Kickstarting the Widespread Adoption of Automotive Carbon Fiber Composites: Key Findings and Next Steps

This report details the results of RMI's 2012 Autocomposites Workshop. During the course of a three-day workshop, ~40 leading experts from across the automotive carbon fiber composite value chain, industry experts, and government representatives convened to develop approaches to break down the barriers that have stifled advancements in vehicle weight reduction made possible by widespread penetration of carbon fiber composite into mainstream vehicles. This report summarizes the key findings from the workshop.

 

Autocomposites Workshop Pre-Read

RMI is committed to reducing U.S. oil dependence and enhancing the competitive positioning of the U.S. automotive sector by catalyzing a shift to ultralight, ultrastrong autobodies made of advanced materials, particularly carbon fiber composites. Light autobodies dramatically improve fuel efficiency and allow powertrains to be smaller, lighter, more efficient, and more cost-effectively electrified. Understanding the barriers, developing consensus on the way forward, and spurring a transition through collaborative risk sharing, policy, and government support of research and development will be critical to success. This pre-read document prepared participants for the 2012 Autocomposites Workshop. It provides an overview of the autocomposites project, an overview of the carbon fiber industry, summary of major barriers to implementation, and possible solutions to overcome those challenges.

 

A Farewell to Fossil Fuels: Answering the Energy Challenge

In this article published in Foreign Affairs, Amory Lovins describes a U.S. transition from fossil fuels--a blueprint detailed in Reinventing Fire-- that requires pursuing transformational change in automotive efficiency, design of buildings and factories, and the electric system.

 

Reinventing Fire Transportation Sector Methodology

This document provides RMI's methodology for the analysis of the transportation sector in Reinventing Fire.

 

Ultralight Vehicles: Non-Linear Correlations Between Weight and Safety

Development of dramatically lightweight and fuel-efficient vehicles has been slowed by perceptions that lighter vehicles are less safe. This conference paper describes RMI's virtually modeled ultralight concept vehicle that met NHTSA safety requirements, and shows how lightweighting the fleet can accelerate progress towards “Triple Safety”—protection from climate change, drivers themselves, and other road users.

 

Transformational Trucks: Determining the Energy Efficiency Limits of a Class-8 Tractor Trailer

Feasible technological improvements in vehicle efficiency, combined with “long combination vehicles” (which raise productivity by connecting multiple trailers), can potentially raise the ton-mile efficiency of long-haul heavy tractor-trailers by a factor ~2.5 with respect to a baseline of 130 ton-miles/gal. Within existing technological and logistical constraints, these innovations (which do not include such further opportunities as hybrid-electric powertrains or auxiliary power units to displace idling) could thus cut the average fuel used to move each ton of freight by ~64 percent. This would annually save the current U.S. Class 8 fleet about four billion gallons of diesel fuel and 45 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. Further benefits would include lower shipping costs, bigger profits for trucking companies, fewer tractor-trailers on the road, and fewer fatal accidents involving them. Thus transformational, not incremental, redesign of tractors, trailers, and (especially) both as in integrated system can broadly benefit economic prosperity, public health, energy security, and environmental quality.

 

Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Environmentally Beneficial Load Building: Implications on California’s Revenue Adjustment Mechanism

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are poised to allow, for the first time, large-scale interaction between the transportation and electric utility sectors. Electricity is a more efficient vehicle fuel than are liquid fossil fuels, and it can reduce system-wide greenhouse-gas emissions by transferring energy demand and emissions from the transportation to the electric utility sector. Furthermore, PHEVs represent a new type of load for electric utilities that can ultimately result in increased utilization of renewable generation. Since PHEVs would be charged primarily at night when California’s wind resource is strong, PHEVs could further offset emissions by using power with a lower GHG emissions intensity than California’s average electricity mix. However, although PHEVs offer a way for reducing system-wide GHG emissions, mitigating utility rates, and possibly increasing revenues, these benefits cannot be fully realized under California’s existing regulatory structure. As the market penetration of PHEVs rises, so do electricity demand and GHG emissions from the electric utility sector. These trends conflict with regulatory requirements that require significant reductions in statewide GHG emissions and are designed to encourage energy efficiency. This tension creates an interesting problem for the electric utilities: what is the best way to reconcile the increase in electricity demand and subsequent increase in power-sector GHG emissions due to PHEV penetration in the utility sector under California’s regulatory structure? Here, we explore this issue and suggest policy and regulatory alternatives that the State could pursue to encourage electric utilities to invest in both end-use efficiency and PHEVs.

 

Feebates: a Legislative Option to Encourage Continuous Improvements to Automobile Efficiency

A feebate is an incentive policy that encourages the continuous improvement of automobile fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions by providing incentives for manufacturers to build more efficient vehicles and rewarding consumers who purchase more efficient vehicles. This paper explores: why RMI believes a feebate is a valuable tool, recent analysis that RMI has done on feebates, what the current status of the feebate is, and how the feebate could interact with existing laws.

 

Triple Safety: Lightweighting Automobiles to Improve Occupant, Highway, and Global Safety

Automobilesʼ negative impact on human health and welfare includes traffic-related deaths and injuries as well as the deaths and injuries caused by automobilesʼ contribution to climate change and other global environmental degradation. This paper explores solutions that both enhance vehicle performance and reduce environmental impacts, and focuses on demonstrating the ability of lightweight vehicles to provide such a solution. Some controversy exists around the question of whether lighter and more fuel-efficient vehicles can be as safe as traditional vehicles. Recent research reviewed in this paper indicates that several solutions exist that can both improve efficiency and thereby global safety, and maintain (or even improve) highway safety. SAE Paper 2008-01-1282 © 2008 SAE International. This paper is posted on this site with permission from SAE International. As a user of this site, you are permitted to view this paper on-line, and print one copy of this paper at no cost for your use only. This paper may not be copied, distributed or forwarded to others for further use without permission from SAE.

 

Truck Efficiency and GHG Reduction Opportunities in the Canadian Truck Fleet

Fuel-efficiency devices such as retrofittable aerodynamic technologies, fuel-efficient tires, and auxiliary power units can effectively offset engine-efficiency losses resulting from the 2002 and 2007 Environment Canada and U.S. EPA emissions regulations, while reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions significantly. To identify which fuel-saving devices are most effective, consistent, clear involvement from government is critical. If the industry is to quickly and effectively improve its GHG emissions, government must play a leadership role, a technical role, and a financial role. This report discusses how truck operators can reduce the fuel use and GHG emissions of their vehicles. Beginning with an explanation of end-use efficiency, we outline the major end-use opportunities on highway trucks and then discuss the financial and environmental benefits of the efficiencies. Estimates show that if the entire Canadian fleet of 294,000 Class-8 trucks were to adopt a full package of energy-efficiency technologies, Canadian truck owners and operators would save 4.1 billion litres of fuel and reduce emissions by 11,500,000 tonnes of GHG each year. This is equivalent to taking 64,000 Class-8 trucks off the road or taking 2.6 million cars off the road.

 

results per page 10 20