EcoRouting refers to the determination of a route that minimizes vehicle energy consumption compared to traditional routing methods, which usually attempt to minimize travel time. EcoRoutes typically increase travel time and in some cases this increase is constrained for a viable route. While significant research on EcoRouting exists for conventional vehicles, incorporating the novel aspects of plug-in hybrids opens new areas to be explored. A prototype EcoRouting system has been developed on the MATLAB platform that takes in map information and converts it to a graph of nodes containing route information such as speed and grade. Various routes between the origin and destination of the vehicle are selected and the total energy consumption and travel time for each route are estimated using a vehicle model. The route with the minimum energy consumption will be selected as the EcoRoute unless there is a significant difference between the minimum time route and the EcoRoute. In this case, selecting a sub-optimal route as the EcoRoute will increase the probability that the driver uses a lower fuel consumption route. EcoRouting has the potential to increase the fuel efficiency for powertrains designed mainly for performance, and we examine the sensitivity of the increased efficiency to various vehicle and terrain features. The reduction in energy consumption can be achieved independent of powertrain modifications and can be scaled using publicly available parameters. / Master of Science / The automotive industry faces increasingly strict government regulations and standards for fuel economy while maintaining the safety, performance, and consumer appeal of the vehicle. Hybrid Vehicles are cars that run on a combination of fuel an electricity. Plug-In hybrid vehicles are a subset of hybrid vehicles that have a large battery pack that can be charged externally. These vehicles therefore are a relatively cleaner form of energy and provide more mileage for the same amount of fuel. It is however important to consider the source of electricity generation when evaluating the environmental impact. Though hybrid vehicles typically have better fuel economy than their conventional counterparts, further improvements can be made on total energy consumption. EcoRouting is a step towards achieving the high standards set for a sustainable future. EcoRouting refers to a fuel efficient route that is still a viable alternative over the shortest Travel Time (TT) route, typically selected by routing applications and users alike. The major goal of the EcoRouting module developed here is to find a fuel efficient route which still has a viable travel time for it to be considered by the user. Maintaining a balance between the commute time and fuel consumption of the vehicle is key to ensure that drivers actually select EcoRoutes to fulfill their commuting requirements. This thesis lays out a method considering traffic conditions and the way the vehicle is driven. This method is be applied to applied to road networks in Detroit and San Francisco to gather extensive quantitative data. The data is used to analyze scenarios in which taking an EcoRoute will actually be a viable alternative for drivers of plug-in hybrids. The results show that EcoRouting is definitely viable for PlugIn hybrids and it depends highly on driver behavior and their priority of commute time. Furthermore, EcoRouting for PHEVs is more suited to city driving compared to highway driving. The EcoRoute varies and needs to be customized to the driving style of the user.

This thesis is the result of nine weeks fieldwork in Babati and Bukoba districts in Northern Tanzania during spring 2012. The purpose of this thesis is to study why development projects on fuel-efficient stoves have had a limited adoption in these two regions and what obstacles and opportunities there are for further spread of fuel-efficient cooking stoves. Semi-structured interviews were the main method used for collecting the empirical data, which was then analysed from a socio-economic perspective with help from the framework of Sustainable Rural Livelihoods. The Results showed that people’s perceptions of fuel-efficient stoves are positive but that projects face many obstacles connected to socio-economic conditions. Knowledge on how to get stoves and access to financial capital is main obstacles for further spreading. Social networks and organisations are channels for information, but to spread outside these networks will need complementing strategies from organisations promoting fuel-efficient stoves. Important are also finding ways of making the financial aspect of adopting stoves less, like using materials with lower costs, using stove-models with low costs and training people in building stoves so re-investments are unnecessary and dependency of funding from organisations less. Gender is a factor affecting the adoption of fuel-efficient stoves, regarding access to assets and generated benefits. There is therefore an importance of involving gender throughout the different stages of the projects.

Environmental health awareness has elevated in recent years alongside the evidence that supports the need to mitigate harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from non-renewable energy resources. The transportation sector alone significantly contributes to the pollutants on a global scale. Although it is commonly used for its superior energy-density and fuel efficiency, diesel engines are a significant portion of the transportation sector that contributes to these pollutants. As a result, this motivates novel research to simultaneously drive fuel efficiency improvements and emissions reductions. <div><br></div><div>The aftertreatment system for a diesel engine is critical in reducing the amount of harmful tailpipe emissions. Efficient operation of these aftertreatment systems generally requires elevated temperatures of 250◦C or above. In this effort, a flexible valvetrain will be utilized to demonstrate fuel-efficient strategies via intake valve closure (IVC) modulation at elevated speeds and loads. In addition, thermal management strategies will be demonstrated at low-to-moderate loads via cylinder deactivation (CDA), cylinder cutout, exhaust valve opening (EVO) modulation, and high-speed idle operation.</div><div><br></div><div>At elevated engine speeds, late intake valve closure (LIVC) enables improved cylinder filling via a dynamic charging effect. It is experimentally and analytically demonstrated that LIVC at 2200 RPM and 7.6 bar to 12.7 bar BMEP can be used to increase the volumetric efficiency and enable higher exhaust gas recirculation fractions without penalizing the air-to-fuel ratio. As a result, efficiency improving injection advances are implemented to achieve 1.2% and 1.9% fuel savings without sacrificing NOx penalties. In order to implement the LIVC benefits on a cammed engine, production-viable valve profile solutions were investigated. It is demonstrated that lost-motion-enabled and/or added-motion-enabled boot shape profiles are capable of improving volumetric efficiency at elevated engine speeds and loads. These profiles were also considered for one (of two) -valve modulation and two-valve modulation. Nearly 95% of the volumetric efficiency benefits are possible using production-viable boot or phase profiles, while 80% of the benefits are possible for single-valve modulation. </div><div><br></div><div>At curb idle, CDA and cylinder cutout operation realize stay-warm aftertreatment thermal management improvements by leveraging their impact on the gas exchange process. Specifically, cylinder cutout demonstrates 17% fuel savings, while CDA demonstrates 40% fuel savings, over the conventional six-cylinder thermal calibration. Additionally, the performance of cylinder cutout is subject to the geometry of the exhaust manifold, location of the EGR loop, and ability to control the exhaust manifold pressure. </div><div><br></div><div>Elevating the idle speed, while maintaining the same idle load, enables improved aftertreatment warm-up performance with engine-out NOx and PM levels no higher than a state-of-the-art thermal calibration at conventional idle operation. Elevated idle speeds of 1000RPM and 1200 RPM, compared to conventional idle at 800 RPM, realized 31% to 51% increase in exhaust flow and 25◦C to 40◦C increase in engine-out temperature, respectively. Additional engine-out temperature benefits are experimentally demonstrated at all three idle speeds considered (800, 1000, and 1200 RPM), without compromising the exhaust flow rates or emissions, by modulating the EVO timing. </div><div><br></div><div>At low-to-moderate loads modern diesel engines manipulate exhaust manifold pressures to drive EGR and thermally manage the aftertreatment. In these engines exhaust manifold pressure control is typically achieved via either a valve after the turbine, a variable geometry turbine, or wastegating. It is experimentally demonstrated that valvetrain flexibility enables efficient engine and aftertreatment operation without requiring exhaust manifold pressure control. Specifically, IVC modulation and CDA at elevated engine speeds, along with EVO modulation, CDA, and internal EGR at low engine speeds can match, or improve, efficiency and thermal management performance compared to a stock thermal calibration that requires exhaust manifold pressure control.<br></div>