I'm reading this excellent book by Wes Jackson called Becoming Native to This Place, and one of the themes in the book is promoting the idea that colleges and universities focus more energy on doing something to solve problems. 30 years later, most colleges still just talk about the problems or, even less productive, buy into the upward mobility/ consumer culture viewpoint.
So I'm always glad to see college/university students who are focusing some of their attention on more sustainable solutions.
But I say this with some reservations. I think a carbon negative automobile (if it can be made safe- the link does mention this is a prototype and no, the plastic body is not safe) would be a small step forward, but not the ultimate solution. Personally, I believe the larger step forward and ultimate answer is an eventual mass-reduction in personal transportation vehicles. I still do not believe that in a world of 8+ billion people that everyone can have their own car and not impact the planet in a way that overly consumes resources and energy. We have to consider here that everyone having their own car, no matter how "sustainable" it is touted to be, still requires huge amounts of resources, energy, and water to produce. In a world with a stable population a small fraction of what it is, I think these guys would be on to a major solution. In a world of 8 billion plus people, I think it will fall short.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
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