Transportation

James Howard Kunstler takes questions on personal rapid transit, sustainable green buildings and the happy motoring program in America. He also scolds us for us referring to ourselves as consumers. This show is the result of a special collaboration between The KunstlerCast and Planetizen, the online network for professional planners. Episode 13. With transcript.

James Howard Kunstler often says that America has a train system that the Bulgarians would be ashamed of. Fixing our rail system would have a greater and more immediate effect on our gas consumption than fixing our trains. No new technology would be required. It would create jobs and benefit all ranks of society. Episode 20.

Take a tour of a plug-in electric hybrid modification of a 1996 Mercury Sable, with UC Davis graduate students Patrick Kaufman and Bryan Jungers (interviewed in episode 113). Under the hood you'll see modifications and some interesting new components. Unlike commercial hybrids -- primarily combustion engines with an electric-motor assist -- theirs is primarily an electric vehicle with a small combustion engine to extend its range beyond the all-electric 60-70 miles. Batteries recharge in 6-8 hours with electricity costing about 75 cents per gallon of gas equivalent (2006 prices). Don't miss Janaia's first-time drive of an electric vehicle. Episode 114.

Students at UC Davis Hybrid Vehicle Research Center have been creating plug-in hybrids for national competitions for some time. "Team Fate" members Bryan Jungers and Patrick Kaufman describe how they "gut" the drive train of a standard vehicle, replacing it with an electric motor, a bank of batteries, continuously variable transmission, and some clever electronics. The resulting vehicle runs on electricity, assisted by a much smaller flex-fuel internal combustion engine only when needed. Bryan and Patrick also enlighten us on topics ranging from battery technology to hydrogen fuel cells. Episode 113.

Professor Andy Frank, Director of the UC Davis Hybrid Vehicle Research Center, has a plan to power more than just our cars. In his vision, plug-in hybrid vehicles can be used as mobile batteries, contributing solar power to the grid, and helping to "load balance" the demand. Roofs built over our parking lots contain solar panels that charge the cars' batteries in daytime. At home, the same batteries can help power a house, or feed energy back to the grid. The result: fewer power plants. Episode 107.

Richard Heinberg muses on the passing of the days of cheap air travel: The airline industry has no future. The same is true for airfreight. No air carrier has a viable plan to make a profit with oil at current prices—much less in years to come as the petroleum available to world markets dwindles rapidly.

Santa Barbara is lowering carbon emissions starting with a greenhouse gas emissions study; adding solar panels to city buildings; requiring lower energy usage for new buildings; converting vehicles to biodiesel and/or hybrids; giving free bus passes to downtown workers. City councilmember Das Williams urges citizens to push officials to make substantive (i.e., funded) changes to mitigate the effects of peak oil and climate change. (www.santabarbaraca.gov) Episode 101.

In this episode of Kunstlercast, a listener from Columbus, Ohio shares the bad news about two proposed downtown parking garages. Even though James Howard Kunstler thinks the happy motoring scene in America is on the way out, he explains how to design a better parking garage with first-floor retail, a central lightwell and taller ceilings. The Europeans have a better solution, though: the car club. With transcript.

In an interview with Global Public Media, Sir Richard Branson told journalist David Strahan that aviation could be made “truly sustainable” at the launch of test flight fuelled in part by coconut oil. But the Virgin boss conceded that meaningful supplies of alternative fuel might not be available before the advent of peak oil, which he said could happen within six years.

The Reality Report interviews Daniel Lerch, author of Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty, the first major local government guidebook on peak oil and global warming. The interview opens with a discussion of the responsibilities and roles of local government, where important decisions are made regarding land use, transportation, water systems, schools and emergency services. It reviews how systems thinking can be used to understand the impacts that "energy uncertainty" will have on basic government services, and covers what some local governments in the U.S. and Canada are already doing in repsonse to peak oil. Transcript now included.