Climate change is far and away the greatest threat of the modern human era -- a crisis that will only get worse the longer we dither -- with American car culture as a major contributor to the nation's greenhouse emissions. But carbon-neutralizing energy and solutions are already on the horizon and, in some more developed countries like Sweden, are already being deployed. In his latest book, Our Livable World, science and technology analyst Marc Shaus, takes readers on a fascinating tour of the emerging tools -- from "smart highways" to jet fuel made from trash -- that will not only help curb climate change but perhaps even usher in a new, more sustainable, livable world. The following excerpt is reprinted from Our Livable World: How Scientists Today Are Creating the Clean Earth of Tomorrow by Marc Shaus. Reprinted with permission of Diversion Books.

General Motors acquired Cruise Automation last year to boost its self-driving car efforts. Cruise made kits that turned Audi S4 or A4 vehicles into autonomous vehicles, and the company's know-how helped GM's plans to place more than 300 driverless cars with Lyft, a company GM has invested heavily with. Now GM is testing a beta app that lets employees in San Francisco hail an autonomous Chevy Bolt EV to anywhere in the city. According to TechCrunch, the car company claims that the new service, "Cruise Anywhere," has become the primary way some of its employees get around. "We've always said we'd launch first with a ride share application, and this is in line with that and just further evidence of that," Cruise CEO and co-founder Kyle Vogt told TechCrunch.