Choose a Technology that you think should be improved or developed - Essay Example

Running head: The automobile technology: A technology that should be improved. Introduction The automobile technology is one of the leading technologies in the world whose function is to design, develop, produce, market, and sell motor vehicles. By far it is one of the leading contributors of many economies revenue around the world. A good example here is in the US, India and Japan just to cite a few. To give a brief history on the automotive technology, it is known that the first automobile with a petro engine was constructed by one Karl Benz in the year 1885 in Germany a place known as Mannheim. He was later granted a patent in the year 1886 which made him to start his first production of the automobile in the year 1888. This later saw other manufactures come in to the field of designing better vehicles rather than a horse drawn carriage which was fitted with engine. It was until the year 2005 that the USA led the world in total automobile production. Before the great depression in 1929, the whole world is known to have had approximately 32m automobiles in operation whereby, the US contributed to 90% of this total production. (Bajaria, 2001). Context and use of this technology An automobile is a wheeled motor vehicle whose role is to transport passengers and goods from one point to another which carries its own engine. We cannot fail to mention the role which these automobiles have played towards the growth of our economies. In the field of transport, goods and services can be transported from one region to another. Trade has been enabled here between countries since goods are exported and also imported hence customers are in a position to enjoy a wide variety of products in the market. Basically, automobiles are designed to run on roads, most of them have more than one wheels, and have seats for passengers to sit on. This is one of the advanced technologies so far. This is because, you find that it is out of the introduction of these cars then that people are in a position to move from one town to another and even from one country to another. This technology has many advantages than its disadvantages though it can also be improved. Most of these vehicles move on roads and our argument here will be based on the cars which move on roads. (Bajaria, 2001). Around the whole world, there are approximately 807 million light trucks and cars in our roads. This was out of a research which was carried in a sample of countries around the world in the year 2007 which were consuming over 260 billion US gallons of diesel and gasoline fuel around the year. The table below show how important this technology has been. In India, the table below shows the sale of vehicles from (2005-2010) in the passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three wheelers, and two wheelers. Type of vehicle 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 Passenger vehicles 1,061,572 1,143,076 1,379,979 1,549,882 1,838,697 Commercial vehicles 318,430 351,041 467,765 490,494 417,126 Three wheelers 307,862 359,920 403,910 364,781 501,030 Two wheelers 6,209,765 7,052,391 7,872,334 7,249,278 349,719 In transport field, these automobiles have played a great role. The table above clearly shows how important this technology has been in the whole world. (Bajaria, 2001). Effects of this technology Despite the fact that it has helped so many people, it needs to be improved due to the effects it has to our environment. This is as a result of the threats to the environment since it has led to global warming and the greenhouses effects. As a result of the high production of these cars, you realize that in most of the developing countries they use the non-renewable fuels like, petrol, diesel, petroleum and we have seen that these fuels have led in dramatic increase in the rates of accidental deaths, the generation of air and noise pollution among many effects. A non-renewable resource is one of the natural resources which are not grown or even produced so once consumed, it cannot be reused again. (Chatzkel, 1998). When oil prices began sky rocketing not even long ago, this led to a global panic. This was because; no one in this age could ever imagine living without gasoline. The question many people had in their minds was how then could we commute? Little do people know of the effects of using these fuels in our vehicles? Change is inevitable and great changes have been seen in our environment as a result of these fuels. It has led to great threats in the environment and one of these threats is the global warming and the green house gas effects which are seen to have become more critical. The pressure then has been put to the automobile industry among others. As a result of these, a new technology has to come in place to produce vehicles that are energy efficient and which will help in maintaining and safe and a clean environment. To this end, clean and renewable alternative automotives fuels then need to come in to place in the manufacturing process. Without even a more serious change, we need to look to a massive fuel demand that is roughly 2.7 more times the present consumption levels. Alternative automobiles are the need of the hour. For the short distances in towns, here, electric vehicles can be used. You will find that these vehicles will only require regular recharging to make them work effectively. (Chatzkel, 1998). Air pollution Most of the vehicles today use the fossil fuels which are comprised of fossilized remains of plants and animals and most of them are known to consist of carbon. So, the danger here is that when these fuels are burned, they produce carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere hence has an impact in our lives and other organisms. This tries to pollute our environment. This is as a result of the carbon produced when its burned and also causes global warming. (Chatzkel, 1998). Global warming Global warming occurs when carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere as a result of the combustion of the fossil fuels. When the fossil fuels are combusted, they produce carbon monoxide which is later converted in to carbon dioxide. As a result, you will find that the surface temperature of the earth increases drastically. Due to these high temperatures they tend to distress the ecological systems. The end results here include, severe weather, floods, droughts, drastic temperature changes, severe wildfires, and heat waves. The lives of plants are then threatened since there is shortage of food and water. The tropical regions also do expend and this allows the disease carrying insects to expand their ranges to other regions. (Chatzkel, 1998). Rising sea levels As a result of the global warming, it causes rising of sea levels. The melting of ice at the poles and in glaciers can also cause oceans to rise and this is seen to have an impact on the human settlements living in the low areas and also other ecosystems. (Chatzkel, 1998). Increased road accidents You also find that when these oils leaks in to the natural world as in the case of oil spills, it may cause accidents. A good example is in the case of the oil tankers which normally transport oil from one point to another; you find that there is the possibility of oil leaking on the roads. This is more evident in the developing countries that transport these oils using roads. So when these oils spill, then there is the danger of causing accidents in these roads. Marines shipping these oils also try to endanger the lives of the marine animals and plants. This is because when these oils spill, it tries to cover the survive of the waters providing a cover hence no free movement of gases in to the sea for these plants and animals to breathe. The ecosystem in this case is destroyed. To speak politically, crude oil has fueled so many international arguments and it is thought by some people to be even the cause of so many wars between the developing and the developed countries. So, an improvement to alternative use of another source of energy would help in the reduction of wars in our countries (Chatzkel, 1998). Alternative technology (Bio fuels) Due to the high effects of the petroleum products used by many cars today, bio fuels can act as a remedy in this case. Today, it is unbelievable that there are roadworthy vehicles in our roads that run on bio fuels, electricity, methane and also hydrogen. In fact what we need in most of the developing countries today is the use of renewable fuels which can be reused again and again and not destroy our good environment. As a result, the bio fuels can be used in this case. For example in the case of the long distant drivers using the long tracks, in this case they need to be able to renew or even recharge energy sources. (Dale, 1994). These are fuels made from vegetables oils and they have the advantage that they are more sustainable, they can annually be renewable. Bio fuels are made by recycling our waste products like the crop residues maybe after we have harvested our crops, instead of burning these residues, they can be recycles to produce energy, agricultural manure, animal by-products among others. You will find that these are already waste products which when left on the ground can lead to the destruction o the environment. As a result, they are renewed and used as a bio-fuel to be used in our vehicles. This is a much more cost effective and also environmental friendly source of energy apart from the fossil fuels used today by our vehicles. One of the major advantages of using the bio fuel is that it has a oxidation stability. From a research which was made on the effectiveness of the bio fuels o our automobiles, it tested the oxidation stability by using three test models which included: 1) ASTM D525 2) ASTM D2274 3) EN14112. The effects of storage condition of bio fuels, composition and antioxidants on the degradation of these fuels were all investigated. ASTM D525 was one of the most effective test methods in determining the effectiveness of the storage condition of the bio fuel stability. The test results on the ASTM D525 were seen to be consistent with those from the EN14112. In order to further enhance the stability of these fuels, with the addition of the antioxidants it was effective. (Dale, 1994). Hybrid vehicles The production of hybrid cars can also help n reduction of these emissions and also try to lower on the fuel consumptions based on the use of the electricity and carbon-based fuels. Hybrid cars have an advantage in that they combine clean energy of the electrical motor with the power of the gas powered engine hence you will find that it leads to lower emissions and also better mileage. With more production of these cars in the developing countries, you will find that it has highly reduced the dependency on the fossil fuels which directly affects our environment. The hybrid car is known as the car of the era. This is because it has the advantage of utilizing two energy sources for its movement Another option is the high investment in the wind power, solar power, geothermal systems, and hydro-electric power plants can be used to provide energy in the automotive industry. All these are renewable sources of energy and do not provide any threat to the ecosystem. They are locally available like in the case of the solar power and the wind power hence when well utilized, they can lead to the growth of our economies. (Dale, 1994). Conclusion Attention today is paid to develop more organic systems which will lead to the production of sustainable fuels which are environment friendly. When we use the alternative energy sources, you will find that carbon emissions that are produced by the fossil fuels will be reduced. There is a high growing support in coming up with a new technology which will lead to alternative energy sources in our automobiles and also in other industries worldwide. Most of the developing countries suffer out of this phenomenon due to lack of enough technology to produce their own goods and services. As a result, they end up adopting the cheap and poor technology which eventually affects their environment. Hybrid cars in this case may be expensive but with the adoption of bio fuels which can be obtained from the locally available resources can help in solving this problem. This is a technology which has been tested and it’s working. References Bajaria, A. (2001). Knowledge creation and management: Total quality management. TQM Magazine, Vol. 15 Chatzkel, J. (1998). How can systems thinking enhance quality efforts? New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. Dale, G. (1994). Managing quality, 2nd edition. London: Prentice hall. Read More