Click on the headline (link) for the full text.
Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage
How Can We Cut Our Energy Use for Commuting?
Gail the Actuary, The Oil Drum
How can we cut our energy use for commuting? What methods are working for you? What methods make most sense in our current credit environment? This is mostly an open thread, to give people an opportunity to talk about what is and isn’t working for them. If the economy is sputtering, peak oil is around the corner, and hurricane related shortages are becoming more common, these methods are going to more and more important in the days ahead.
Some ideas that have been suggested include:
- More work at home plans, possibly a few days a week.
- Using a four day (or three day) work week. (See The Four Day Work Week: Sixteen Reasons Why This Might Be an Idea Whose Time Has Come.)
- Moving closer to work.
- Using public transit.
- Using car pools or van pools.
- Using a more efficient car.
- Using a motorcycle or moped instead of a car.
- Using a bicycle.
Of these, work at home (1), four day work week (2), and car pools (5) seem to be the lowest cost alternatives, since they do not require the addition of any other infrastructure, and do not require moving. Using a bicycle (8) is also inexpensive, and gives a person exercise as well. More use of public transit (4) requires infrastructure investment and a longer time frame. In a credit constrained environment, they may not be as feasible.
(2 October 2008)
Good discussion at the original. -BA
How Low-Carbon Can You Go: The Transportation Ranking
Sightline
Sightline does the math on the most climate-friendly way to travel. We chart CO2 emissions by transportation mode, from an SUV to a plane to a bus. Also shows differences based on occupancy (i.e. full bus vs. half-full bus).
What is the most climate-friendly way to get there from here? Sightline did the math on that question, ranking different transportation options by greenhouse gas emissions (note that rankings vary depending on vehicle type and occupancy, see our sources and citations here). Turns out that the best strategy for reducing your impact: walk, bike, or fill up a seat that’s already going your way!
(2008)
As international airfares soar, Americans stay in USA
Gary Stoller, USA TODAY
The days of flying to Europe for a long weekend are over for Diana Koziupa.
The Pennsylvania psychiatrist says she and her husband, Ken Swanson, flew to Europe three or four times a year but have stopped because of high airfares. They instead went to Oregon this summer on their first domestic vacation in years and are considering other trips stateside.
“Coach airfares for international flights are over the top,” says the frequent traveler, who lives in Perkasie, Pa., about an hour’s drive from Philadelphia. “Europe is totally out of the question for leisure and a remote possibility for business.”
Travelers feel the pain of high domestic airfares, which rose this summer more than any year in the past quarter century. Meanwhile, many international tickets have risen to levels too steep for the budgets of many American vacationers and companies. That’s translating into softer demand.
(3 October 2008)
