Environmental Risk Mitigation

Environmental Risk Mitigation
Author: Barbara Weiss
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2016-10-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319339575

This book presents an extensive review of the context and an analysis of the market for clean energy technologies, with batteries as the primary case study. The focus of this book is on clean energy technology and in particular, on renewable energy and portable, mobile and stationary battery and energy supply. The authors examine how effectively countries with large and advanced economies are building and coaxing the markets needed to effectively mitigate environmental risk. The analysis takes a country-level perspective of some of the largest and most technologically advanced economies in the world including China, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. The authors explore the measures being taken to foster markets that effectively reduce environmental risk, increase its resilience and even its recovery. In the concluding chapter, the authors suggest that while the market for environmental risk mitigation remains nascent, the possibility for its rapid development is high. A number of market coaxing mechanisms to promote its more rapid development are proposed. The book will be of interest to researchers, policy makers, business strategists, and academics in the fields of political science and business management.

Transitions to Alternative Vehicles and Fuels

Transitions to Alternative Vehicles and Fuels
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 395
Release: 2013-04-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309268524

For a century, almost all light-duty vehicles (LDVs) have been powered by internal combustion engines operating on petroleum fuels. Energy security concerns about petroleum imports and the effect of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on global climate are driving interest in alternatives. Transitions to Alternative Vehicles and Fuels assesses the potential for reducing petroleum consumption and GHG emissions by 80 percent across the U.S. LDV fleet by 2050, relative to 2005. This report examines the current capability and estimated future performance and costs for each vehicle type and non-petroleum-based fuel technology as options that could significantly contribute to these goals. By analyzing scenarios that combine various fuel and vehicle pathways, the report also identifies barriers to implementation of these technologies and suggests policies to achieve the desired reductions. Several scenarios are promising, but strong, and effective policies such as research and development, subsidies, energy taxes, or regulations will be necessary to overcome barriers, such as cost and consumer choice.

New-Product Diffusion Models

New-Product Diffusion Models
Author: Vijay Mahajan
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2000-09-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780792377511

Product sales, especially for new products, are influenced by many factors. These factors are both internal and external to the selling organization, and are both controllable and uncontrollable. Due to the enormous complexity of such factors, it is not surprising that product failure rates are relatively high. Indeed, new product failure rates have variously been reported as between 40 and 90 percent. Despite this multitude of factors, marketing researchers have not been deterred from developing and designing techniques to predict or explain the levels of new product sales over time. The proliferation of the internet, the necessity or developing a road map to plan the launch and exit times of various generations of a product, and the shortening of product life cycles are challenging firms to investigate market penetration, or innovation diffusion, models. These models not only provide information on new product sales over time but also provide insight on the speed with which a new product is being accepted by various buying groups, such as those identified as innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. New Product Diffusion Models aims to distill, synthesize, and integrate the best thinking that is currently available on the theory and practice of new product diffusion models. This state-of-the-art assessment includes contributions by individuals who have been at the forefront of developing and applying these models in industry. The book's twelve chapters are written by a combined total of thirty-two experts who together represent twenty-five different universities and other organizations in Australia, Europe, Hong Kong, Israel, and the United States. The book will be useful for researchers and students in marketing and technological forecasting, as well as those in other allied disciplines who study relevant aspects of innovation diffusion. Practitioners in high-tech and consumer durable industries should also gain new insights from New Product Diffusion Models. The book is divided into five parts: I. Overview; II. Strategic, Global, and Digital Environments for Diffusion Analysis; III. Diffusion Models; IV. Estimation and V. Applications and Software. The final section includes a PC-based software program developed by Gary L. Lilien and Arvind Rangaswamy (1998) to implement the Bass diffusion model. A case on high-definition television is included to illustrate the various features of the software. A free, 15-day trial access period for the updated software can be downloaded from http://www.mktgeng.com/diffusionbook. Among the book's many highlights are chapters addressing the implications posed by the internet, globalization, and production policies upon diffusion of new products and technologies in the population.

Technologies and Approaches to Reducing the Fuel Consumption of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles

Technologies and Approaches to Reducing the Fuel Consumption of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2010-07-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309159474

Technologies and Approaches to Reducing the Fuel Consumption of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles evaluates various technologies and methods that could improve the fuel economy of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, such as tractor-trailers, transit buses, and work trucks. The book also recommends approaches that federal agencies could use to regulate these vehicles' fuel consumption. Currently there are no fuel consumption standards for such vehicles, which account for about 26 percent of the transportation fuel used in the U.S. The miles-per-gallon measure used to regulate the fuel economy of passenger cars. is not appropriate for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, which are designed above all to carry loads efficiently. Instead, any regulation of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles should use a metric that reflects the efficiency with which a vehicle moves goods or passengers, such as gallons per ton-mile, a unit that reflects the amount of fuel a vehicle would use to carry a ton of goods one mile. This is called load-specific fuel consumption (LSFC). The book estimates the improvements that various technologies could achieve over the next decade in seven vehicle types. For example, using advanced diesel engines in tractor-trailers could lower their fuel consumption by up to 20 percent by 2020, and improved aerodynamics could yield an 11 percent reduction. Hybrid powertrains could lower the fuel consumption of vehicles that stop frequently, such as garbage trucks and transit buses, by as much 35 percent in the same time frame.

On the Road in 2035

On the Road in 2035
Author: Anup Bandivadekar
Publisher: MIT Press (MA)
Total Pages: 12
Release: 2008
Genre: Motor vehicles
ISBN: 9780615236490

Cost, Effectiveness, and Deployment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles

Cost, Effectiveness, and Deployment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 812
Release: 2015-09-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309373913

The light-duty vehicle fleet is expected to undergo substantial technological changes over the next several decades. New powertrain designs, alternative fuels, advanced materials and significant changes to the vehicle body are being driven by increasingly stringent fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards. By the end of the next decade, cars and light-duty trucks will be more fuel efficient, weigh less, emit less air pollutants, have more safety features, and will be more expensive to purchase relative to current vehicles. Though the gasoline-powered spark ignition engine will continue to be the dominant powertrain configuration even through 2030, such vehicles will be equipped with advanced technologies, materials, electronics and controls, and aerodynamics. And by 2030, the deployment of alternative methods to propel and fuel vehicles and alternative modes of transportation, including autonomous vehicles, will be well underway. What are these new technologies - how will they work, and will some technologies be more effective than others? Written to inform The United States Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards, this new report from the National Research Council is a technical evaluation of costs, benefits, and implementation issues of fuel reduction technologies for next-generation light-duty vehicles. Cost, Effectiveness, and Deployment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles estimates the cost, potential efficiency improvements, and barriers to commercial deployment of technologies that might be employed from 2020 to 2030. This report describes these promising technologies and makes recommendations for their inclusion on the list of technologies applicable for the 2017-2025 CAFE standards.

Autonomous Vehicle Technology

Autonomous Vehicle Technology
Author: James M. Anderson
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2014-01-10
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 0833084372

The automotive industry appears close to substantial change engendered by “self-driving” technologies. This technology offers the possibility of significant benefits to social welfare—saving lives; reducing crashes, congestion, fuel consumption, and pollution; increasing mobility for the disabled; and ultimately improving land use. This report is intended as a guide for state and federal policymakers on the many issues that this technology raises.

Electric and Hybrid Cars

Electric and Hybrid Cars
Author: Curtis D. Anderson
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2010-03-30
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 0786457422

This illustrated history chronicles electric and hybrid cars from the late 19th century to today's fuel cell and plug-in automobiles. It describes the politics, technology, marketing strategies, and environmental issues that have impacted electric and hybrid cars' research and development. The important marketing shift from a "woman's car" to "going green" is discussed. Milestone projects and technologies such as early batteries, hydrogen and bio-mass fuel cells, the upsurge of hybrid vehicles, and the various regulations and market forces that have shaped the industry are also covered.

Policy Implications of Greenhouse Warming

Policy Implications of Greenhouse Warming
Author: National Academy of Engineering
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 945
Release: 1992-02-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0309043867

Global warming continues to gain importance on the international agenda and calls for action are heightening. Yet, there is still controversy over what must be done and what is needed to proceed. Policy Implications of Greenhouse Warming describes the information necessary to make decisions about global warming resulting from atmospheric releases of radiatively active trace gases. The conclusions and recommendations include some unexpected results. The distinguished authoring committee provides specific advice for U.S. policy and addresses the need for an international response to potential greenhouse warming. It offers a realistic view of gaps in the scientific understanding of greenhouse warming and how much effort and expense might be required to produce definitive answers. The book presents methods for assessing options to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, offset emissions, and assist humans and unmanaged systems of plants and animals to adjust to the consequences of global warming.

The Toyota Way

The Toyota Way
Author: Jeffrey K. Liker
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2003-12-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0071435638

How to speed up business processes, improve quality, and cut costs in any industry In factories around the world, Toyota consistently makes the highest-quality cars with the fewest defects of any competing manufacturer, while using fewer man-hours, less on-hand inventory, and half the floor space of its competitors. The Toyota Way is the first book for a general audience that explains the management principles and business philosophy behind Toyota's worldwide reputation for quality and reliability. Complete with profiles of organizations that have successfully adopted Toyota's principles, this book shows managers in every industry how to improve business processes by: Eliminating wasted time and resources Building quality into workplace systems Finding low-cost but reliable alternatives to expensive new technology Producing in small quantities Turning every employee into a qualitycontrol inspector