Could EPA save N.A. auto industry?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been working away on a patented hydraulic hybrid technology that it believes could give North American automakers an edge over hybrid-electric technology pioneered by the Japanese — namely, Toyota.
The EPA first announced that it was working with partners on a new hydraulic hybrid system back in February, but the Detroit Free Press published a great article this past Sunday providing an update on the EPA’s progress. (Diagram shown here was designed by the Free Press and is based on information from the EPA.)
“The system uses hydraulic pressure to recapture energy lost through braking, then releases the pressure during acceleration,” according to the article. “The EPA estimates hydraulic hybrids could improve fuel economy up to 55 per cent, versus 30 per cent to 40 per cent for a conventional gas-electric hybrid.”
Here’s the kicker: Officials at the EPA estimate that the cost of the hydraulic system would be about $1,000 (U.S.) and would be paid back through nine months of driving, a much better payback scenario when compared to today’s hybrid-electrics, such as the Toyota Prius or Ford Escape, which come with an upfront premium that most drivers won’t get back for many years through fuel savings.
The EPA is apparently working with Ford Motor Co., UPS, Eaton Corp. and the U.S. Army on a number of pilot projects as part of efforts to test the system in real-world driving. Some observers, however, are skeptical that the technology will go mass market, citing the poor track record of transferring technology from government to industry.
Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
December 24th, 2005 at 10:41 am
This is a great post. Will the EPA’s research and collaboration lead to a successful commercial product? If it does, then it’s a triple win for the US government, business, and the environment.
Governments (Canadian, US or otherwise) spend a lot of money. Much of this money can be invested in wasteful endeavors. But R&D dollars that help reduce risk in new markets can be money well spent. In effect, government investments can create energy around certain markets.
In my opinion, the US gov’t spends far too much energizing the Defense market. Historically this was important. But as the “Competition for Resources” heats up around the world, it shifts importance away from the “Competition of Ideas or Ideologies”.
To win the ‘Competition of Resources’, the US gov’t needs to dramatically shift dollars away from Department of Defense (DoD). This money should go to Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the EPA. The EPA might well be divided into divisions focusing on air, land, and waterways.
Right now, 50% of the US discretionary budget (money that isn’t already earmarked for things like Social Security, Health Care, debt repayment, etc) goes to the DoD. 50%! To boot, 50% of the worlds purchase of weapons and military related equipment comes out of the US.
I could go on, but to wrap it up, consider the following. If we had serious alternatives to oil–alternatives that enabled US demand for oil to drop preciptiously–towards ZERO–the Middle East might not be such an important place, and we might not be spending billions of dollars on the war.
That said, the real world says demand will only increase in the foreseeable future. The real world says Middle East oil is of high strategic importance for the entire world. For better or worse, that’s what we have to deal with. We can only search for ways to unite theories (Zero oil demand, high funding for EPA, DOE, USDA) with reality.
January 4th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
Not to mention there is no batteries to replace and recycle