On the way to a clean transport

The transportation sector is responsible for 13 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions are growing rapidly as more and more of the world’s inhabitants are able to buy cars and afford air travel and as an increasing number of goods are being transported.

Fortunately there are solutions that will reduce both CO₂ emissions and other pollution from this sector. Electric cars have no emissions whatsoever, but not only that: the electric car uses only a quarter as much energy as a petrol-driven car!  Electricity can be generated without emissions both from renewable energy sources and from fossil fuels with CO₂ capture and storage. On the following pages we present the beginning of the electric car revolution.  Electric family cars, light-goods vehicles and sports cars are on the way into the market.

Obviously, batteries and electric motors cannot be used everywhere. We need a broad range of solutions that are applicable for different modes of transportation. Cities do not have room for more cars and require emissions-free public transportation. Besides, many of us would benefit from biking to work. High-speed trains can replace short-haul air traffic, while new forms of sustainable biofuels can replace fossil fuels in other air traffic.  In the longer term, shipping can use hydrogen which produces only steam as exhaust. 

In this chapter we present solutions for the transportation sector. Some of them are tried and tested, while others are still being proven.