90 miles per hour (mph), which is the maximum speed for the Orange County Metrolink line. Air was used as the exhaust gas in the simulation. The temperature of the exhausting air emitting out of the cooling fan on the roof was 150 F and the average fan speed was 120 mph. Results showed that with the addition of the lid, momentum injection results in reduced flow separation and pressure recovery behind the locomotive, which reduces the overall drag by at least 30%.

The Three Mile Island Population Registry.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldhaber, M K; Tokuhata, G K; Digon, E; Caldwell, G G; Stein, G F; Lutz, G; Gur, D

1983-01-01

Shortly after the March 28, 1979, accident at the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear plant outside Harrisburg, Pa., the Pennsylvania Department of Health, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Bureau of the Census, conducted a census of the 35,930 persons residing within 5 miles of the plant. With the help of 150 enumerators, demographic and health-related information was collected on each person to provide baseline data for future short- and long-term epidemiologic studies of the effects of the accident. Individual radiation doses were estimated on the basis of residential location and the amount of time each person spent in the 5-mile area during the 10 days after the accident. Health and behavioral resurveys of the population will be conducted approximately every 5 years. Population-mobility, morbidity, and mortality will be studied yearly by matching the TMI Population Registry with postal records, cancer registry records, and death certificate data. Because the radiation dose from TMI was extremely small, any increase in morbidity or mortality attributable to the accident would be so small as not to be measurable by present methods; however, adverse health effects as a result of psychological stress may occur. Also, a temporary increase in reporting of disease could occur because of increased surveillance and attention to health.

Mile-A-Minute (Pest Alert)

Science.gov (United States)

Denise Binion; William Jackson

2009-01-01

Mile-a-minute weed (Persicaria perfoliata (L.) H. Gross, formerly Polygonum perfoliatum, L.) is an annual vine in the Polygonaceae or Buckwheat family. It is native to eastern Asia including India, Bhutan, Nepal, China, Burma, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Siberia, the Philippines, New Guinea, the Malay peninsula and the...

Émile Durkheims politiske teori

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harste, Gorm

2009-01-01

Émile Durkheim skabte en af de mest koherænte teorier om moderne samfunds udvikling og ikke mindst om udviklinger i stat og demokrati. Demokrati defineres som deliberativt demokrati, dvs. at demokrati ikke skal forstås blot som flertalsstyre, men som kommunikationen i forhandlingerne om samfundets...

Ground Vehicle Convoying

Science.gov (United States)

Gage, Douglas W.; Pletta, J. Bryan

1987-01-01

Initial investigations into two different approaches for applying autonomous ground vehicle technology to the vehicle convoying application are described. A minimal capability system that would maintain desired speed and vehicle spacing while a human driver provided steering control could improve convoy performance and provide positive control at night and in inclement weather, but would not reduce driver manpower requirements. Such a system could be implemented in a modular and relatively low cost manner. A more capable system would eliminate the human driver in following vehicles and reduce manpower requirements for the transportation of supplies. This technology could also be used to aid in the deployment of teleoperated vehicles in a battlefield environment. The needs, requirements, and several proposed solutions for such an Attachable Robotic Convoy Capability (ARCC) system will be discussed. Included are discussions of sensors, communications, computers, control systems and safety issues. This advanced robotic convoy system will provide a much greater capability, but will be more difficult and expensive to implement.

Has the great recession and its aftermath reduced traffic fatalities?

Science.gov (United States)

Noland, Robert B; Zhou, Yuhan

2017-01-01

An analysis of state-level data from 1984 to 2014 provides evidence on the relationship between economic recessions and US traffic fatalities. While there are large reductions associated with decreases in household median income, other policy variables tend to have additional and in some cases, larger effects. An increase in the inequality of the income distribution, measured by the Gini index, has reduced traffic fatalities. Graduated licensing policies, cell phone laws, and motorcycle helmet requirements are all associated with reductions in fatalities. Other factors include a proxy for medical technology, and access to emergency medical services (based on the percent of vehicle miles traveled in rural areas); reductions in the latter accounted for a substantial reduction in fatalities and is likely another indicator of reduced economic activity. Changes in the road network, mainly increases in the percent of collector roads has increased fatalities. Population growth is associated with increased traffic fatalities and changes in age cohorts has a small negative effect. Overall, results suggest that there has been a beneficial impact on traffic fatalities from reduced economic activity, but various policies adopted by the states have also reduced traffic fatalities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Battery-Powered Electric and Hybrid Electric Vehicle Projects to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Resource for Project Development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

National Energy Technology Laboratory

2002-07-31

The transportation sector accounts for a large and growing share of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Worldwide, motor vehicles emit well over 900 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year, accounting for more than 15 percent of global fossil fuel-derived CO2 emissions.1 In the industrialized world alone, 20-25 percent of GHG emissions come from the transportation sector. The share of transport-related emissions is growing rapidly due to the continued increase in transportation activity.2 In 1950, there were only 70 million cars, trucks, and buses on the world’s roads. By 1994, there were about nine times that number, or 630 million vehicles. Since the early 1970s, the global fleet has been growing at a rate of 16 million vehicles per year. This expansion has been accompanied by a similar growth in fuel consumption.3 If this kind of linear growth continues, by the year 2025 there will be well over one billion vehicles on the world’s roads.4 In a response to the significant growth in transportation-related GHG emissions, governments and policy makers worldwide are considering methods to reverse this trend. However, due to the particular make-up of the transportation sector, regulating and reducing emissions from this sector poses a significant challenge. Unlike stationary fuel combustion, transportation-related emissions come from dispersed sources. Only a few point-source emitters, such as oil/natural gas wells, refineries, or compressor stations, contribute to emissions from the transportation sector. The majority of transport-related emissions come from the millions of vehicles traveling the world’s roads. As a result, successful GHG mitigation policies must find ways to target all of these small, non-point source emitters, either through regulatory means or through various incentive programs. To increase their effectiveness, policies to control emissions from the transportation sector often utilize indirect means to reduce emissions, such

Three Mile Island accident. Local reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1979-04-01

Local reactions to the Three Mile Island are presented as well as newspaper articles covering this accident. In addition, this document presents a plan to set forth procedures and guidelines to be utilized by authorized emergency personnel in Middletown, Royalton, Londonderry Township, and Lower Swatara Township located in Pennsylvania, United States. The plan will provide for the orderly and efficient handling of area residents during time of serious incidents emanating from Three Mile Island facility. Emergency personnel in each community should be familiar with portions of the plan that pertain to the other near-by communities. The cooperation of all parties concerned will insure that a maximum effort is being made to help protect the public against injuries and v/ill in some cases keep any damages to communities to a minimum

Idling Reduction for Personal Vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-05-07

Fact sheet on reducing engine idling in personal vehicles. Idling your vehicle--running your engine when you're not driving it--truly gets you nowhere. Idling reduces your vehicle's fuel economy, costs you money, and creates pollution. Idling for more than 10 seconds uses more fuel and produces more emissions that contribute to smog and climate change than stopping and restarting your engine does.

Incorporating time-corrected life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in vehicle regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Kendall, Alissa; Price, Lindsay

2012-03-06

Beginning with model year 2012, light-duty vehicles sold in the U.S. are subject to new rules that regulate tailpipe greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions based on grams of CO(2)-equivalent per mile (gCO(2)e/mi). However, improvements in vehicle technology, lower-carbon fuels, and improvements in GHG accounting practices which account for distortions related to emissions timing all contribute to shifting a greater portion of life cycle emissions away from the vehicle use phase and toward the vehicle production phase. This article proposes methods for calculating time-corrected life cycle emissions intensity on a gCO(2)e/mi basis and explores whether regulating only tailpipe CO(2) could lead to an undesirable regulatory outcome, where technologies and vehicle architectures with higher life cycle GHGs are favored over technologies with lower life cycle emissions but with higher tailpipe GHG emissions. Two life cycle GHG assessments for future vehicles are presented in addition to time correction factors for production and end-of-life GHG emissions. Results demonstrate that, based on the vehicle designs considered here, there is a potential for favoring vehicles with higher life cycle emissions if only tailpipe emissions are regulated; moreover, the application of time correction factors amplifies the importance of production emissions and the potential for a perverse outcome.

Study Of Calculation Of Degaussing System For Reducing Magnetic Field From Submersible Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sardono Sarwito

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The rapid development of maritime technology in the world to make Indonesia are also increasingly taking the development of maritime technology, such as in a Submersible Vehicle one is degaussing system, this technology should be owned by the vessel so that the vessel can avoid dangerous explosive equipment contained in the sea. Degaussing system is a system that is in use on the metal parts or electronic devices that are at risk of a magnetic field. This system is used to prevent the vessel from dangerous equipment in the sea which can trigger an explosion and the damage that utilize magnetic fields as a metal-detection sensor when the boat was doing dives. To the authors will plan the design degaussing system, and calculating the system in order to reduce the magnetic properties of the Submersible Vehicle which were obtained by the use of Coil Degaussing along 214,5 meters, a diameter of 0,2, with 500.000 coil that will generate a current of 0,0157 Ampere's 0.0787 Tesla generates a magnetic field.

26 CFR 41.4483-3 - Exemption for trucks used for 5,000 or fewer miles and agricultural vehicles used for 7,500 or...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... suspension of tax. The owner of a highway motor vehicle who reasonably expects that the vehicle will be used... suspension from tax. If a highway motor vehicle on which the tax under section 4481(a) is suspended for a... period under paragraph (a) of this section and the vehicle is transferred while the suspension is in...

Supercavitating Vehicle Control

Science.gov (United States)

2008-10-10

401) 832-1511. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT Approved for Public Release Distribution is unlimited 20081027289 Attorney Docket No. 96674 SUPERCAVITATING ...methods and more specifically to systems and methods for controlling a trajectory of a supercavitating vehicle. (2) Description of the Prior Art [0004...1 [0005) Some investigations into reducing the drag of high-speed, underwater vehicles have focused attention on supercavitating underwater vehicles

Evaluation of commercially available seat suspensions to reduce whole body vibration exposures in mining heavy equipment vehicle operators.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jeong Ho; Marin, Luz S; Dennerlein, Jack T

2018-09-01

As mining vehicle operators are exposed to high level of Whole body vibration (WBV) for prolonged periods of time, approaches to reduce this exposure are needed for the specific types of exposures in mining. Although various engineering controls (i.e. seat suspension systems) have been developed to address WBV, there has been lack of research to systematically evaluate these systems in reducing WBV exposures in mining heavy equipment vehicle settings. Therefore, this laboratory-based study evaluated the efficacy of different combinations of fore-aft (x-axis), lateral (y-axis), and vertical (z-axis) suspensions in reducing WBV exposures. The results showed that the active vertical suspension more effectively reduced the vertical vibration (∼50%; p's suspension (10%; p's suspension systems did not attenuate the corresponding axis vibration (p's > 0.06) and sometimes amplified the floor vibration, especially when the non-vertical vibration was predominant (p's suspensions to address non-vertical WBV exposures, especially because these non-vertical WBV exposures can increase risks for adverse health effects including musculoskeletal loading, discomfort, and impaired visual acuity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Comparison of Data Sets Varying in Spatial Accuracy Used to Predict the Occurrence of Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions

Science.gov (United States)

Gunson, Kari E.; Clevenger, Anthony P.; Ford, Adam T.; Bissonette, John A.; Hardy, Amanda

2009-08-01

Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) pose a significant safety and conservation concern in areas where high-traffic roads are situated adjacent to wildlife habitat. Improving transportation safety, accurately planning highway mitigation, and identifying key habitat linkage areas may all depend on the quality of WVC data collection. Two common approaches to describe the location of WVCs are spatially accurate data derived from global positioning systems (GPS) or vehicle odometer measurements and less accurate road-marker data derived from reference points (e.g., mile-markers or landmarks) along the roadside. In addition, there are two common variable types used to predict WVC locations: (1) field-derived, site-specific measurements and (2) geographic information system (GIS)-derived information. It is unclear whether these different approaches produce similar results when attempting to identify and explain the location of WVCs. Our first objective was to determine and compare the spatial error found in road-marker data (in our case the closest mile-marker) and landmark-referenced data. Our second objective was to evaluate the performance of models explaining high- and low-probability WVC locations, using congruent, spatially accurate (GIS-derived explanatory variables. Our WVC data sets were comprised of ungulate collisions and were located along five major roads in the central Canadian Rocky Mountains. We found that spatial error (mean ± SD) was higher for WVC data referenced to nearby landmarks (516 ± 808 m) than for data referenced to the closest mile-marker data (401 ± 219 m). The top-performing model using the spatially accurate WVC locations contained all explanatory variable types, whereas GIS-derived variables were only influential in the best road-marker model and the spatially accurate reduced model. Our study showed that spatial error and sample size, using road-marker data for ungulate species, are important to consider for model output interpretation

Investigating last mile distribution challenges of wine suppliers in Lagos, Nigeria

OpenAIRE

2014-01-01

M.Com. (Business Management) The last mile distribution is the final link of successful supply chain operations. The high demand for products, lead time uncertainties and replenishment time complicate the distribution task. In order to achieve a competitive business edge, suppliers need to work at developing and improving their last mile distribution link. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the last mile wine distribution in Lagos Island, Nigeria, and to determin...

Connected Vehicle Technologies for Efficient Urban Transportation

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-24

Connected vehicle technology is employed to optimize the vehicle's control system in real-time to reduce congestion, improve fuel economy, and reduce emissions. This project's goal was to develop a two-way communication system to upload vehicle data ...

Evaluation of solid particle number and black carbon for very low particulate matter emissions standards in light-duty vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, M-C Oliver; Shields, J Erin

2017-06-01

To reliably measure at the low particulate matter (PM) levels needed to meet California's Low Emission Vehicle (LEV III) 3- and 1-mg/mile particulate matter (PM) standards, various approaches other than gravimetric measurement have been suggested for testing purposes. In this work, a feasibility study of solid particle number (SPN, d50 = 23 nm) and black carbon (BC) as alternatives to gravimetric PM mass was conducted, based on the relationship of these two metrics to gravimetric PM mass, as well as the variability of each of these metrics. More than 150 Federal Test Procedure (FTP-75) or Supplemental Federal Test Procedure (US06) tests were conducted on 46 light-duty vehicles, including port-fuel-injected and direct-injected gasoline vehicles, as well as several light-duty diesel vehicles equipped with diesel particle filters (LDD/DPF). For FTP tests, emission variability of gravimetric PM mass was found to be slightly less than that of either SPN or BC, whereas the opposite was observed for US06 tests. Emission variability of PM mass for LDD/DPF was higher than that of both SPN and BC, primarily because of higher PM mass measurement uncertainties (background and precision) near or below 0.1 mg/mile. While strong correlations were observed from both SPN and BC to PM mass, the slopes are dependent on engine technologies and driving cycles, and the proportionality between the metrics can vary over the course of the test. Replacement of the LEV III PM mass emission standard with one other measurement metric may imperil the effectiveness of emission reduction, as a correlation-based relationship may evolve over future technologies for meeting stringent greenhouse standards. Solid particle number and black carbon were suggested in place of PM mass for the California LEV III 1-mg/mile FTP standard. Their equivalence, proportionality, and emission variability in comparison to PM mass, based on a large light-duty vehicle fleet examined, are dependent on engine

Space vehicle chassis

Science.gov (United States)

Judd, Stephen; Dallmann, Nicholas; Seitz, Daniel; Martinez, John; Storms, Steven; Kestell, Gayle

2017-07-18

A modular space vehicle chassis may facilitate convenient access to internal components of the space vehicle. Each module may be removable from the others such that each module may be worked on individually. Multiple panels of at least one of the modules may swing open or otherwise be removable, exposing large portions of the internal components of the space vehicle. Such chassis architectures may reduce the time required for and difficulty of performing maintenance or modifications, may allow multiple space vehicles to take advantage of a common chassis design, and may further allow for highly customizable space vehicles.

Protection against malevolent use of vehicles at Nuclear Power Plants. Vehicle barrier system selection guidance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nebuda, D.T.

1994-08-01

This manual provides a simplified procedure for selecting land vehicle barriers that will stop the design basis vehicle threat adopted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Proper selection and construction of vehicle barriers should prevent intrusion of the design basis vehicle. In addition, vital safety related equipment should survive a design basis vehicle bomb attack when vehicle barriers are properly selected, sited, and constructed. This manual addresses passive vehicle barriers, active vehicle barriers, and site design features that can be used to reduce vehicle impact velocity

Three mile island. The silent disaster.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, J S; Fisher, J H

1981-04-24

From Wednesday, March 28, 1979, to Wednesday, April 4, 1979, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, was in a state of near-panic in response to the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. The Dauphin County Office of Emergency Preparedness quickly attempted to develop a plan to evacuate not only the population of an area 20 miles in radius from the plant but the short-term and long-term care medical facilities as well. For medical evacuation, a system of classification of patients was defined and matched to needed transportation. Furthermore, a critical coordinating link was established with the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania to identify and categorize relocation beds in receiving hospitals far from the incident site in the event of evacuation. Just as this incident was unusual, so too were the planning activities unique since they were never before conceived or accomplished.

Three Mile Island. The silent disaster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, J.S. Jr.; Fisher, J.H.

1981-01-01

From Wednesday, March 28, 1979, to Wednesday, April 4, 1979, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, was in a state of near-panic in response to the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. The Dauphin County Office of Emergency Preparedness quickly attempted to develop a plan to evacuate not only the population of an area 20 miles in radius from the plant but the short-term and long-term care medical facilities as well. For medical evacuation, a system of classification of patients was defined and matched to needed transportation. Furthermore, a critical coordinating link was established with the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania to identify and categorize relocation beds in receiving hospitals far from the incident site in the event of evacuation. Just as this incident was unusual, so too were the planning activities unique since they were never before conceived or accomplished

The Three-Mile Island incident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davies, L.M.

1979-10-01

A description is given of the engineering design principles of the PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) of the Three Mile Island-2 power plant. The successive stages of the incident are recounted, with diagrammatic illustrations, and graphs showing the reactor coolant system parameters at various times after the incident. The consequential events and core damage are discussed. (U.K.)

Sustainable Federal Fleets: Deploying Electric Vehicles and Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2017-01-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) helps federal agencies reduce petroleum consumption and increase alternative fuel use through its resources for Sustainable Federal Fleets. To assist agencies with the transition to plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), FEMP offers technical guidance on electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) installations and site-specific planning through partnerships with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) EVSE Tiger Teams.

U.S. Department of Energy FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program: Oil Bypass Filter Technology Evaluation Seventh Quarterly Report April - June 2004

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Larry Zirker; James Francfort; Jordan Fielding

2004-08-01

This Oil Bypass Filter Technology Evaluation quarterly report (April–June 2004) details the ongoing fleet evaluation of an oil bypass filter technology by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eight INEEL four-cycle diesel engine buses used to transport INEEL employees on various routes and six INEEL Chevrolet Tahoes with gasoline engines are equipped with oil bypass filter systems from the puraDYN Corporation. The bypass filters are reported to have engine oil filtering capability of <1 micron and a built-in additive package to facilitate extended oil-drain intervals. This quarter, the eight diesel engine buses traveled 85,632 miles. As of the end of June 2004, the eight buses have accumulated 498,814 miles since the beginning of the test and 473,192 miles without an oil change. This represents an avoidance of 39 oil changes, which equates to 1,374 quarts (343 gallons) of new oil not consumed and, furthermore, 1,374 quarts of waste oil not generated. One bus had its oil changed due to the degraded quality of the engine oil. Also this quarter, the six Tahoe test vehicles traveled 48,193 miles; to date, the six Tahoes have accumulated 109,708 total test miles. The oil for all six of the Tahoes was changed this quarter due to low Total Base Numbers (TBN). The oil used initially in the Tahoe testing was recycled oil; the recycled oil has been replaced with Castrol virgin oil, and the testing was restarted. However, the six Tahoe’s did travel a total of 98,266 miles on the initial engine oil. This represents an avoidance of 26 oil changes, which equates to 130 quarts (32.5 gallons) of new oil not consumed and, consequently, 130 quarts of waste oil not generated. Based on the number of oil changes avoided by the test buses and Tahoes to date, the potential engine oil savings if an oil bypass filter system were used was estimated for the INEEL, DOE

Hospital organizational response to the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island: implications for future-oriented disaster planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maxwell, C.

1982-01-01

The 1979 nuclear accident at Three Mile Island (TMI) near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, caused severe organizational problems for neighboring health care institutions. Dauphin County, just north of TMI, contained four hospitals ranging in distance from 9.5 to 13.5 miles from the stricken plant. Crash plans put into effect within 48 hours of the initial incident successfully reduced hospital census to below 50 per cent of capacity, but retained bedridden and critically ill patients within the risk-zone. No plans existed for area-wide evacuation of hospitalized patients. Future-oriented disaster planning should include resource files of host institution bed capacity and transportation capabilities for the crash evacuation of hospitalized patients during non-traditional disasters

Normal Accident at Three Mile Island.

Science.gov (United States)

Perrow, Charles

1981-01-01

Discusses some aspects of the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. Explains a number of factors involved including the type of accident, warnings, design and equipment failure, operator error, and negative synergy. Presents alternatives to systems with catastrophic potential. (MK)

Mental health effects of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor restart.

Science.gov (United States)

Dew, M A; Bromet, E J; Schulberg, H C; Dunn, L O; Parkinson, D K

1987-08-01

Controversy over potential mental health effects of the Three Mile Island Unit-1 restart led the authors to examine prospectively the pattern of psychiatric symptoms in a sample of Three Mile Island area mothers of young children. Symptom levels after restart were elevated over previous levels; a sizable subcohort of the sample reported relatively serious degrees of postrestart distress. History of diagnosable major depression and generalized anxiety following the Three Mile Island accident, plus symptoms and beliefs about personal risk prior to the restart, best predicted postrestart symptoms.

Mental health effects of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor restart

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dew, M.A.; Bromet, E.J.; Schulberg, H.C.; Dunn, L.O.; Parkinson, D.K.

1987-01-01

Controversy over potential mental health effects of the Three Mile Island Unit-1 restart led the authors to examine prospectively the pattern of psychiatric symptoms in a sample of Three Mile Island area mothers of young children. Symptom levels after restart were elevated over previous levels; a sizable subcohort of the sample reported relatively serious degrees of postrestart distress. History of diagnosable major depression and generalized anxiety following the Three Mile Island accident, plus symptoms and beliefs about personal risk prior to the restart, best predicted postrestart symptoms

Reducing Moose-Vehicle Collisions through Salt Pool Removal and Displacement: an Agent-Based Modeling Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul D. Grosman

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Between 1990 and 2002, more than 200 moose-vehicle collisions occurred each year in Quebec, including about 50/yr in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve. One cause is the presence of roadside salt pools that attract moose near roads in the spring and summer. Using the computer simulation technique of agent-based modeling, this study investigated whether salt pool removal and displacement, i.e., a compensatory salt pool set up 100 to 1500 m away from the road shoulder, would reduce the number of moose-vehicle collisions. Moose road crossings were used as a proxy measure. A GPS telemetry data set consisting of approximately 200,000 locations of 47 moose over 2 yr in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve was used as an empirical basis for the model. Twelve moose were selected from this data set and programmed in the model to forage and travel in the study area. Five parameters with an additional application of stochasticity were used to determine moose movement between forest polygons. These included food quality; cover quality, i.e., protection from predators and thermal stress; proximity to salt pools; proximity to water; and slope. There was a significant reduction in road crossings when either all or two thirds of the roadside salt pools were removed, with and/or without salt pool displacement. With 100% salt pool removal, the reduction was greater (49% without compensatory salt pools than with them (18%. When two thirds of the salt pools were removed, the reduction was the same with and without compensatory salt pools (16%. Although moose-vehicle collisions are not a significant mortality factor for the moose population in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve, in areas with higher road densities, hunting pressure, and/or predator densities it could mean the difference between a stable and a declining population, and salt pool removal could be part of a good mitigation plan to halt population declines. This model can be used, with improvements such as

Chronic Stress and Three Mile Island: Toxic Exposure and Uncertainty.

Science.gov (United States)

Davidson, Laura M.; And Others

Although many researchers expected the psychological effects of the accident at the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear plant to be short-lived, area residents continued to show elevated levels of stress. To examine stress levels of TMI residents 28 months after the accident, 141 subjects were chosen from nearby areas, and from a town 80 miles away.…

Earth Observatory Satellite system definition study. Report 1: Orbit/launch vehicle trade-off studies and recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

1974-01-01

A summary of the constraints and requirements on the Earth Observatory Satellite (EOS-A) orbit and launch vehicle analysis is presented. The propulsion system (hydrazine) and the launch vehicle (Delta 2910) selected for EOS-A are examined. The rationale for the selection of the recommended orbital altitude of 418 nautical miles is explained. The original analysis was based on the EOS-A mission with the Thematic Mapper and the High Resolution Pointable Imager. The impact of the revised mission model is analyzed to show how the new mission model affects the previously defined propulsion system, launch vehicle, and orbit. A table is provided to show all aspects of the EOS multiple mission concepts. The subjects considered include the following: (1) mission orbit analysis, (2) spacecraft parametric performance analysis, (3) launch system performance analysis, and (4) orbits/launch vehicle selection.

Urban sprawl and miles driven daily by teenagers in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Trowbridge, Matthew J; McDonald, Noreen C

2008-03-01

Urban sprawl's association with increased automobile reliance and daily mileage is well established among adults. However, sprawl's specific impact on teen driving exposure is unknown. Teen driver fatality rates per mile driven are significantly higher than adults, making the identification of environmental influences on travel behavior particularly important in this age group. Driving and demographic data for 4528 teens (weighted=10.5 million) aged 16-19 years were obtained from the 2001 National Household Transportation Survey (NHTS). County-level sprawl was measured using an index developed by Ewing et al. The association between daily miles driven by teens and sprawl, controlling for demographic characteristics, was modeled using ordinal logistic regression. The predicted probability of driving >20 miles in counties with varying degrees of sprawl also was calculated. Of the surveyed teens, 48% did not drive, 27% drove 20 miles/day. Of the 52% of teens who reported driving, the average distance driven was 15.6 miles/day. More-pronounced sprawl was associated with increased daily mileage (psprawling counties were more than twice as likely to drive >20 miles/day than teens in compact counties. This trend was most prominent among the youngest drivers. For example, the predicted probability of boys aged 16-17 years driving >20 miles per day varied from 9% to 24% in compact versus sprawling counties. Sprawl is associated with increased daily mileage by teen drivers. Given the stark relationship between driving exposure and fatality risk among teens, increased efforts to understand and modify the effects of sprawl on adolescent driving behavior are necessary.

In the Shadow of Three Mile Island.

Science.gov (United States)

Blair-Clough, Ida; Wheeler, Brenda

1979-01-01

Describes how teachers turned the reality of the nuclear reactor incident at Three Mile Island into a learning experience for children by recreating the sequence of events through creative dramatics. (CM)

SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC SELECTION OF THE SPEED RATE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES FOR REDUCING THE POWER CONSUMPTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. O. Soroka

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The work is aimed to design a system for automatic selection of the optimal traffic modes and automatic monitoring of the electric energy consumption by electric transport. This automatic system should provide for the minimum energy expenses. Methodology. Current methodologies: 1 mathematical modeling of traffic modes of ground electric vehicles; 2 comparison of modelling results with the statistical monitoring; 3 system development for automatic choice of traffic modes of electric transport with minimal electrical energy consumptions taking into account the given route schedules and the limitations imposed by the general traffic rules. Findings. The authors obtained a mathematical dependency of the energy consumption by electric transport enterprises on the monthly averaged environment temperature was obtained. A system which allows for an automatic selection of the speed limit and provides automatic monitoring of the electrical energy consumption by electric vehicles was proposed in the form of local network, which works together with existing GPS system. Originality. A mathematical model for calculating the motion curves and energy consumption of electric vehicles has been developed. This model takes into account the characteristic values of the motor engine and the steering system, the change of the mass when loading or unloading passengers, the slopes and radii of the roads, the limitations given by the general traffic rules, and other factors. The dependency of the energy consumption on the averaged monthly environment temperature for public electric transport companies has been calculated. Practical value. The developed mathematical model simplifies the calculations of the traffic dynamics and energy consumption. It can be used for calculating the routing maps, for design and upgrade of the power networks, for development of the electricity saving measures. The system simplifies the work of the vehicle driver and allows reducing

Comparison of three control methods for an autonomous vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Deshpande, Anup; Mathur, Kovid; Hall, Ernest

2010-01-01

The desirability and challenge of developing a completely autonomous vehicle and the rising need for more efficient use of energy by automobiles motivate this research- a study for an optimum solution to computer control of energy efficient vehicles. The purpose of this paper is to compare three control methods - mechanical, hydraulic and electric that have been used to convert an experimental all terrain vehicle to drive by wire which would eventually act as a test bed for conducting research on various technologies for autonomous operation. Computer control of basic operations in a vehicle namely steering, braking and speed control have been implemented and will be described in this paper. The output from a 3 axis motion controller is used for this purpose. The motion controller is interfaced with a software program using WSDK (Windows Servo Design Kit) as an intermediate tuning layer for tuning and parameter settings in autonomous operation. The software program is developed in C++. The voltage signal sent to the motion controller can be varied through the control program for desired results in controlling the steering motor, activating the hydraulic brakes and varying the vehicle's speed. The vehicle has been tested for its basic functionality which includes testing of street legal operations and also a 1000 mile test while running in a hybrid mode. The vehicle has also been tested for control when it is interfaced with devices such as a keyboard, joystick and sensors under full autonomous operation. The vehicle is currently being tested in various safety studies and is being used as a test bed for experiments in control courses and research studies. The significance of this research is in providing a greater understanding of conventional driving controls and the possibility of improving automobile safety by removing human error in control of a motor vehicle.

Three Mile Island Startup program and its contributions to plant performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brill, R.A.; Barton, J.J.

1976-01-01

The General Public Utilities Service Corporation Startup Organization provided a specialized group for startup testing, coordination, and management of the Three Mile Island Unit No. 1 nuclear power plant. This organization conducted an extensive test program which contributed to Three Mile Island's high first year plant availability

A Chemistry Lesson at Three Mile Island.

Science.gov (United States)

Mammano, Nicholas J.

1980-01-01

Details the procedures used in utilizing the hydrogen bubble incident at Three Mile Island to relate these basic chemical principles to nuclear chemistry: gas laws, Le Chatelier's principle and equilibrium, and stoichiometry. (CS)

Near-optimal order-reduced control for A/C (air-conditioning) system of EVs (electric vehicles)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiu, Chien-Chin; Tsai, Nan-Chyuan; Lin, Chun-Chi

2014-01-01

This work is aimed to investigate the regulation problem for thermal comfortableness and propose control strategies for cabin environment of EVs (electric vehicles) by constructing a reduced-scale A/C (air-conditioning) system which mainly consists of two modules: ECB (environmental control box) and AHU (air-handling unit). Temperature and humidity in the ECB can be regulated by AHU via cooling, heating, mixing air streams and adjusting speed of fans. To synthesize the near-optimal controllers, the mathematical model for the system thermodynamics is developed by employing the equivalent lumped heat capacity approach, energy/mass conservation principle and the heat transfer theories. In addition, from the clustering pattern of system eigenvalues, the thermodynamics of the interested system can evidently be characterized by two-time-scale property. That is, the studied system can be decoupled into two subsystems, slow mode and fast mode, by singular perturbation technique. As to the optimal control strategies for EVs, by taking thermal comfortableness, humidity and energy consumption all into account, a series of optimal controllers is synthesized on the base of the order-reduced thermodynamic model. The feedback control loop for the experimental test rig is examined and realized by the aid of the control system development kit dSPACE DS1104 and the commercial software MATLAB/Simulink. To sum up, the intensive computer simulations and experimental results verify that the performance of the near-optimal order-reduced control law is almost as superior as that of standard LQR (Linear-Quadratic Regulator). - Highlights: • A reduced-scale test rig for A/C (air-conditioning) system to imitate the temperature/humidity of cabin in EV (electric vehicle) is constructed. • The non-linear thermodynamic model of A/C system can be decoupled by singular perturbation technique. • The temperature/humidity in cabin is regulated to the desired values by proposed optimal

78 FR 77726 - Exelon Generation Company, LLC Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-24

... Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1 AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Exemption... License No. DPR-50, which authorizes operation of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (TMI-1... Facility Operating License No. DPR-50, which authorizes operation of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station...

Making the case for direct hydrogen storage in fuel cell vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

James, B.D.; Thomas, C.E.; Baum, G.N.; Lomas, F.D. Jr.; Kuhn, I.F. Jr. [Directed Technologies, Inc., Arlington, VA (United States)

1997-12-31

Three obstacles to the introduction of direct hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are often states: (1) inadequate onboard hydrogen storage leading to limited vehicle range; (2) lack of an hydrogen infrastructure, and (3) cost of the entire fuel cell system. This paper will address the first point with analysis of the problem/proposed solutions for the remaining two obstacles addressed in other papers. Results of a recent study conducted by Directed Technologies Inc. will be briefly presented. The study, as part of Ford Motor Company/DOE PEM Fuel Cell Program, examines multiple pure hydrogen onboard storage systems on the basis of weight, volume, cost, and complexity. Compressed gas, liquid, carbon adsorption, and metal hydride storage are all examined with compressed hydrogen storage at 5,000 psia being judged the lowest-risk, highest benefit, near-term option. These results are combined with recent fuel cell vehicle drive cycle simulations to estimate the onboard hydrogen storage requirement for full vehicle range (380 miles on the combined Federal driving schedule). The results indicate that a PNGV-like vehicle using powertrain weights and performance realistically available by the 2004 PNGV target data can achieve approximate fuel economy equivalent to 100 mpg on gasoline (100 mpg{sub eq}) and requires storage of approximately 3.6 kg hydrogen for full vehicle storage quantity allows 5,000 psia onboard storage without altering the vehicle exterior lines or appreciably encroaching on the passenger or trunk compartments.

Three Mile Island telephone survey: preliminary report on procedures and findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flynn, C.B.

1979-10-01

This report describes the methodology used in, and the results of, a telephone survey conducted in the vicinity of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. The survey is part of a study of the socioeconomic impacts of nuclear power plant construction and operation at Three Mile Island, and eleven other nuclear power plant sites. The survey covers the areas of evacuation behavior, information processing, short-term accident effects, continuing effects of the accident, and respondent's evaluation of TMI and nuclear power in general. Approximately 1500 households in the vicinity of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant participated in the survey, which was conducted in July and August 1979

Psychological adaptation among residents following restart of Three Mile Island.

Science.gov (United States)

Prince-Embury, S; Rooney, J F

1995-01-01

Psychological adaptation is examined in a sample of residents who remained in the vicinity of Three Mile Island following the restart of the nuclear generating facility which had been shut down since the 1979 accident. Findings indicate a lowering of psychological symptoms between 1985 and 1989 in spite of increased lack of control, less faith in experts and increased fear of developing cancer. The suggestion is made that reduced stress might have been related to a process of adaptation whereby a cognition of emergency preparedness was integrated by some of these residents as a modulating cognitive element. Findings also indicate that "loss of faith in experts" is a persistently salient cognition consistent with the "shattered assumptions" theory of victimization.

Energy harvesting water vehicle

KAUST Repository

Singh, Devendra

2018-01-01

An efficient energy harvesting (EEH) water vehicle is disclosed. The base of the EEH water vehicle is fabricated with rolling cylindrical drums that can rotate freely in the same direction of the water medium. The drums reduce the drag

The Three Mile Island crisis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Houts, P.S.; Cleary, P.D.; Hu, T.W.

1988-01-01

Since the March 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant, many studies have assessed its impacts. Compiled and summarized in this book are the results of five related surveys, all aimed at the scientific assessment of the psycho-socio-economic behavior of the residents around the TMI facility. These studies are based on a randomly selected, large sample of the population (with telephones) around TMI

Analytic Shielding Optimization to Reduce Crew Exposure to Ionizing Radiation Inside Space Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Gaza, Razvan; Cooper, Tim P.; Hanzo, Arthur; Hussein, Hesham; Jarvis, Kandy S.; Kimble, Ryan; Lee, Kerry T.; Patel, Chirag; Reddell, Brandon D.; Stoffle, Nicholas;

Reducing Moose-Vehicle Collisions through Salt Pool Removal and Displacement: an Agent-Based Modeling Approach

OpenAIRE

Paul D. Grosman; Jochen A. G. Jaeger; Pascale M. Biron; Christian Dussault; Jean-Pierre Ouellet

2009-01-01

Between 1990 and 2002, more than 200 moose-vehicle collisions occurred each year in Quebec, including about 50/yr in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve. One cause is the presence of roadside salt pools that attract moose near roads in the spring and summer. Using the computer simulation technique of agent-based modeling, this study investigated whether salt pool removal and displacement, i.e., a compensatory salt pool set up 100 to 1500 m away from the road shoulder, would reduce the number of ...

A community-based participatory research partnership to reduce vehicle idling near public schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Eghbalnia, Cynthia; Sharkey, Ken; Garland-Porter, Denisha; Alam, Mohammad; Crumpton, Marilyn; Jones, Camille; Ryan, Patrick H

2013-05-01

The authors implemented and assessed the effectiveness of a public health initiative aimed at reducing traffic-related air pollution exposure of the school community at four Cincinnati public schools. A partnership was fostered with academic environmental health researchers and community members. Anti-idling campaign materials were developed and education and training were provided to school bus drivers, students, parents, and school staff. Pledge drives and pre- and posteducation assessments were documented to measure the effectiveness of the program. After completing the educational component of the public health initiative, bus drivers (n = 397), community members (n = 53), and staff (n = 214) demonstrated significantly increased knowledge about the health effects of idling (p public health intervention. A community-driven public health initiative can be effective in both 1) enhancing community awareness about the benefits of reducing idling vehicles and 2) increasing active participation in idling reduction. The partnership initially developed has continued to develop toward a sustainable and growing process.

77 FR 24147 - Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Mile 359.4, Missouri River, Kansas City, MO

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-23

... Operation Regulation; Mile 359.4, Missouri River, Kansas City, MO AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Notice... River, mile 359.4, at Kansas City, Missouri. The deviation is necessary to allow the replacement of... Railroad Drawbridge, across the Missouri River, mile 359.4, at Kansas City, Missouri to remain in the...

Eco-Test at Vehicle Testing Centres

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nada Štrumberger

2003-09-01

Full Text Available Following the world conference on sustainable developmentof ecology, the care for the environment has to be strictlycomplied with, and this should be the task both of every individualand of the society as an organised whole. The work presentsconcrete measurements from practice and the indicators of thesituation regarding motor vehicles in Croatia. The EGO-TESThas been performed in Croatia according to the European Uniondirectives; first on the vehicles with petrol engines. Now, it isstarting to be applied on the vehicles with Diesel engines as well.Compliance with the EGO TEST regarding motor vehicles inCroatia will take into consideration the guidelines provided bythe European Union and thus reduce the harm from exhaustgases and noise pollution, and increase the possibility of usingmotor vehicles in order to reduce the danger and increase thesafety on the roads by excluding old vehicles from traffic.

Emissions from Medium-Duty Conventional and Diesel-Electric Hybrid Vehicles; NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ragatz, A.; Duran, A.; Thornton, M.; Walkowicz, K.

2014-04-02

This presentation discusses the results of emissions testing for medium-duty conventional and diesel-electric hybrid vehicles. Testing was based on a field evaluation approach that utilized the Fleet DNA drive cycle database and NREL’s Renewable Fuels and Lubricants (ReFUEL) Laboratory chassis dynamometer. Vehicles tested included parcel delivery (Class 6 step vans), beverage delivery (Class 8 tractors), and parcel delivery (Class 7 box trucks) vehicles, all with intended service class medium/heavy heavy-duty diesel (MHDD).
Results for fuel economy and tailpipe NOx emissions included: diesel hybrid electric vehicles showed an average fuel economy advantage on identified test cycles: Class 6 Step Vans: 26%; Class 7 Box Trucks: 24.7%; Class 8 Tractors: 17.3%. Vehicle miles traveled is an important factor in determining total petroleum and CO2 displacement. Higher NOx emissions were observed over some test cycles: highly drive cycle dependent; engine-out differences may result from different engine operating point; and selective catalyst reduction temperature may play a role, but does not explain the whole story.

Trends in Automobile Travel, Motor Vehicle Fatalities, and Physical Activity: 2003-2015.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Noreen C

2017-05-01

Annual per-capita automobile travel declined by 600 miles from 2003 to 2014 with decreases greatest among young adults. This article tests whether the decline has been accompanied by public health co-benefits of increased physical activity and decreased motor vehicle fatalities. Minutes of auto travel and physical activity derived from active travel, sports, and exercise were obtained from the American Time Use Survey. Fatalities were measured using the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Longitudinal change was assessed for adults aged 20-59 years by age group and sex. Significance of changes was assessed by absolute differences and unadjusted and adjusted linear trends. Analyses were conducted in 2016. Daily auto travel decreased by 9.2 minutes from 2003 to 2014 for all ages (ptravel showed only modest declines across age groups and, for men aged 20-29 years, varied from 10.9 (95% CI=10.0, 11.7) in 2003 to 9.7 (95% CI=8.7, 10.8) in 2014. Reduced motor vehicle fatalities are a public health co-benefit of decreased driving, especially for male millennials. Despite suggestions to the contrary, individuals did not switch from cars to active modes nor spend more time in sports and exercise. Maintenance of the safety benefits requires additional attention to road safety efforts, particularly as auto travel increases. Copyright © 2017 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Study of the Use of a Terminal Controller Technique for Reentry Guidance of a Capsule-Type Vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Foudriat, Edwin C.

1961-01-01

A study has been made of the use o f a terminal controller technique i n the guidance of a high-drag, variable-lift reentry vehicle to a desired landing point. The technique uses linearized equations of motion attained by the perturbation of the dependent variables from those of a reference trajectory. The guidance system continuously predicts the terminal range error and uses this error to control the angle of attack of the vehicle in an on-off manner until the predicted range error is within +-O.1 degrees of the required arc or +-6.9 miles.

77 FR 72737 - Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Mile 359.4, Missouri River, Kansas City, MO

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-06

... Operation Regulation; Mile 359.4, Missouri River, Kansas City, MO AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Notice... River, mile 359.4, at Kansas City, Missouri. The deviation is necessary to allow the replacement of 64... deviation for the Harry S. Truman Railroad Drawbridge, across the Missouri River, mile 359.4, at Kansas City...

The potential of electric vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-04-01

Electric vehicles can help reduce the dependence of road transport on imported oil, cut the country's energy bill, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality in cities through zero exhaust emissions and reduce noise pollution. The economic costs and environmental impacts of electric vehicles are mostly concentrated at the manufacturing stage, whereas the costs and impacts of internal combustion vehicles are predominantly felt during usage. So we cannot simply compare vehicles as objects, we must see how they are used, which means taking a fresh look at the full potential of electric vehicles which must be used intensely to be economically and environmentally viable. The main advantage of internal combustion vehicles is their ability to carry a very large amount of energy giving them a very large range and significant versatility. However, the consequences of the use of fossil fuels on the climate and the environment today require us to look for other solutions for vehicles and mobility systems. Electric vehicles are among these: its lack of versatility, due to its still limited range, is offset by being more adaptable and optimised for the usage sought. Electric vehicles are particularly suitable for new mobility services offerings and allow the transition to new ways of travelling to be speeded up optimising the use of the vehicle and no longer requiring ownership of it. The use of digital, facilitated by the electrical engine, opens up numerous opportunities for innovations and new services (such as the autonomous vehicle for example). In addition, electric vehicles can do more than just transport. Their batteries provide useful energy storage capabilities that can help regulate the power grid and the development of renewable energy. The marketing of electric vehicles may be accompanied by energy services that can be economically viable and used to structure the electro-mobility offer in return. To minimise the impact on the electrical grid, it is

2010 Vehicle Technologies Market Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ward, Jacob [U.S. Department of Energy; Davis, Stacy Cagle [ORNL; Diegel, Susan W [ORNL

2011-06-01

In the past five years, vehicle technologies have advanced on a number of fronts: power-train systems have become more energy efficient, materials have become more lightweight, fuels are burned more cleanly, and new hybrid electric systems reduce the need for traditional petroleum-fueled propulsion. This report documents the trends in market drivers, new vehicles, and component suppliers. This report is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy s (DOE s) Vehicle Technologies Program, which develops energy-efficient and environmentally friendly transportation technologies that will reduce use of petroleum in the United States. The long-term aim is to develop "leap frog" technologies that will provide Americans with greater freedom of mobility and energy security, while lowering costs and reducing impacts on the environment.

Decentralized Electric Vehicle Charging Strategies for Reduced Load Variation and Guaranteed Charge Completion in Regional Distribution Grids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weige Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A novel, fully decentralized strategy to coordinate charge operation of electric vehicles is proposed in this paper. Based on stochastic switching control of on-board chargers, this strategy ensures high-efficiency charging, reduces load variations to the grid during charging periods, achieves charge completion with high probability, and accomplishes approximate “valley-filling”. Further improvements on the core strategy, including individualized power management, adaptive strategies, and battery support systems, are introduced to further reduce power fluctuation variances and to guarantee charge completion. Stochastic analysis is performed to establish the main properties of the strategies and to quantitatively show the performance improvements. Compared with the existing decentralized charging strategies, the strategies proposed in this paper can be implemented without any information exchange between grid operators and electric vehicles (EVs, resulting in a communications cost reduction. Additionally, it is shown that by using stochastic charging rules, a grid-supporting battery system with a very small energy capacity can achieve substantial reduction of EV load fluctuations with high confidence. An extensive set of simulations and case studies with real-world data are used to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed strategies.

Commercial Electric Vehicle (EV) Development and Manufacturing Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leeve, Dion

2014-06-30

Navistar with the Department of Energy’s assistance undertook this effort to achieve the project objectives as listed in the next section. A wholly owned subsidiary of Navistar, Workhorse Sales Corporation was the original grant awardee and upon their discontinuation as a standalone business entity, Navistar assumed the role of principal investigator. The intent of the effort, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was to produce zero emission vehicles that could meet the needs of the marketplace while reducing carbon emissions to zero. This effort was predicated upon the assumption that concurrent development activities in the lithium ion battery industry investigations would significantly increase their production volumes thus leading to substantial reductions in their manufacturing costs. As a result of this development effort much was learned about the overall system compatibility between the electric motor, battery pack, and charging capabilities. The original system was significantly revised and improved during the execution of this development effort. The overall approach that was chosen was to utilize a British zero emissions, class 2 truck that had been developed for their market, homologate it and modify it to meet the product requirements as specified in the grant details. All of these specific goals were achieved. During the course of marketing and selling the product valuable information was obtained as relates to customer expectations, price points, and product performance expectations, specifically those customer expectations about range requirements in urban delivery situations. While the grant requirements specified a range of 100 miles on a single charge, actual customer usage logs indicate a range of 40 miles or less is typical for their applications. The price point, primarily due to battery pack costs, was significantly higher than the mass market could bear. From Navistar’s and the overall industry’s perspective

Nuclear accidents. Three mile Island (United States)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duco, J.

2004-01-01

This paper describes the accident of Three Miles Island power plant which occurred the 28 march 1979 in the United States. The accident scenario, the consequences and the reactor core and vessel, after the accident, are analyzed. (A.L.B.)

Simulation of the Three Mile Island transient in Semiscale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larson, T.K.; Loomis, G.G.; Shumway, R.W.

1979-07-01

This report presents the results of a preliminary review and analysis of the data obtained from eight simulations of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 Nuclear Power Generating Station transient (March 28, 1979) that have been conducted in the Semiscale Mod-3 System. The Semiscale simulations of the Three Mile Island (TMI) transient were basically conducted from the same sequence of events as those recorded in the plant. System initial conditions representative of those in the TMI system were established and the transient was initiated by terminating steam generator feedwater and steam valve flow. The steam generator secondaries were drained to control primary to secondary heat transfer. The pressurizer power operated relief valve, pressurizer code safety valve, and core power trip were operated on system pressure. High pressure safety injection was activated for about one minute during the Semiscale simulations. In addition, both primary loop coolant pumps were shut off in the Semiscale simulation at the same time that the Three Mile Island loop 2A pump was shut off

Analysis of the Relationship Between Vehicle Weight/Size and Safety, and Implications for Federal Fuel Economy Regulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wenzel, Thomas P.

2010-03-02

This report analyzes the relationship between vehicle weight, size (wheelbase, track width, and their product, footprint), and safety, for individual vehicle makes and models. Vehicle weight and footprint are correlated with a correlation coefficient (R{sup 2}) of about 0.62. The relationship is stronger for cars (0.69) than for light trucks (0.42); light trucks include minivans, fullsize vans, truck-based SUVs, crossover SUVs, and pickup trucks. The correlation between wheelbase and track width, the components of footprint, is about 0.61 for all light vehicles, 0.62 for cars and 0.48 for light trucks. However, the footprint data used in this analysis does not vary for different versions of the same vehicle model, as curb weight does; the analysis could be improved with more precise data on footprint for different versions of the same vehicle model. Although US fatality risk to drivers (driver fatalities per million registered vehicles) decreases as vehicle footprint increases, there is very little correlation either for all light vehicles (0.01), or cars (0.07) or trucks (0.11). The correlation between footprint and fatality risks cars impose on drivers of other vehicles is also very low (0.01); for trucks the correlation is higher (0.30), with risk to others increasing as truck footprint increases. Fatality risks reported here do not account for differences in annual miles driven, driver age or gender, or crash location by vehicle type or model. It is difficult to account for these factors using data on national fatal crashes because the number of vehicles registered to, for instance, young males in urban areas is not readily available by vehicle type or model. State data on all police-reported crashes can be used to estimate casualty risks that account for miles driven, driver age and gender, and crash location. The number of vehicles involved in a crash can act as a proxy of the number of miles a given vehicle type, or model, is driven per year, and is a

Cost-effectiveness of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle battery capacity and charging infrastructure investment for reducing US gasoline consumption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peterson, Scott B.; Michalek, Jeremy J.

2013-01-01

Federal electric vehicle (EV) policies in the United States currently include vehicle purchase subsidies linked to EV battery capacity and subsidies for installing charging stations. We assess the cost-effectiveness of increased battery capacity vs. nondomestic charging infrastructure installation for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as alternate methods to reduce gasoline consumption for cars, trucks, and SUVs in the US. We find across a wide range of scenarios that the least-cost solution is for more drivers to switch to low-capacity plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (short electric range with gasoline backup for long trips) or gasoline-powered hybrid electric vehicles. If more gasoline savings are needed per vehicle, nondomestic charging infrastructure installation is substantially more expensive than increased battery capacity per gallon saved, and both approaches have higher costs than US oil premium estimates. Cost effectiveness of all subsidies are lower under a binding fuel economy standard. Comparison of results to the structure of current federal subsidies shows that policy is not aligned with fuel savings potential, and we discuss issues and alternatives. - Highlights: ► We compare cost of PHEV batteries vs. charging infrastructure per gallon of gasoline saved. ► The lowest cost solution is to switch more drivers to low-capacity PHEVs and HEVs. ► If more gasoline savings is needed, batteries offer a better value than chargers. ► Extra batteries and chargers are both more costly per gal than oil premium estimates. ► Current subsidies are misaligned with fuel savings. We discuss alternatives.

An empirical study of the effectiveness of electronic stability control system in reducing loss of vehicle control.

Science.gov (United States)

Papelis, Yiannis E; Watson, Ginger S; Brown, Timothy L

2010-05-01

A significant percentage of fatal vehicle crashes involve loss of control (LOC). Electronic stability control (ESC) is an active safety system that detects impending LOC and activates counter-measures that help the driver maintain or re-gain control. To assess the effectiveness of ESC in preventing LOC, an empirical study was conducted on a high-fidelity driving simulator. The ESC systems for two vehicles were incorporated into the simulator's dynamics code which was calibrated to ensure engineering validation. The study utilized three scenarios designed to recreate typical LOC situations, and was designed to assess the effects of ESC presence, vehicle type, scenario, age and gender. A total of 120 research participants completed the study. Results showed a statistically significant reduction in LOC with ESC compared to without ESC (F=52.72, p<0.0001). The study findings of 5% LOC with ESC and 30% without ESC match several epidemiological studies that have analyzed ESC effectiveness on real-world crashes, providing strong support to the use of driving simulation for studying driver behavior. Study conclusions suggest that wide-spread utilization of ESC is likely to reduce traffic fatalities. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Model and algorithm for bi-fuel vehicle routing problem to reduce GHG emissions.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdoli, Behroz; MirHassani, Seyed Ali; Hooshmand, Farnaz

2017-09-01

Because of the harmful effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted by petroleum-based fuels, the adoption of alternative green fuels such as biodiesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) is an inevitable trend in the transportation sector. However, the transition to alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) fleets is not easy and, particularly at the beginning of the transition period, drivers may be forced to travel long distances to reach alternative fueling stations (AFSs). In this paper, the utilization of bi-fuel vehicles is proposed as an operational approach. We present a mathematical model to address vehicle routing problem (VRP) with bi-fuel vehicles and show that the utilization of bi-fuel vehicles can lead to a significant reduction in GHG emissions. Moreover, a simulated annealing algorithm is adopted to solve large instances of this problem. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated on some random instances.

Biological control of Lycoriella ingenua (Diptera: Sciaridae) in commercial mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) cultivation: a comparison between Hypoaspis miles and Steinernema feltiae.

Science.gov (United States)

Jess, Stephen; Schweizer, Heinrich

2009-11-01

Mushroom cultivation may be adversely affected by insect pests, including sciarids (Lycoriella spp.), which were previously controlled by application of chemical pesticides. However, owing to food safety and environmental concerns, availability of pesticides for use during mushroom cultivation has diminished. Consequently, it is imperative to investigate alternative control strategies, not reliant on chemical pesticides, which may be used in an integrated pest management system. Application of the predatory mite Hypoaspis miles Berlese to commercial mushroom-growing beds at the beginning of spawn run or just prior to casing (830 mites m(-2)) significantly reduced immature sciarids, Lycoriella ingenua (Dufour), in the growing substrate and also adult activity towards the conclusion of cropping. A trend towards lower sciarid emergence from substrates and reduced adult sciarid activity was observed following the application of Steinernema feltiae (Filipjev) (1.5 x 10(6) nematodes m(-2)) at casing. No significant treatment effects on mushroom yield were observed. However, contamination of the mushroom crop by adult sciarids increased in untreated controls. Application of H. miles required a 12-fold increase in labour when compared with application of S. feltiae. Contingent upon the development of an effective application system, H. miles has potential for the biological control of sciarids in commercial mushroom production. (c) 2009 Society of Chemical Industry.

Evacuation decision-making at three mile island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeigler, Donald. J.; Johnson, James. H.

1987-01-01

The accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in 1979 provoked an unanticipated and unprecedented spontaneous evacuation of people living in the area. Following the accident, revised and upgraded emergency preparedness and response regulations were issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (FEMA). This includes the assumption that public education and awareness will minimise the tendency of people to evacuate spontaneously from the vicinity of an accident. This assumption is challenged. Results of an empirical test of a casual model of emergency evacuation decision-making are given. This test was devised to aid understanding of the public behaviour at the time of the Three Mile Island incident. The emergency plans for the Sizewell-B reactor are subject to brief critical consideration. It is concluded that evacuation plans need to reflect people's natural inclinations to move away from a nuclear hazard. (UK)

Usability Analysis of Collision Avoidance System in Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hong Cho

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Conventional intelligent vehicles have performance limitations owing to the short road and obstacle detection range of the installed sensors. In this study, to overcome this limitation, we tested the usability of a new conceptual autonomous emergency braking (AEB system that employs vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V communication technology in the existing AEB system. To this end, a radar sensor and a driving and communication environment constituting the AEB system were simulated; the simulation was then linked by applying vehicle dynamics and control logic. The simulation results show that the collision avoidance relaxation rate of V2V communication-based AEB system was reduced compared with that of existing vehicle-mounted-sensor-based system. Thus, a method that can lower the collision risk of the existing AEB system, which uses only a sensor cluster installed on the vehicle, is realized.

Vibration Isolation for Parallel Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

The M. Nguyen

2008-01-01

Full Text Available In recent decades, several types of hybrid vehicles have been developed in order to improve the fuel economy and to reduce the pollution. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV have shown a significant improvement in fuel efficiency for small and medium-sized passenger vehicles and SUVs. HEV has several limitations when applied to heavy vehicles; one is that larger vehicles demand more power, which requires significantly larger battery capacities. As an alternative solution, hydraulic hybrid technology has been found effective for heavy duty vehicle because of its high power density. The mechanical batteries used in hydraulic hybrid vehicles (HHV can be charged and discharged remarkably faster than chemical batteries. This feature is essential for heavy vehicle hybridization. One of the main problems that should be solved for the successful commercialization of HHV is the excessive noise and vibration involving with the hydraulic systems. This study focuses on using magnetorheological (MR technology to reduce the noise and vibration transmissibility from the hydraulic system to the vehicle body. In order to study the noise and vibration of HHV, a hydraulic hybrid subsystem in parallel design is analyzed. This research shows that the MR elements play an important role in reducing the transmitted noise and vibration to the vehicle body. Additionally, locations and orientations of the isolation system also affect the efficiency of the noise and vibration mitigation. In simulations, a skyhook control algorithm is used to achieve the highest possible effectiveness of the MR isolation system.

Lifecycle-analysis for heavy vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaines, L.

1998-01-01

Various alternative fuels and improved engine and vehicle systems have been proposed in order to reduce emissions and energy use associated with heavy vehicles (predominantly trucks). For example, oil companies have proposed improved methods for converting natural gas to zero-aromatics, zero-sulfur diesel fuel via the Fischer-Tropsch process. Major heavy-duty diesel engine companies are working on ways to simultaneously reduce particulate-matter and NOX emissions. The trend in heavy vehicles is toward use of lightweight materials, tires with lower rolling resistance, and treatments to reduce aerodynamic drag. In this paper, we compare the Mecycle energy use and emissions from trucks using selected alternatives, such as Fisher-Tropsch diesel fuel and advanced fuel-efficient engines. We consider heavy-duty, Class 8 tractor-semitrailer combinations for this analysis. The total life cycle includes production and recycling of the vehicle itself, extraction, processing, and transportation of the fuel itself, and vehicle operation and maintenance. Energy use is considered in toto, as well as those portions that are imported, domestic, and renewable. Emissions of interest include greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants. Angonne's Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model is used to generate per-vehicle fuel cycle impacts. Energy use and emissions for materials manufacturing and vehicle disposal are estimated by means of materials information from Argonne studies. We conclude that there are trade-offs among impacts. For example, the lowest fossil energy use does not necessarily result in lowest total energy use, and lower tailpipe emissions may not necessarily result in lower lifecycle emissions of all criteria pollutants

Induced motor vehicle travel from improved fuel efficiency and road expansion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Su Qing, E-mail: suq1@nku.edu [Department of Marketing, Economics and Sports Business, Northern Kentucky University, AST Center, Office 338, Nunn Drive, Highland Heights, KY 41099 (United States)

2011-11-15

This paper investigates the impact of improved fuel efficiency and road network expansion on motor vehicle travel using a system dynamic panel data estimator and panel data at the state level for the 2001-2008 period. Our model accounts for endogenous changes in fuel efficiency, congestion, fuel cost per mile, and vehicle stock. Our regression results suggest that the short run rebound effect is 0.0276 while the long run rebound effect is 0.11. The short run effect of road capacity per capita is 0.066 while the long run effect is 0.26. - Highlights: > We estimate two effects: the rebound effect and induced travel effect at the state level. > System dynamic panel data approach is used to address endogeneity issue. > In the period of 2001-2008, the rebound effect is 0.0276 in the short run and 0.11 in the long run. > Increase in road capacity induces motor vehicle travel. > Induced travel effect is 0. 0.066 in the short run and 0.26 in the long run.

Induced motor vehicle travel from improved fuel efficiency and road expansion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Su Qing

2011-01-01

This paper investigates the impact of improved fuel efficiency and road network expansion on motor vehicle travel using a system dynamic panel data estimator and panel data at the state level for the 2001-2008 period. Our model accounts for endogenous changes in fuel efficiency, congestion, fuel cost per mile, and vehicle stock. Our regression results suggest that the short run rebound effect is 0.0276 while the long run rebound effect is 0.11. The short run effect of road capacity per capita is 0.066 while the long run effect is 0.26. - Highlights: → We estimate two effects: the rebound effect and induced travel effect at the state level. → System dynamic panel data approach is used to address endogeneity issue. → In the period of 2001-2008, the rebound effect is 0.0276 in the short run and 0.11 in the long run. → Increase in road capacity induces motor vehicle travel. → Induced travel effect is 0. 0.066 in the short run and 0.26 in the long run.

Nuclear safety after Three Mile Island and Chernobyl

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ballard, G.M.

1988-01-01

This book contains the proceedings on nuclear safety after Three Mile island and Chernobyl. Topics covered include: Design for safety; Man-machine interaction; Source terms and consequence; and accident response

Vehicle Emissions Risk Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ibrahem, L.G.

2004-01-01

Vehicle emissions are considered as a main source for air pollution. Emissions regulation is now well developed in most countries to meet cleaner air quality. Reducing emissions by using cleaner fuels, which meet certain specification, is not enough to get cleaner air, yet the vehicle technology is not improved. Here we will outline the following: - development in fuel specification and emissions regulation. main facts linking vehicle emissions, fuel properties and air quality. catalytic converter technology. Emissions sources: In modem cities, vehicle traffic is potentially a major source of emissions. However sometimes other sources of emissions from industry and other stationary sources can be equally important and include emissions that are of greater toxicity than those from vehicles

Energy harvesting water vehicle

KAUST Repository

Singh, Devendra

2018-01-04

An efficient energy harvesting (EEH) water vehicle is disclosed. The base of the EEH water vehicle is fabricated with rolling cylindrical drums that can rotate freely in the same direction of the water medium. The drums reduce the drag at the vehicle-water interface. This reduction in drag corresponds to an increase in speed and/or greater fuel efficiency. The mechanical energy of the rolling cylindrical drums is also transformed into electrical energy using an electricity producing device, such as a dynamo or an alternator. Thus, the efficiency of the vehicle is enhanced in two parallel modes: from the reduction in drag at the vehicle-water interface, and from capturing power from the rotational motion of the drums.

Impact of reduced mass of light commercial vehicles on fuel consumption, CO2 emissions, air quality, and socio-economic costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Cecchel, S; Chindamo, D; Turrini, E; Carnevale, C; Cornacchia, G; Gadola, M; Panvini, A; Volta, M; Ferrario, D; Golimbioschi, R

2018-02-01

This study presents a modelling system to evaluate the impact of weight reduction in light commercial vehicles with diesel engines on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. The PROPS model assesses the emissions of one vehicle in the aforementioned category and its corresponding reduced-weight version. The results serve as an input to the RIAT+ tool, an air quality integrated assessment modelling system. This paper applies the tools in a case study in the Lombardy region (Italy) and discusses the input data pre-processing, the PROPS-RIAT+ modelling system runs, and the results. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

2008 Vehicle Technologies Market Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ward, J.; Davis, S.

2009-07-01

In the past five years, vehicle technologies have advanced on a number of fronts: power-train systems have become more energy efficient, materials have become more lightweight, fuels are burned more cleanly, and new hybrid electric systems reduce the need for traditional petroleum-fueled propulsion. This report documents the trends in market drivers, new vehicles, and component suppliers. This report is supported by the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Vehicle Technologies Program, which develops energy-efficient and environmentally friendly highway transportation technologies that will reduce use of petroleum in the United States. The long-term aim is to develop 'leap frog' technologies that will provide Americans with greater freedom of mobility and energy security, while lowering costs and reducing impacts on the environment.

Automated Vehicle Regulation: An Energy and Emissions Perspective

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levine, Aaron

2016-05-18

This presentation provides a summary of the current automated vehicles polices in the United States and how they related to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The presentation then looks at future automated vehicle trends that will increase and reduce GHG emissions and what current policies utilized in other areas of law could be adapted for automated vehicle GHG emissions.

Projection of Chinese motor vehicle growth, oil demand, and CO{sub 2}emissions through 2050.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, M.; Huo, H.; Johnson, L.; He, D.

2006-12-20

potential vehicle fuel economy, we projected that China's on-road vehicles could consume approximately 614-1016 million metric tons of oil per year (12.4-20.6 million barrels per day) and could emit 1.9-3.2 billion metric tons of CO{sub 2} per year in 2050, which will put tremendous pressure on the balance of the Chinese and world oil supply and demand and could have significant implications on climate change. Our analysis shows that, while improvements in vehicle fuel economy are crucial for reducing transportation energy use, containing the growth of the vehicle population could have an even more profound effect on oil use and CO{sub 2} emissions. This benefit is in addition to other societal and environmental benefits--such as reduced congestion, land use, and urban air pollution--that will result from containing vehicle population growth. Developing public transportation systems for personal travel and rail and other modes for freight transportation will be important for containing the growth of motor vehicles in China. Although the population of passenger cars will far exceed that of all truck types in China in the future, our analysis shows that oil use by and CO{sub 2} emissions from the Chinese truck fleet will be far larger than those related to Chinese passenger cars because trucks are very use intensive (more vehicle miles traveled per year) and energy intensive (lower fuel economy). Unfortunately, the potential for improving fuel economy and reducing air pollutant emissions for trucks has not been fully explored; such efforts are needed. Considering the rapid depletion of the world's oil reserve, the heightened global interest in addressing greenhouse gas emissions, and the geopolitical complications of global oil supply and demand, the study results suggest that unmanaged vehicle growth and limited improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency will lead to an unsustainable and unstable transportation system in China. In other words, while our projections do

The effect of land use policies and infrastructure investments on how much we drive : a practitioner's guide to the literature : a white paper from the National Center for Sustainable Transportation.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-11-01

Policymakers aiming to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) want to know what they should do : to reduce the amount people drive, and what evidence suggests that this is the best course of : action. The relationships between built environment characte...

Hybrid Power Management-Based Vehicle Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Eichenberg, Dennis J.

2011-01-01

Hybrid Power Management (HPM) is the integration of diverse, state-of-the-art power devices in an optimal configuration for space and terrestrial applications (s ee figure). The appropriate application and control of the various power devices significantly improves overall system performance and efficiency. The basic vehicle architecture consists of a primary power source, and possibly other power sources, that provides all power to a common energy storage system that is used to power the drive motors and vehicle accessory systems. This architecture also provides power as an emergency power system. Each component is independent, permitting it to be optimized for its intended purpose. The key element of HPM is the energy storage system. All generated power is sent to the energy storage system, and all loads derive their power from that system. This can significantly reduce the power requirement of the primary power source, while increasing the vehicle reliability. Ultracapacitors are ideal for an HPM-based energy storage system due to their exceptionally long cycle life, high reliability, high efficiency, high power density, and excellent low-temperature performance. Multiple power sources and multiple loads are easily incorporated into an HPM-based vehicle. A gas turbine is a good primary power source because of its high efficiency, high power density, long life, high reliability, and ability to operate on a wide range of fuels. An HPM controller maintains optimal control over each vehicle component. This flexible operating system can be applied to all vehicles to considerably improve vehicle efficiency, reliability, safety, security, and performance. The HPM-based vehicle architecture has many advantages over conventional vehicle architectures. Ultracapacitors have a much longer cycle life than batteries, which greatly improves system reliability, reduces life-of-system costs, and reduces environmental impact as ultracapacitors will probably never need to be

U.S. Navigated Waterway Mile Marker Locations from USCOE source data, Geographic NAD83, LOSCO (2000) [river_mile_markers_USACE_1994

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This is a point dataset representing 10,044 sequential mile positions of navigable inland waterways and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. These data were developed as...

75 FR 36700 - Exelon Generation Company, LLC; Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1; Environmental...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-28

...; Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact... Company, LLC (the licensee), for operation of Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (TMI-1), located... Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2, NUREG-0552, dated December 1972, and Generic...

Utilization of medical care following the Three Mile Island crisis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Houts, P.S.; Hu, T.W.; Henderson, R.A.; Cleary, P.D.; Tokuhata, G.

1984-01-01

Four studies are reported on how utilization of primary health care was affected by the Three Mile Island (TMI) crisis and subsequent distress experienced by persons living in the vicinity of the plant. The studies concerned: 1) Blue Cross-Blue Shield records of claims by primary care physicians in the vicinity of TMI; 2) utilization rates in a family practice located near the facility; 3) interviews with persons living within five miles of TMI following the crisis; and 4) responses to a questionnaire by primary care physicians practicing within 25 miles of TMI. All four studies indicated only slight increases in utilization rates during the year following the crisis. One study found that persons who were upset during the crisis tended to be high practice utilizers both before and after the crisis. These results suggest that, while patterns of physician utilization prior to the TMI crisis predicted emotional response during the crisis, the impact of the TMI crisis on subsequent physician utilization was small

Utilization of medical care following the Three Mile Island crisis.

Science.gov (United States)

Houts, P S; Hu, T W; Henderson, R A; Cleary, P D; Tokuhata, G

1984-02-01

Four studies are reported on how utilization of primary health care was affected by the Three Mile Island (TMI) crisis and subsequent distress experienced by persons living in the vicinity of the plant. The studies concerned: 1) Blue Cross-Blue Shield records of claims by primary care physicians in the vicinity of TMI; 2) utilization rates in a family practice located near the facility; 3) interviews with persons living within five miles of TMI following the crisis; and 4) responses to a questionnaire by primary care physicians practicing within 25 miles of TMI. All four studies indicated only slight increases in utilization rates during the year following the crisis. One study found that persons who were upset during the crisis tended to be high practice utilizers both before and after the crisis. These results suggest that, while patterns of physician utilization prior to the TMI crisis predicted emotional response during the crisis, the impact of the TMI crisis on subsequent physician utilization was small.

Electric and Conventional Vehicle Driving Patterns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krogh, Benjamin Bjerre; Andersen, Ove; Torp, Kristian

2014-01-01

The electric vehicle (EV) is an interesting vehicle type that can reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, e.g., by using electricity from wind turbines. A significant disadvantage of EVs is a very limited range, typically less than 200 km. This paper compares EVs to conventional vehicles (CVs...

Assessing the stationary energy storage equivalency of vehicle-to-grid charging battery electric vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tarroja, Brian; Zhang, Li; Wifvat, Van; Shaffer, Brendan; Samuelsen, Scott

2016-01-01

A study has been performed to understand the quantitative impact of key differences between vehicle-to-grid and stationary energy storage systems on renewable utilization, greenhouse gas emissions, and balancing fleet operation, using California as the example. To simulate the combined electricity and light-duty transportation system, a detailed electric grid dispatch model (including stationary energy storage systems) was combined with an electric vehicle charging dispatch model that incorporates conventional smart and vehicle-to-grid capabilities. By subjecting smaller amounts of renewable energy to round-trip efficiency losses and thereby increasing the efficiency of renewable utilization, it was found that vehicle-to-grid energy storage can achieve higher renewable utilization levels and reduced greenhouse gas emissions compared to stationary energy storage systems. Vehicle-to-grid energy storage, however, is not as capable of balancing the power plant fleet compared to stationary energy storage systems due to the constraints of consumer travel patterns. The potential benefits of vehicle-to-grid are strongly dependent on the availability of charging infrastructure at both home and workplaces, with potential benefits being compromised with residential charging availability only. Overall, vehicle-to-grid energy storage can provide benefits over stationary energy storage depending on the system attribute selected for improvement, a finding amenable to managing through policy. - Highlights: • Using vehicle-to-grid-based storage increases the efficiency of renewable energy utilization. • Vehicle-to-grid-based energy storage has less overall flexibility compared to stationary energy storage. • The discharge ability of vehicle-to-grid-based provides a significant benefit over one-way smart charging. • Both workplace and home charging are critical for providing vehicle-to-grid-related benefits. • Increasing charging intelligence reduces stationary energy

Anaheim electric vehicle car-sharing project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kotler, D. [City of Anaheim Transportation Programs Planner, Anaheim, CA (United States); Chase, B. [Costa Mesa Planning Center, Costa Mesa, CA (United States)

2000-07-01

This paper described how the city of Anaheim in California is looking into a variety of clean transportation options for visitors, employees and residents in an effort to minimize air quality and congestion impacts. The city, which attracts approximately 24 million visitors annually, is looking into an electric vehicle (EV) car-sharing program that promotes EV use in multiple applications for both short- and long-term rental opportunities. There are two components to the program which provides eight 5-passenger electric Toyota RAV4 vehicles to both local employees and visitors. The electric RAV4s include nickel-hydride batteries which provide a range of 120 miles per charge. The city has already developed a network of public accessible EV charging stations and this project is a perfect extension of the city's continued efforts to seek opportunities to apply EV technologies within its jurisdictions. The Station Car Program provides flexibility for rail commuters to get from the rail station to their place of employment. On weekdays, the EVs are available to registered commuters at two rail stations to drive to and from work. A total of 32 commuters can benefit from the program at a cost of $40 per month. On weekends, the EVs are offered to visitors through Budget Rent-a-Car Agency at a rate comparable to gasoline-fueled vehicles. So far, participant feedback has been positive and the city is looking into expanding its efforts to provide clean transportation options. tab.

33 CFR 165.554 - Security Zone; Three Mile Island Generating Station, Susquehanna River, Dauphin County...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Security Zone; Three Mile Island... Areas Fifth Coast Guard District § 165.554 Security Zone; Three Mile Island Generating Station... waters of the Susquehanna River in the vicinity of the Three Mile Island Generating Station bounded by a...

Vehicle track interaction safety standards

Science.gov (United States)

2014-04-02

Vehicle/Track Interaction (VTI) Safety Standards aim to : reduce the risk of derailments and other accidents attributable : to the dynamic interaction between moving vehicles and the : track over which they operate. On March 13, 2013, the Federal : R...

137Cs levels in deer following the Three Mile Island accident.

Science.gov (United States)

Field, R W

1993-06-01

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virgianus) tongues were assayed to assess whether or not significant widespread 137Cs contamination occurred in the vicinity of Three Mile Island Nuclear Station as a result of the 1979 accident. White-tailed deer tongues harvested from 10 Pennsylvania counties more than 88 km away from Three Mile Island had significantly higher 137Cs levels than deer tongues harvested from counties surrounding the nuclear plant. The mean deer tongue 137Cs levels found in Pennsylvania white-tailed deer were lower than 137Cs levels found in deer from other parts of the U.S. sampled shortly after culmination of major atmospheric nuclear testing. These findings support the conclusions of previous studies suggesting that only minimal quantities of 137Cs escaped from the damaged Three Mile Island plant after the accident.

Vision-Based Leader Vehicle Trajectory Tracking for Multiple Agricultural Vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Linhuan; Ahamed, Tofael; Zhang, Yan; Gao, Pengbo; Takigawa, Tomohiro

2016-04-22

The aim of this study was to design a navigation system composed of a human-controlled leader vehicle and a follower vehicle. The follower vehicle automatically tracks the leader vehicle. With such a system, a human driver can control two vehicles efficiently in agricultural operations. The tracking system was developed for the leader and the follower vehicle, and control of the follower was performed using a camera vision system. A stable and accurate monocular vision-based sensing system was designed, consisting of a camera and rectangular markers. Noise in the data acquisition was reduced by using the least-squares method. A feedback control algorithm was used to allow the follower vehicle to track the trajectory of the leader vehicle. A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller was introduced to maintain the required distance between the leader and the follower vehicle. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the sensing and tracking performances of the leader-follower system while the leader vehicle was driven at an average speed of 0.3 m/s. In the case of linear trajectory tracking, the RMS errors were 6.5 cm, 8.9 cm and 16.4 cm for straight, turning and zigzag paths, respectively. Again, for parallel trajectory tracking, the root mean square (RMS) errors were found to be 7.1 cm, 14.6 cm and 14.0 cm for straight, turning and zigzag paths, respectively. The navigation performances indicated that the autonomous follower vehicle was able to follow the leader vehicle, and the tracking accuracy was found to be satisfactory. Therefore, the developed leader-follower system can be implemented for the harvesting of grains, using a combine as the leader and an unloader as the autonomous follower vehicle.

78 FR 54168 - Special Local Regulation, Cumberland River, Mile 157.0 to 159.0; Ashland City, TN

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-03

... Local Regulation, Cumberland River, Mile 157.0 to 159.0; Ashland City, TN AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS... Special local regulation; Cumberland River, Miles 157.0 to 159.0, Ashland City, TN. (a) Location. The... regulation for the waters of the Cumberland River beginning at mile marker 157.0 and ending at mile marker...

Facts on Three Mile Island. I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hermansky, B. et al.

1980-01-01

The accident in the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant is discussed with respect to media reporting and availability of correct information at the time of the accident. It is shown that while the accident itself was by far not so serious as it was purported to be the panic surrounding it was caused by misinforming the public about its true nature and extent. (M.S.)

Evacuation behavior and Three Mile Island.

Science.gov (United States)

Cutter, S; Barnes, K

1982-06-01

The responses of the residents to the nuclear power plant arcident at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania illustrate the factors influencing pre-impact coping responses of populations exposed to technological hazards. Confusion itnd ambiguous information influenced both the decision to evaluate and to remain in place. Proximity to the facility, stage in life cycle and the actions of friends and neighbors influenced the decision to evacuate.

The lessons of Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKee, K.C.

1990-01-01

This article looks at the lessons learned from the Three Mile Island incident in 1979 from the perspective of the manager of public affairs for General Public Utilities. A review of what was done, the types of information presented, the interfaces to the press, public and local and state government and why it did not work is presented. The article addresses communications and crisis management

Advances in fuel cell vehicle design

Science.gov (United States)

Bauman, Jennifer

Factors such as global warming, dwindling fossil fuel reserves, and energy security concerns combine to indicate that a replacement for the internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle is needed. Fuel cell vehicles have the potential to address the problems surrounding the ICE vehicle without imposing any significant restrictions on vehicle performance, driving range, or refuelling time. Though there are currently some obstacles to overcome before attaining the widespread commercialization of fuel cell vehicles, such as improvements in fuel cell and battery durability, development of a hydrogen infrastructure, and reduction of high costs, the fundamental concept of the fuel cell vehicle is strong: it is efficient, emits zero harmful emissions, and the hydrogen fuel can be produced from various renewable sources. Therefore, research on fuel cell vehicle design is imperative in order to improve vehicle performance and durability, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. This thesis makes a number of key contributions to the advancement of fuel cell vehicle design within two main research areas: powertrain design and DC/DC converters. With regards to powertrain design, this research first analyzes various powertrain topologies and energy storage system types. Then, a novel fuel cell-battery-ultracapacitor topology is presented which shows reduced mass and cost, and increased efficiency, over other promising topologies found in the literature. A detailed vehicle simulator is created in MATLAB/Simulink in order to simulate and compare the novel topology with other fuel cell vehicle powertrain options. A parametric study is performed to optimize each powertrain and general conclusions for optimal topologies, as well as component types and sizes, for fuel cell vehicles are presented. Next, an analytical method to optimize the novel battery-ultracapacitor energy storage system based on maximizing efficiency, and minimizing cost and mass, is developed. This method can be applied

Walter Miles, Pop Warner, B. C. Graves, and the psychology of football.

Science.gov (United States)

Baugh, Frank G; Benjamin, Ludy T

2006-01-01

In 1926-1927, a graduate student, B. C. Graves, working with Stanford University psychologist Walter Miles and legendary football coach Pop Warner, conducted an investigation of variations in signal calling as they affected the charging times of football players. The study was one of two that involved Miles and the ingenious multiple chronograph that he had invented to time the reactions of seven players simultaneously. These studies represented a brief digression in the career of Miles, who certainly was no sport psychologist. They tell of an interesting collaboration between scientist and coaches that produced one of the richest studies in sport psychology in the first half of the twentieth century. Copyright 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Overview of hybrid electric vehicle trend

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Haomiao; Yang, Weidong; Chen, Yingshu; Wang, Yun

2018-04-01

With the increase of per capita energy consumption, environmental pollution is worsening. Using new alternative sources of energy, reducing the use of conventional fuel-powered engines is imperative. Due to the short period, pure electric vehicles cannot be mass-produced and there are many problems such as imperfect charging facilities. Therefore, the development of hybrid electric vehicles is particularly important in a certain period. In this paper, the classification of hybrid vehicle, research status of hybrid vehicle and future development trends of hybrid vehicles is introduced. It is conducive to the public understanding of hybrid electric vehicles, which has a certain theoretical significance.

Understanding Victims of Technological Disaster: Beliefs and Worries of Three Mile Island.

Science.gov (United States)

Prince-Embury, Sandra; Rooney, James

The primary purpose of the present study was to examine how prevalent were concerns about restarting Three Mile Island nuclear reactor Unit I among people within a five-mile radius of the plant four years after the accident involving reactor Unit II. Also explored were concerns related to expectations about the restart of Unit I, perception of…

Development of 1-Mile Walk Tests to Estimate Aerobic Fitness in Children

Science.gov (United States)

Sung, Hoyong; Collier, David N.; DuBose, Katrina D.; Kemble, C. David; Mahar, Matthew T.

2018-01-01

To examine the reliability and validity of 1-mile walk tests for estimation of aerobic fitness (VO[subscript 2max]) in 10- to 13-year-old children and to cross-validate previously published equations. Participants (n = 61) walked 1-mile on two different days. Self-reported physical activity, demographic variables, and aerobic fitness were used in…

Remote surface testing and inspection vehicle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hyde, E.A.; Goldsmith, H.A.; Proudlove, M.J.

1981-01-01

A remotely controlled vehicle capable of roving over the outer surface of a nuclear reactor primary vessel carrying inspection instrumentation. The vehicle comprises an elongate bridge having a pair of suction support pads. Each pad carries gas thrusters for acting in opposition to the suction effort thereby to reduce adherence of the pads and enable displacement of the vehicle over the surface. The vehicle is supported by a services conducting umbilical. (author)

Alcohol-fueled vehicles: An alternative fuels vehicle, emissions, and refueling infrastructure technology assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCoy, G.A.; Kerstetter, J.; Lyons, J.K. [and others

1993-06-01

Interest in alternative motor vehicle fuels has grown tremendously over the last few years. The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, the National Energy Policy Act of 1992 and the California Clean Air Act are primarily responsible for this resurgence and have spurred both the motor fuels and vehicle manufacturing industries into action. For the first time, all three U.S. auto manufacturers are offering alternative fuel vehicles to the motoring public. At the same time, a small but growing alternative fuels refueling infrastructure is beginning to develop across the country. Although the recent growth in alternative motor fuels use is impressive, their market niche is still being defined. Environmental regulations, a key driver behind alternative fuel use, is forcing both car makers and the petroleum industry to clean up their products. As a result, alternative fuels no longer have a lock on the clean air market and will have to compete with conventional vehicles in meeting stringent future vehicle emission standards. The development of cleaner burning gasoline powered vehicles has signaled a shift in the marketing of alternative fuels. While they will continue to play a major part in the clean vehicle market, alternative fuels are increasingly recognized as a means to reduce oil imports. This new role is clearly defined in the National Energy Policy Act of 1992. The Act identifies alternative fuels as a key strategy for reducing imports of foreign oil and mandates their use for federal and state fleets, while reserving the right to require private and municipal fleet use as well.

78 FR 49553 - Three Mile Island, Unit 2; Post Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-14

... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 50-320; NRC-2013-0183] Three Mile Island, Unit 2; Post Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of receipt... Shutdown Decommissioning Activity Report (PSDAR) for Three Mile Island, Unit 2 (TMI-2). The PSDAR provides...

A survey of light-vehicle driver education curriculum on sharing the road with heavy vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Stephanie; Schaudt, William A; Freed, J C; Toole, Laura

2012-07-01

Light-vehicle driver education programs that contain content about sharing the road with heavy vehicles may be helpful in reducing future light-vehicle/heavy-vehicle interactions. However, the extent of curricula in the United States including such content is unclear. Researchers developed an online survey targeted at instructors/administrators of state driver education programs to identify curricula addressing heavy vehicles and to determine perceived effectiveness. Ninety-one percent of respondents indicated that the light-vehicle driver education curriculum they teach/administer included a component covering how to safely share the road with heavy vehicles (82% perceived this component to be effective). Although a large proportion of these programs included a component on how to safely share the road with heavy vehicles, participants indicated there may be room for improvement. Participants recommended that future improvements to driver education programs include updated materials and student hands-on experience with heavy vehicles. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vehicle speed guidance strategy at signalized intersection based on cooperative vehicle infrastructure system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fengyuan JIA

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In order to reduce stopping time of vehicle at a signalized intersection, aiming at the difficulty, even the impossibility to obtain real-time queue length of intersection in third and fourth-tier cities in China sometimes, a speed guidance strategy based on cooperative vehicle infrastructure system is put forward and studied. For validating the strategy, the traffic signal timing data of the intersection at Hengshan Road and North Fengming Lake Road in Wuhu is collected by a vehicular traffic signal reminder system which is designed. The simulation experiments using the acquired data are done by software VISSIM. The simulation results demonstrate that the strategy under high and low traffic flow can effectively decrease the link travel-time, reducing average ratio is 9.2 % and 13.0 %, respectively, and the effect under low traffic flow is better than that under high traffic flow. The strategy improves efficiency of traffic at a signalized intersection and provides an idea for the application of vehicle speed guidance based on cooperative vehicle infrastructure system.

Vegetation survey of Four Mile Creek wetlands. [Savannah River Plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loehle, C.

1990-11-01

A survey of forested wetlands along upper Four Mile Creek was conducted. The region from Road 3 to the creek headwaters was sampled to evaluate the composition of woody and herbaceons plant communities. All sites were found to fall into either the Nyssa sylvatica (Black Gum) -- Persea borbonia (Red Bay) or Nyssa sylvatica -- Acer rubrum (Red Maple) types. These community types are generally species-rich and diverse. Previous studies (Greenwood et al., 1990; Mackey, 1988) demonstrated contaminant stress in areas downslope from the F- and H-Area seepage basins. In the present study there were some indications of contaminant stress. In the wetland near H-Area, shrub basal area, ground cover stratum species richness, and diversity were low. In the area surrounding the F-Area tree kill zone, ground cover stratum cover and shrub basal area were low and ground cover stratum species richness was low. The moderately stressed site at F-Area also showed reduced overstory richness and diversity and reduced ground cover stratum richness. These results could, however, be due to the very high basal area of overstory trees in both stressed F-Area sites that would reduce light availability to understory plants. No threatened or endangered plant species were found in the areas sampled. 40 refs., 4 figs., 8 tabs.

Northern part, Ten Mile and Taunton River basins

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, John R.; Willey, Richard E.

1967-01-01

The northern part of the Ten Mile and Taunton River basins is an area of about 195 square miles within Norfolk, Plymouth, and Bristol Counties in southeastern Massachusetts. The northern boundary of the area (plate 1) is the drainage divide separating these basins from that of the Charles, Neponset, and Weymouth River basins. The western boundary is, for the most part, the divide separating the basins from the Blackstone River basin. The eastern boundary is at the edge of the Brockton-Pembroke area (Petersen, 1962; Petersen and Shaw, 1961). The southern boundary in Seekonk is the northern limit of the East Providence quadrangle, for which a ground-water map was prepared by Allen and Gorman (1959); eastward, the southern boundaries of the city of Attleboro and the towns of Norton, Easton, and West Bridgewater form the southern boundary of the area.

Meeting U.S. passenger vehicle fuel economy standards in 2016 and beyond

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheah, Lynette; Heywood, John

2011-01-01

New fuel economy standards require new U.S. passenger vehicles to achieve at least 34.1 miles per gallon (MPG) on average by model year 2016, up from 28.8 MPG today. In this paper, the magnitude, combinations and timings of the changes required in U.S. vehicles that are necessary in order to meet the new standards, as well as a target of doubling the fuel economy within the next two decades are explored. Scenarios of future vehicle characteristics and sales mix indicate that the 2016 mandate is aggressive, requiring significant changes starting from today. New vehicles must forgo horsepower improvements, become lighter, and a greater number will use advanced, more fuel-efficient powertrains, such as smaller turbocharged engines, hybrid-electric drives. Achieving a factor-of-two increase in fuel economy by 2030 is also challenging, but more feasible since the auto industry will have more lead time to respond. A discussion on the feasibility of meeting the new fuel economy mandate is included, considering vehicle production planning realities and challenges in deploying new vehicle technologies into the market. - Research Highlights: → The new 2016 fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles in the U.S. can be met, but are aggressive. → Future vehicles must forgo horsepower improvements, become lighter, and a greater number will use advanced, more fuel efficient powertrains. → The challenge of meeting the fuel economy targets is defined by both the magnitude and the timing of these requirements. → Doubling the fuel economy by 2030 is also challenging, but more feasible since the auto industry will have more lead time to respond.

The development of low-carbon vehicles in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao Mingfa; Liu Haifeng; Feng Xuan

2011-01-01

Reducing CO 2 emissions from vehicles in China is crucial and will significantly alleviate the environmental burden of the Earth. Some promising technologies that make possible low-carbon vehicles are reviewed in this work, including electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, hybrid vehicles, biofuels vehicles, other alternative fuel vehicles, and conventional internal combustion engine vehicles with improvement. In the short term, expanding the use of mature technologies in conventional gasoline or diesel vehicles is the most realistic, effective, and timely solution for China to meeting the urgent challenges of energy saving and greenhouse gas reduction; while in the long run biofuel is a promising candidate due to their renewability and carbon neutrality. The blueprint of low-carbon vehicles for China depends on three aspects: breakthroughs in technology, awareness of public, and government guidance. - Highlights: → Reducing CO 2 emissions and saving energy from vehicles in China is crucial. → Low-carbon depends on technology breakthrough, public awareness, and government guidance. → Use of mature technologies in ICEVs is the most realistic solution for China. → Biofuels are the key to realize neutral carbon emission in the long run.

A Population Approach to Transportation Planning: Reducing Exposure to Motor-Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Fuller

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Transportation planning and public health have important historical roots. To address common challenges, including road traffic fatalities, integration of theories and methods from both disciplines is required. This paper presents an overview of Geoffrey Rose's strategy of preventive medicine applied to road traffic fatalities. One of the basic principles of Rose's strategy is that a large number of people exposed to a small risk can generate more cases than a small number exposed to a high risk. Thus, interventions should address the large number of people exposed to the fundamental causes of diseases. Exposure to moving vehicles could be considered a fundamental cause of road traffic deaths and injuries. A global reduction in the amount of kilometers driven would result in a reduction of the likelihood of collisions for all road users. Public health and transportation research must critically appraise their practice and engage in informed dialogue with the objective of improving mobility and productivity while simultaneously reducing the public health burden of road deaths and injuries.

Non-exhaust PM emissions from electric vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Timmers, Victor R. J. H.; Achten, Peter A. J.

2016-06-01

Particulate matter (PM) exposure has been linked to adverse health effects by numerous studies. Therefore, governments have been heavily incentivising the market to switch to electric passenger cars in order to reduce air pollution. However, this literature review suggests that electric vehicles may not reduce levels of PM as much as expected, because of their relatively high weight. By analysing the existing literature on non-exhaust emissions of different vehicle categories, this review found that there is a positive relationship between weight and non-exhaust PM emission factors. In addition, electric vehicles (EVs) were found to be 24% heavier than equivalent internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). As a result, total PM10 emissions from EVs were found to be equal to those of modern ICEVs. PM2.5 emissions were only 1-3% lower for EVs compared to modern ICEVs. Therefore, it could be concluded that the increased popularity of electric vehicles will likely not have a great effect on PM levels. Non-exhaust emissions already account for over 90% of PM10 and 85% of PM2.5 emissions from traffic. These proportions will continue to increase as exhaust standards improve and average vehicle weight increases. Future policy should consequently focus on setting standards for non-exhaust emissions and encouraging weight reduction of all vehicles to significantly reduce PM emissions from traffic.

Evolutionary algorithm for vehicle driving cycle generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Perhinschi, Mario G; Marlowe, Christopher; Tamayo, Sergio; Tu, Jun; Wayne, W Scott

2011-09-01

Modeling transit bus emissions and fuel economy requires a large amount of experimental data over wide ranges of operational conditions. Chassis dynamometer tests are typically performed using representative driving cycles defined based on vehicle instantaneous speed as sequences of "microtrips", which are intervals between consecutive vehicle stops. Overall significant parameters of the driving cycle, such as average speed, stops per mile, kinetic intensity, and others, are used as independent variables in the modeling process. Performing tests at all the necessary combinations of parameters is expensive and time consuming. In this paper, a methodology is proposed for building driving cycles at prescribed independent variable values using experimental data through the concatenation of "microtrips" isolated from a limited number of standard chassis dynamometer test cycles. The selection of the adequate "microtrips" is achieved through a customized evolutionary algorithm. The genetic representation uses microtrip definitions as genes. Specific mutation, crossover, and karyotype alteration operators have been defined. The Roulette-Wheel selection technique with elitist strategy drives the optimization process, which consists of minimizing the errors to desired overall cycle parameters. This utility is part of the Integrated Bus Information System developed at West Virginia University.

Good Engineering + Poor Communication = Three Mile Island.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathes, J. C.

The accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant resulted from a communication failure. Following an incident at an Ohio plant a year and a half earlier, B. M. Dunn, manager of Emergency Core Cooling Systems Analysis at Babcock and Wilcox (engineers), wrote a memorandum making specific recommendations on written instructions for nuclear…

EPA’s Travel Efficiency Method (TEAM) AMPO Presentation

Science.gov (United States)

Presentation describes EPA’s Travel Efficiency Assessment Method (TEAM) assessing potential travel efficiency strategies for reducing travel activity and emissions, includes reduction estimates in Vehicle Miles Traveled in four different geographic areas.

PEM fuel cell cost minimization using ``Design For Manufacture and Assembly`` techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lomax, F.D. Jr.; James, B.D. [Directed Technologies, Inc., Arlington, VA (United States); Mooradian, R.P. [Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, MI (United States)

1997-12-31

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells fueled with direct hydrogen have demonstrated substantial technical potential to replace Internal Combustion Engines (ICE`s) in light duty vehicles. Such a transition to a hydrogen economy offers the potential of substantial benefits from reduced criteria and greenhouse emissions as well as reduced foreign fuel dependence. Research conducted for the Ford Motor Co. under a US Department of Energy contract suggests that hydrogen fuel, when used in a fuel cell vehicle (FCV), can achieve a cost per vehicle mile less than or equal to the gasoline cost per mile when used in an ICE vehicle. However, fuel cost parity is not sufficient to ensure overall economic success: the PEM fuel cell power system itself must be of comparable cost to the ICE. To ascertain if low cost production of PEM fuel cells is feasible, a powerful set of mechanical engineering tools collectively referred to as Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) has been applied to several representative PEM fuel cell designs. The preliminary results of this work are encouraging, as presented.

Novel MSVPWM to reduce the inductor current ripple for Z-source inverter in electric vehicle applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qianfan; Dong, Shuai; Xue, Ping; Zhou, Chaowei; Cheng, ShuKang

2014-01-01

A novel modified space vector pulse width modulation (MSVPWM) strategy for Z-Source inverter is presented. By rearranging the position of shoot-through states, the frequency of inductor current ripple is kept constant. Compared with existing MSVPWM strategies, the proposed approach can reduce the maximum inductor current ripple. So the volume of Z-source network inductor can be designed smaller, which brings the beneficial effect on the miniaturization of the electric vehicle controller. Theoretical findings in the novel MSVPWM for Z-Source inverter have been verified by experiment results.

Risk cognition and the public: case of Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cutter, S.L.

1984-01-01

Residents of within 50 miles of the nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island (TMI), Pennsylvania, were surveyed in 1979, 1980, and 1982 to assess their general attitudes toward nuclear power, to assess their individual coping responses to the March 1979 accident, and to monitor changes in attitudes over the three-year period. Most respondents feel that future accidents like TMI will occur one or twice more in their lifetimes, that operating nuclear power stations should have improved safeguards and should continue operating, and that major insitutions - government and utility companies - are experiencing a continued erosion of public trust

Model Design on Emergency Power Supply of Electric Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuanliang Zhao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available According to the mobile storage characteristic of electric vehicles, an emergency power supply model about the electric vehicles is presented through analyzing its storage characteristic. The model can ensure important consumer loss minimization during power failure or emergency and can make electric vehicles cost minimization about running, scheduling, and vindicating. In view of the random dispersion feature in one area, an emergency power supply scheme using the electric vehicles is designed based on the K-means algorithm. The purpose is to improve the electric vehicles initiative gathering ability and reduce the electric vehicles gathering time. The study can reduce the number of other emergency power supply equipment and improve the urban electricity reliability.

Introducing Dual Suspension System in Road Vehicles

OpenAIRE

Imtiaz Hussain; Jawaid Daudpoto; Ali Asghar Memon

2013-01-01

The main objective of suspension system is to reduce the motions of the vehicle body with respect to road disturbances. The conventional suspension systems in road vehicles use passive elements such as springs and dampers to suppress the vibrations induced by the irregularities in the road. But these conventional suspension systems can suppress vibrations to a certain limit. This paper presents a novel idea to improve the ride quality of roads vehicles without compromising vehicle?s stability...

Vision-based Vehicle Detection Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alex David S

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Nowadays thousands of drivers and passengers were losing their lives every year on road accident, due to deadly crashes between more than one vehicle. There are number of many research focuses were dedicated to the development of intellectual driver assistance systems and autonomous vehicles over the past decade, which reduces the danger by monitoring the on-road environment. In particular, researchers attracted towards the on-road detection of vehicles in recent years. Different parameters have been analyzed in this paper which includes camera placement and the various applications of monocular vehicle detection, common features and common classification methods, motion- based approaches and nighttime vehicle detection and monocular pose estimation. Previous works on the vehicle detection listed based on camera poisons, feature based detection and motion based detection works and night time detection.

Fuel cell vehicles: technological solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopez Martinez, J. M.

2004-01-01

Recently it takes a serious look at fuel cell vehicles, a leading candidate for next-generation vehicle propulsion systems. The green house effect and air quality are pressing to the designers of internal combustion engine vehicles, owing to the manufacturers to find out technological solutions in order to increase the efficiency and reduce emissions from the vehicles. On the other hand, energy source used by currently propulsion systems is not renewable, the well are limited and produce CO 2 as a product from the combustion process. In that situation, why fuel cell is an alternative of internal combustion engine?

Emissions impacts and benefits of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid services.

Science.gov (United States)

Sioshansi, Ramteen; Denholm, Paul

2009-02-15

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) have been promoted as a potential technology to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants by using electricity instead of petroleum, and byimproving electric system efficiency by providing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services. We use an electric power system model to explicitly evaluate the change in generator dispatches resulting from PHEV deployment in the Texas grid, and apply fixed and non-parametric estimates of generator emissions rates, to estimate the resulting changes in generation emissions. We find that by using the flexibility of when vehicles may be charged, generator efficiency can be increased substantially. By changing generator dispatch, a PHEVfleet of up to 15% of light-duty vehicles can actually decrease net generator NOx emissions during the ozone season, despite the additional charging load. By adding V2G services, such as spinning reserves and energy storage, CO2, SO2, and NOx emissions can be reduced even further.

Signal treatments to reduce heavy vehicle crash-risk at metropolitan highway intersections.

Science.gov (United States)

Archer, Jeffery; Young, William

2009-05-01

Heavy vehicle red-light running at intersections is a common safety problem that has severe consequences. This paper investigates alternative signal treatments that address this issue. A micro-simulation analysis approach was adopted as a precursor to a field trial. The simulation model emulated traffic conditions at a known problem intersection and provided a baseline measure to compare the effects of: an extension of amber time; an extension of green for heavy vehicles detected in the dilemma zone at the onset of amber; an extension of the all-red safety-clearance time based on the detection of vehicles considered likely to run the red light at two detector locations during amber; an extension of the all-red safety-clearance time based on the detection of potential red-light runners during amber or red; and a combination of the second and fourth alternatives. Results suggested safety improvements for all treatments. An extension of amber provided the best safety effect but is known to be prone to behavioural adaptation effects and wastes traffic movement time unnecessarily. A green extension for heavy vehicles detected in the dilemma zone and an all-red extension for potential red-light runners were deemed to provide a sustainable safety improvement and operational efficiency.

Market penetration scenarios for fuel cell vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thomas, C.E.; James, B.D.; Lomax, F.D. Jr. [Directed Technologies, Inc., Arlington, VA (United States)

1997-12-31

Fuel cell vehicles may create the first mass market for hydrogen as an energy carrier. Directed Technologies, Inc., working with the US Department of Energy hydrogen systems analysis team, has developed a time-dependent computer market penetration model. This model estimates the number of fuel cell vehicles that would be purchased over time as a function of their cost and the cost of hydrogen relative to the costs of competing vehicles and fuels. The model then calculates the return on investment for fuel cell vehicle manufacturers and hydrogen fuel suppliers. The model also projects the benefit/cost ratio for government--the ratio of societal benefits such as reduced oil consumption, reduced urban air pollution and reduced greenhouse gas emissions to the government cost for assisting the development of hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicle technologies. The purpose of this model is to assist industry and government in choosing the best investment strategies to achieve significant return on investment and to maximize benefit/cost ratios. The model can illustrate trends and highlight the sensitivity of market penetration to various parameters such as fuel cell efficiency, cost, weight, and hydrogen cost. It can also illustrate the potential benefits of successful R and D and early demonstration projects. Results will be shown comparing the market penetration and return on investment estimates for direct hydrogen fuel cell vehicles compared to fuel cell vehicles with onboard fuel processors including methanol steam reformers and gasoline partial oxidation systems. Other alternative fueled vehicles including natural gas hybrids, direct injection diesels and hydrogen-powered internal combustion hybrid vehicles will also be analyzed.

Vehicle dynamics theory and application

CERN Document Server

Jazar, Reza N

2017-01-01

This intermediate textbook is appropriate for students in vehicle dynamics courses, in their last year of undergraduate study or their first year of graduate study. It is also appropriate for mechanical engineers, automotive engineers, and researchers in the area of vehicle dynamics for continuing education or as a reference. It addresses fundamental and advanced topics, and a basic knowledge of kinematics and dynamics, as well as numerical methods, is expected. The contents are kept at a theoretical-practical level, with a strong emphasis on application. This third edition has been reduced by 25%, to allow for coverage over one semester, as opposed to the previous edition that needed two semesters for coverage. The textbook is composed of four parts: Vehicle Motion: covers tire dynamics, forward vehicle dynamics, and driveline dynamics Vehicle Kinematics: covers applied kinematics, applied mechanisms, steering dynamics, and suspension mechanisms Vehicle Dynamics: covers applied dynamics, vehicle planar dynam...

A Comprehensive Examination of Heavy Vehicle Emissions Factors

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-01

This report summarizes the findings from reviewing the literature on several topics that are related to heavy vehicle emissions including engine and fuel types, vehicle technologies that can be used to reduce or mitigate vehicle emissions, the factor...

The metabolic equivalents of one-mile walking by older adults; implications for health promotion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mandy Lucinda Gault

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Instructions for older adults regarding the intensity of walking may not elicit an intensity to infer health gains. We recorded the metabolic equivalents (METs during a 1-mile walk using constant and predicted values of resting MET in older adults to establish walking guidelines for health promotion and participation.Methods: In a cross-sectional design study, participants (15 men, 10 women walked 1-mile over ground, in a wooden floored gymnasium, wearing the Cosmed K4b2 for measurement of energy expenditure. Constant or predicted values for resting MET were used to calculate the number of 1-mile walks to meet 450-750 MET∙min∙wk-1.Results: Participants had MET values higher than 3 for both methods, with 29% and 64% of the participants higher than 6 for a constant and predicted MET value, respectively. The METs of the1-mile walk were (mean ± SD 6 ± 1 and 7 ± 1 METs using constant and predicted resting MET,and similar for men (constant: 6 ± 1 METs; predicted: 7 ± 1 METs and women (constant: 5±1METs; predicted: 6 ± 1 METs (P > 0.05.Conclusion: Older adults that are instructed to walk 1-mile at a fast and constant pace meet the minimum required intensity for physical activity, and public health guidelines. Health professionals, that administer exercise, could encourage older adults to accumulate between six and nine 1-mile walks per week for health gains.

Air quality impacts of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in Texas: evaluating three battery charging scenarios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thompson, Tammy M; King, Carey W; Webber, Michael E; Allen, David T

2011-01-01

The air quality impacts of replacing approximately 20% of the gasoline-powered light duty vehicle miles traveled (VMT) with electric VMT by the year 2018 were examined for four major cities in Texas: Dallas/Ft Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) charging was assumed to occur on the electric grid controlled by the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), and three charging scenarios were examined: nighttime charging, charging to maximize battery life, and charging to maximize driver convenience. A subset of electricity generating units (EGUs) in Texas that were found to contribute the majority of the electricity generation needed to charge PHEVs at the times of day associated with each scenario was modeled using a regional photochemical model (CAMx). The net impacts of the PHEVs on the emissions of precursors to the formation of ozone included an increase in NO x emissions from EGUs during times of day when the vehicle is charging, and a decrease in NO x from mobile emissions. The changes in maximum daily 8 h ozone concentrations and average exposure potential at twelve air quality monitors in Texas were predicted on the basis of these changes in NO x emissions. For all scenarios, at all monitors, the impact of changes in vehicular emissions, rather than EGU emissions, dominated the ozone impact. In general, PHEVs lead to an increase in ozone during nighttime hours (due to decreased scavenging from both vehicles and EGU stacks) and a decrease in ozone during daytime hours. A few monitors showed a larger increase in ozone for the convenience charging scenario versus the other two scenarios. Additionally, cumulative ozone exposure results indicate that nighttime charging is most likely to reduce a measure of ozone exposure potential versus the other two scenarios.

Efficient determination of vehicle emission factors by fuel use category using on-road measurements: downward trends on Los Angeles freight corridor I-710

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Hudda

2013-01-01

Full Text Available To evaluate the success of vehicle emissions regulations, trends in both fleet-wide average emissions as well as high-emitter emissions are needed, but it is challenging to capture the full spread of vehicle emission factors (EFs with chassis dynamometer or tunnel studies, and remote sensing studies cannot evaluate particulate compounds. We developed an alternative method that links real-time on-road pollutant measurements from a mobile platform with real-time traffic data, and allows efficient calculation of both the average and the spread of EFs for light-duty gasoline-powered vehicles (LDG and heavy-duty diesel-powered vehicles (HDD. This is the first study in California to report EFs under a full range of real-world driving conditions on multiple freeways. Fleet average LDG EFs were in agreement with most recent studies and an order of magnitude lower than observed HDD EFs. HDD EFs reflected the relatively rapid decreases in diesel emissions that have recently occurred in Los Angeles/California, and on I-710, a primary route used for goods movement and a focus of additional truck fleet turnover incentives, HDD EFs were often lower than on other freeways. When freeway emission rates (ER were quantified as the product of EF and vehicle miles traveled (VMT per time per mile of freeway, despite a two- to three-fold difference in HDD fractions between freeways, ERs were found to be generally similar in magnitude. Higher LDG VMT on low HDD fraction freeways largely offset the difference. Therefore, the conventional assumption that freeways with the highest HDD fractions are significantly worse sources of total emissions in Los Angeles may no longer be~true.

Efficient determination of vehicle emission factors by fuel use category using on-road measurements: downward trends on Los Angeles freight corridor I-710.

Science.gov (United States)

Hudda, N; Fruin, S; Delfino, R J; Sioutas, C

2013-01-11

To evaluate the success of vehicle emissions regulations, trends in both fleet-wide average emissions as well as high-emitter emissions are needed, but it is challenging to capture the full spread of vehicle emission factors (EFs) with chassis dynamometer or tunnel studies, and remote sensing studies cannot evaluate particulate compounds. We developed an alternative method that links real-time on-road pollutant measurements from a mobile platform with real-time traffic data, and allows efficient calculation of both the average and the spread of EFs for light-duty gasoline-powered vehicles (LDG) and heavy-duty diesel-powered vehicles (HDD). This is the first study in California to report EFs under a full range of real-world driving conditions on multiple freeways. Fleet average LDG EFs were in agreement with most recent studies and an order of magnitude lower than observed HDD EFs. HDD EFs reflected the relatively rapid decreases in diesel emissions that have recently occurred in Los Angeles/California, and on I-710, a primary route used for goods movement and a focus of additional truck fleet turnover incentives, HDD EFs were often lower than on other freeways. When freeway emission rates (ER) were quantified as the product of EF and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per time per mile of freeway, despite a twoto three-fold difference in HDD fractions between freeways, ERs were found to be generally similar in magnitude. Higher LDG VMT on low HDD fraction freeways largely offset the difference. Therefore, the conventional assumption that free ways with the highest HDD fractions are significantly worse sources of total emissions in Los Angeles may no longer be true.

GM's road to hydrogen powered vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kauling, D. [General Motors, Oshawa, ON (Canada)

2007-07-01

General Motor's (GM) long term vision is to remove the automobile from environmental and energy debates. Auto emissions comprise of smog (volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides and particulates) and greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide). In the 1970s, GM introduced the catalytic converter to reduce smog forming emissions by more than 99 per cent. This presentation included a pie chart depicting the Canadian contribution to smog forming emissions by sector in 2005. New vehicles were shown to contribute 0.1 per cent. The author stated that the auto sector is the only sector that is significantly reducing smog in Canada and cautioned that the size of vehicle and volume of fuel consumed does not correlate to smog forming emissions. The Car Heaven Program was launched in July 2000 as a partnership between the Clean Air Foundation and various corporate partners including GM Canada. The objective of the program was to accelerate the retirement of older, highly polluting vehicles and switching consumers to more fuel efficient vehicles which will reduce GHG emissions. The program has been conducted in lower mainland British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. In terms of GHG contribution by sector, new vehicles were shown to contribute 1 per cent. GM's advanced propulsion technology strategy was also presented with reference to hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cells, battery electric vehicles, internal combustion engines and E-Flex systems. It was noted that GM has a broad portfolio of fuel efficient vehicles. The company's total vehicle approach to advanced technology vehicles and fuel efficiency was outlined, including it's ethanol capable vehicle technology, hybrid strategy, and fuel cell propulsion system. tabs., figs.

Three Mile Island update

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snyder, B.J.

1984-01-01

Almost six years after the accident at Three Mile Island-2, cleanup operations are proceeding and the financial condition of the owners has improved. The author reviews some of the cleanup activities and notes the milestones ahead before reaching the September, 1988 target date for completion. A decision to decommission or refurbish will follow the completion of fuel removal activities in 1987. The cleanup has produced considerable data and useful information. In particular, the experience of large-scale decontamination and radioactive waste processing, along with information on fission product transport, is relevant for maintenance and safe operation of other plants. Both macro- and microscopic examination of the core could help in developing safer reactors in the future. 3 figures, 1 table

Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

This document addresses the Three Mile Island accident which resulted in a core partial fusion. It recalls that other reactors of this plant are still being operated. The operation of this PWR is briefly described, and the main events and phases of the accident are briefly presented (failure of the secondary circuit supply pump, failure of a pressurizer component and wrong information about it, mistaken reaction in the control room, core partial fusion due to insufficient cooling means). It shows that the accident occurred because of a combination of technical failures and human mistakes. This situation has put operator education and organisation into question again. The main actors and their mistakes, weaknesses and responsibilities are indicated: Metropolitan Edison (the operator), the NRC (the US nuclear safety authority). Some key figures are recalled, as well as the context of construction of the plant. Impacts and consequences are reviewed: implementation of new standards, population concern. The document outlines that radioactive exposures due to the accident were minor

Fatal crashes involving large numbers of vehicles and weather.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ying; Liang, Liming; Evans, Leonard

2017-12-01

Adverse weather has been recognized as a significant threat to traffic safety. However, relationships between fatal crashes involving large numbers of vehicles and weather are rarely studied according to the low occurrence of crashes involving large numbers of vehicles. By using all 1,513,792 fatal crashes in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data, 1975-2014, we successfully described these relationships. We found: (a) fatal crashes involving more than 35 vehicles are most likely to occur in snow or fog; (b) fatal crashes in rain are three times as likely to involve 10 or more vehicles as fatal crashes in good weather; (c) fatal crashes in snow [or fog] are 24 times [35 times] as likely to involve 10 or more vehicles as fatal crashes in good weather. If the example had used 20 vehicles, the risk ratios would be 6 for rain, 158 for snow, and 171 for fog. To reduce the risk of involvement in fatal crashes with large numbers of vehicles, drivers should slow down more than they currently do under adverse weather conditions. Driver deaths per fatal crash increase slowly with increasing numbers of involved vehicles when it is snowing or raining, but more steeply when clear or foggy. We conclude that in order to reduce risk of involvement in crashes involving large numbers of vehicles, drivers must reduce speed in fog, and in snow or rain, reduce speed by even more than they already do. Copyright © 2017 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

FirstMile US Fall 2005 Conference

Science.gov (United States)

2005-12-01

Moore, Virginia Tech 5. Broadband Delivery means Living Longer and Living Better a. The First Mile in Healthcare, Michael Ackerman, National Library of...deal with it and interact with it." The Internet will be delivered by a wide variety of means and go to places where people may not have access to...Fall 2005 Conference Proceedings First Regional Commnunity Network - OneCleveland Steven Brand, OneCleveland 4U -ýýeý L ECommunity Computing -Thin

The Presence of the invasive Lionfish Pterois miles in the Mediterranean Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. BARICHE

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Here we report the occurrence of Pterois miles in the Mediterranean Sea, based on the capture of two specimens along the coast of Lebanon. Previously, only one record of the species from the Mediterranean Sea had been documented. The new records highlight the arrival of new propagules of P. miles, more than two decades later, hinting to a future potential invasion of the Mediterranean Sea.

Network integration modelling of feeder and BRT(bus rapid transit) to reduce the usage of private vehicles in Palembang’s suburban area

Science.gov (United States)

Nur'afalia, D.; Afifa, F.; Rubianto, L.; Handayeni, K. D. M. E.

2018-01-01

The aim of this research is to determine the optimal feeder network route that integrates with BRT (Bus Rapid Transit). Palembang, a high growing population city with unresolved transportation demand sector. BRT as main public transportation could not fulfill people’s demand in transportation, especially in Alang-Alang Lebar sub-district. As an impact, the usage of private vehicles increases along the movement toward the city center. The concept of Network Integration that integrates feeder network with BRT is expected to be a solution to suppress the rate of private vehicles’ usage and to improve public transportation service, so that the use of BRT will be increased in the suburban area of Palembang. The method used to identifying the optimal route using Route Analysis method is route analysis using Tranetsim 0.4. The best route is obtained based on 156 movement samples. The result is 58,7% from 199 mobility’s potency of private vehicle usage’s can be reduced if there is a feeder network’s route in Alang-Alang Lebar’s sub-district. From the result, the existance of integration between feeder network and BRT is potential enough to reduce the usage of private vehicles and supports the sustainability of transportation mobility in Palembang City.

Recent innovations in last mile deliveries. In : Non-technological Innovations for Sustainable Transport: Four Transport Case Studies

OpenAIRE

MORGANTI, Eléonora; DABLANC, Laetitia

2014-01-01

In cities and metropolitan areas, last mile deliveries are a key factor contributing to local economic vitality, urban life quality and attractiveness of urban communities. However, the freight transport sector is responsible for negative impacts, mainly with regards to congestion, CO2 emissions and air and noise pollution. In order to improve efficiency and reduce adverse impacts, private companies as well as city planners and policy makers have designed initiatives to promote urban logistic...

Effectiveness of a Program Using a Vehicle Tracking System, Incentives, and Disincentives to Reduce the Speeding Behavior of Drivers with ADHD

Science.gov (United States)

Markham, Paula T.; Porter, Bryan E.; Ball, J. D.

2013-01-01

Objective: In this article, the authors investigated the effectiveness of a behavior modification program using global positioning system (GPS) vehicle tracking devices with contingency incentives and disincentives to reduce the speeding behavior of drivers with ADHD. Method: Using an AB multiple-baseline design, six participants drove a 5-mile…

75 FR 53193 - Safety Zone; Mississippi River, Mile 427.3 to 427.5

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-31

... Zone; Mississippi River, Mile 427.3 to 427.5 AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Temporary final rule. SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for all waters of the Upper Mississippi River, Mile 427.3 to 427.5, extending the entire width of the river. This safety zone is needed to...

75 FR 55272 - Safety Zone; Mississippi River, Mile 212.0 to 214.5

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-10

...-AA00 Safety Zone; Mississippi River, Mile 212.0 to 214.5 AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Temporary final rule. SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for waters of the Upper Mississippi River, Mile 212.0 to 214.5, extending West of Portage Island to the right descending bank of the...

Time-dependent plug-in hybrid electric vehicle charging based on national driving patterns and demographics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, Jarod C.; MacDonald, Jason S.; Keoleian, Gregory A.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Analyzed National Household Travel Survey to simulate driving and charging patterns. ► Average compact PHEVs used 49 kW h of electricity and 6.8 L of gasoline per week. ► Percent of electrically driven miles increased from 64.3 in 2001 to 66.7 in 2009. ► Investigated demographic effects of sex, age, income, and household location. ► Analysis shows higher utility factors for females versus males and high age variation. -- Abstract: Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are one promising technology for addressing concerns around petroleum consumption, energy security and greenhouse gas emissions. However, there is much uncertainty in the impact that PHEVs can have on energy consumption and related emissions, as they are dependent on vehicle technology, driving patterns, and charging behavior. A methodology is used to simulate PHEV charging and gasoline consumption based on driving pattern data in USDOT’s National Household Travel Survey. The method uses information from each trip taken by approximately 170,000 vehicles to track their battery state of charge throughout the day, and to determine the timing and quantity of electricity and gasoline consumption for a fleet of PHEVs. Scenarios were developed to examine the effects of charging location, charging rate, time of charging and battery size. Additionally, demographic information was examined to see how driver and household characteristics influence consumption patterns. Results showed that a compact vehicle with a 10.4 kW h useable battery (approximately a 42 mile [68 km] all electric range) travels between 62.5% and 75.7% on battery electricity, depending on charging scenario. The percent of travel driven electrically (Utility Factor, UF) in a baseline charging scenario increased from 64.3% using 2001 NHTS data to 66.7% using 2009 data. The average UF was 63.5% for males and 72.9% for females and in both cases they are highly sensitive to age. Vehicle charging load profiles across

75 FR 55973 - Safety Zone; Illinois River, Mile 000.5 to 001.5

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-15

...-AA00 Safety Zone; Illinois River, Mile 000.5 to 001.5 AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Temporary final rule. SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for all waters of the Illinois River, Mile 000.5 to 001.5, extending the entire width of the river. This safety zone is needed to...

75 FR 41764 - Safety Zone; Mississippi River, Mile 840.0 to 839.8

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-19

...-AA00 Safety Zone; Mississippi River, Mile 840.0 to 839.8 AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Temporary final rule. SUMMARY: The Coat Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for all waters of the Upper Mississippi River, Mile 840.0 to 839.8, extending the entire width of the river. This safety zone is needed to...

Characterization of particle bound organic carbon from diesel vehicles equipped with advanced emission control technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Pakbin, Payam; Ning, Zhi; Schauer, James J; Sioutas, Constantinos

2009-07-01

A chassis dynamometer study was carried out by the University of Southern California in collaboration with the Air Resources Board (CARB) to investigate the physical, chemical, and toxicological characteristics of diesel emissions of particulate matter (PM) from heavy-duty vehicles. These heavy-duty diesel vehicles (HDDV) were equipped with advanced emission control technologies, designed to meet CARB retrofit regulations. A HDDV without any emission control devices was used as the baseline vehicle. Three advanced emission control technologies; continuously regenerating technology (CRT), zeolite- and vanadium-based selective catalytic reduction technologies (Z-SCRT and V-SCRT), were tested under transient (UDDS) (1) and cruise (80 kmph) driving cycles to simulate real-world driving conditions. This paper focuses on the characterization of the particle bound organic species from the vehicle exhaust. Physical and chemical properties of PM emissions have been reported by Biswas et al. Atmos. Environ. 2008, 42, 5622-5634) and Hu et al. (Atmos. Environ. 2008, submitted) Significant reductions in the emission factors (microg/mile) of particle bound organic compounds were observed in HDDV equipped with advanced emission control technologies. V-SCRT and Z-SCRT effectively reduced PAHs, hopanes and steranes, n-alkanes and acids by more than 99%, and often to levels below detection limits for both cruise and UDDS cycles. The CRT technology also showed similar reductions with SCRT for medium and high molecular weight PAHs, acids, but with slightly lower removal efficiencies for other organic compounds. Ratios of particle bound organics-to-OC mass (microg/g) from the baseline exhaust were compared with their respective ratios in diesel fuel and lubricating oil, which revealed that hopanes and steranes originate from lubricating oil, whereas PAHs can either form during the combustion process or originate from diesel fuel itself. With the introduction of emission control

Travel demand management : a toolbox of strategies to reduce single\\0x2010occupant vehicle trips and increase alternate mode usage in Arizona.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-01

The report provides a suite of recommended strategies to reduce single-occupant vehicle traffic in the urban : areas of Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, which are presented as a travel demand management toolbox. The : toolbox includes supporting research...

Medium Duty Electric Vehicle Demonstration Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mackie, Robin J. D. [Smith Electric Vehicles Corporation, Kansas City, MO (United States)

2015-05-31

The Smith Electric Vehicle Demonstration Project (SDP) was integral to the Smith business plan to establish a manufacturing base in the United States (US) and produce a portfolio of All Electric Vehicles (AEV’s) for the medium duty commercial truck market. Smith focused on the commercial depot based logistics market, as it represented the market that was most ready for the early adoption of AEV technology. The SDP enabled Smith to accelerate its introduction of vehicles and increase the size of its US supply chain to support early market adoption of AEV’s that were cost competitive, fully met the needs of a diverse set of end users and were compliant with Federal safety and emissions requirements. The SDP accelerated the development and production of various electric drive vehicle systems to substantially reduce petroleum consumption, reduce vehicular emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), and increase US jobs.

Variability of Battery Wear in Light Duty Plug-In Electric Vehicles Subject to Ambient Temperature, Battery Size, and Consumer Usage: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood, E.; Neubauer, J.; Brooker, A. D.; Gonder, J.; Smith, K. A.

2012-08-01

Battery wear in plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) is a complex function of ambient temperature, battery size, and disparate usage. Simulations capturing varying ambient temperature profiles, battery sizes, and driving patterns are of great value to battery and vehicle manufacturers. A predictive battery wear model developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory captures the effects of multiple cycling and storage conditions in a representative lithium chemistry. The sensitivity of battery wear rates to ambient conditions, maximum allowable depth-of-discharge, and vehicle miles travelled is explored for two midsize vehicles: a battery electric vehicle (BEV) with a nominal range of 75 mi (121 km) and a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) with a nominal charge-depleting range of 40 mi (64 km). Driving distance distributions represent the variability of vehicle use, both vehicle-to-vehicle and day-to-day. Battery wear over an 8-year period was dominated by ambient conditions for the BEV with capacity fade ranging from 19% to 32% while the PHEV was most sensitive to maximum allowable depth-of-discharge with capacity fade ranging from 16% to 24%. The BEV and PHEV were comparable in terms of petroleum displacement potential after 8 years of service, due to the BEV?s limited utility for accomplishing long trips.

Automated and connected vehicle implications and analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

2017-05-01

Automated and connected vehicles (ACV) and, in particular, autonomous vehicles have captured : the interest of the public, industry and transportation authorities. ACVs can significantly reduce : accidents, fuel consumption, pollution and the costs o...

Evidence is growing on demand side of an oil peak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-07-15

After years of continued growth, the number of miles driven by Americans started falling in December 2007. Not only are the number of miles driven falling, but as cars become more fuel efficient, they go further on fewer gallons - further reducing demand for gasoline. This trend is expected to accelerate. Drivers include, along with higher-efficiency cars, mass transit, reversal in urban sprawl, biofuels, and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Three Mile Island accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barre, B.; Olivier, E.; Roux, J.P.; Pelle, P.

2010-01-01

Deluded by equivocal instrumentation signals, operators at TMI-2 (Three Mile Island - unit 2) misunderstood what was going on in the reactor and for 2 hours were taking inadequate decisions that turned a reactor incident into a major nuclear event that led to the melting of about one third of the core. The TMI accident had worldwide impacts in the domain of nuclear safety. The main consequences in France were: 1) the introduction of the major accident approach and the reinforcement of crisis management; 2) the improvement of the reactor design, particularly that of the pressurizer valves; 3) the implementation of safety probabilistic studies; 4) a better taking into account of the feedback experience in reactor operations; and 5) a better taking into account of the humane factor in reactor safety. (A.C.)

Developing Policy for Urban Autonomous Vehicles: Impact on Congestion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Metz

2018-04-01

Full Text Available An important problem for surface transport is road traffic congestion, which is ubiquitous and difficult to mitigate. Accordingly, a question for policymakers is the possible impact on congestion of autonomous vehicles. It seems likely that the main impact of vehicle automation will not be seen until driverless vehicles are sufficiently safe for use amid general traffic on urban streets. Shared use driverless vehicles could reduce the cost of taxis and a wider range of public transport vehicles could be economic. Individually owned autonomous vehicles would have the ability to travel unoccupied and may need to be regulated where this might add to congestion. It is possible that autonomous vehicles could provide mobility services at lower cost and wider scope, such that private car use in urban areas could decline and congestion reduce. City authorities should be alert to these possibilities in developing transport policy.

Development of a method to rate the primary safety of vehicles using linked New Zealand crash and vehicle licensing data.

Science.gov (United States)

Keall, Michael D; Newstead, Stuart

2016-01-01

Vehicle safety rating systems aim firstly to inform consumers about safe vehicle choices and, secondly, to encourage vehicle manufacturers to aspire to safer levels of vehicle performance. Primary rating systems (that measure the ability of a vehicle to assist the driver in avoiding crashes) have not been developed for a variety of reasons, mainly associated with the difficult task of disassociating driver behavior and vehicle exposure characteristics from the estimation of crash involvement risk specific to a given vehicle. The aim of the current study was to explore different approaches to primary safety estimation, identifying which approaches (if any) may be most valid and most practical, given typical data that may be available for producing ratings. Data analyzed consisted of crash data and motor vehicle registration data for the period 2003 to 2012: 21,643,864 observations (representing vehicle-years) and 135,578 crashed vehicles. Various logistic models were tested as a means to estimate primary safety: Conditional models (conditioning on the vehicle owner over all vehicles owned); full models not conditioned on the owner, with all available owner and vehicle data; reduced models with few variables; induced exposure models; and models that synthesised elements from the latter two models. It was found that excluding young drivers (aged 25 and under) from all primary safety estimates attenuated some high risks estimated for make/model combinations favored by young people. The conditional model had clear biases that made it unsuitable. Estimates from a reduced model based just on crash rates per year (but including an owner location variable) produced estimates that were generally similar to the full model, although there was more spread in the estimates. The best replication of the full model estimates was generated by a synthesis of the reduced model and an induced exposure model. This study compared approaches to estimating primary safety that could mimic

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Image of Hyper-X Research Vehicle at Mach 7 with Engine Operating

Science.gov (United States)

1997-01-01

This computational fluid dynamics (CFD) image shows the Hyper-X vehicle at a Mach 7 test condition with the engine operating. The solution includes both internal (scramjet engine) and external flow fields, including the interaction between the engine exhaust and vehicle aerodynamics. The image illustrates surface heat transfer on the vehicle surface (red is highest heating) and flowfield contours at local Mach number. The last contour illustrates the engine exhaust plume shape. This solution approach is one method of predicting the vehicle performance, and the best method for determination of vehicle structural, pressure and thermal design loads. The Hyper-X program is an ambitious series of experimental flights to expand the boundaries of high-speed aeronautics and develop new technologies for space access. When the first of three aircraft flies, it will be the first time a non-rocket engine has powered a vehicle in flight at hypersonic speeds--speeds above Mach 5, equivalent to about one mile per second or approximately 3,600 miles per hour at sea level. Hyper-X, the flight vehicle for which is designated as X-43A, is an experimental flight-research program seeking to demonstrate airframe-integrated, 'air-breathing' engine technologies that promise to increase payload capacity for future vehicles, including hypersonic aircraft (faster than Mach 5) and reusable space launchers. This multiyear program is currently underway at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The Hyper-X schedule calls for its first flight later this year (2000). Hyper-X is a joint program, with Dryden sharing responsibility with NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. Dryden's primary role is to fly three unpiloted X-43A research vehicles to validate engine technologies and hypersonic design tools as well as the hypersonic test facility at Langley. Langley manages the program and leads the technology development effort. The Hyper-X Program seeks to significantly

Evolutionary Pattern of Improved 1-Mile Running Performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Foster, C.S.; de Koning, J.J.; Thiel, C.

2014-01-01

The official world records (WR) for the 1-mile run for men (3: 43.13) and for women (4: 12.58) have improved 12.2% and 32.3%, respectively, since the first WR recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations. Previous observations have suggested that the pacing pattern for

Nuclear power after three mile island. Last of four articles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faltermayer, E.

1979-01-01

This final and fourth article on nuclear power reviews the March 28, 1979 accident at Three Mile Island-2 Reactor. The most lasting effect will probably be the jarring of the public's confidence and acceptance of nuclear technology. Even before Three Mile Island, electric utilities were starting to desert uranium and switch to coal-fired power plants. Cost overruns, Federal indecision on fuel reprocessing and waste disposal, long licensing procedures, and many other regulatory mandates are cited as deterrents to nuclear power. Coal is the only real alternative for utilities in the U.S., at least for some time to come, even though it is hazardous to mine and dirty to burn. Its use will probably cause far more fatalities than all the nuclear mishaps that may occur. Most unbiased studies indicate economic advantages of nuclear plants over coal-fired plants, even when decommissioning costs are added; it is felt, though, that the somewhat debatable advantages might easily disappear with the new safety and regulatory costs that will be imposed. It remains to be seen how many insurance claims will result from Three Mile Island and whether Congress may raise, or even remove, the controversial $560-million liability limit for nuclear power plants

The East European Press and Three-Mile Island.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Owen V.

This report of the investigation into East European newspaper treatment of the accident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the spring of 1979 focuses on the Czech and Slovak media, particularly on the Slovak Communist Party's daily newspaper, "Pravda." The response of the media of other East European countries to…

Three Mile Island ambient-air-temperature sensor measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fryer, M.O.

1983-01-01

Data from the ambient-air-temperature sensors in Three Mile Island-Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor containment building are analyzed. The data were for the period of the hydrogen burn that was part of the TMI-2 accident. From the temperature data, limits are placed on the duration of the hydrogen burn

Effects of vehicle type and fuel quality on real world toxic emissions from diesel vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Peter F.; Tibbett, Anne R.; Day, Stuart J.

Diesel vehicles are an important source of emissions of air pollutants, particularly oxides of nitrogen (NO x), particulate matter (PM), and toxic compounds with potential health impacts including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene and aldehydes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Current developments in engine design and fuel quality are expected to reduce these emissions in the future, but many vehicles exceed 10 years of age and may make a major contribution to urban pollutant concentrations and related health impacts for many years. In this study, emissions of a range of toxic compounds are reported using in-service vehicles which were tested using urban driving cycles developed for Australian conditions. Twelve vehicles were chosen from six vehicle weight classes and, in addition, two of these vehicles were driven through the urban drive cycle using a range of diesel fuel formulations. The fuels ranged in sulphur content from 24 to 1700 ppm, and in total aromatics from 7.7 to 33 mass%. Effects of vehicle type and fuel composition on emissions are reported. The results show that emissions of these toxic species were broadly comparable to those observed in previous dynamometer and tunnel studies. Emissions of VOCs and smaller PAHs such as naphthalene, which are derived largely from the combustion process, appear to be related, and show relatively little variability when compared with the variability in emissions of aldehydes and larger PAHs. In particular, aldehyde emissions are highly variable and may be related to engine operating conditions. Fuels of lower sulphur and aromatic content did not have a significant influence on emissions of VOCs and aldehydes, but tended to result in lower emissions of PAHs. The toxicity of vehicle exhaust, as determined by inhalation risk and toxic equivalency factor (TEF)-weighted PAH emissions, was reduced with fuels of lower aromatic content.

Constraint Embedding for Vehicle Suspension Dynamics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jain Abhinandan

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The goal of this research is to achieve close to real-time dynamics performance for allowing auto-pilot in-the-loop testing of unmanned ground vehicles (UGV for urban as well as off-road scenarios. The overall vehicle dynamics performance is governed by the multibody dynamics model for the vehicle, the wheel/terrain interaction dynamics and the onboard control system. The topic of this paper is the development of computationally efficient and accurate dynamics model for ground vehicles with complex suspension dynamics. A challenge is that typical vehicle suspensions involve closed-chain loops which require expensive DAE integration techniques. In this paper, we illustrate the use the alternative constraint embedding technique to reduce the cost and improve the accuracy of the dynamics model for the vehicle.

Comparative analysis of battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid vehicles in a future sustainable road transport system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Offer, G.J.; Brandon, N.P. [Department Earth Science Engineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Howey, D. [Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Contestabile, M. [Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Clague, R. [Energy Futures Lab, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

2010-01-15

This paper compares battery electric vehicles (BEV) to hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) and hydrogen fuel cell plug-in hybrid vehicles (FCHEV). Qualitative comparisons of technologies and infrastructural requirements, and quantitative comparisons of the lifecycle cost of the powertrain over 100,000 mile are undertaken, accounting for capital and fuel costs. A common vehicle platform is assumed. The 2030 scenario is discussed and compared to a conventional gasoline-fuelled internal combustion engine (ICE) powertrain. A comprehensive sensitivity analysis shows that in 2030 FCEVs could achieve lifecycle cost parity with conventional gasoline vehicles. However, both the BEV and FCHEV have significantly lower lifecycle costs. In the 2030 scenario, powertrain lifecycle costs of FCEVs range from $7360 to $22,580, whereas those for BEVs range from $6460 to $11,420 and FCHEVs, from $4310 to $12,540. All vehicle platforms exhibit significant cost sensitivity to powertrain capital cost. The BEV and FCHEV are relatively insensitive to electricity costs but the FCHEV and FCV are sensitive to hydrogen cost. The BEV and FCHEV are reasonably similar in lifecycle cost and one may offer an advantage over the other depending on driving patterns. A key conclusion is that the best path for future development of FCEVs is the FCHEV. (author)

Comparative analysis of battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid vehicles in a future sustainable road transport system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Offer, G.J.; Howey, D.; Contestabile, M.; Clague, R.; Brandon, N.P.

2010-01-01

This paper compares battery electric vehicles (BEV) to hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) and hydrogen fuel cell plug-in hybrid vehicles (FCHEV). Qualitative comparisons of technologies and infrastructural requirements, and quantitative comparisons of the lifecycle cost of the powertrain over 100,000 mile are undertaken, accounting for capital and fuel costs. A common vehicle platform is assumed. The 2030 scenario is discussed and compared to a conventional gasoline-fuelled internal combustion engine (ICE) powertrain. A comprehensive sensitivity analysis shows that in 2030 FCEVs could achieve lifecycle cost parity with conventional gasoline vehicles. However, both the BEV and FCHEV have significantly lower lifecycle costs. In the 2030 scenario, powertrain lifecycle costs of FCEVs range from $7360 to $22,580, whereas those for BEVs range from $6460 to $11,420 and FCHEVs, from $4310 to $12,540. All vehicle platforms exhibit significant cost sensitivity to powertrain capital cost. The BEV and FCHEV are relatively insensitive to electricity costs but the FCHEV and FCV are sensitive to hydrogen cost. The BEV and FCHEV are reasonably similar in lifecycle cost and one may offer an advantage over the other depending on driving patterns. A key conclusion is that the best path for future development of FCEVs is the FCHEV.

SUBCONTRACT REPORT: DC-DC Converter for Fuel Cell and Hybrid Vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marlino, Laura D [ORNL; Zhu, Lizhi [Ballard Power Systems/Siemens VDO

2007-07-01

The goal of this project is to develop and fabricate a 5kW dc-dc converter with a baseline 14V output capability for fuel cell and hybrid vehicles. The major objectives for this dc-dc converter technology are to meet: Higher efficiency (92%); High coolant temperature,e capability (105 C); High reliability (15 Years/150,000miles); Smaller volume (5L); Lower weight (6kg); and Lower cost ($75/kW). The key technical challenge for these converters is the 105 C coolant temperatures. The power switches and magnetics must be designed to sustain these operating temperatures reliably, without a large cost/mass/volume penalty.

Vehicle Integrated Photovoltaics for Compression Ignition Vehicles: An Experimental Investigation of Solar Alkaline Water Electrolysis for Improving Diesel Combustion and a Solar Charging System for Reducing Auxiliary Engine Loads

Science.gov (United States)

Negroni, Garry Inocentes

Vehicle-integrated photovoltaic electricity can be applied towards aspiration of hydrogen-oxygen-steam gas produced through alkaline electrolysis and reductions in auxiliary alternator load for reducing hydrocarbon emissions in low nitrogen oxide indirect-injection compression-ignition engines. Aspiration of 0.516 ± 0.007 liters-per-minute of gas produced through alkaline electrolysis of potassium-hydroxide 2wt.% improves full-load performance; however, part-load performance decreases due to auto-ignition of aspirated gas prior to top-dead center. Alternator load reductions offer improved part-load and full-load performance with practical limitations resulting from accessory electrical loads. In an additive approach, solar electrolysis can electrochemically convert solar photovoltaic electricity into a gas comprised of stoichiometric hydrogen and oxygen gas. Aspiration of this hydrogen-oxygen gas enhances combustion properties decreasing emissions and increased combustion efficiency in light-duty diesel vehicles. The 316L stainless steel (SS) electrolyser plates are arranged with two anodes and three cathodes space with four bipolar plates delineating four stacks in parallel with five cells per stack. The electrolyser was tested using potassium hydroxide 2 wt.% and hydronium 3wt.% at measured voltage and current inputs. The flow rate output from the reservoir cell was measured in parallel with the V and I inputs producing a regression model correlating current input to flow rate. KOH 2 wt.% produced 0.005 LPM/W, while H9O44 3 wt.% produced less at 0.00126 LPM/W. In a subtractive approach, solar energy can be used to charge a larger energy storage device, as is with plug-in electric vehicles, in order to alleviate the engine of the mechanical load placed upon it by the vehicles electrical accessories through the alternator. Solar electrolysis can improve part-load emissions and full-load performance. The average solar-to-battery efficiency based on the OEM rated

Environmental assessment of lightweight electric vehicles

CERN Document Server

Egede, Patricia

2017-01-01

This monograph adresses the challenge of the environmental assessment of leightweight electric vehicles. It poses the question whether the use of lightweight materials in electric vehicles can reduce the vehicles’ environmental impact and compares the environmental performance of a lightweight electric vehicle (LEV) to other types of vehicles. The topical approach focuses on methods from life cycle assessment (LCA), and the book concludes with a comprehensive concept on the environmental assessment of LEVs. The target audience primarily comprises LCA practitioners from research institutes and industry, but it may also be beneficial for graduate students specializing in the field of environmental assessment.

Integrated robust controller for vehicle path following

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mashadi, Behrooz; Ahmadizadeh, Pouyan, E-mail: p-ahmadizadeh@iust.ac.ir; Majidi, Majid, E-mail: m-majidi@iust.ac.ir [Iran University of Science and Technology, School of Automotive Engineering (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Mahmoodi-Kaleybar, Mehdi, E-mail: m-mahmoodi-k@iust.ac.ir [Iran University of Science and Technology, School of Mechanical Engineering (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2015-02-15

The design of an integrated 4WS+DYC control system to guide a vehicle on a desired path is presented. The lateral dynamics of the path follower vehicle is formulated by considering important parameters. To reduce the effect of uncertainties in vehicle parameters, a robust controller is designed based on a μ-synthesis approach. Numerical simulations are performed using a nonlinear vehicle model in MATLAB environment in order to investigate the effectiveness of the designed controller. Results of simulations show that the controller has a profound ability to making the vehicle track the desired path in the presence of uncertainties.

Introducing Dual Suspension System in Road Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Imtiaz Hussain

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The main objective of suspension system is to reduce the motions of the vehicle body with respect to road disturbances. The conventional suspension systems in road vehicles use passive elements such as springs and dampers to suppress the vibrations induced by the irregularities in the road. But these conventional suspension systems can suppress vibrations to a certain limit. This paper presents a novel idea to improve the ride quality of roads vehicles without compromising vehicle?s stability. The paper proposes the use of primary and secondary suspension to suppress the vibrations more effectively.

Integrated robust controller for vehicle path following

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mashadi, Behrooz; Ahmadizadeh, Pouyan; Majidi, Majid; Mahmoodi-Kaleybar, Mehdi

2015-01-01

The design of an integrated 4WS+DYC control system to guide a vehicle on a desired path is presented. The lateral dynamics of the path follower vehicle is formulated by considering important parameters. To reduce the effect of uncertainties in vehicle parameters, a robust controller is designed based on a μ-synthesis approach. Numerical simulations are performed using a nonlinear vehicle model in MATLAB environment in order to investigate the effectiveness of the designed controller. Results of simulations show that the controller has a profound ability to making the vehicle track the desired path in the presence of uncertainties

Some reactions to the accident at Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dunster, H.J.

1980-01-01

The accident at Three Mile Island is reviewed and those features which ought to encourage changes in UK practices identified. Emergency measurements, both on site and in the environment, siting considerations and possible trends in regulatory policy are dealt with. (author)

Natural gas vehicles : Status, barriers, and opportunities.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rood Werpy, M.; Santini, D.; Burnham, A.; Mintz, M.; Energy Systems

2010-11-29

In the United States, recent shale gas discoveries have generated renewed interest in using natural gas as a vehicular fuel, primarily in fleet applications, while outside the United States, natural gas vehicle use has expanded significantly in the past decade. In this report for the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities Program - a public-private partnership that advances the energy, economic, and environmental security of the U.S. by supporting local decisions that reduce petroleum use in the transportation sector - we have examined the state of natural gas vehicle technology, current market status, energy and environmental benefits, implications regarding advancements in European natural gas vehicle technologies, research and development efforts, and current market barriers and opportunities for greater market penetration. The authors contend that commercial intracity trucks are a prime area for advancement of this fuel. Therefore, we examined an aggressive future market penetration of natural gas heavy-duty vehicles that could be seen as a long-term goal. Under this scenario using Energy Information Administration projections and GREET life-cycle modeling of U.S. on-road heavy-duty use, natural gas vehicles would reduce petroleum consumption by approximately 1.2 million barrels of oil per day, while another 400,000 barrels of oil per day reduction could be achieved with significant use of natural gas off-road vehicles. This scenario would reduce daily oil consumption in the United States by about 8%.

JPL's electric and hybrid vehicles project: Project activities and preliminary test results. [power conditioning and battery charge efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Barber, T. A.

1980-01-01

Efforts to achieve a 100 mile urban range, to reduce petroleum usage 40% to 70%, and to commercialize battery technology are discussed with emphasis on an all plastic body, four passenger car that is flywheel assisted and battery powered, and on an all metal body, four passenger car with front wheel drive and front motor. For the near term case, a parallel hybrid in which the electric motor and the internal combustion engine may directly power the drive wheels, is preferred to a series design. A five passenger car in which the electric motor and the gasoline engine both feed into the same transmission is discussed. Upgraded demonstration vehicles were tested using advanced lead acid, nickel zinc, nickel iron, and zinc chloride batteries to determine maximum acceleration, constant speed, and battery behavior. The near term batteries demonstrated significant improvement relative to current lead acid batteries. The increase in range was due to improved energy density, and ampere hour capacity, with relatively 1 small weight and volume differences.

Vehicle Color Recognition with Vehicle-Color Saliency Detection and Dual-Orientational Dimensionality Reduction of CNN Deep Features

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qiang; Li, Jiafeng; Zhuo, Li; Zhang, Hui; Li, Xiaoguang

2017-12-01

Color is one of the most stable attributes of vehicles and often used as a valuable cue in some important applications. Various complex environmental factors, such as illumination, weather, noise and etc., result in the visual characteristics of the vehicle color being obvious diversity. Vehicle color recognition in complex environments has been a challenging task. The state-of-the-arts methods roughly take the whole image for color recognition, but many parts of the images such as car windows; wheels and background contain no color information, which will have negative impact on the recognition accuracy. In this paper, a novel vehicle color recognition method using local vehicle-color saliency detection and dual-orientational dimensionality reduction of convolutional neural network (CNN) deep features has been proposed. The novelty of the proposed method includes two parts: (1) a local vehicle-color saliency detection method has been proposed to determine the vehicle color region of the vehicle image and exclude the influence of non-color regions on the recognition accuracy; (2) dual-orientational dimensionality reduction strategy has been designed to greatly reduce the dimensionality of deep features that are learnt from CNN, which will greatly mitigate the storage and computational burden of the subsequent processing, while improving the recognition accuracy. Furthermore, linear support vector machine is adopted as the classifier to train the dimensionality reduced features to obtain the recognition model. The experimental results on public dataset demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve superior recognition performance over the state-of-the-arts methods.

Evaluation of a high visibility enforcement project focused on passenger vehicles interacting with commercial vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, F Dennis; Blomberg, Richard D; Peck, Raymond C; Cosgrove, Linda A; Salzberg, Philip M

2008-01-01

In 2004, Washington State applied NHTSA's High Visibility Enforcement model used in the Click It or Ticket seat belt campaign in an attempt to reduce unsafe driving behaviors around commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). The program was called Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks (TACT). This paper details the methods used to evaluate the program's effectiveness and the results of the evaluation. Four high-crash interstate highway corridors, each approximately 25 miles in length, were selected. Two of these corridors received TACT media messages and increased enforcement over an 18-month period while two comparison corridors did not receive any increased media or enforcement. A total of 4,737 contacts were made with drivers during the two enforcement waves, and 72% of these contacts led to a citation. Drivers at the intervention sites who said they saw or heard any of the TACT messages increased from 17.7% in the pre period to a high of 67.3% in the post periods. Drivers at the intervention sites also reported increased exposure to the core message of leaving more space when passing trucks (14% pre to 40% post period). The percentage of drivers who said they leave more room when passing trucks than when passing cars rose from 16% in the pre period to 24% in the post period at the intervention sites, while comparison sites showed no change. Over 150 hours of video recorded by law enforcement officers in unmarked vehicles were utilized to examine violation rates and severity of violations before and after the intervention campaigns. Statistical analyses showed that violation rates were reduced significantly at the intervention sites (between 23% and 46%), while remaining constant at the comparison sites. Analyses of the video data also showed that the seriousness of the residual violations at the intervention sites decreased. Overall, the evaluation results provide a consistent picture of the effectiveness of the TACT pilot project. Success was demonstrated at every step

Fifty years of fuel quality and vehicle emissions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rose, K. [CONCAWE, Brussels (Belgium)

2013-04-01

In the late 1970s, with growing emphasis on urban air quality in Europe, CONCAWE embarked on new research related to fuels and vehicles. After only a few years, it became clear that fuel properties and specifications would be increasingly important to the future of the European refining industry, and considerable research was completed in the 1970s to better understand the impact of fuel composition on vehicle performance and emissions. This early work led to the formation of the first Fuels and Emissions Management Group (FEMG) in 1982, almost 20 years after the formation of the CONCAWE Association. Since these early days, FEMG has been responsible for ensuring CONCAWE's strategic outlook on future vehicle and fuel developments, monitoring regulatory and vehicle developments, and overseeing a diverse portfolio of fuel quality and vehicle emissions research. Since the 1980s, tremendous progress has been made in improving European air quality, in part by reducing emissions from road transport and other sectors, and major improvements in European fuel qualities have contributed to these reductions. Nevertheless, many challenges are still ahead, especially further reductions in pollutant emissions from vehicles while also reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transport. In the near-term, these GHG reductions will largely come from improvements in engine and vehicle fuel consumption and by blending of GHG-reducing bio-blending components. Dealing with these challenges to fuel quality and performance will require a continuing focus on CONCAWE's founding principles: sound science, cost effectiveness and transparency.

Space robot simulator vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Cannon, R. H., Jr.; Alexander, H.

1985-01-01

A Space Robot Simulator Vehicle (SRSV) was constructed to model a free-flying robot capable of doing construction, manipulation and repair work in space. The SRSV is intended as a test bed for development of dynamic and static control methods for space robots. The vehicle is built around a two-foot-diameter air-cushion vehicle that carries batteries, power supplies, gas tanks, computer, reaction jets and radio equipment. It is fitted with one or two two-link manipulators, which may be of many possible designs, including flexible-link versions. Both the vehicle body and its first arm are nearly complete. Inverse dynamic control of the robot's manipulator has been successfully simulated using equations generated by the dynamic simulation package SDEXACT. In this mode, the position of the manipulator tip is controlled not by fixing the vehicle base through thruster operation, but by controlling the manipulator joint torques to achieve the desired tip motion, while allowing for the free motion of the vehicle base. One of the primary goals is to minimize use of the thrusters in favor of intelligent control of the manipulator. Ways to reduce the computational burden of control are described.

Effects of improved spatial and temporal modeling of on-road vehicle emissions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindhjem, Christian E; Pollack, Alison K; DenBleyker, Allison; Shaw, Stephanie L

2012-04-01

Numerous emission and air quality modeling studies have suggested the need to accurately characterize the spatial and temporal variations in on-road vehicle emissions. The purpose of this study was to quantify the impact that using detailed traffic activity data has on emission estimates used to model air quality impacts. The on-road vehicle emissions are estimated by multiplying the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by the fleet-average emission factors determined by road link and hour of day. Changes in the fraction of VMT from heavy-duty diesel vehicles (HDDVs) can have a significant impact on estimated fleet-average emissions because the emission factors for HDDV nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) are much higher than those for light-duty gas vehicles (LDGVs). Through detailed road link-level on-road vehicle emission modeling, this work investigated two scenarios for better characterizing mobile source emissions: (1) improved spatial and temporal variation of vehicle type fractions, and (2) use of Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES2010) instead of MOBILE6 exhaust emission factors. Emissions were estimated for the Detroit and Atlanta metropolitan areas for summer and winter episodes. The VMT mix scenario demonstrated the importance of better characterizing HDDV activity by time of day, day of week, and road type. More HDDV activity occurs on restricted access road types on weekdays and at nonpeak times, compared to light-duty vehicles, resulting in 5-15% higher NOx and PM emission rates during the weekdays and 15-40% lower rates on weekend days. Use of MOVES2010 exhaust emission factors resulted in increases of more than 50% in NOx and PM for both HDDVs and LDGVs, relative to MOBILE6. Because LDGV PM emissions have been shown to increase with lower temperatures, the most dramatic increase from MOBILE6 to MOVES2010 emission rates occurred for PM2.5 from LDGVs that increased 500% during colder wintertime conditions found in Detroit, the northernmost

Facts on Three Mile Island. IV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hermansky

1980-01-01

A number of commissions and committees were established in the USA following the Three Mile Island-2 accident, charged with investigating the causes of the accident and suggesting precautions which would limit future possible occurrences of such accidents. The recommendations by the most significant bodies are briefly outlined, including the: (1) instructions by NRC for the operators of PWR type nuclear power plants; (2) recommendations by the Kemeny commission appointed by president Carter; (3) recommendations by the Advisory Committee for Reactor Safety (ACRS); (4) measures taken by the Tennessee Valley Authority. (Ha)

Three Mile Island accident technical support

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Long, R.L.; Crimmins, T.M.; Lowe, W.W.

1981-01-01

A large number of technical support personnel were required to respond to the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) accident of March 28, 1979. Under the leadership of General Public Utilities personnel, onsite (round-the-clock shift) technical support began the evening of March 29 and within a week the TMI Recovery Organization incorporated all of the essential technical capability to implement the Base Plan for Cooldown, manage the radioactive waste problem, and begin the steps toward long-range plant recovery. These steps toward recovery are described in some detail. 1 refs

On the hazard of quiet vehicles to pedestrians and drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Wogalter, Michael S; Lim, Raymond W; Nyeste, Patrick G

2014-09-01

The need to produce more efficient and less polluting vehicles has encouraged mass production of alternative energy vehicles, such as hybrid and electric cars. Many of these vehicles are capable of very quiet operation. While reducing noise pollution is desirable, quieter vehicles could negatively affect pedestrian safety because of reduced sound cues compared to louder internal combustion engines. Three studies were performed to investigate people's concern about this issue. In Study 1, a questionnaire completed by 378 people showed substantial positive interest in quiet hybrid and electric cars. However, they also indicated concern about the reduced auditory cues of quiet vehicles. In Study 2, 316 participants rated 14 sounds that could be potentially added to quiet alternative-energy vehicles. The data showed that participants did not want annoying sounds, but preferred adding "engine" and "hum" sounds relative to other types of sounds. In Study 3, 24 persons heard and rated 18 actual sounds within 6 categories that were added to a video of a hybrid vehicle driving by. The sounds most preferred were "engine" followed by "white noise" and "hum". Implications for adding sounds to facilitate pedestrians' detection of moving vehicles and for aiding drivers' awareness of speed are discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

78 FR 46258 - Safety Zone; Upper Mississippi River, Mile 662.8 to 663.9

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-31

...-AA00 Safety Zone; Upper Mississippi River, Mile 662.8 to 663.9 AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Temporary final rule. SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for all waters of the Upper Mississippi River, from mile 662.8 to 663.9, extending the entire width of the river. This safety...

A new rechargeable intelligent vehicle detection sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, L; Han, X B; Ding, R; Li, G; Lu, Steven C-Y; Hong, Q

2005-01-01

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is a valid approach to solve the increasing transportation issue in cities. Vehicle detection is one of the key technologies in ITS. The ITS collects and processes traffic data (vehicle flow, vehicular speed, vehicle density and occupancy ratios) from vehicle detection sensors buried under the road or installed along the road. Inductive loop detector as one type of the vehicle detector is applied extensively, with the characters of stability, high value to cost ratio and feasibility. On the other hand, most of the existing inductive loop vehicle detection sensors have some weak points such as friability of detective loop, huge engineering for setting and traffic interruption during installing the sensor. The design and reality of a new rechargeable intelligent vehicle detection sensor is presented in this paper against these weak points existing now. The sensor consists of the inductive loop detector, the rechargeable batteries, the MCU (microcontroller) and the transmitter. In order to reduce the installing project amount, make the loop durable and easily maintained, the volume of the detective loop is reduced as much as we can. Communication in RF (radio frequency) brings on the advantages of getting rid of the feeder cable completely and reducing the installing project amount enormously. For saving the cable installation, the sensor is supplied by the rechargeable batteries. The purpose of the intelligent management of the energy and transmitter by means of MCU is to minimize the power consumption and prolong the working period of the sensor. In a word, the new sensor is more feasible with smaller volume, wireless communication, rechargeable batteries, low power consumption, low cost, high detector precision and easy maintenance and installation

A new rechargeable intelligent vehicle detection sensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, L [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Han, X B [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Ding, R [Tianjin University of Technology and Education, Tianjin 300222 (China); Li, G [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Lu, Steven C-Y [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Hong, Q [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China)

2005-01-01

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is a valid approach to solve the increasing transportation issue in cities. Vehicle detection is one of the key technologies in ITS. The ITS collects and processes traffic data (vehicle flow, vehicular speed, vehicle density and occupancy ratios) from vehicle detection sensors buried under the road or installed along the road. Inductive loop detector as one type of the vehicle detector is applied extensively, with the characters of stability, high value to cost ratio and feasibility. On the other hand, most of the existing inductive loop vehicle detection sensors have some weak points such as friability of detective loop, huge engineering for setting and traffic interruption during installing the sensor. The design and reality of a new rechargeable intelligent vehicle detection sensor is presented in this paper against these weak points existing now. The sensor consists of the inductive loop detector, the rechargeable batteries, the MCU (microcontroller) and the transmitter. In order to reduce the installing project amount, make the loop durable and easily maintained, the volume of the detective loop is reduced as much as we can. Communication in RF (radio frequency) brings on the advantages of getting rid of the feeder cable completely and reducing the installing project amount enormously. For saving the cable installation, the sensor is supplied by the rechargeable batteries. The purpose of the intelligent management of the energy and transmitter by means of MCU is to minimize the power consumption and prolong the working period of the sensor. In a word, the new sensor is more feasible with smaller volume, wireless communication, rechargeable batteries, low power consumption, low cost, high detector precision and easy maintenance and installation.

Evacuation decision-making at Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeigler, D.J.; Johnson, J.H. Jr.

1987-01-01

During the emergency at the Three Mile Island generating station in the United States, evacuation became a common adaptive response among the local population. The planning for nuclear emergencies in the US has proceeded as if there were no significant differences between nuclear and other types of disasters requiring evacuation. In the United Kingdom, emergency planning for a new generation of pressurized water reactors, about which there is legitimate safety concern, has been influenced not at all by the experience with the Three Mile Island PWR in 1979. The TMI accident has been the US's most serious experience with a nuclear plant accident and therefore is an appropriate analogy for predicting the evacuation response to future nuclear emergencies. In this light, the authors accept the need to develop models that will enable them to predict the magnitude of the evacuation shadow phenomenon around other nuclear power sites and estimate its impact on our plans to remove the threatened population from the hazard zone in the minimum amount of time. Rather than depend on education and information control to stifle evacuation response, the authors believe that evacuation plans need to build on people's natural behavioural inclinations to protect themselves in response to the nuclear hazard

A parametric study of light-duty natural gas vehicle competitiveness in the United States through 2050

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peterson, Meghan B.; Barter, Garrett E.; West, Todd H.; Manley, Dawn K.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • NGVs are economical, but limited by infrastructure and OEM model availability. • NGVs compete more with EVs than conventional vehicles. • By displacing EVs, NGVs offer little or negative GHG reduction benefits. • Public refueling infrastructure is a better investment than home CNG compressors. • Bi-fuel vehicles can be a bridge technology until infrastructure build-out. - Abstract: We modeled and conducted a parametric analysis of the US light-duty vehicle (LDV) stock to examine the impact of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) as they compete with electric vehicles, hybrids, and conventional powertrains. We find that low natural gas prices and sufficient public refueling infrastructure are the key drivers to NGV adoption when matched with availability of compressed natural gas powertrains from automakers. Due to the time and investment required for the build out of infrastructure and the introduction of vehicles by original equipment manufacturers, home natural gas compressor sales and bi-fuel NGVs serve as bridge technologies through 2030. By 2050, however, NGVs could comprise as much as 20% of annual vehicle sales and 10% of the LDV stock fraction. We also find that NGVs may displace electric vehicles, rather than conventional powertrains, as they both compete for consumers that drive enough miles such that fuel cost savings offset higher purchase costs. Due to this dynamic, NGVs in our LDV stock model offer little to no greenhouse gas emissions reduction as they displace lower emission powertrains. This finding is subject to the uncertainty in efficiency technology progression and the set of powertains and fuels considered

Neighborhood deprivation, vehicle ownership, and potential spatial access to a variety of fruits and vegetables in a large rural area in Texas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Horel Scott

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objective There has been limited study of all types of food stores, such as traditional (supercenters, supermarkets, and grocery stores, convenience stores, and non-traditional (dollar stores, mass merchandisers, and pharmacies as potential opportunities for purchase of fresh and processed (canned and frozen fruits and vegetables, especially in small-town or rural areas. Methods Data from the Brazos Valley Food Environment Project (BVFEP are combined with 2000 U.S. Census data for 101 Census block groups (CBG to examine neighborhood access to fruits and vegetables. BVFEP data included identification and geocoding of all food stores (n = 185 in six rural counties in Texas, using ground-truthed methods and on-site assessment of the availability and variety of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables in all food stores. Access from the population-weighted centroid of each CBG was measured using proximity (minimum network distance and coverage (number of shopping opportunities for a good selection of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables. Neighborhood inequalities (deprivation and vehicle ownership and spatial access for fruits and vegetables were examined using Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test and multivariate regression models. Results The variety of fruits or vegetables was greater at supermarkets compared with grocery stores. Among non-traditional and convenience food stores, the largest variety was found at dollar stores. On average, rural neighborhoods were 9.9 miles to the nearest supermarket, 6.7 miles and 7.4 miles to the nearest food store with a good variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, respectively, and 4.7 miles and 4.5 miles to a good variety of fresh and processed fruits or vegetables. High deprivation or low vehicle ownership neighborhoods had better spatial access to a good variety of fruits and vegetables, both in the distance to the nearest source and in the number of shopping opportunities. Conclusion

Combat Vehicle Technology Report

Science.gov (United States)

1992-05-01

reducing fuel storage under armor , and using manual instead of automatic transmissions, these decisions involve definite operational trade-offs...turn. 20 The application of ceramic materials has made possible the adiabatic -aiesel concept that reduces under - armor cooling system size requirements...systems will eliminate all conventional torsion bar suspension volume under armor space claim, and will have a very direct effect on reducing vehicle

Numerical simulation of the accident of Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perrin, M.H.; Kastelanski, P.

1981-01-01

The chief object of the present study was to assess the ability of our numerical code for the dynamic behavior of power plants, SICLE, to handle the simulation of small accidents in PWRs. In the first part of the paper the authors introduce the main principles, equations and numerical methods of the code. In the second part those of the elements of Three Mile Island Power Plant which were simulated, the different phases of the accident and the results obtained with the code are described. These results are compared to the values recorded in the plant and generally a good agreement is found (for instance the primary pressure). As a conclusion SICLE is the minimum code for representing accidents such as Three Mile Island; its main advantage lies in its ability to take into account all the elements of the plant which are important in the study

A Hybrid Power Management (HPM) Based Vehicle Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Eichenberg, Dennis J.

2011-01-01

Society desires vehicles with reduced fuel consumption and reduced emissions. This presents a challenge and an opportunity for industry and the government. The NASA John H. Glenn Research Center (GRC) has developed a Hybrid Power Management (HPM) based vehicle architecture for space and terrestrial vehicles. GRC's Electrical and Electromagnetics Branch of the Avionics and Electrical Systems Division initiated the HPM Program for the GRC Technology Transfer and Partnership Office. HPM is the innovative integration of diverse, state-of-the-art power devices in an optimal configuration for space and terrestrial applications. The appropriate application and control of the various power devices significantly improves overall system performance and efficiency. The basic vehicle architecture consists of a primary power source, and possibly other power sources, providing all power to a common energy storage system, which is used to power the drive motors and vehicle accessory systems, as well as provide power as an emergency power system. Each component is independent, permitting it to be optimized for its intended purpose. This flexible vehicle architecture can be applied to all vehicles to considerably improve system efficiency, reliability, safety, security, and performance. This unique vehicle architecture has the potential to alleviate global energy concerns, improve the environment, stimulate the economy, and enable new missions.

The Relationship between Vehicle Weight/Size and Safety

Science.gov (United States)

Wenzel, Tom; Ross, Marc

2008-09-01

Light-duty vehicles account for about 20% of US CO2 emissions. However, new vehicle fuel economy standards have not been significantly tightened since they were first enacted three decades ago. A historical impediment to imposing tougher fuel economy standards has been the long-standing perception that reducing the mass of a car or truck would make it more dangerous to its occupants in a crash. One often hears that this perception is dictated by "simple physics:" that, all else being equal, you are at greater risk in a lighter vehicle than in a heavier one. Our research on driver fatality risk has found that, when it comes to vehicle safety, all else is never equal. Vehicle mass is not the most important variable in determining occupant safety, not even in frontal crashes between two vehicles. You are at no greater risk driving an average car than you are driving a much heavier (and less fuel efficient) truck-based SUV. And larger and heavier truck-based SUVs and pickups impose enormous risks on car occupants. We summarize the most recent research on the interplay between vehicle weight, size and safety, and what the implications are for new state and federal standards to reduce vehicle CO2 emissions.

Amphibious vehicles come of age

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mowers, J.

2007-11-15

This article highlighted the most popular amphibious vehicles used for oil patch applications. The Argo, designed and built by Ontario Drive and Gear Ltd. of New Hamburg, Ontario, was first introduced into the market in 1967. By 1994, it was commonly used by the oil patch when it was made more robust with a liquid-cooled engine. The all-season and all-terrain vehicle can carry up to 1,150 pounds and pull up to 1,800 pounds. More than 40,000 units have been sold for use in seismic, slashing, carrying in supplies for camps, pipeline and other facility maintenance. Its counterpart, the Centaur, has a bigger load capacity and more powerful liquid-cooled petrol or diesel engine that drives like a truck, with steering wheel and gas and brake pedals. It has certified rollover protection, can carry up to 1,500 pounds or pull 2,000 pounds and can travel at speeds of up to 28 miles per hour. The mammoth ARKTOS Craft was designed, engineered and built in British Columbia and can handle any terrain including thick mud, quicksand, muskeg, ice, water and snow. It is primarily used in the oil patch as an evacuation craft for offshore drilling in shallow waters. It has room for 52 passengers. With a 13-ton load capacity, the vehicle can manoeuvre through ice-water mixtures and can climb onto solid ice. Five units are being used as evacuation crafts on stand-by offshore drilling in shallow waters near Alaska, and 8 are being used for the same purpose for drilling beneath the Caspian Sea. It was also used in the Bohai Delta in China for a seismic survey. A modified craft is being developed for use in Fort McMurray's oil sand tailings ponds. This article also highlighted the prototype AmphibAlaska which has been under development for the past 25 years by an Alaskan entrepreneur. The utilitarian vehicle is being designed with a payload that can accommodate a crew of 5 and the gear needed for emergency response and fieldwork. It is designed to travel safely through hard ground

A Microcontroller Based Car-Safety System Implementing Drowsiness Detection And Vehicle-Vehicle Distance Detection In Parallel.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pragyaditya Das.

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Accidents due to drowsiness can be controlled and prevented with the help of eye blink sensor using IR rays. It consists of IR transmitter and an IR receiver. The transmitter transmits IR rays into the eye. If the eye is shut then the output is high. If the eye is open then the output is low. This output is interfaced with an alarm inside and outside the vehicle. This module can be connected to the braking system of the vehicle and can be used to reduce the speed of the vehicle. The alarm inside the vehicle will go on for a period of time until the driver is back to his senses. If the driver is unable to take control of the vehicle after that stipulated amount of time then the alarm outside the vehicle will go on to warn and tell others to help the driver.

Market penetration speed and effects on CO2 reduction of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yabe, Kuniaki; Shinoda, Yukio; Seki, Tomomichi; Tanaka, Hideo; Akisawa, Atsushi

2012-01-01

Abstarct: In order to reduce CO 2 emissions in the passenger vehicle sector, mass introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) is required despite their high battery costs. This paper forecasts the rate at which EV/PHEV will penetrate into the market in the future and the effects of that spread on CO 2 reduction by using a learning curve for lithium-ion batteries, distribution of daily travel distance for each vehicle, and an optimal power generation planning model for charging vehicles. Taking into consideration each driver's economical viewpoint, the speed at which the EV/PHEV share of the new passenger vehicle market grows is fairly slow. The optimum calculation in our base case shows that the share of EV/PHEV is only a quarter even in 2050. However, the initial price and progress rate of batteries have a great effect on this share. Therefore, long-term economic support from the government and significant R and D innovation are required to reduce CO 2 drastically through cutting down battery price. The results also show how much the CO 2 emission intensity of power generation affects the CO 2 reduction rate by introducing EV/PHEV. - Highlights: ► Authors minimized the total cost of vehicle and power supply sectors until 2050. ► Simulation results show the penetration speed of PHEVs/EVs is not so fast. ► To accelerate it and reduce CO 2 , subsidies and innovations are required. ► The introduction of PHEVs/EVs is still reasonable even after the nuclear accident.

Three Mile Island serious but not fatal to nuclear

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1979-01-01

The Three Mile Island nuclear incident will cause some delays in the construction of nuclear plants. But when the emotion dies down, people will realize there is still an obvious need for nuclear power in the long term, even as President Carter indicated in his press conference after his television energy message. This was the conclusion arrived at by several top officials of electric utilities in a spot check on the President's energy message and on their views on Three Mile Island. The officials also commented on decontrol of oil prices and wheeling power to oil-fired regions. Karl H. Rudolph of Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company says that Three Mile Island was a serious event, but the industry tries to place the event in perspective, particularly in view of its continuing dramatization in the news media. The truth of the matter is that, despite human error and mechanical failures, the redundant safety systems in the plant worked...because of what happened, nuclear constuction, both now and in the future, will include even better safety systems. As more is learned about nuclear power, says Aaron E. Autry of Central Power and Light, Corpus Christi, the relative safety of nuclear will be greater than any other option, including coal. Many other comments are made concerning coal, and executives from Detroit Edison and Co. and Consumers Power Co. agree that the President will have to improve rail transportation and relax tax air quality regulations if he wants electricity to be produced by coal in the future

Reducing the threat of wildlife-vehicle collisions during peak tourism periods using a Roadside Animal Detection System.

Science.gov (United States)

Grace, Molly K; Smith, Daniel J; Noss, Reed F

2017-12-01

Roadside Animal Detection Systems (RADS) aim to reduce the frequency of wildlife-vehicle collisions. Unlike fencing and wildlife passages, RADS do not attempt to keep animals off the road; rather, they attempt to modify driver behavior by detecting animals near the road and warning drivers with flashing signs. A RADS was installed in Big Cypress National Park (Florida, USA) in 2012 in response to an increased number of Florida panther mortalities. To assess driver response, we measured the speed of individual cars on the road when the RADS was active (flashing) and inactive (not flashing) during the tourist season (November-March) and the off-season (April-October), which vary dramatically in traffic volume. We also used track beds and camera traps to assess whether roadside activity of large mammal species varied between seasons. In the tourist season, the activation of the RADS caused a significant reduction in vehicle speed. However, this effect was not observed in the off-season. Track and camera data showed that the tourist season coincided with peak periods of activity for several large mammals of conservation interest. Drivers in the tourist season generally drove faster than those in the off-season, so a reduction in speed in response to the RADS is more beneficial in the tourist season. Because traffic volume and roadside activity of several species of conservation interest both peak during the tourist season, our study indicates that the RADS has the potential to reduce the number of accidents during this period of heightened risk. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Consumer Views on Plug-in Electric Vehicles -- National Benchmark Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singer, Mark [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2016-01-31

Vehicle manufacturers, U.S. Department of Energy laboratories, universities, private researchers, and organizations from around the globe are pursuing advanced vehicle technologies that aim to reduce the consumption of petroleum in the form of gasoline and diesel. In order to make these technologies most appealing to the marketplace, they must take consumer sentiment into account. This report details study findings of broad American public sentiments toward issues that surround the advanced vehicle technologies of plug-in electric vehicles and is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicle Technology Office in alignment with its mission to develop and deploy these technologies to improve energy security, provide mobility flexibility, reduce transportation costs, and increase environmental sustainability.

Panorama 2013 - Focus on the electrified vehicle market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vinot, Simon

2012-12-01

Electric vehicles, like hybrid vehicles, are considered to be one of the responses for reducing energy costs and the environmental impact of transport in the form of emissions, whether local (particles, NO x ) or global (CO 2 ). While the hybrid vehicle is gradually becoming generally accepted, the market for electric vehicles is still in its infancy. With models available from car-makers, we look at the reasons underlying their slow development. (author)

LMI-Based H¥ Anti-Rollover Control Algorithm of Vehicle Active Suspension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LIAO Cong

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In order to improve the anti-rollover ability for vehicles, a 4 DOF vehicle rollover dynamics model is established, base on which we have designed an active suspension anti-rollover controller and proposed the H¥ control strategy. Simulations were carried out using Matlab/Simulink, and results show that the proposed control scheme can not only reduce the roll angle and roll angular velocity, but also improve the rollover stability of the vehicle and reduce the probability of vehicle rollover accidents.

Social survey of Three Mile Island area residents. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brunn, S.D.; Johnson, J.H. Jr; Zeigler, D.J.

1979-08-01

Recognizing that there is concern among government officials, utility company officials, engineers, physical, social, and behavioral scientists, and the general public about the consequences of the Three Mile Island accident, the overall objective of this report is to examine how the accident affected TMI area residents. This final report is a detailed analysis and description of the summary results published previously. A questionnaire was mailed to a sample of residents in the Three Mile Island area within one month of the accident. The survey instrument and sampling design are discussed in a subsequent chapter. Because of the nature of the accident and individual memories about dates, places, and events, it was necessary to conduct a survey as soon as possible after the accident. Area residents were asked a variety of questions including: (1) when and how they learned about the accident; (2) where they evacuated and why; (3) what confidence they placed in reports by the government and utility companies; (4) how their attitudes toward nuclear power have changed as a result of the accident; and (5) what impact the accident is likely to have on themselves and the Three Mile Island area. These questions and others are examined in this report. The results are analyzed in light of a number of social, economic, and political characteristics. Both statistical tests and a graphical presentation of the results are included

Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident of March 1979. Environmental radiation data: Update. A report to the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bretthauer, E.W.; Grossman, R.F.; Thome, D.J.; Smith, A.E.

1981-03-01

This report contains a listing of environmental radiation monitoring data collected in the vicinity of Three Mile Island (TMI) following the March 28, 1979 accident. These data were collected by the EPA, NRC, DOE, HHS, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. The original report was printed in September 1979 and the update was released in December 1979. Also included in this update is a listing of whole-body counting data obtained by the NRC to assess the quantity of internally deposited radionuclides in TMI workers and volunteer residents within a three-mile-radius of TMI. No reactor-related radionuclides were identified in any of the whole-body counting data

Cancer near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant: radiation emissions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatch, M C; Beyea, J; Nieves, J W; Susser, M

1990-09-01

As a public charge, cancers among the 159,684 residents living within a 10-mile (16-km) radius of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant were studied relative to releases of radiation during the March 28, 1979, accident as well as to routine plant emissions. The principal cancers considered were leukemia and childhood malignancies. Estimates of the emissions delivered to small geographic study tracts were derived from mathematical dispersion models which accounted for modifying factors such as wind and terrain; the model of accident emissions was validated by readings from off-site dosimeters. Incident cancers among area residents for the period 1975-1985 (n = 5,493) were identified by a review of the records at all local and regional hospitals; preaccident and postaccident trends in cancer rates were examined. For accident emissions, the authors failed to find definite effects of exposure on the cancer types and population subgroups thought to be most susceptible to radiation. No associations were seen for leukemia in adults or for childhood cancers as a group. For leukemia in children, the odds ratio was raised, but cases were few (n = 4), and the estimate was highly variable. Moreover, rates of childhood leukemia in the Three Mile Island area are low compared with national and regional rates. For exposure to routine emissions, the odds ratios were raised for childhood cancers as a whole and for childhood leukemia, but confidence intervals were wide and included 1.0. For leukemia in adults, there was a negative trend. Trends for two types of cancer ran counter to expectation. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma showed raised risks relative to both accident and routine emissions; lung cancer (adjusted only indirectly for smoking) showed raised risks relative to accident emissions, routine emissions, and background gamma radiation. Overall, the pattern of results does not provide convincing evidence that radiation releases from the Three Mile Island nuclear facility influenced

The Development of Vocational Vehicle Drive Cycles and Segmentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duran, Adam W. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Phillips, Caleb T. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Konan, Arnaud M. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kelly, Kenneth J. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-09-28

Under a collaborative interagency agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S Department of Energy (DOE), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) performed a series of in-depth analyses to characterize the on-road driving behavior including distributions of vehicle speed, idle time, accelerations and decelerations, and other driving metrics of medium- and heavy-duty vocational vehicles operating within the United States. As part of this effort, NREL researchers segmented U.S. medium- and heavy-duty vocational vehicle driving characteristics into three distinct operating groups or clusters using real world drive cycle data collected at 1 Hz and stored in NREL's Fleet DNA database. The Fleet DNA database contains millions of miles of historical real-world drive cycle data captured from medium- and heavy vehicles operating across the United States. The data encompass data from existing DOE activities as well as contributions from valued industry stakeholder participants. For this project, data captured from 913 unique vehicles comprising 16,250 days of operation were drawn from the Fleet DNA database and examined. The Fleet DNA data used as a source for this analysis has been collected from a total of 30 unique fleets/data providers operating across 22 unique geographic locations spread across the United States. This includes locations with topology ranging from the foothills of Denver, Colorado, to the flats of Miami, Florida. The range of fleets, geographic locations, and total number of vehicles analyzed ensures results that include the influence of these factors. While no analysis will be perfect without unlimited resources and data, it is the researchers understanding that the Fleet DNA database is the largest and most thorough publicly accessible vocational vehicle usage database currently in operation. This report includes an introduction to the Fleet DNA database and the data contained within, a presentation of the

Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: Hudson River: RVRMILES (River Mile Marker Lines)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains human-use resource data for river miles along the Hudson River. Vector lines in this data set represent river mile markers. This data set...

Instructor development program at Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irizarry, C.A.; Jones, J.W.; Knief, R.

1981-01-01

The Three Mile Island (TMI) Training Department has prepared and conducted Instructor Development Programs which have upgraded the capabilities of its instructors and provided more uniformity among its diverse efforts. The week-long course was prepared in-house by a staff that combined college teaching experience in both education and technical subjects with strong background in industrial training. Through the first two offerings of the course, twenty-five individuals have participated and eight have served on the course staff

Going the Extra Mile: Improved Survival for Pancreatic Cancer Patients Traveling to High-volume Centers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lidsky, Michael E; Sun, Zhifei; Nussbaum, Daniel P; Adam, Mohamed A; Speicher, Paul J; Blazer, Dan G

2017-08-01

This study compares outcomes following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) for patients treated at local, low-volume centers and those traveling to high-volume centers. Although outcomes for PD are superior at high-volume institutions, not all patients live in proximity to major medical centers. Theoretical advantages for undergoing surgery locally exist. The 1998 to 2012 National Cancer Data Base was queried for T1-3N0-1M0 pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients who underwent PD. Travel distances to treatment centers were calculated. Overlaying the upper and lower quartiles of travel distance with institutional volume established short travel/low-volume (ST/LV) and long travel/high-volume (LT/HV) cohorts. Overall survival was evaluated. Of 7086 patients, 773 ST/LV patients traveled ≤6.3 (median 3.2) miles to centers performing ≤3.3 PDs yearly, and 758 LT/HV patients traveled ≥45 (median 97.3) miles to centers performing ≥16 PDs yearly. LT/HV patients had higher stage disease (P travel to a high-volume center remained associated with reduced long-term mortality (hazard ratio 0.75, P travel burden, patients treated at high-volume centers had improved perioperative outcomes, short-term mortality, and overall survival. These data support ongoing efforts to centralize care for patients undergoing PD.

Modelling and Simulation of Cooperative Control for Bus Rapid Transit Vehicle Platoon in a Connected Vehicle Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiahui Liu

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to develop a cooperative control model for improving the operational efficiency of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT vehicles. The model takes advantage of the emerging connected vehicle technology. A connected vehicle centre is established to assign a specific reservation time interval and transmit the corresponding dynamic speed guidance to each BRT vehicle. Furthermore, a set of constraints have been set up to avoid bus queuing and waiting phenomena in downstream BRT stations. Therefore, many BRT vehicles are strategically guided to form a platoon, which can pass through an intersection with no impedance. An actual signalized intersection along the Guangzhou BRT corridor is employed to verify and assess the cooperative control model in various traffic conditions. The simulation-based evaluation results demonstrate that the proposed approach can reduce delays, decrease the number of stops, and improve the sustainability of the BRT vehicles.

The effect on photochemical smog of converting the U.S. fleet of gasoline vehicles to modern diesel vehicles

OpenAIRE

Jacobson, Mark Z.; Seinfeld, John H.; Carmichael, Greg R.; Streets, David G.

2004-01-01

With the increased use of particle traps and nitrogen oxide (NO_x) control devices to reduce air pollution, “modern” diesel vehicles are being encouraged over gasoline vehicles globally as a central method of slowing global warming. Data to date, though, suggest that the NO_2:NO ratio from modern diesel may exceed that of gasoline, and it is difficult to reduce diesel NO_x below gasoline NO_x without increasing particle emissions. Here, it is calculated that, unless the diesel NO_2:NO ratio a...

Consumer Vehicle Choice Model Documentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Changzheng [ORNL; Greene, David L [ORNL

2012-08-01

In response to the Fuel Economy and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions standards, automobile manufacturers will need to adopt new technologies to improve the fuel economy of their vehicles and to reduce the overall GHG emissions of their fleets. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed the Optimization Model for reducing GHGs from Automobiles (OMEGA) to estimate the costs and benefits of meeting GHG emission standards through different technology packages. However, the model does not simulate the impact that increased technology costs will have on vehicle sales or on consumer surplus. As the model documentation states, “While OMEGA incorporates functions which generally minimize the cost of meeting a specified carbon dioxide (CO2) target, it is not an economic simulation model which adjusts vehicle sales in response to the cost of the technology added to each vehicle.” Changes in the mix of vehicles sold, caused by the costs and benefits of added fuel economy technologies, could make it easier or more difficult for manufacturers to meet fuel economy and emissions standards, and impacts on consumer surplus could raise the costs or augment the benefits of the standards. Because the OMEGA model does not presently estimate such impacts, the EPA is investigating the feasibility of developing an adjunct to the OMEGA model to make such estimates. This project is an effort to develop and test a candidate model. The project statement of work spells out the key functional requirements for the new model.

Vehicle rollover risk and electronic stability control systems.

Science.gov (United States)

MacLennan, P A; Marshall, T; Griffin, R; Purcell, M; McGwin, G; Rue, L W

2008-06-01

Electronic stability control (ESC) systems were developed to reduce motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) caused by loss of control. Introduced in Europe in 1995 and in the USA in 1996, ESC is designed to improve vehicle lateral stability by electronically detecting and automatically assisting drivers in unfavorable situations. To examine the relationship between vehicle rollover risk and presence of ESC using a large national database of MVCs. A retrospective cohort study for the period 1995 through 2006 was carried out using data obtained from the National Automotive Sampling System General Estimates System. All passenger cars and sport utility vehicles (SUVs)/vans of model year 1996 and later were eligible. Vehicle ESC (unavailable, optional, standard) was determined on the basis of make, model, and model year. Risk ratios (RRs) and 95% CIs were calculated to compare rollover risk by vehicle ESC group. For all crashes, vehicles equipped with standard ESC had decreased risk of rollover (RR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.77) compared with vehicles with ESC unavailable. The association was consistent for single-vehicle MVCs (RR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.82); passenger cars had decreased rollover risk (RR = 0.77, 95% CI 0.52 to 1.12), but SUVs/vans had a more dramatically decreased risk (RR = 0.40, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.61). This study supports previous results showing ESC to be effective in reducing the risk of rollover. ESC is more effective in SUVs/vans for rollovers related to single-vehicle MVCs.

Examinations of fuel debris samples from Three Mile Island Unit 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagase, Fumihisa

2012-01-01

In the accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plants, fuels were molten due to loss of coolant and heat-up of the reactor core. Information on properties of molten fuels (debris) is important to analyze progress of the accident, estimate the status inside the damaged reactors and work on a plan for debris removal. Extensive examinations for properties of debris have been conducted after the accident at the Three Mile Island Unit 2 in 1979. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency conducted a part of the examinations in the frame of the OECD/NEA Three Mile Island Vessel Investigation Program. This issue report outline and main results of the TMI-2 debris examination programs. (author)

Evaluating the Impact of E15 on Snowmobile Engine Durability and Vehicle Driveability: September 22, 2010 - August 15, 2013

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miers, Scott A. [Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI (United States); Blough, Jason R. [Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI (United States)

2013-08-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of E15 on current and legacy snowmobile engines and vehicles that could occur due to misfueling by the vehicle owner. Three test scenarios were conducted to evaluate the impact of E15, including cold-start performance and emissions, on-snow vehicle driveability, and laboratory exhaust emissions over the useful life of the engine. The eightengines tested represent current and legacy product that may exhibit sensitivity to increased ethanol blended in gasoline. Because a limited number of snowmobile engines were evaluated for this test program, the results are not statistically significant. However, the broad range of engine and mixture preparation technologies, combined with the various test scenarios provide preliminaryinformation to assess potential issues with E15 use in snowmobiles. Cold-start tests were performed at -6.7 degrees C (20 degrees F), -17.8 degrees C (0 degrees F), and -28.9 degrees C (-20 degrees F). The evaluation included time to start or number of pulls to start, engine speed, exhaust gas temperature, and start-up engine emissions concentrations. Statistically significant differences instarting times were not observed for most vehicles. Snowmobile driveability was analyzed using a subjective evaluation on a controlled test course. The drivers could not easily discern which fuel the snowmobiles were using during the subjective evaluation. Durability tests were conducted to measure the emissions and performance of the snowmobiles over the useful life of the vehicles (5,000miles). There were no fuel-related engine failures on E0 or E15. Carbon monoxide emissions were generally reduced by E15 relative to E0, by from 10% to 35%. Occasional misfueling of snowmobiles with E15 is not likely to cause noticeable or immediate problems for consumers. E15 is not approved for snowmobile use, and observations made during this study support the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency's decision to not

Thermoelectric Waste Heat Recovery Program for Passenger Vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jovovic, Vladimir [Gentherm Incorporated, Azusa, CA (United States)

2015-12-31

Gentherm began work in October 2011 to develop a Thermoelectric Waste Energy Recovery System for passenger vehicle applications. Partners in this program were BMW and Tenneco. Tenneco, in the role of TIER 1 supplier, developed the system-level packaging of the thermoelectric power generator. As the OEM, BMW Group demonstrated the TEG system in their vehicle in the final program phase. Gentherm demonstrated the performance of the TEG in medium duty and heavy duty vehicles. Technology developed and demonstrated in this program showed potential to reduce fuel consumption in medium and heavy duty vehicles. In light duty vehicles it showed more modest potential.

Three-Mile Island Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malinauskas, A.P.

1983-01-01

Activities associated with the Three-Mile Island (TMI) Program were of two types. One involved providing technical review and guidance for specific recovery efforts at TMI, whereas the second was concerned more directly with providing technical assistance to recovery operations through detailed analyses and experimental activities. The work was divided into four elements: Task I - coordination of and participation in the operation of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for the cleanup of aqueous streams at TMI; Task II - participation in the Technical Assistance and Advisory Group (TAAG) on TMI operations; Task III - chemical development and other technical support to TMI recovery operations; and Task IV - development of inorganic sorbents for the decontamination of aqueous streams. At the program review that was conducted approximately mid-fiscal year, it was decided to curtail the Task IV activities in favor of studies of more-urgent problems. Technical progress for each of the tasks of this program is presented

Intelligent behaviors through vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, Richard D.; Sturgeon, Purser; Brown, Mike

2012-06-01

The last decade has seen a significant increase in intelligent safety devices on private automobiles. These devices have both increased and augmented the situational awareness of the driver and in some cases provided automated vehicle responses. To date almost all intelligent safety devices have relied on data directly perceived by the vehicle. This constraint has a direct impact on the types of solutions available to the vehicle. In an effort to improve the safety options available to a vehicle, numerous research laboratories and government agencies are investing time and resources into connecting vehicles to each other and to infrastructure-based devices. This work details several efforts in both the commercial vehicle and the private auto industries to increase vehicle safety and driver situational awareness through vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. It will specifically discuss intelligent behaviors being designed to automatically disable non-compliant vehicles, warn tractor trailer vehicles of unsafe lane maneuvers such as lane changes, passing, and merging, and alert drivers to non-line-of-sight emergencies.

Energy storage on board of railway vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steiner, M.; Scholten, J. [Bombardier Transportation, Mannheim (Germany)

2004-07-01

The proposed energy storage on board of a Railway vehicle leads to a big step in the reduction of consumed energy. Up to 30% energy saving are expected in a light rail vehicle, at the same time reducing the peak power demand drastically. In addition, with the energy storage an operation without catenary could become reality, which was successfully demonstrated with the prototype light rail vehicle driving with switched off pantograph. This prototype vehicle is in passenger operation since September 2003, the implemented software is optimised on energy savings and first experience is very promising. (authors)

Heavy Vehicle Technologies Program Retrospective and Outlook

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

James J. Eberhardt

1999-01-01

OHVT Mission is to conduct, in collaboration with our heavy vehicle industry partners and their suppliers, a customer-focused national program to research and develop technologies that will enable trucks and other heavy vehicles to be more energy efficient and able to use alternative fuels while simultaneously reducing emissions

Heads from "Post" and "Times" on Three-Mile Island.

Science.gov (United States)

Fenichel, Michael; Dan, Peter

1980-01-01

Reports that during the week of the 1979 crisis at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, the "New York Post" gave less factual information than "The New York Times" in both its main headlines and subheadlines; also notes that the information the "Post" did give was more sensationalized. (GT)

75 FR 30460 - Notice of Funding Availability for the Department of Transportation's National Infrastructure...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-01

... air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote public health.'' (1) Will significantly... process. Livability improvements may include projects for new or improved biking and walking... health effects, and other costs and benefits that are more indirectly related to vehicle-miles or that...

Lionfishes Pterois miles and Pterois volitans in the North-eastern Mediterranean Sea: Distribution, Habitation, Predation and Predators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cemal Turan

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The lionfish Pterois miles was first recorded in the Iskenderun Bay on 2014 in Turkish Marine waters, and then its distribution was extended to Mersin and Antalya Bays in 2014 in the Mediterranean part of Turkey. The first observation of P. miles in the Aegean Sea was from Fethiye region in July 2015. The extension of P. miles in Turkish marine waters seems to be fast even though it’s slow moving feature. Second species of the lionfish, red lionfish Pterois volitans, was also recorded from Turkish Marine waters on May 2016 by a commercial purse seine at 30 m depth at İskenderun Bay and underwater observation was also recorded on October 2016 at Antakya Bay. Therefore, the number of Pterois species in the Mediterranean Sea has reached to two, P. miles and P. volitans. Based on underwater observations, P. miles and P. volitans are usually observed in rocky and cave habitats and prefer 10-40 meters for feeding that may cause the reduction of populations of vanikoro sweeper (Pemperis spp., cardinal fish (Apagon spp. and red coat (Holocentrus rubrum species. P. miles and P. volitans also show cohabitation and gathering usually with 2-5 individuals. Grouper species such as dusky gruper Ephinephelus marginatus and goldblotch grouper Ephinephelus costae are the main predators of the lionfishes.

General description of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Figueras, J.M.

1980-01-01

A general description of systems and components of the Three Mile Island-2 nuclear power plant is presented, for the primary system (NSSS), the secondary system (BOP), the energy generation system and for other auxiliaries in the plant. (author)

Distributed Propulsion Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hyun Dae

2010-01-01

Since the introduction of large jet-powered transport aircraft, the majority of these vehicles have been designed by placing thrust-generating engines either under the wings or on the fuselage to minimize aerodynamic interactions on the vehicle operation. However, advances in computational and experimental tools along with new technologies in materials, structures, and aircraft controls, etc. are enabling a high degree of integration of the airframe and propulsion system in aircraft design. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been investigating a number of revolutionary distributed propulsion vehicle concepts to increase aircraft performance. The concept of distributed propulsion is to fully integrate a propulsion system within an airframe such that the aircraft takes full synergistic benefits of coupling of airframe aerodynamics and the propulsion thrust stream by distributing thrust using many propulsors on the airframe. Some of the concepts are based on the use of distributed jet flaps, distributed small multiple engines, gas-driven multi-fans, mechanically driven multifans, cross-flow fans, and electric fans driven by turboelectric generators. This paper describes some early concepts of the distributed propulsion vehicles and the current turboelectric distributed propulsion (TeDP) vehicle concepts being studied under the NASA s Subsonic Fixed Wing (SFW) Project to drastically reduce aircraft-related fuel burn, emissions, and noise by the year 2030 to 2035.

Emergency preparedness and response in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - the Three Mile Island incident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henderson, O.K.

1981-01-01

This paper addresses the emergency response mechanism and legal basis in effect in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at the time of the Three Mile Island incident. It reviews the sequence of events as they directly affected the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and examines the method used by the Agency to discharge its responsibilities. Finally, the paper lists some of the lessons learned from the Three Mile Island experience. (author)

The Effect of Converting to a U.S. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Fleet on Emissions and Energy Use

Science.gov (United States)

Colella, W. G.; Jacobson, M. Z.; Golden, D. M.

2004-12-01

This study analyzes the potential change in emissions and energy use from replacing fossil-fuel based vehicles with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. This study examines three different hydrogen production scenarios to determine their resultant emissions and energy usage: hydrogen produced via 1) steam reforming of methane, 2) coal gasification, or 3) wind electrolysis. The atmospheric model simulations require two primary sets of data: the actual emissions associated with hydrogen fuel production and use, and the corresponding reduction in emissions associated with reducing fossil fuel use. The net change in emissions is derived using 1) the U.S. EPA's National Emission Inventory (NEI) that incorporates several hundred categories of on-road vehicles and 2) a Process Chain Analysis (PCA) for the different hydrogen production scenarios. NEI: The quantity of hydrogen-related emission is ultimately a function of the projected hydrogen consumption in on-road vehicles. Data for hydrogen consumption from on-road vehicles was derived from the number of miles driven in each U.S. county based on 1999 NEI data, the average fleet mileage of all on-road vehicles, the average gasoline vehicle efficiency, and the efficiency of advanced 2004 fuel cell vehicles. PCA: PCA involves energy and mass balance calculations around the fuel extraction, production, transport, storage, and delivery processes. PCA was used to examine three different hydrogen production scenarios: In the first scenario, hydrogen is derived from natural gas, which is extracted from gas fields, stored, chemically processed, and transmitted through pipelines to distributed fuel processing units. The fuel processing units, situated in similar locations as gasoline refueling stations, convert natural gas to hydrogen via a combination of steam reforming and fuel oxidation. Purified hydrogen is compressed for use onboard fuel cell vehicles. In the second scenario, hydrogen is derived from coal, which is extracted from

Regional Variability and Uncertainty of Electric Vehicle Life Cycle CO₂ Emissions across the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamayao, Mili-Ann M; Michalek, Jeremy J; Hendrickson, Chris; Azevedo, Inês M L

2015-07-21

We characterize regionally specific life cycle CO2 emissions per mile traveled for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) across the United States under alternative assumptions for regional electricity emission factors, regional boundaries, and charging schemes. We find that estimates based on marginal vs average grid emission factors differ by as much as 50% (using National Electricity Reliability Commission (NERC) regional boundaries). Use of state boundaries versus NERC region boundaries results in estimates that differ by as much as 120% for the same location (using average emission factors). We argue that consumption-based marginal emission factors are conceptually appropriate for evaluating the emissions implications of policies that increase electric vehicle sales or use in a region. We also examine generation-based marginal emission factors to assess robustness. Using these two estimates of NERC region marginal emission factors, we find the following: (1) delayed charging (i.e., starting at midnight) leads to higher emissions in most cases due largely to increased coal in the marginal generation mix at night; (2) the Chevrolet Volt has higher expected life cycle emissions than the Toyota Prius hybrid electric vehicle (the most efficient U.S. gasoline vehicle) across the U.S. in nearly all scenarios; (3) the Nissan Leaf BEV has lower life cycle emissions than the Prius in the western U.S. and in Texas, but the Prius has lower emissions in the northern Midwest regardless of assumed charging scheme and marginal emissions estimation method; (4) in other regions the lowest emitting vehicle depends on charge timing and emission factor estimation assumptions.

Electric passenger and goods vehicles: A review of UK activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Escombe, F.; Rawnsley, A.

1993-01-01

The production of electric-powered vehicles has been reduced to only a few hundred, after several thousand had been produced in Great Britain during the past five years. In the framework of this article, the different components of electric-powered vehicles are being examined regarding the economical situation: such as the vehicle itself, the batteries, the motor and the vehicle control. (BWI) [de

Travel Diary-Based Emissions Analysis of Telecommuting for the Puget Sound Demonstration Project

OpenAIRE

Henderson, Dennis K; Koenig, Brett E; Mokhtarian, Patricia L

1994-01-01

Transportation control measures are often implemented for their environmental benefits, but there is a need to quantify what benefits actually occur. Telecommuting has the potential to reduce the number of daily trips and miles traveled with personal vehicles and consequently, the overall emissions resulting from vehicle activity. This research, sponsored by the Washington State Energy Office (WSEO), studies the emissions impacts of telecommuting for the participants of the Puget Sound Teleco...

Using Travel Diary Data to Estimate the Emissions Impacts of Transportation Strategies: The Puget Sound Telecommuting Demonstration Project

OpenAIRE

Henderson, Dennis K.; Koenig, Brett E.; Mokhtarian, Patricia L.

1996-01-01

Transportation control measures are often implemented for their environmental benefits, but there is a need to quantify what benefits actually occur. Telecommuting has the potential to reduce the number of daily trips and miles traveled with personal vehicles and, consequently, the overall emissions resulting from vehicle activity. This search studies the emissions impacts of telecommuting for the participants of the Puget Sound Telecommuting Demonstration Project (PSTDP). The California Air ...

Emission Impacts of Electric Vehicles in the US Transportation Sector Following Optimistic Cost and Efficiency Projections.

Science.gov (United States)

Keshavarzmohammadian, Azadeh; Henze, Daven K; Milford, Jana B

2017-06-20

This study investigates emission impacts of introducing inexpensive and efficient electric vehicles into the US light duty vehicle (LDV) sector. Scenarios are explored using the ANSWER-MARKAL model with a modified version of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 9-region database. Modified cost and performance projections for LDV technologies are adapted from the National Research Council (2013) optimistic case. Under our optimistic scenario (OPT) we find 15% and 47% adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in 2030 and 2050, respectively. In contrast, gasoline vehicles (ICEVs) remain dominant through 2050 in the EPA reference case (BAU). Compared to BAU, OPT gives 16% and 36% reductions in LDV greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 2030 and 2050, respectively, corresponding to 5% and 9% reductions in economy-wide emissions. Total nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and SO 2 emissions are similar in the two scenarios due to intersectoral shifts. Moderate, economy-wide GHG fees have little effect on GHG emissions from the LDV sector but are more effective in the electricity sector. In the OPT scenario, estimated well-to-wheels GHG emissions from full-size BEVs with 100-mile range are 62 gCO 2 -e mi -1 in 2050, while those from full-size ICEVs are 121 gCO 2 -e mi -1 .

The cost-effectiveness of methanol for reducing motor vehicle emissions and urban ozone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krupnick, A.J.; Walls, M.A.

1992-01-01

This article analyzes the costs and emissions characteristics of methanol vehicles. The cost-effectiveness of methanol - the cost per ton of reactive hydrocarbon emissions reduced - is calculated and compared to the cost-effectiveness of other hydrocarbon reduction strategies. Methanol is found to cost from $33,000 to nearly $60,000 per ton, while several other options are available for under $10,000 per ton. The cost per part-per-million reduction in peak ambient ozone levels is also computed for two cities, Houston and Philadelphia. Despite the greater improvement in ozone in Philadelphia than Houston, methanol is found to be more cost-effective in Houston. This result occurs because Houston's distribution and marketing costs are lower than Philadelphia's. The costs in both cities, however, are far higher than estimates of the benefits from acute health improvements. Finally, the reduction in ozone exposure in Los Angeles is estimated and the costs of the reduction compared with an estimate of acute health benefits. Again, the benefits fall far short of the costs. 51 refs., 5 tabs

Narrative text analysis to identify technologies to prevent motor vehicle crashes: examples from military vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Pollack, Keshia M; Yee, Nathan; Canham-Chervak, Michelle; Rossen, Lauren; Bachynski, Kathleen E; Baker, Susan P

2013-02-01

The purpose of this research is to describe the leading circumstances of military vehicle crashes to guide prioritization and implementation of crash avoidance and/or warning technologies. A descriptive study using narrative text analysis on 3,944 military vehicle crash narratives. Crash data on drivers, from 2001 to 2006, were assembled from the U.S. Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center. Reviewers collected information on the circumstances of crashes and determined if vehicle technology could have prevented the crash. Nearly 98% of the crashes were nonfatal; 63% occurred in the U.S. and 24% in Iraq. Among crash events where the direction of the impact was recorded, 32% were to the front of the vehicle and 16% involved a vehicle being rear-ended. Rollovers were mentioned in 20% of the narratives. Technology was determined to have the potential to prevent 26% of the crashes, with the forward collision warning system, rear end collision avoidance, emergency brake assistance, and rollover stability control system likely to have the greatest impacts. Some technologies available for civilian vehicles may prevent certain military crash circumstances. The results of this research are significant in light of ongoing global military operations that rely on military vehicles. Improving the preventive technology featured on military vehicles may be an effective strategy to reduce the occurrence of military crashes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emissions Associated with Electric Vehicle Charging: Impact of Electricity Generation Mix, Charging Infrastructure Availability, and Vehicle Type

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McLaren, Joyce [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Miller, John [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); O' Shaughnessy, Eric [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Wood, Eric [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Shapiro, Evan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2016-04-11

With the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the transportation sector, policy-makers are supporting a multitude of measures to increase electric vehicle adoption. The actual level of emission reduction associated with the electrification of the transport sector is dependent on the contexts that determine when and where drivers charge electric vehicles. This analysis contributes to our understanding of the degree to which a particular electricity grid profile, vehicle type, and charging patterns impact CO2 emissions from light-duty, plug-in electric vehicles. We present an analysis of emissions resulting from both battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles for four charging scenarios and five electricity grid profiles. A scenario that allows drivers to charge electric vehicles at the workplace yields the lowest level of emissions for the majority of electricity grid profiles. However, vehicle emissions are shown to be highly dependent on the percentage of fossil fuels in the grid mix, with different vehicle types and charging scenarios resulting in fewer emissions when the carbon intensity of the grid is above a defined level. Restricting charging to off-peak hours results in higher total emissions for all vehicle types, as compared to other charging scenarios.

Intelligent Control Of An Electric Vehicle ICEV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taoufik Chaouachi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The electric vehicle allows fast gentle quiet and environmentally friendly movements in industrial and urban environments. The automotive industry has seen the opportunity to revive its production by replacing existing vehicles due to the reluctance of oil reserves around the world. In order to greatly reduce countries dependence on oil strategic sectors such as transport must increasingly integrate technologies based primarily on clean and renewable energy. Governments must implement large-scale measures to equip themselves with electric vehicles and build large recharge networks. The traditional system for conversions of conventional vehicles into electric vehicles consists of replacing the internal combustion engine and the gearbox with electrical components engine and gearbox or engine and gearbox retaining the rest of the elements Transmission transmission shafts etc..

Reduced bandwidth video for remote vehicle operations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noell, T.E.; DePiero, F.W.

1993-08-01

Oak Ridge National Laboratory staff have developed a video compression system for low-bandwidth remote operations. The objective is to provide real-time video at data rates comparable to available tactical radio links, typically 16 to 64 thousand bits per second (kbps), while maintaining sufficient quality to achieve mission objectives. The system supports both continuous lossy transmission of black and white (gray scale) video for remote driving and progressive lossless transmission of black and white images for remote automatic target acquisition. The average data rate of the resulting bit stream is 64 kbps. This system has been demonstrated to provide video of sufficient quality to allow remote driving of a High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle at speeds up to 15 mph (24.1 kph) on a moguled dirt track. The nominal driving configuration provides a frame rate of 4 Hz, a compression per frame of 125:1, and a resulting latency of {approximately}1s. This paper reviews the system approach and implementation, and further describes some of our experiences when using the system to support remote driving.

Demonstration Project for a Multi-Material Lightweight Prototype Vehicle as Part of the Clean Energy Dialogue with Canada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skszek, Tim [Vehma International Of America, Inc., Troy, MI (United States)

2015-12-29

The intent of the Multi-Material Lightweight Vehicle (“MMLV”) was to assess the feasibility of achieving a significant level of vehicle mass reduction, enabling engine downsizing resulting in a tangible fuel reduction and environmental benefit. The MMLV project included the development of two (2) lightweight vehicle designs, referred to as Mach-I and Mach-II MMLV variants, based on a 2013 Ford production C/D segment production vehicle (Fusion). Weight comparison, life cycle assessment and limited full vehicle testing are included in the project scope. The Mach-I vehicle variant was comprised of materials and processes that are commercially available or previously demonstrated. The 363 kg mass reduction associated with the Mach-I design enabled use of a one-liter, three-cylinder, gasoline turbocharged direct injection engine, maintaining the performance and utility of the baseline vehicle. The full MMLV project produced seven (7) MMLV Mach-I “concept vehicles” which were used for testing and evaluation. The full vehicle tests confirmed that MMLV Mach-I concept vehicle performed approximately equivalent to the baseline 2013 Ford Fusion vehicle thereby validating the design of the multi material lightweight vehicle design. The results of the Life Cycle Assessment, conducted by third party consultant, indicated that if the MMLV Mach-I design was built and operated in North America for 250,000 km (155,343 miles) it would produce significant environmental and fuel economy benefits including a 16% reduction in Global Warming Potential (GWP) and 16% reduction in Total Primary Energy (TPE). The LCA calculations estimated the combined fuel economy of 34 mpg (6.9 l/100 km) associated with the MMLV Mach-I Design compared to 28 mpg (8.4 l/100 km) for the 2013 Ford Fusion.

Stochastic reduced-order model for an automotive vehicle in presence of numerous local elastic modes in the low-frequency range

OpenAIRE

Arnoux , A.; Batou , Anas; Soize , Christian; Gagliardini , L.

2012-01-01

International audience; This paper is devoted to the construction of a stochastic reduced-order model for dynamical structures having a high modal density in the low-frequency range, such as an automotive vehicle. This type of structure is characterized by the fact that it exhibits, in the low-frequency range, not only the classical global elastic modes but also numerous local elastic modes which cannot easily be separated from the global elastic modes. An approach has recently been proposed ...

Electric vehicle energy impacts.

Science.gov (United States)

2017-05-01

The objective of this research project was to evaluate the impacts of electric vehicles (EVs) and : renewable wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation on reducing petroleum imports : and greenhouse gas emissions to Hawaii. In 2015, the state...

How important is vehicle safety for older consumers in the vehicle purchase process?

Science.gov (United States)

Koppel, Sjaan; Clark, Belinda; Hoareau, Effie; Charlton, Judith L; Newstead, Stuart V

2013-01-01

and their family from a crash, their traffic infringement history, and whether they had children. These findings are consistent with previous research that suggests that, though older consumers highlight the importance of safety features (i.e., seat belts, air bags, braking), they often downplay the role of safety in their vehicle purchasing process and are more likely to equate vehicle safety with the presence of specific vehicle safety features or technologies rather than the vehicle's crash safety/test results or crashworthiness. The findings from this study provide a foundation to support further research in this area that can be used by policy makers, manufacturers, and other stakeholders to better target the promotion and publicity of vehicle safety features to particular consumer groups (such as older consumers). Better targeted campaigns may help to emphasize the value of safety features and their role in reducing the risk of injury/death. If older consumers are better informed of the benefits of safety features when purchasing a vehicle, a further reduction in injuries and deaths related to motor vehicle crashes may be realized.

The Mile Deep Muon Detector at Sanford Underground Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

McMahan, Margaret; Gabriel, Steve

2012-03-01

For educating students and teachers about basic nuclear and particle physics, you can't go wrong with cosmic rays muons as a cheap and reliable source of data. A simple and relatively inexpensive detector gives a myriad of possibilities to cover core material in physical science, chemistry, physics, and statistics and gives students opportunities to design their own investigations. At Sanford Underground Laboratory at Homestake, in Lead, SD, cosmic ray muon detectors are being used to answer the first question always asked by any visitor to the facility, ``Why are you building the lab a mile underground'' A conventional Quarknet-style detector is available in the education facility on the surface, with a much larger companion detector, the Mile Deep Muon Detector, set up 4850 feet below the surface. Using the Quarknet data acquisition board, the data will be made available to students and teachers through the Cosmic Ray E-lab website. The detector was tested and installed as part of a summer program for students beginning their first or second year of college.

Impact of reformulated gasoline on emissions from current and future vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colucci, J.M.; Benson, J.D.

1993-01-01

Gasolines reformulated specifically for reducing vehicle emissions will result in the most significant changes in the U.S. refining industry since the advent of unleaded gasoline. This paper will review the results from the Auto/Oil Air Quality Improvement Research Program showing the beneficial effects on vehicle emissions of individually decreasing gasoline aromatic, olefin and sulfur contents, 90% distillation temperature, and Reid vapor pressure, and of adding oxygenates. The paper discusses the importance of reformulated gasolines for reducing emissions from existing vehicles by complying with requirements in the Clean Air Act and California's Low Emission Vehicle/Clean Fuels Program. It will show the importance of controlling Vehicle/Clean Fuels Program. It will show the importance of controlling specific aromatic and olefin compounds in gasoline, and it will discuss how automotive manufacturers will utilize reformulated gasolines to meet future stringent vehicle emission standards

Preventing passenger vehicle occupant injuries by vehicle design--a historical perspective from IIHS.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Neill, Brian

2009-04-01

Motor vehicle crashes result in some 1.2 million deaths and many more injuries worldwide each year and is one of the biggest public health problems facing societies today. This article reviews the history of, and future potential for, one important countermeasure-designing vehicles that reduce occupant deaths and injuries. For many years, people had urged automakers to add design features to reduce crash injuries, but it was not until the mid-1960s that the idea of pursuing vehicle countermeasures gained any significant momentum. In 1966, the U.S. Congress passed the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, requiring the government to issue a comprehensive set of vehicle safety standards. This was the first broad set of requirements issued anywhere in the world, and within a few years similar standards were adopted in Europe and Australia. Early vehicle safety standards specified a variety of safety designs resulting in cars being equipped with lap/shoulder belts, energy-absorbing steering columns, crash-resistant door locks, high-penetration-resistant windshields, etc. Later, the standards moved away from specifying particular design approaches and instead used crash tests and instrumented dummies to set limits on the potential for serious occupant injuries by crash mode. These newer standards paved the way for an approach that used the marketplace, in addition to government regulation, to improve vehicle safety designs-using crash tests and instrumented dummies to provide consumers with comparative safety ratings for new vehicles. The approach began in the late 1970s, when NHTSA started publishing injury measures from belted dummies in new passenger vehicles subjected to frontal barrier crash tests at speeds somewhat higher than specified in the corresponding regulation. This program became the world's first New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and rated frontal crashworthiness by awarding stars (five stars being the best and one the worst) derived from head

Phosphorus Loading and Compositional Characteristics in Eight-Mile Run Watershed, Wisconsin

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

James, William

2004-01-01

The purpose of this research was to describe and quantify biologically labile and refractory phosphorus runoff in Eight-Mile Run, a small watershed in west-central Wisconsin that is impacted by dairy...

Severity of vehicle bumper location in vehicle-to-pedestrian impact accidents.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsui, Yasuhiro; Hitosugi, Masahito; Mizuno, Koji

2011-10-10

Pedestrian protection is one of the key topics for safety measures in traffic accidents all over the world. To analyze the relation between the collision site of the vehicle bumper and the severity of the lower extremity injuries, we performed biomechanical experiments. We compared the applied external force and the risks of subsequent injuries between the impact of the center and side positions of the front bumper. These comparisons were performed by practical impact tests with eight typical different types of cars which were typical of the current vehicle fleets. The tests were made using the TRL legform impactor which was a mechanical substitute of a pedestrian lower extremity. The TRL impactor is used all over the world for assessing the safety of car bumpers. It was found that the risks of lower extremity injuries in the impacts at the side positions, in front of the vehicle's side member, were significantly higher than those at the center. In the tests, we found that foam materials around the rigid front cross member had a significant effect on reducing the lower extremity injury risks and especially tibia fracture risk against vehicle bumper center collisions, but had little effect at the sides of the bumper over the vehicle's side members where the foam was thinner. We also found that the front shape of the vehicle affected the risk of ligaments injuries. According to these results, the information of impact locations of cars in vehicle-to-pedestrian traffic accidents is valuable for clinicians to diagnose patients with lower extremity injuries in traffic accidents and for forensic pathologists to analyze the accident reconstruction. Furthermore, the results suggest that testing of the bumper area in front of the main longitudinal beams should be included in the car safety legislation to require pedestrian safety. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Four Mile Creek semi-annual sampling report, January 1993 sampling event

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-05-01

From 1955 to 1988 low-level radioactive wastewater generated by chemical separation processes within the General Separations Area (GSA) was discharged to seepage basins in the F and H Areas of the Savannah River Site (SRS). These basins were designed to permit the infiltration of the process wastewaters. As wastewater percolated downward through the basins, chemical and radioactive constituents were retained or sequestered in the subsoils. An extensive study aimed at characterizing the groundwater seeping into Four Mile Creek and its associated seepline was conducted in 1988 and 1989 (Haselow et al. 1990). Results of this study suggested that contaminants leaching from the F and H Area seepage basins were impacting the Four Mile Creek wetland system. The seepage basins were closed in 1988 and capped and sealed in 1990. This effectively eliminated the source of the contaminants and the hydraulic head driving the migration of contaminants from the basins. It has been hypothesized that, after the elimination of the source and head, annual rainfall amounts would be sufficient to dilute and flush out contaminants remaining in the subsoils and groundwaters beneath the basins. Westinghouse Savannah River Company has designed a semi-annual sampling and analytical program for the Four Mile Creek (FMC) seepline and stream water to test the hypothesis. This report summarizes field monitoring activities from January 25, 1993 to February 4, 1993

Saving American democracy: the lessons of Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kemeny, J.C.

1980-01-01

The author's experience of serving with a presidential commission investigating the Three Mile Island nuclear accident leads to an observation that the only way to save American democracy is to change the fundamental decision-making process, at the Federal level, so that it can come to grips with the enormous and complex issues that face this nation

Local Coverage of Three Mile Island during 1981-82.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, Sharon M.

Local newspaper coverage of the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant accident was examined in a study to determine what changes, if any, were made by local media and what lessons they had learned from it. Data were collected through interviews with 21 media representatives. TMI coverage in the six newspapers was examined using each…

Pedestrian evacuation modeling to reduce vehicle use for distant tsunami evacuations in Hawaiʻi

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Nathan J.; Jones, Jamie; Peters, Jeff; Richards, Kevin

2018-01-01

Tsunami waves that arrive hours after generation elsewhere pose logistical challenges to emergency managers due to the perceived abundance of time and inclination of evacuees to use vehicles. We use coastal communities on the island of Oʻahu (Hawaiʻi, USA) to demonstrate regional evacuation modeling that can identify where successful pedestrian-based evacuations are plausible and where vehicle use could be discouraged. The island of Oʻahu has two tsunami-evacuation zones (standard and extreme), which provides the opportunity to examine if recommended travel modes vary based on zone. Geospatial path distance models are applied to estimate population exposure as a function of pedestrian travel time and speed out of evacuation zones. The use of the extreme zone triples the number of residents, employees, and facilities serving at-risk populations that would be encouraged to evacuate and slightly reduces the percentage of residents (98–76%) that could evacuate in less than 15 min at a plausible speed (with similar percentages for employees). Areas with lengthy evacuations are concentrated in the North Shore region for the standard zone but found all around the Oʻahu coastline for the extreme zone. The use of the extreme zone results in a 26% increase in the number of hotel visitors that would be encouraged to evacuate, and a 76% increase in the number of them that may require more than 15 min. Modeling can identify where pedestrian evacuations are plausible; however, there are logistical and behavioral issues that warrant attention before localized evacuation procedures may be realistic.

76 FR 38975 - Safety Zone; Upper Mississippi River, Mile 856.0 to 855.0, Minneapolis, MN

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-05

...-AA00 Safety Zone; Upper Mississippi River, Mile 856.0 to 855.0, Minneapolis, MN AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Temporary final rule. SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for all waters of the Upper Mississippi River, from Mile 856.0 to 855.0, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and...

Estimation of the cost savings from participation of electric vehicles in Vehicle to Grid (V2G) schemes

OpenAIRE

Kiaee, Mahdi; Cruden, Andrew; Sharkh, S.M.

2015-01-01

The storage capacity of the batteries in an electric vehicle (EV) could be utilised to store electrical energy and give it back to the grid when needed by participating in vehicle to grid (V2G) schemes. This participation could be a source of revenue for vehicle owners thus reducing the total charging cost of their EVs. A V2G simulator has been developed using MATLAB to find out the potential cost saving from participation of EVs in V2G schemes. A standard IEEE30 network has been modelled in ...

A brief review of the accident at Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corey, G.R.

1979-01-01

A question-and-answer format is used to discuss the Three Mile Reactor accident and the lessons learned. The aspects touched upon include the hydrogen bubble, the radiation levels the public was exposed to, and the consequences of the accident to the nuclear power program