Yes, that is correct ladies and gentlemen, we are back! Tech Tuesdays shall continue throughout the summer and hopefully this time, throughout the year. Also, yes I understand it is Wednesday, the post queue on my site decided to set itself a day ahead this week. Nonetheless, we are back and we start with one of my favorite words (as you know I LOVE the word “ecstatic”). Today that word is energy, specifically clean energy, renewable energy, green energy, all of the above!
Royal Dutch Shell, the gas station we commonly know as Shell, has started a youtube series with a few vloggers, hosted by Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco. The series covers a competition “to cross the USA using the lowest CO2 emissions possible in the ultimate efficiency challenge. This is not a race about traveling faster, it is about traveling cleaner #MakeTheFuture.” — Shell.
In episode one, these two teams, Team Alpha and Team Omega, begin their 3000-mile journey, from Los Angeles, CA to New York City. With each checkpoint, they are faced with decisions that prompt them to choose vehicles that yield the lowest carbon emission possible. It seems this series can raise awareness on how to utilize transportation more efficiently and to see how it can be implemented long-term and on a large-scale. Also, a very clever way to showcase the direction that Shell might be taking its future business strategies. I, for one, like the series so far, as I am always eager to learn what new ways to get from point A to Point B. However, as I continue to watch I reaffirm that it is much bigger than that.
The conclusion I draw from this series and the message I am hoping to interpret is that the journey to a brighter future of sustainable transportation is not just some feat of “engineering science magic” that will miraculously come to fruition. It is not a crazy idea for an affordable business model for both suppliers and customers. It involves the most integral part: us, the end-users, the human beings that inhabit the world. Sustainable Energy is a multi-faceted problem, with cleaner and safer transportation being one of the major goals to achieve (there are others that will be explained in a later post). Shell’s Travel Hack highlights how fulfilling it can be to explore new horizons, experience new methods and think outside of the box.
So dear reader, whether you are a proud grease monkey, a future politician, a business owner, an EV enthusiast, environmentalist, or an ordinary consumer, how do you feel about the Great Travel Hack? Do you believe we can truly make monumental steps toward sustainable energy? Is it possible to get to a point in life where we can still power our homes, cars, and companies while maintaining environmental integrity? Will we still be “cool” if we conserve a little more and use a little less?
As you answer any or all of those questions consider this. As an aspiring engineer, I am taught that technology is created to make our lives easier. However, “easy” can often be hidden under a thick layer of cut corners that are masked by the warm and comforting proverbial blanket of convenience. Technology is truly meant to improve our lives. This means that drastic changes might occur in the process, which may disturb our desired equilibrium. I implore you to consider what is necessary if we are to make real progress and I encourage you with Kayley Cuoco’s words, “We can move forward while thinking forward.”
Tune to the series right now!
Thanks for Reading.
— BKT
(As a believer of accountability and prose, all graphics and content have been properly sourced in the above passage.)
The Real EPN Media 