What's New in Energy

The International Council on Clean Transportation has released a report that documents the methodologies for evaluating real-world vehicle emissions. This report is the first in the series and focuses on real-world nitrogen oxide emissions measured by remote sensing.

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 515: Practices for Preventing Roadway Departures identifies and summarizes practices being used by state departments of transportation (DOTs) to prevent roadway departure crashes and to identify the data-driven advantages and disadvantages of these practices. More than half of all traffic fatalities result from roadway depart...

The Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences is hosting Status and Challenges in Decarbonizing our Energy Landscape on October 10-12, 2018 at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, California. The meeting will explore the state of current renewable energy technology and near-term scientific challenges that must be met to achieve energy decarbonization. Sessions wi...

TRB turns 100 on November 11, 2020. To commemorate this milestone, TRB has a yearlong celebration planned that will begin in January 2020 to recognize and honor the extraordinary record of achievements accomplished by TRB’s volunteers, sponsors, affiliates, friends, and staff. Please support to the celebration by contributing to the Century Club (individuals) or Century Patron (organizations) f...

The International Council on Clean Transportation has released a report that summarizes the key elements of new regulations for vehicles in the European Union (EU). In spring 2018, the EU adopted new measures for determining emissions standards of new road vehicles in order to reach emissions goals.

TRB is sponsoring National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) Data for Transportation Applications Workshop August 8-9, 2018 in Washington, D.C. The 2017  NHTS  data, now available, allows analysis of daily travel by all modes, including characteristics of the persons traveling and their households, their vehicles, and their trips. This workshop, held every 5-6 years, explores how NHTS da...

TRB will conduct a webinar on Thursday, July 26, 2018, from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM ET that describes the inaugural Strategic War Game session at the 2018 TRB Annual Meeting. War games are fast-paced simulations involving teams that represent a market or customer, a set of competitors, and a series of other uncontrollable factors or entities. At this year’s TRB Annual Meeting, eight teams worked in ...

TRB's Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board has released more than 200 papers from the 2018 TRB Annual Meeting. Enhancements to the journal include:  Articles published much closer to final acceptance A new user interface for the journal Article-level metrics  Full-text HTML to enhance discovery of the research Interactive proof markup for author...

The TRB community extends condolences to the family and friends of Dr. Anthony "Tony" Kane, who passed away on Tuesday, May 15, 2018. Dr. Kane served as an ex officio member of the TRB Executive Committee and was an active volunteer with TRB since 1977. “Tony Kane is someone whose professionalism, friendship, and passion, especially for safety, we all admired and benefited from." states Neil Pe...

Carlos M. Braceras, P.E., has been newly appointed to serve on the TRB Executive Committee. Braceras began his tenure as executive director of the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) in May 2013. In this capacity, he is responsible for UDOT's more than 1,600 employees and the design, construction, and maintenance of Utah's 6,000-mile system of roads and highways. Braceras joined UDOT in 19...

TRB’s Transportation Research Record journal is implementing a new paper peer review system, Editorial Manager, to provide enhanced flexibility, security, and system performance. TRB’s Technical Activities Division has elected to integrate its peer-review paper process with Editorial Manager, a commercial peer review software product developed and supported by Aries Systems. Editorial Manager w...

TRB standing committees have issued calls for papers for the 98th TRB Annual Meeting, January 13-17, 2019, in Washington, D.C, and/or the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (TRR) . Please create or update your MyTRB profile now if you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, submit a paper for presentation, and/or submit a paper for publication. Calls for pap...

The International Council on Clean Transportation has released a report that summarizes key findings and policy recommendations from recent research related to heavy duty vehicle (HVD) carbon dioxide (CO2) standards in the European Union. The European Commission is preparing a regulatory proposal that would set mandatory CO2 limits for the HDV categories with the highest share of emissions.

The International Council on Clean Transportation has released a report that discusses the testing of a US heavy-duty diesel Class 8 tractor to assess the fuel consumption over prescribed driving cycles. The results of this report can be used to determine speed-based road load forces onto the vehicle for subsequent chassis dynamometer testing.

The International Council on Clean Transportation has released a report that provides an update on the growth in electric vehicle sales in California through 2017. This report quantifies electric vehicle market growth across California local markets, provides broader U.S. market comparisons, and describes these developments in the context of California’s 2025–2030 emissions goals.

The International Council on Clean Transportation has released a report that updates a previous report by the International Council on Clean Transportation, The New Passenger Car Fleet in China, 2010 . This report identifies the characteristics of China’s passenger car fleet and assesses technology changes made by 2014 in response to a Iphased-approach addressing fuel consumption standards.

The International Transport Forum has released a report that provides an overview of carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction targets that were defined in previously determined Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC). The INDC was a multi-country climate commitment to reduce CO2 emissions, and this report assesses the impact of these commitments.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has announced a new funding opportunity that will address priorities in advanced batteries and electrification, including cybersecurity related to electric vehicle charging; materials for both lighter weight vehicle structures and advanced powertrains; technology integration and energy-efficient mobility sy...

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has released its proceedings of a workshop hosted in January 2018 that explores best practices and lessons learned from other high-risk, high-reliability industries for the benefit of the research community and of citizens, industry practitioners, decision makers, and officials addressing safety in the offshore oil industry. Since th...

The International Transport Forum has released a report that assesses Japan’s goal of becoming an international bunkering hub for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). LNG bunkering is the practice of providing liquefied natural gas fuel to a ship for its own consumption.

The International Transport Forum has released a report that identifies port-based incentive systems to reduce shipping emissions, such as environmentally differentiated port fees. This report assesses the extent to which financial incentives at the port level could contribute to the design of decarbonization policies for the maritime sector.

The National Center for Sustainable Transportation at the University of California at Davis has released a report that evaluates the market status and potential freight market penetration of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) and near ZEVs in the medium- and heavy-duty class within the California market. This report identifies alternative technologies – including battery electric, fuel cell, and hyb...

Resources for the Future has released a report that assesses the implications of a full rollback for gasoline consumption, oil imports, and carbon emissions. In April 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that planned fuel economy increases are too stringent and should be revised . This report addresses the potential repercussions of this revision.

The International Council on Clean Transportation has released a report that reviews the effects of biodiesel on vehicles in Indonesia. Most studies about biodiesel impacts have focused on vehicles in the United States and Europe, but Indonesia is different because it has a warm climate, uses a vehicle fleet with older technology, and tends to have lower fuel quality than in Europe and the Unit...

The National Center for Sustainable Transportation at the University of California at Davis has released a report that assesses the state-of-the-practice of automated vehicles (AVs) and their effects on travel and the environment. This paper identifies changes that AVs may have on increased roadway capacity, reduced travel time, monetary costs, parking, induced travel demand, new traveler group...

Brian W. Ness, Director of the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD), has been newly appointed to serve on the TRB Executive Committee. Since 2010, Ness has served as the ITD Director. Ness is an active member of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), chairing the AASHTO Special Committee on Transportation Security and Emergency Management (SCOTSEM) unt...

The Institute for Transport Economics in Norway has released a report that provides information on the development of the battery electric vehicle market in Norway through the end of 2017. This report identifies whether or not Norway can reach the Parliament’s target of selling only zero-emission passenger vehicles in Norway beginning in 2025.

The International Council on Clean Transportation has released a report that analyzes the Canadian vehicle manufacturing market and sales patterns in order to identify the possible impacts if Canada weakens its greenhouse gas emission standards. The United States is expected to roll back its emissions targets, and Canada has the option to follow suit or maintain its original standards.

The U.S. Federal Transit Administration has released a report that summarizes the results from a battery electric bus demonstration funded under the Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction program. This report evaluates the battery electric buses in King County Metro, Seattle, Washington, in comparison to hybrid, trolley, or diesel fleets.

TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Synthesis 87: Airport Participation in Oil and Gas Development provides airports with practical considerations and responses involving oil and gas extraction. The report documents lessons learned as energy prices went from their highest levels (in the mid-2000s) to some of their lowest (in 2015 and 2016). It includes a compilation of federal, st...