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A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299 (2009)

Chapter: 2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

2
Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation

Described in this chapter are the existing transportation and related research programs of the federal government that address transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption. The chapter begins with an overview of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) programs, and then describes the programs of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A brief summary of transportation research programs that are managed by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) is provided. The chapter is intended to give the reader an overview of the various federal programs that invest in transportation research, a sense of the scale of the investment, and an appreciation of the kinds of research that DOE, EPA, and USDOT support. The main point is that the research areas that are recommended in the chapters that follow are not addressed systematically by existing programs.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Most of the R&D activities within USDOT are funded and organized by mode; thus, this section reviews the modal administration programs addressing climate change and energy conservation separately. The exception to USDOT’s modal orientation is the Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting Center, which has had a few projects on climate change, energy conservation, and transportation. After an overview of the center’s activities is provided, the climate change and

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

energy conservation research activities of the modal administrations are summarized.1

Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting Center

The center sets departmental priorities for multimodal climate change policy analysis and research, and funds from various modal administrations have been pooled there. The center’s funding in FY 2007 was $400,000, and its activities were not budgeted for in subsequent years by the previous administration.2 In 2009 the center began providing a clearinghouse of information and links about climate change and transportation’s role in it, tools and models for practitioners, and reports.3

The center’s most significant activity has been the “Gulf Coast” study, which is part of the governmentwide Global Change Research Program (Savonis et al. 2008). In that study, USDOT partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey to estimate the highway infrastructure along the Gulf Coast that will become more prone to flooding in the future because of land subsidence and higher storm surges. Phase 2, to begin in late 2009, will examine infrastructure impacts at selected locations in greater detail and begin developing information and tools for planners and engineers. The study will also develop risk-assessment tools to assist metropolitan planning organizations and other infrastructure investment decision makers in prioritizing resources and facilities that need protection, accommodation, or relocation.4 Examples of recent, ongoing, and planned research of the center include development of models to allow comparison of modal emissions; partial support for the National Research Council (NRC) study that resulted in the report on adapting transportation to climate change (TRB 2008); and comparisons of emis-

1

Much of the overview of the department’s climate and energy research is drawn from the March 31, 2009, testimony of David Matsuda, Acting Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, USDOT, before the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives (http://democrats.science.house.gov/Media/file/Commdocs/hearings/2009/Tech/31mar/Matsuda_Testimony.pdf, accessed March 31, 2009).

2

The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for FY 2009, p. 232. See http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/aep/research/, accessed March 31, 2009.

3

http://climate.dot.gov/, accessed April 1, 2009.

4

http://environment.fhwa.dot.gov/strmlng/newsletters/feb09nl.asp, accessed March 30, 2009.

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

sions by various modes of transport, including the proposed short sea shipping.5

Federal Aviation Administration

Aviation represents a substantial share of transportation energy consumption, roughly 9 percent and growing, and aircraft contrails are implicated as contributing to climate change. The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Office of Energy and Environment Research and Development funds research on emissions characterization and impact, climate change impacts, emissions impact mitigation, aircraft technology, alternative fuels, operations, and environmental policy measures.6 Activities funded as part of the executive branch Global Change Research Program ranged between $1 million and $2 million in FY 2008 and 2009.7 FAA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration also support research to improve engine efficiency and aircraft routing, to improve assessment of the impacts of contrails, and to develop tools and models for assessing climate impacts.8

The FY 2009 Omnibus budget legislation, finalized in early 2009, also provides funding for FAA to improve the scientific understanding of the impacts of aviation emissions on climate. Other federal agencies—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and EPA—have joined FAA in an Aviation Climate Change Research Initiative (ACCRI) (Brasseur 2008).

The proposed ACCRI seeks an improved understanding of the chemistry and radiative effects of contrails and of the impact of aircraft emissions of nitrogen oxides in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. FAA also has research under way to inform administration policy choices with regard to mitigating the impact of aviation emissions on climate through possible carbon emissions standards, carbon emission cap-and-trade strategies, and carbon taxes.

5

The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for FY 2009, p. 202. See http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/aep/research/, accessed March 31, 2009.

6

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/aep/research/, accessed March 31, 2009.

7

The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for FY 2009, p. 232. See http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/aep/research/, accessed March 31, 2009.

8

http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/partner/index.html, accessed March 31, 2009.

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

Federal Highway Administration

As described in the following paragraphs, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has a variety of relatively small-scale R&D activities under way on such topics as (a) models of land use and infrastructure interactions to analyze how different policies in these areas affect behavior, (b) GHG emissions and strategies for adaptation, and (c) highway pavement designs and materials with lower GHG emissions.

Research

The Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty has invested about $700,000 annually over the FY 1999–2006 time period on planning and environmental research directly related to climate change (personal communication). FHWA programmed $300,000 for outreach and communication on air quality, climate change, and other environmental impacts as part of the FY 2009 Surface Transportation Environment and Planning (STEP) Cooperative Research Program.9 Also allocated in STEP’s FY 2009 research budget is $500,000 for activities that include developing and testing strategies to reduce GHG emissions, analysis of how national GHG emission reduction strategies would affect transportation, possible GHG emission reductions through reduced vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and funding for USDOT’s Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting Center. This office also funds a related activity—the Travel Model Improvement Program (TMIP). TMIP funds technology transfer and professional development in the application of models, the use of which may become important in assessing the benefits of regional and state policies to change travel behavior.10 The current annual climate change mitigation R&D expenditures in the Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty appear to be on the order of $1 million annually.

9

FY 2009 STEP Research Plan. See http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep/step/fy09rp.htm, accessed March 30, 2009.

10

A 2007 TRB report pointed out that current models in use in most metropolitan areas are not designed to be sensitive to policies that would affect travel behavior. The report lays out a research and technology transfer program to improve models and modeling practice. See Special Report 288: Metropolitan Travel Forecasting: Current Practice and Future Direction, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C. http://www.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=7821, accessed March 31, 2009.

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

FHWA has a few other research projects on GHG-related subjects, such as probabilistic models of bridge scour from flooding, potential use of vegetation in highway rights-of-way to capture carbon, reductions in GHG emissions through increased use of warm-mix asphalt, increased use of recycled materials in pavements, and expanded use of fly ash in concrete. In addition, some of FHWA’s programs have activities that will contribute to informing policy decisions about climate change, as described next.

Illustrative Operational Programs

Some of the operating programs in FHWA, as distinct from R&D programs, address goals related to climate change and energy consumption. Those designed to reduce congestion, for example, also affect vehicle fuel economy and GHG and other emissions. Stop-and-go traffic causes vehicles to operate inefficiently and to have excess emissions. In addition, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) gives states more flexibility in the use of pricing to manage congestion. Several provisions of SAFETEA-LU pertain to congestion pricing, including the Value Pricing Pilot Program, funded at $59 million for 2005–2009, to support the costs of implementing up to 15 variable pricing pilot programs nationwide. Also, the Express Lanes Demonstration Program allows a total of 15 pricing demonstration projects through 2009. The Office of Operations has other initiatives aimed at reducing congestion, such as its effort to reduce delays associated with incident management.

Federal Railroad Administration

Almost all of the R&D supported by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has been focused on safety, which is FRA’s primary mission. During the Clinton administration, however, FRA was authorized by the Swift Act to support R&D on intercity passenger rail. The Swift Act envisioned an incremental strategy for passenger rail that would mix passenger and freight trains on the same lines and envisioned passenger rail service that would not exceed 150 mph. FRA’s research under this authorization included work on high-speed diesel locomotives, the safety of grade crossings, and positive train control (PTC). PTC is a technology

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

for controlling trains on the same line to avoid collisions and would be required for lines with mixed passenger and freight service because the trains would be traveling at much different speeds. Major rail legislation passed in late 2008 and early 2009 has revived prospects for high-speed and intercity passenger rail and has required implementation of PTC by 2015 on lines with mixed freight and passenger service, including commuter trains. The legislation gives FRA discretion to use some of the new funding for R&D, and at the time of this writing, FRA is proposing to do so, particularly for R&D with regard to the complexities of implementing PTC nationwide (TRB 2009).

Federal Transit Administration

The Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA’s) R&D program is based on three goals: leadership in transit research, increasing transit’s market share, and improving the performance of transit operations and systems.11 The latter two goals include research objectives related to climate change and energy conservation.

The work on increasing market share is focused on R&D to improve transit capacity and performance as well as transit riders’ experience. Although this research is certainly related to climate change mitigation and energy conservation, it is not directly focused on these areas. Not included in FTA’s R&D portfolio, for example, is research directly targeted at encouraging mode shift through measures that directly or indirectly increase the cost of driving.

Under the goal of improving the performance of transit operations and systems, FTA has R&D under way on technologies to improve the energy efficiency of buses through the use of fuel cell and hybrid bus propulsion systems. These activities include many earmarked fuel cell and hybrid bus demonstrations funded through the capital rather than the research titles of SAFETEA-LU for FY 2006–2009. Thus, much of the $65 million cost of this multiyear activity is for purchase of fuel cell and hybrid buses.12 About $2.5 million annually of FTA’s R&D budget appears to be related

11

FTA Multi-Year Research Program Plan (FY 2009–2013). See http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_TRI_Final_MYPP_FY09-13.pdf, accessed March 31, 2009.

12

See Table 4-9 of FTA’s Multi-Year Research Program Plan (FY 2009–20013). http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_TRI_Final_MYPP_FY09-13.pdf, accessed March 31, 2009.

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

to bus and rail energy conservation. In 2008 FTA unveiled a more deliberate multiyear research program plan for improving electric-drive technologies, for which budget estimates have not yet been developed.

Increasing the energy efficiency of bus and rail operations is a valuable goal. However, bus and rail commuter transit only accounts for about 1 percent of total U.S. transportation energy consumption.13 Thus, improving the energy efficiency of transit technology alone would not result in a significant improvement in U.S. transportation energy efficiency, even if transit’s total energy consumption could be reduced by half. Shifting highway use to transit could have a much more substantial energy conservation benefit, given that passenger vehicles account for 61 percent of U.S. transportation energy consumption. This potential energy benefit argues for mitigation R&D to encourage mode shift (as described in Chapter 3).

FTA has little R&D focused on mode shift. It does have a $1 million earmark for R&D in transit-oriented development (TOD), and FTA’s budget funds the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), which is managed by TRB. TCRP has funded a few projects over the years on policy strategies to encourage mode shift and TOD. Most notably, it has funded the development of TCRP Report 95: Traveler Response to Transportation System Changes, a multivolume guidebook for practitioners (each chapter is published as a separate volume). TCRP Report 95 provides estimates of how various kinds of transit investments and services, as well as strategies to affect mode choice, such as road and parking pricing and TOD, could affect transit ridership.14 Although the volume is useful and valuable, TCRP Report 95 is only as good as the research and data on which it is developed, and in mitigation-related areas the research base is weak. For example, lack of good information about how TOD changes travel behavior was noted in the relevant TCRP Report 95 chapter.15 Similarly, the chapter on parking management and supply notes, “Available sources notwithstanding, there is relatively little satisfactory information

13

See Table 2.6 of S. C. Davis, S. W. Diegel, and R. G. Boundy, Transportation Energy Data Book, 27th ed., 2008. http://cta.ornl.gov/data/index.shtml, accessed March 31, 2009.

14

http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1034, accessed March 31, 2009.

15

TCRP Report 95: Traveler Response to Transportation System Changes: Chapter 17—Transit Oriented Development, p. 17-4. http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_95c17.pdf, accessed March 31, 2009.

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

on the effects of parking supply—and changes thereof—on travel behavior.”16

Research and Innovative Technology Administration

The Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) serves a research coordination function within USDOT, which includes coordination of the department’s work in alternative technologies. It also manages a small hydrogen research program (about $550,000 annually) authorized by SAFETEA-LU, the focus of which is to develop safety systems and standards for hydrogen infrastructure.17

RITA is responsible for the intelligent transportation systems (ITS) research program, which, although it is not directly related to climate change, does focus on congestion relief as one of its two goals. Reducing congestion can save energy and reduce GHG emissions. The program funds research on topics such as traveler information systems, corridor traffic management approaches, and operational tests of technologies and systems to reduce congestion.18

RITA also manages the University Transportation Centers Program, which funds transportation educational and research programs at about 60 University Transportation Centers (UTCs). Some of this research addresses mitigation and adaptation. A search of the UTC records with regard to research on climate change in TRB’s Research in Progress database indicated 15 projects under way in March 2009. A few records did not show the project cost, but the highest-cost project was $200,000, and most were $50,000 or less. Thus, the total research under way probably costs about $1 million.

Summary

USDOT funds a small number of R&D projects directly addressing climate change and energy conservation. FTA’s annual $2.5 million in

16

TCRP Report 95: Traveler Response to Transportation System Changes: Chapter 18—Parking Management and Supply, p. 18-4. http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_95c18.pdf, accessed March 31, 2009.

17

See Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment Roadmap for Hydrogen Vehicles and Infrastructure to Support a Transition to a Hydrogen Economy, RITA, USDOT. http://hydrogen.dot.gov/publications/hydrogen_roadmap/, accessed March 31, 2009.

18

Intelligent Transportation Systems, RITA. http://www.its.dot.gov/index.htm, accessed March 31, 2009.

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

R&D expenditures on energy-conserving technologies for transit and TOD appears to be the largest USDOT research and technology budget for energy- and climate-related research. FAA’s program in 2009 totals about $2 million, as does FHWA’s. On the basis of its hydrogen safety and UTC projects under way, RITA’s climate change R&D expenditures appear to be about $1.5 million annually. These USDOT-wide activities sum to roughly $8 million annually, which represents only 0.9 percent of USDOT’s approximately $900 million annual R&D expenditures. Admittedly, some USDOT programs address strategies that could affect transportation GHG emissions. For example, RITA’s ITS program and FHWA’s traffic operations initiatives may smooth traffic flows and reduce wasted energy in stop-and-go traffic. FHWA’s value pricing program, not an R&D effort per se, is yielding insights into travelers’ responses to road pricing strategies. On the whole, however, the level of USDOT’s R&D investment in climate change and energy conservation is simply not of the magnitude of the problems related to transportation energy consumption and GHG emissions that the nation faces.

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

By far the largest federal investments in R&D to reduce transportation energy consumption and GHG emissions are those of DOE. Because the committee’s focus in this report is on R&D most likely to be funded through USDOT, it has examined the DOE programs in less detail. The department’s energy R&D budget is extensive—about $4.8 billion in 2009—and includes many programs. Some may deal with aspects of transportation energy consumption, but those aspects were not discussed in the budget documents reviewed for this chapter. This overview of DOE’s programs is intended to provide a sense of scale and perspective on the overall federal R&D investment in transportation, but the estimates of budgetary resources provided in the transportation area are not to be considered precise.

Transportation Technologies and Fuels

DOE has a broad-based transportation R&D program as part of its Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The EERE Vehicle

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

Technologies appropriation for FY 2009 totaled $273 million.19 (The automotive and heavy-truck vehicle initiatives described below draw on other DOE resources; thus, the total programs described are larger than EERE’s Vehicle Technologies budget.)

EERE’s Vehicle Technologies Program “is developing more energy efficient and environmentally friendly highway transportation technologies that will enable America to use less petroleum. The long-term aim is to develop ‘leap frog’ technologies that will provide Americans with greater freedom of mobility and energy security, while lowering costs and reducing impacts on the environment.”20 R&D covers hybrid and vehicle systems (including plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles), energy storage, power electronics, advanced combustion engines, fuels and lubricants, materials technologies, and analysis and tools. The Vehicle Technologies Program has two major partnerships with industry to provide precompetitive research:

  • FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership: “The FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership examines the pre-competitive, high-risk research needed to develop the component and infrastructure technologies necessary to enable a full range of affordable cars and light trucks, and the fueling infrastructure for them that will reduce the dependence of the nation’s personal transportation system on imported oil and minimize harmful vehicle emissions, without sacrificing freedom of mobility and freedom of vehicle choice.”21 R&D includes integrated systems analysis, fuel cell power systems, hydrogen storage, technologies for production and distribution, technical bases for codes and standards, power electronics and electric motors, lightweight materials, energy storage systems, and advanced emission control systems. The FY 2009 EERE Vehicle Technologies appropriation for the FreedomCar totaled $190 million, but this is apparently not the full expenditure on this program. For example, the FY 2008 budget for this partnership exceeded $400 million, including activities funded by other DOE programs (NRC 2008b, 2).

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
  • 21st Century Truck Partnership: “The vision of the 21st Century Truck Partnership is that our nation’s trucks and buses will safely and cost-effectively move larger volumes of freight and greater numbers of passengers while emitting little or no pollution and dramatically reducing the dependency on foreign oil.”22 Partnerships with industry address research on engines, fuels, exhaust after-treatment, advanced materials, hybrid technologies, safety, idle reduction, and other topics. The program spans multiple federal agencies (DOE, USDOT, EPA, Department of Defense) and funding sources. DOE’s share of the partnership funding is about $28 million in the most recent year; the funding provided by other federal agencies and private industry partners is not documented (NRC 2008a, 18).

Both of these programs have been reviewed by NRC committees. The FreedomCar and Fuel Partnership has been reviewed twice (NRC 2005; NRC 2008b). The committee responsible for the second review concluded that there are many technical barriers to be overcome before hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are competitive with internal combustion engine vehicles on the basis of cost and service. The committee concluded, however, that the partnership is “well planned, organized, and managed” and that the “expense of this research, if it overcomes these barriers, is justified by its potentially enormous benefits to the nation relative to its use of petroleum” (NRC 2008b, 4). Another NRC committee evaluated the vehicle, fuel, and fuel distribution systems that would be needed to transition to a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle fleet by 2050 (NRC 2008c). That committee indicated that public-sector R&D in these areas would need to increase to $300 million annually to provide for such a transition.

The truck partnership research program was also reviewed in 2008 (NRC 2008a). The committee concluded that the partnership had many successful programs and that it should be continued. The committee noted that some technical goals of the program have not been met and commented that some of these goals were not plausible. It offered several recommendations to strengthen the program.

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

In addition to the Vehicle Technologies Program, EERE has hydrogen and fuel cell initiatives that were appropriated about $200 million in FY 2009.23 These initiatives include such topics as hydrogen production and delivery, storage, fuel cell stack technologies, safety, and codes and standards. Although these initiatives are not limited to transportation vehicles, they are all central to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles becoming cost-competitive with other transportation technologies. (Presumably a considerable portion of the hydrogen and fuel cell program expenditures are included in the FreedomCar and Fuel Partnership expenditures of $400 million cited above.)

In May 2009 the Obama administration proposed shifting away from hydrogen fuel cells for transportation vehicles and emphasizing plug-in hybrids instead. At the time of this writing, the administration has requested $68 million for hydrogen and fuel cells rather than $200 million for FY 2010,24 but House and Senate appropriation committees have proposed restoring much of the vehicle fuel cell funding.

DOE’s Office of Science also has an initiative that closely relates to transportation within its Basic Energy Sciences Program.25 Approximately $50 million of this budget in 2009 was allocated for development of energy storage/advanced batteries.

A sense of the scale of the DOE R&D investment in transportation can be provided by combining the appropriations for DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Program, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Program, and the Office of Science allocation for batteries. In total, these investments exceeded $0.5 billion in FY 2009.

Alternative Fuels

DOE also has energy R&D programs that are not focused explicitly on transportation but that could have significant impact on this sector. One involves alternative fuels that could be used for transportation, including biomass, among other energy sources.26

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

An increase in the amount of energy that the transportation sector draws from the electrical distribution system—for example, through rapid growth of plug-in hybrids—would increase the importance of DOE R&D on topics related to energy sources for electric power (solar, wind, nuclear, hydropower, and fossil fuels and carbon sequestration from coal burning).27 DOE’s energy programs for electricity delivery and reliability, fossil energy, and nuclear energy total approximately $2 billion in FY 2009.28

Summary

DOE research related to transportation exceeds $500 million annually, and investments in sources of electric energy total roughly $2 billion. The committee cannot judge whether the roughly $0.5 billion invested in vehicle energy and propulsion systems R&D at DOE is the right amount, but DOE investments in transportation dwarf those of USDOT. It is likely that the new administration, given the high priority it has placed on addressing energy independence and climate change, will continue to invest in transportation R&D at DOE.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

EPA’s R&D program is organized by media (air, land, atmosphere, water). It has no transportation-specific categories, which makes it difficult to find transportation-related R&D topics under way at EPA. Extensive searching of the EPA website for reports on transportation research turned up few references, most of which relate to EPA’s regulation of air and water quality and to the health effects of motor vehicle emissions. EPA staff briefed the committee at its March 2, 2009, meeting and provided more detail about EPA’s research.

EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality has research activities related to transportation and climate change: development of models of emissions from road and nonroad vehicles, the testing and measurement

27

For program descriptions, see http://www.energy.gov/energysources/index.htm. Accessed Feb. 18, 2009.

28

http://www.cfo.doe.gov/budget/10budget/Content/OrgSum.pdf, accessed Sept. 11, 2009.

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

of emissions, clean automotive technologies (reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency), and a fuel cell demonstration program for delivery vehicles in partnership with industry.29 EPA has also invested in the development of the MOVES model to replace MOBIL (these models calculate mobile source emissions at the regional scale on the basis of estimates of VMT and speed derived from travel forecasts).

EPA’s largest R&D investments in motor vehicles occur in its National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In its Clean Automotive Technology Program, EPA conducts research primarily to achieve ultralow pollution emissions, increase fuel efficiency, and reduce GHG emissions.30 The program strives to develop cost-effective technologies that would encourage manufacturers to produce cleaner and more fuel-efficient vehicles. EPA partners with industry to maximize the viability of targeted technologies for commercial production. The laboratory pursues research on hydraulic hybrid technology for trucks, engine emissions, and alternative fuels, and it provides technical and analytical support to EPA on these topics.

EPA also has had a small-scale ($3 million) research activity to support land use development that might reduce demand for motorized travel. It has developed model codes and ordinances as well as sketch planning tools to assist state and local planners in integrating land use and transportation plans. The latter has involved research to synthesize and interpret the literature examining the relationship between land development patterns and motorized vehicle travel.31

COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND STRATEGIC HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM 2

TRB manages cooperative research programs in highways, transit, and airports on behalf of the states, transit agencies, and airports, and it manages a small freight cooperative research program. In addition, TRB manages the Strategic Highway Research Program 2, a 7-year, $200 mil-

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

lion research effort focused on four themes, one of which includes environmental issues. The governance committees for these programs have 15 climate change projects under way or under consideration at the time of this writing. If all were funded, the total investment would be nearly $9 million, spread over several years. The research projects span a variety of applied topics of interest to practitioners. Nearly half of the total cost is for improvements in travel models to incorporate freight and transportation GHG emissions.

CONCLUSION

The research identified by the commissioned paper authors and discussed in subsequent chapters of this report is not directly addressed in any existing program. Various federal agencies and TRB-managed cooperative research programs do fund research on related topics; in particular, DOE funds R&D on vehicles, fuels, and sources of electric energy. Only a handful of scattered projects relate to policies designed to affect travel behavior or adapt to climate change. They are useful but of too small a magnitude to bring about the changes that will be required to meet transportation energy conservation and GHG emission reduction targets.

REFERENCES

Abbreviations

NRC National Research Council

TRB Transportation Research Board

Brasseur, G. P. 2008. A Report on the Way Forward Based on the Review of Research Gaps and Priorities. Aviation Climate Change Research Initiative, Federal Aviation Administration. http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/aep/aviation_climate/media/ACCRI_Report_final.pdf. Accessed March 31, 2009.

NRC. 2005. Review of the Research Program of the FreedomCar and Fuel Partnership: First Report. National Academies, Washington, D.C. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11406.

NRC. 2008a. Review of the 21st Century Truck Partnership. National Academies, Washington, D.C. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12258. Accessed April 1, 2009.

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×

NRC. 2008b. Review of the Research Program of the FreedomCar and Fuel Partnership: Second Report. National Academies, Washington, D.C. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12113. Accessed April 1, 2009.

NRC. 2008c. Transitions to Alternative Transportation Technologies—A Focus on Hydrogen. National Academies, Washington, D.C.

Savonis, M., B. Burkett, and J. Potter (eds.). 2008. Impacts of Climate Variability and Change on Transportation Systems and Infrastructure—Gulf Coast Study: Final Report of Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.7. Global Change Research Program, U.S. Department of Transportation. http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap4-7/final-report/. Accessed March 30, 2009.

TRB. 2008. Special Report 290: Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation. National Academies, Washington, D.C. http://trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=8794.

TRB. 2009. Review of the Federal Railroad Administration Research and Development Program: Letter Report. National Academies, Washington, D.C., April. http://trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=10313. Accessed May 15, 2009.

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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
Page 23
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Existing Transportation Research Programs Addressing Climate Change and Energy Conservation." Transportation Research Board. 2009. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12801.
×
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Next: 3 Mitigation Research to Inform Policy and Practice »
A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy: Special Report 299 Get This Book
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In reviewing proposals for transportation research programs as part of reauthorizing the federal surface transportation program, the Transportation Research Board recognized a gap: no proposals explicitly addressed research to mitigate GHG emissions and energy consumption attributable to passenger and freight travel or to adapt to climate change. A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy is the product of a study to suggest research programs to fill this and other perceived gaps.

Specifically, this book identifies research needs with regard to policies and strategies relating to the use of the transportation system and to assist infrastructure owners in adapting to climate change; focuses on research programs that could provide guidance to officials at all levels responsible for policies that affect the use of surface transportation infrastructure and its operation, maintenance, and construction; and aims to help officials begin to adapt the infrastructure to climate changes that are already occurring or that are expected to occur in the next several decades.

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