Three unrelated energy and carbon reduction efforts are focusing on slowing things down! I have often wondered if some of our high carbon footprint is a result of how fast we want things to move. There is certainly a correlation between speed and high carbon footprint in product supply chains (see my previous post).
Here is more on slowing things down:
- Slowing down the data flow through the Internet by milliseconds, by setting up data to travel in clusters instead of an even flow, may yield dramatic energy savings and cut the Internet's carbon footprint: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/05/08/cutting-the-internets-carbon-footprint/
- Slowing down flight speeds marginally, adding just minutes to a typical flight, can save fuel and cost: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/05/06/airlines-add-minutes-to-flights-save-millions-on-fuel/
- This is a more obvious one. Conway Truckload is reducing the maximum speed of its tractor-trailer fleet by 5 mph and expects to reduce its annual carbon emissions by 62 million pounds (plus, of course, fuel and cost savings): http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/05/09/slower-trucks-could-save-315m-tons-of-co2-emissions/
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