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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2017)
6 • The Southwest Portland Post Dear EarthTalk: Are self-driving cars good for the environment? – Billy Shea, Boston, MA You know the future is here when you see that the car beside you at a red light has nobody at the helm. That’s already happening in California where a few companies (Uber, Google, Apple, Tesla) have begun testing autonomous vehicles o n t h e o p e n ro a d — a l b e i t w i t h human drivers at the ready in case anything goes wrong. Meanwhile, the major automakers have begun integrating autonomous driving technologies (blind spot detection, GPS mapping, assisted parking, etc.) into existing models, and will surely offer their own fully self-driving cars once lawmakers qualify them as street legal, maybe as early as 2018. Proponents say that not only will driverless cars make our roads safer (as they can sense walkers, bikers, other cars and road infrastructure to avoid collisions), but will also be a boon to the environment. Z i a Wa d u d , w h o c o - a u t h o re d a study released earlier this year assessing the travel, energy and carbon impacts of autonomous vehicles, said the widespread adoption of the technology could reduce energy consumption significantly. “Automated vehicles can interact FEATURES with each other and drive very closely as a ‘platoon’,” reported Wa d u d . “ T h i s c a n r e d u c e t h e total energy consumption of road transport by four to 25 percent, because vehicles which follow closely behind each other face less air resistance.” Beyond the platoon benefit, driverless cars can also shave a n o t h e r 2 5 p e rc e n t o ff o v e r a l l automotive energy consumption through more efficient computer- assisted ride optimization. Yet another environmental benefit could be fewer cars on the road altogether. “Your car could give you a lift to work in the morning and then give a lift to someone else in your family—or, for that matter, to anyone else. After delivering you to your destination, it doesn’t sit idle in a parking lot for 20-plus hours every day,” reported MIT researchers Matthew Claudel and Carlo Ratti in a recent McKinsey.com article. “By combining ride sharing with car sharing ... it would be possible to take every passenger to his or her destination at the time they need to be there, with 80 percent fewer cars.” Claudel and Ratti conclude that clearing four of five cars from the road would have “momentous consequences” for our cities regarding pollution, traffic, efficiency, and parking. But Jason Bordoff of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy argues in The Wall Street Journal that driverless cars hurt overall energy efficiency by undermining public transit. “If you can work, watch a movie or sleep while in the car, perhaps you will take a car rather than public transportation or be more likely to drive for long trips.” Bordoff added that autonomous January 2017 Google is among the California companies testing autonomous cars. vehicles also “significantly expand the universe of potential drivers” bringing more people (and cars) onto the road and possibly increasing total vehicle miles travelled overall. “Even car-sharing services could increase energy demand if the ease and convenience pulls people away from mass transit, walking or biking and into cars.” Bordoff said he remains optimistic that autonomous vehicles can provide a net gain for society and the environment, but only if we are careful about how we implement the technology. “ To e n s u re t h a t a u t o n o m o u s vehicles deliver economic, energy security and environmental benefits, we will need supporting policies targeted at those objectives, such as increased fuel-economy standards, investments in public transportation infrastructure, and R&D in alternative vehicle technologies.” For his part, Wadud agreed with Bordoff that driverless cars could actually be bad for the environment depending on how things shake out. “Let’s not be blinded by the driverless cars by saying they can solve everything – know that there could be risks and be careful about them,” he said. “That said, I do hope that driverless cars will encourage car sharing and help reduce our energy use and carbon emissions. However, what will happen in reality remains to be seen.” Contacts: “Help or hindrance? The travel, energy and carbon impacts of highly automated vehicles,” www. sciencedirect.com; Claudel and Ratti’s “Full Speed Ahead: How the Driverless Car Can Transform C i t i e s , ” w w w. m c k i n s e y. c o m ; Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy, energypolicy.columbia.edu. EarthTalk® is produced by Roddy Scheer & Doug Moss and is a registered t r a d e m a r k o f t h e n o n p ro f i t E a r t h A c t i o n N e t w o r k . To d o n a t e , v i s i t www.earthtalk.org. Send questions to: question@earthtalk.org. POST A-Z BUSINESS CARD DIRECTORY 503-244-6933 Antoinette Antique and Estate Jewelry A n Antoinette Sweet GIA Graduate Gemologist 503-348-0411 A N7642 SW Capitol Hwy www.AntoinetteJewelry.com Advertise in The Post! Contact Don Snedecor at don@ multnomahpost.com or call 503-244-6933. Deadline is the 20th of the month prior to publication. More info at www.SWPortlandPost.com. < HJAM FInAncIAl ServIceS, llc > Hans J Manseth, CFP ® Certified Financial Planner TM ‘lIvIng & WorkIng WItH clIentS locAlly SInce 2001’ hans@hjamfinancial.com • www.hjamfinancial.com 825 NE Multnomah Suite 1150 Portland, OR 97232 503.227.4817 ext. 3033 • 888.769.6532 Hans J Manseth, CFP® is a Registered Representative and Investment Adviser Representative of, and securities and investment advisory services are offered solely through, Equity Services, Inc. (ESI), Member FINRA/SIPC, One National Life Dr., Montpelier, VT 05604 (800) 344-7437. HJAM Financial Services is independent of Equity Services, Inc. TC83373(0215)1 YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD HANDYMAN 20 years in Multnomah Village! “Call Kenny!” Kenneth S. Morse Deirdre McDonnell | Realtor® dmcdonnell@windermere.com OFFICE: (503) 497-5422 CELL: (503) 360-8939 www.deirdremcdonnell.withwre.com CCB License #195820 503-939-5452 morseks@aol.com Excellent SW Portland references