Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 8
The Power and
Transportation Future
As recently as 1978, gasoline sold for less per gallon, in constant
dollars, than it had in 1960. Now prices jump upward as crude oil rises
and supplies seem less secure. Until recently, making adjustments for in-
flation, gas prices were lower than they were during the oil crisis of the
1970s. The current prices are providing incentives for producers to pursue
alternatives. When oil prices are high, there is a demand for alternatives.
Although we will eventually run out of oil, coal, and other non-renew-
able energy sources, in the short term rising oil prices produce more of the
hard to get oil with improved technology as well as other more expensive
forms of energy.
There are large amounts of reserves that are too expensive to profit-
ably develop when oil is below a certain price, as soon as the price rises
above this threshold, a given oil field can be developed at a profit. Many
older domestic fields with heavy crude are being developed using steam
injection and recovery. Energy producers take advantage of higher prices
to make use of their existing infrastructure to extract, refine, and distribute
as much oil as possible. Current non-renewable energy supplies are still
cheap but less expensive than they have been.
Before the 1970s, the typical American car was overweight at 22 times
heavier than a 150-pound driver, overpowered, oversize, and very thirsty.
In the late 1970s standard American cars downsized by trimming weight
and exterior dimensions. This produced smaller and lighter vehicles with
only half the cylinders of the once dominant V-8 engines. Front-wheel
drive eliminated the shaft from transmission to rear differential and saved
weight. More weight saving occurred in such areas as bumpers, hood, and
body panels used plastic components. Heavy overdesigned frames were
replaced by integrated frame-body shells similar to aircraft fuselages.
Even in smaller cars that use less petroleum, most of the energy re-
leased in combustion is wasted and only 12-15% is finally applied to move
the car. The rest is lost due to the thermodynamic inefficiency of the en-
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