Lesson Plan May 5, 2017
Green Taxi Initiatives in Combating Climate Change
Grades:
What are the economic advantages and disadvantages to having energy-efficient taxis in cities?
How would taxis' competition with rideshare cars (Uber, Lyft, etc.) change if they were to become more energy-efficient?
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C40 News Team, Bogota Charges Forward with Electric Taxis. National Geographic. 1/17/14, 1. Dowson, Nick. Air Pollution Our New Public Health Scandal The Independent. 2017, 2.
Frangoul, Anmar. London's Black Cabs are About to Turn Green. CNBC. 3/22/17, 1.
Li, Ying. Business Innovation and Government Regulation for the Promotion of Electric Vehicle Use. Journal of Cleaner Production. 10/15/16, 378.
Pierce, Neal. Hybrid Taxi Fleets, Why Not Now? The Denver Post. 3/4/10, 2.
Stewart, Joshua. Airport Taxi Companies Switching to Hybrids. The San Diego Union-Tribune. 11/10/15. 2.
Stockton, Nick. The Worlds Cities Can Take a Big Bite Out of Emissions. Wired, 12/15/16, 1-3
Tan, Yvette. Beijing Makes a Drastic Move to Cut Emissions. Mashable, 2/27/17, 2.
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<p><strong>What is climate change? What are its causes? Effects?</strong></p>
<p>Climate change is defined as a significant change in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time. Climate change in the Earth’s atmosphere allows more solar energy to filter through it, which is agitated by the increase of carbon emissions being released. Climate change is affecting the environment, from increased average temperature, ocean acidification, infrequent weather patterns, sea level rise.</p>
<p><strong>What are cities generally doing to combat climate change?</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Cities are building innovative infrastructure and technology to help reduce the expansion of climate change and to help protect the city and its population from its effects. This includes seawalls, greenways, energy-efficient buildings, green roofs. Another initiative that cities across the world are taking part in are converting taxis to be more energy-efficient.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In Xuzhou, China, a study shows that even though the purchasing and maintenance costs of owning a hybrid-electric taxi is more expensive than a petroleum taxi, it has more potential to earn more money than a petroleum taxi. Bogota, Colombia started by bringing in 50 new HEV’s into their fleet of taxis in 2014. In Beijing, China about 70,000 taxis will slowly be replaced with HEV’s. In London, England it was announced in 2017 that the famous black taxi cabs will be revamped into a hybrid-electric car and go on sale in London in 2018. San Diego approved an incentive program for taxi companies to switch to HEV’s in 2015 and found that they saved $1,200/month from switching two of its older cars to two Priuses.</p>