Don't Forget Upping Fuel Efficiency. (August 15, 2008)

A short item in today's Science features a report authored by MIT's Professor John Heywood who is director of the Center for 21^st Century Energy and the Sloan Automotive Laboratory.

Last month Professor Heywood testified before a US congressional committee. An MIT media release reads in part:

He pointed out that while the United States needs to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, American consumers have been buying larger and heavier vehicles over the last 20-30 years, negating gains in vehicle fuel efficiency.

He proposed that the government institute "substantial fees for purchasers who buy high fuel-consuming vehicles and rebates for those who buy low fuel-consuming vehicles." He also proposed reinforcing fuel-efficient choices by steadily raising fuel taxes.

Fuel producers, meanwhile, would be pushed to produce more low-greenhouse-gas transportation fuels.

Although the hearing centered on "the hydrogen economy," Heywood explained that "any transition to hydrogen on a large scale is many decades away," simply because it takes that long for new automotive technology to make its way from concept to widespread use in cars. Plus, hydrogen-fueled cars are not necessarily cleaner - fossil fuels are sometimes used to produce the hydrogen, he said.

The government needs to put more resources into the research and development of new energy sources for transportation. But, Heywood maintained, it is less important for the government to worry now about the standardization of codes that will affect hydrogen-fueled vehicles, than to implement "regulatory and fiscal policies to reduce the energy requirements of our total transportation system."