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In surveys, significant numbers of Americans admit they don't know some basics on energy. Source: Public Agenda
What will it really take to get the public to make tradeoffs on energy?
It's a fundamental question, because energy policy is all about the tradeoffs. No form of energy is perfect. Everything comes with pros and cons. The key to moving forward is figuring out what people will accept: how much will they pay, what risks are they willing to accept, and what alternatives we should pursue....
A pair of French student teams from schools side-by-side on the Loire River shared technology, team spirit, and sleek aerodynamic styling to capture top fuel efficiency prizes Saturday at Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2012 in Rotterdam.
Team Microjoule from the technical school La Joliviere in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire won the
gasoline prototype division for the third year in a row, gliding its white gasoline-powered vehicle around the port city with fuel efficiency of 2,832.8 kilometers per liter (6,663.2 miles per gallon)....
Oguzhar Yalcin, a student at the University of Celal Bayar in Manisa, Turkey, explains the inspiration for his team's solar car at Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2012 in Rotterdam.
The car is named for the "Manisa Tarzan," the environmentalist Ahmet Bedevi, who is legendary for his work in the first half of the last century planting thousands of trees on Mount Spil, or Mount Sipylus in Manisa. Known by some as the "first environmentalist of Turkey," Bedevi raised awareness of the need for protection of the Earth's resources and remains a revered figure for the people of Manisa....
Many engineering students, like Matthias Jungbluth of Fachhochschule (The University of Applied Sciences) Trier in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, are attracted to a project like Shell Eco-marathon by the hands-on experience involved in designing and building a fuel-efficient car.
The Trier school's team, called team ProTRon (a combination of the word "protype" and the abbreviation for the city name, Trier) wanted the number 701 for its battery electric urban concept vehicle, Jungbluth said. That's because the number "7″ stands for the class of battery the car uses and the "1″ stands for the first place the team took Eco-Marathon 2011, with a result of 233 kilometers (145 miles) per kilowatthour....
Students from the Warsaw University of Technology in Poland conduct some final technical tests on their vehicle at Shell Eco-marathon 2012 in Rotterdam. Cars in the fuel efficiency race need to pass a battery of safety tests, including on the fueling and exhaust systems, the braking and steering, and the solidity of the chassis. The gasoline is colored blue and is stored in clear glass containers so that it can be easily measured, down to the milliliter.
One of four teams in the competition from Poland, Warsaw University's SIMR Team has named this car Hussar, after the legendary Polish cavalry that gained a reputation of invincibility for its victories on numerous battlefields from the 16th through the 18th centuries....
Many wild places The Wilderness Society is working the hardest to protect are areas near towns and cities that are ahead of the curve on the energy efficiency front. Take Pitkin, Gunnison and Eagle counties near the Mount Massive Wilderness Area in Colorado. By working with organizations like the Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE), thousands of businesses and residents in these counties have taken action to reduce energy use through innovative programs implemented at a local scale....
Nicole Miranda, a first-year doctoral student at the University of Oxford, practices her vehicle exit technique and timing at Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2012 in Rotterdam. She is assisted by fellow student and driver, Lucy Mahoney. (Often female students serve as drivers in the fuel efficiency competition because they weigh less than the men on the team.)
This is the first year of competition for the United Kingdom?s storied school, and the team has had to improvise, says manager Justin Bishop. They used the shell of a vehicle that already had been built by another student team in 2006, modifying it and including the needed safety equipment....
Romain Lejas, of Ecole Polytechnique in Palaiseau, France, works on InfinitiX, the team?s entry in Shell Eco-marathon 2012 this week in Rotterdam. Last year, the team achieved 454 kilometers per liter (1,067 miles per gallon), and this year sought to reduce weight more.
The car is entered in the ?prototype? category?these don?t have to be street-legal. Typically the students seek extremes in aerodynamics and light weight to reduce mileage in the race for the most fuel-efficient vehicle.
Lejas is in one of the student team ?paddocks? at the huge Ahoy convention center....
The drive for a new and better way of doing things is built into the car designed by students from Italy?s Italy?s Politecnico di Torino, and entered in Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2012 this week in Rotterdam.
Most students in the fuel efficiency competition choose ultra-lightweight material like carbon fiber to shave mileage. But for their urban concept vehicle, XAM, the Torino students chose a soft natural fiber, covered with a resin to make it hard enough to serve as a chassis....
