An investigation into Methods to Meet 2054 Emissions Goals Set by Stephen Pacala and Robert H . Socolow

Transportation is a key part of the global economy. It allows for the free movement of people and goods. Transportation emits 27% of American greenhouse gas emissions and 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions and is currently almost exclusively based on fossil fuels. As the rest of the world starts to demand the same standard of living as the United States the global impact of emissions due to transportation will rise. In order to limit the environmental impact of transportation new technologies for propulsion and power generation must be considered, such as hydrogen or electricity based technologies. This paper provides a literature review of different technologies on transportation propulsion system’s carbon dioxide performance and an outline of a further analysis. The goal would be to determine the environmental impact and cost of the different transportation technologies. Three categories of technologies for transportation were investigated: hydrocarbons, electricity, and hydrogen. For each technology CO2 emissions on a well to wheel basis will be analized. This involves analyzing the lifetime of each technology (distance or time), the CO2 produced in manufacturing, the CO2 produced during running, and the CO2 produced in the fuel extraction and transportation process. Within each category potential technologies that could feasibly be implemented will be analyzed.