Transport Systems


Programme: The Future of Mobility

March 1, 2010 in Transport Systems

With cheap oil supplies dwindling and pressure on to decrease emissions, there are significant question marks over how we’re going to get around in the future. Action needs to be taken soon but in what form should that action come? Are we going to be relying on biofuels, electric and hydrogen or some other form of energy to power our vehicles in years to come? Euronews met with Dr. Oliver Inderwildi of Wadham College in Oxford, lead author of one of the most comprehensive academic studies ever published on transportation.

Dr Inderwildi’s over-riding message is that nothing will change quickly. The current fleet of cars will be on the road until 2025, so any cut in emissions will only be gradual. “There is no silver bullet,” Dr Inderwildi concludes. “We have to get a smooth transition to a new transportation system by using now in the short term more efficient smaller cars, by choosing less carbon intensive modes of transport, like public transportation and railways. That’s what we can do in the short term and at the same time we should give R&D incentives to improve novel technologies like electric cars, green electricity production and fuel cells.”

Discussion: As well as seeking alternative fuels, should we be changing our entire transportation culture?

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Programme: The Future of Transportation

October 1, 2009 in Transport Systems

The perennial question of what transport will look like in the future has been replaced, in recent years, with a far more important and urgent question; how will this transport be powered? As fossil fuels dwindle and new technology becomes necessary rather than desirable, how we get from A to B is climbing up the global political agenda.

No form of transport is as critical in this debate as the motor car. The internal combustion changed the way we live, but its power source is running dry so this month Comment Visions meets Dr Paul Nieuwenhuis, an academic, adviser, environmentalist and car enthusiast.

In this fascinating and wide-ranging interview Dr Nieuwenhuis discusses how local energy resources will lead to different solutions for different places, how cars will be built differently in the future and even proposes the idea of a world without car dealers!

Discussion: Are we doing enough to ensure a rapid and smooth transition to carbon neutral transport systems this century?

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Live Debate: Can Europe de-carbonise transport?