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station, check which fuel is cheaper in that station a possibility, perhaps even more probable than
or which fuel suits its needs better, and refuel other alternatives. But in the very same report in
in any way it chooses,” Tartakovsky predicts. which XPRIZE researchers considered the future
“Intelligent control systems will regulate engine of forests, the environment, and the planet, they
operation according to the fuel consumed, so also considered another, far more optimistic
that the engine operates optimally on each type scenario.
of fuel, with high efficiency and zero pollutant This scenario is based, to compress it into a single
emissions.” Tartakovsky’s vision of saving the word, on technology. The researchers examined
world is based on improving the efficiency of how groundbreaking, disruptive technologies
existing engines, making effective and calculated of the type we reviewed above could be used to
use of all energy conversion methods, including curb global warming, prevent climate change,
electric propulsion, and producing new and and provide every household with efficient and
renewable fuels from carbon dioxide found cheap energy in ways that are not environmentally
in the atmosphere and from biomasses, in
order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and harmful. They claim that if such technologies are Prof. Leonid
redundant fuel consumption. This might sound Tartakovsky
like a somewhat conservative vision—compared
to certain other forecasts, ambitiously predicting developed, enhanced, and adopted by society
that all vehicles will convert to electric propulsion
—but Tartakovsky points to studies that show and by the industry, these great goals could be
that even electric vehicles emit carcinogenic
particles as a result of break, tire, and road wear. achieved by 2040. There is a future for humanity
This particulate matter could contribute to air
and environmental pollution much more than and there is hope—but only if we are wise enough
enhanced internal combustion engines, due to the
considerable weight added to electrical vehicles to comprehend the enormity of the crisis we are
by their batteries. Despite the fact that electric
vehicles are receiving abundant public attention, in and to invest in science and technology as a
Tartakovsky believes that scientific thinking and
academic work are crucial for any attempt to make means of providing the solution for it.
meaningful decisions in the energy field.
“We have to preserve our environment so that our “It’s entirely possible to change the way we do
children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren
will be able to live in a better world,” he says, things, to be kinder to the climate,” says Matthew
“but we cannot be biased. We must be able to tell
the difference between scientific facts and the Suss. “Things are already starting to change, and
declarations made by politicians and publicity-
hungry organizations, and to make science-based we should continue pushing in that direction.”
decisions that will benefit the environment.”
The technologies currently under development at
A Future of Hope
the Technion—and in other universities the world
We began this article with a grim forecast of
the destructive effects of climate change on our over—prove that as long as we keep pushing
planet and on humanity. This future is, of course,
forward, there is hope for the future.
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering | MEgazine | 17
