Transportation
From autonomous EVs to electric planes, from hydrogen trains to biofuel transportation, check out the most recent developments on how we’re moving transportation towards a more sustainable future in the good news section below.
This smart wheelchair enables users to climb stairs and adjust height
Here at The Optimist Daily, we are big proponents of technologies that move the world forward in an inclusive and thoughtful way. That’s why we’re happy to share with you BRO, a futuristic, stairs-climbing wheelchair developed by Scewo, which aims to offer people of restricted mobility the Read More...
Volvo will soon use fossil-free steel to make its electric trucks
Earlier this year, Volvo pledged to go all-electric by 2030, while making its entire business operations (including its supply chain) climate-neutral by 2050 — all in a bid to do its part in the fight against the climate crisis. To that end, the carmaker has recently made a deal with Swedish Read More...
The Optimist View: Building Circularity into Electric Vehicles
To eliminate the concept of waste means to design things-products, packaging, and systems-from the very beginning on the understanding that waste does not exist. - William McDonough BY Kristy Jansen and Sam Suh Earlier this year, I became the proud owner of an all-electric car一a used Read More...
The world’s first all-electric tugboat to put to sea in 2023
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), maritime transport emits around 940 million tonnes of CO2 annually and is responsible for about 2.5 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As engineers are working to green up cargo ships with the help of low-carbon fuels, Read More...
Why public transportation systems are the perfect microgrid candidates
Fleet vehicles, including public transportation vehicles, are critical for embracing a transition to fossil fuel-free transportation, but committing to transitioning a whole city bus or train system to electric power is no easy feat. Fortunately, microgrids could play a critical role in this Read More...
How cargo delivery bikes can curb road congestion and pollution in cities
Online shopping has seen a surge during COVID-19. This, of course, went hand in hand with an increased number of double-parked delivery vans blocking traffic in urban areas and emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. A new report proposes that logistics companies start parting ways with Read More...
Sustainable wood-based batteries could power the future of e-travel
While the world is steadily moving towards a predominantly battery-powered future, conventional batteries still pose a few major sustainability- and efficiency-related challenges. Seeking to come up with a solution, Finnish designer Stora Enso is working on a wood-based material that could produce Read More...
Simple parking policy incentivizes employees to take greener routes to work
A key goal of public transportation is to reduce the number of cars on the road and therefore improve air quality and reduce emissions, especially in urban areas, but a small detail in the US federal tax code is actually working against this goal. The federal tax code has an exemption for Read More...
Food transport to become much greener thanks to solar-powered reefers
Transporting food to your local supermarket typically requires refrigerated trailers (also known as reefers). These are usually cooled by diesel fuel, with an idling diesel tractor burning about a gallon of fuel per hour and releasing about 22.4 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as a Read More...
This new metric assesses road safety before any accidents ever happen
The way urban planners currently assess the safety of a road involves counting the number of accidents on that particular road. Essentially, this means that there’s a "literal human cost" to measuring how safe a street is, says Megan Ryerson, a transportation engineer and urban planner at the Read More...