scholarly journals Evaluation of Eco-Driving Training for Fuel Efficiency and Emissions Reduction According to Road Type

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Wang ◽  
Alessandra Boggio-Marzet

Eco-driving is becoming more widespread as individual car-use behaviour is a cost-effective way of improving vehicle fuel economy and reducing CO2 emissions. The literature shows a wide range of efficiencies as a result of eco-driving, depending on route selection, traffic characteristic, road slope, and the specific impact evaluation method. This paper follows this line of research and assesses the impact of an eco-driving training programme on fuel savings and reduction of CO2 emissions in a well-designed field trial, focusing on the specific impacts according to road type. The methodology includes a comprehensive trial on different types of road sections under various traffic conditions; a processed dataset using R codes to integrate, clean, and process all the information collected; and a systematic method to evaluate the overall and specific impacts of eco-driving. The final results show a general fuel saving after eco-driving training of up to an average of 6.3% regardless of fuel and road type. Driving performance, as represented by selected parameters (average and maximum RPM, average and maximum speed, aggressive acceleration/deceleration), changed significantly after the training. The highest fuel savings are achieved on major arterial road sections with a certain number of roundabouts and pedestrian crossings. This work contributes to an understanding of the key factors for eco-driving efficiency according to road type under real traffic conditions. It offers greater insights for policymakers in road transport planning and for drivers when applying eco-driving techniques.

Author(s):  
Simona Magdalena Hainagiu ◽  

Career counselling is an important process in the personal and professional development of young professionals. In a continuously changing labour market, the graduates in the engineering field have been rapidly become conscious that the technical abilities are only the core of their professional profile, and the need to add a wide range of soft skills become mandatory prerequisites imposed by the human resources services in the recruiting companies. Our research investigated the impact of a soft skills training programme developed in the framework of a European Union funding project. The results revealed a vivid interest of young researcher in the engineering filed for the personal and professional growth especially for the development of communication and teamwork abilities. The professional counselling activities are a largely integrated component among the activities and the general intervention directions proposed by the European funding projects revealing a real need for the sustainable development of these support activites.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Wang ◽  
Po Zhao ◽  
Yanyun Tao

Overloaded heavy vehicles (HVs) have significant negative impacts on traffic conditions due to their inferior driving performance. Highway authorities need to understand the impact of overloaded HVs to assess traffic conditions and set management strategies. We propose a multi-class traffic flow model based on Smulders fundamental diagram to analyze the influence of overloaded HVs on traffic conditions. The relationship between the overloading ratio and maximum speed is established by freeway toll collection data for different types of HVs. Dynamic passenger car equivalent factors are introduced to represent the various impacts of overloaded HVs in different traffic flow patterns. The model is solved analytically and discussed in detail in the appendices. The model validation results show that the proposed model can represent traffic conditions more accurately with consideration for overloaded HVs. The scenario tests indicate that the increase of overloaded HVs leads to both a higher congestion level and longer duration.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.35) ◽  
pp. 823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustapa S.I ◽  
Bekhet H.A

The rapid urbanisation and economic growth has led to unprecedented increase in CO2 emissions, which led to a vital global issue due partly to the rise in demand from the transport sector. In the years ahead, the transport services demand is likely to increase further, which lead to intensification in CO2 emissions as well. The transportation sector in Malaysia contributes for about 28% of total CO2 emissions, of which 85% of it goes to road transportation mode. This has led to a great interest in how the CO2 emissions in this sector can effectively be reduced. Using a multiple regression model and datasets from 1990 to 2015, this study aimed to examine factors that influence the CO2 emissions in Malaysia. Key factors of CO2 emissions, i.e., fuel consumption (FC), distance travel (DT), fuel efficiency (FE), and fuel price (FP) were investigated for the road transport sector. The findings demonstrated that the impact of factors on CO2 emissions were varies in each technology vehicles. These findings not only contributes to enhancing the current literature, but also provide insights for policy maker in Malaysia to design policy instruments for road transport sector.


1983 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-79
Author(s):  
Martin T. Katzman

Several American utilities have contracted to purchase electricity from ‘windfarmers’, and many others are beginning to explore this option. The value of conventional fuel and capacity savings will influence the terms under which utilities enter these contracts. A quantitative assessment of these savings is undertaken using computer models that simulate the dispatching of conventional capacity and calculate the reliability of this capacity. These models identify the conventional costs avoided by utilities as a consequence of windfarming. The impact of various levels of windmill penetration is simulated in five sites in the USA, representing a wide range of average wind speeds. The cost of wind energy is less than the value of fuel savings alone for utilities which possess substantial oil- and-gas-fired generating capacity and which serve sites with winds above 12 m.p.h. In such sites, 1kW of conventional capacity is displaced by 2–5 kW windmill capacity. Increased windmill penetration reduces the value of fuel and capacity savings per kW.


Author(s):  
Carrie M Hall

A wide range of strategies for reducing energy consumption from heavy-duty vehicles have been explored from vehicle electrification to real-time vehicle energy management based on vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. Full electrification of heavy-duty vehicles can be challenging due to current limitations on battery energy density. However, hybridization and the implementation of high efficiency engines present other potential near-term solutions. In contrast to many prior studies that have explored the use of one or two of these techniques, this work discusses the combined influence of hybridization level, engine combustion mode, and connected energy management on fuel efficiency in heavy-duty applications. The impact of hybridization in different driving conditions is quantified and the effectiveness of hybrid powertrain structures with different engine combustion strategies is also explored. Utilizing an alternative combustion strategy can improve fuel efficiency by 5% in conventional and mild hybrids but was found to have a more minimal impact in full hybrids. An additional layer of complexity is also introduced when vehicles have some degree of connectivity and this influence on the energy management method is investigated by comparing control approaches which leverage current and future vehicle speed information. Connectivity and the ability to optimize energy production in real-time was found to be essential in uncertain cases and enable improvements in fuel consumption of up to 12% over baseline cases.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. p34
Author(s):  
Yang Kaixi

This paper mainly studies the relationship between traffic status and carbon emission, and the evaluation method of carbon emission based on traffic status. First of all, the traffic status is defined. In this paper, the traffic status is divided into traffic congestion and unobstructed traffic. Then, this paper analyzes the influence of different traffic conditions on carbon emissions in the same fleet at the same time through the study of vehicle exhaust emissions in both the unobstructed and congested traffic conditions. The unobstructed section traffic is used to simulate the unobstructed traffic state, and the intersection is used to simulate the traffic congestion. Finally, the two kinds of carbon emission data are compared to obtain the impact of traffic status on carbon emissions.


Bothalia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Holness ◽  
Anthea Stephens ◽  
Aimee Ginsburg ◽  
Emily Botts ◽  
Amanda Driver ◽  
...  

Background: ‘Mainstreaming biodiversity’ aims to integrate biodiversity priorities directly into the policies and practices of production sectors, including the mining sector. In South Africa, the need emerged for a biodiversity guideline specifically relevant to the mining sector that would interpret a wide range of available spatial biodiversity information and frame it in a user-friendly format.Objectives: The aim of this article was to document and review the development of the Mining and Biodiversity Guideline. This serves as a case study of a product developed to assist in bridging the gap between available biodiversity information and use of this information by a production sector.Methods: We examined the development of the Mining and Biodiversity Guideline with reference to three factors known to be beneficial to creating policy-relevant science: a sound scientific foundation (credibility), relevance to decision-making (salience) and involvement of stakeholders (legitimacy).Results: The Mining and Biodiversity Guideline was developed through collaboration between the mining and biodiversity sectors. It provides a tool that contributes to the sustainable development of South Africa’s mineral resources in a way that enables regulators, industry and practitioners to minimise the impact of mining on biodiversity and ecosystem services. It includes a single integrated map of biodiversity priority areas summarised into four sensitivity categories relevant for the mining industry, with detailed guidance on how these should inform the application of the mitigation hierarchy.Conclusion: The Mining and Biodiversity Guideline has received political endorsement from the relevant regulatory government departments. A focussed training programme has promoted awareness and understanding of the Guideline. Preliminary reports indicate that the Guideline has been effective in influencing decision-making.


Coatings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 776
Author(s):  
Jerzy Ejsmont ◽  
Slawomir Sommer

Tire rolling resistance has a significant influence on fuel consumption in cars and trucks and on CO2 emissions. Rolling resistance depends on the tire construction, pavement texture and stiffness, as well as environmental and traffic conditions. This article presents a pilot study on the impact of pavement texture on the rolling resistance of passenger car tires. Reasons why Mean Profile Depth is not a good descriptor of pavement characteristics from the point of view of rolling resistance are presented, and an experimental method which takes into account tire deformation on texture and partial enveloping is described. A method based on testing the volume and depth of tire tread deformation is also proposed.


Author(s):  
Michael Welch

Abstract The power generation industry has a major role to play in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, and carbon dioxide (CO2) in particular. There are two ways to reduce CO2 emissions from power generation: improved conversion efficiency of fuel into electrical energy, and switching to lower carbon content fuels. Gas turbine generator sets, whether in open cycle, combined cycle or cogeneration configuration, offer some of the highest efficiencies possible across a wide range of power outputs. With natural gas, the fossil fuel with the lowest carbon content, as the primary fuel, they produce among the lowest CO2 emissions per kWh generated. It is possible though to decarbonize power generation further by using the fuel flexibility of the gas turbine to fully or partially displace natural gas used with hydrogen. As hydrogen is a zero carbon fuel, it offers the opportunity for gas turbines to produce zero carbon electricity. As an energy carrier, hydrogen is an ideal candidate for long-term or seasonal storage of renewable energy, while the gas turbine is an enabler for a zero carbon power generation economy. Hydrogen, while the most abundant element in the Universe, does not exist in its elemental state in nature, and producing hydrogen is an energy-intensive process. This paper looks at the different methods by which hydrogen can be produced, the impact on CO2 emissions from power generation by using pure hydrogen or hydrogen/natural gas blends, and how the economics of power generation using hydrogen compare with today’s state of the art technologies and carbon capture. This paper also addresses the issues surrounding the combustion of hydrogen in gas turbines, historical experience of gas turbines operating on high hydrogen fuels, and examines future developments to optimize combustion emissions.


Author(s):  
Kulwant Singh ◽  
Gurbhinder Singh ◽  
Harmeet Singh

The weight reduction concept is most effective to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from vehicles, which also improves fuel efficiency. Amongst lightweight materials, magnesium alloys are attractive to the automotive sector as a structural material. Welding feasibility of magnesium alloys acts as an influential role in its usage for lightweight prospects. Friction stir welding (FSW) is an appropriate technique as compared to other welding techniques to join magnesium alloys. Field of friction stir welding is emerging in the current scenario. The friction stir welding technique has been selected to weld AZ91 magnesium alloys in the current research work. The microstructure and mechanical characteristics of the produced FSW butt joints have been investigated. Further, the influence of post welding heat treatment (at 260 °C for 1 h) on these properties has also been examined. Post welding heat treatment (PWHT) resulted in the improvement of the grain structure of weld zones which affected the mechanical performance of the joints. After heat treatment, the tensile strength and elongation of the joint increased by 12.6 % and 31.9 % respectively. It is proven that after PWHT, the microhardness of the stir zone reduced and a comparatively smoothened microhardness profile of the FSW joint obtained. No considerable variation in the location of the tensile fracture was witnessed after PWHT. The results show that the impact toughness of the weld joints further decreases after post welding heat treatment.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document