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Helping Steer the Auto Industry to a Sustainable Future
Establishing carbon dioxide emission targets for the automotive industry and enabling the prediction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when climate change policies interact with design decisions and consumer response will help both policymakers and automakers set the direction for a sustainable future.
As the major contributor to transportation-related GHG emissions in the U.S. and a growing player in global GHG emissions, the automotive industry is the target of increased interest from policymakers seeking to control climate change. Dr. Hilary Grimes-Casey, an Alcoa Foundation academic fellow at the University of Michigan, is working on two closely related research projects that will help ensure this control does not lead to unforeseeable consequences.
"One of my projects is to establish GHG emission targets for the automotive industry," said Dr. Grimes-Casey, who is collaborating with faculty members and students at the University of Michigan. "When policy to mitigate climate change is being developed, we will be able to say what we think the automotive industry can reasonably contribute while ensuring we can remain a mobile society."
Dr. Grimes-Casey is researching historical and future forecasts of market growth, consumer demand, and use of fuel-efficient technology to develop an equitable share of per capita carbon dioxide emissions that vehicles can contribute. Using this information, scenarios can be developed to determine how policy and technology can contribute to meeting the target.
The second project is developing a method to quantify carbon emissions from the U.S. vehicle market using a lifecycle inventory approach, which quantifies the flow of materials, energy, waste, and emissions throughout the life of a product. The tool will incorporate market models to understand how demand might change for different vehicle technologies.
"For example, an automaker may decide to produce tiny cars as a strategy to improve fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gases," said Dr. Grimes-Casey. "We know that U.S. consumers still aren't interested in tiny cars. That's the type of market influence our approach needs to take into account when quantifying the industry's GHG emissions."
Dr. Grimes-Casey believes her two projects will serve primarily as tools for policymakers, but she feels they may also help automotive manufacturers make design decisions depending upon the level of complexity she can incorporate. Helping inspire her to go beyond the expected was attendance at Alcoa Foundation's Advancing Sustainability Conference held last year in Belgium.
"It was so inspiring to meet the other academic and practitioner fellows from the Conservation & Sustainability Fellowship Program," said Dr. Grimes-Casey. "As a graduate student, you tend to be very isolated. To realize that there's this whole community of fellows who are pursuing a very similar goal of sustainability in their various disciplines and approaches is wonderful. The conference really pushed me to think about how I can take my research out into the world and benefit the public."
Learn more information about Dr. Grimes-Casey’s research with the University of Michigan.
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