Overview
There are many factors currently affecting the evolution of transport, including air quality concerns, decarbonisation, autonomous vehicles, advances in energy storage, population movement into urban areas, smart cities, the need for reverse logistics, online retailing and now the new Clean Growth Strategy.
Of all the sectors in the economy, transport is the one which is undergoing the most rapid change at the moment. Having been a laggard compared with the evolution of electricity generation, it is now looking to catch up fast. Headlines recently have been:
- All Volvo cars to be electric or hybrid from 2019
- Dyson plans to launch electric car in 2020
- France to ban sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2040
- Electric bus sets record with 1,101-mile trip on a single charge
- London’s ultra low emission zone arrives in 2019
- Diesel vehicles to be banned from Paris, Madrid, Athens and Mexico by 2025
- Volkswagen offers UK drivers up to £7,000 to scrap diesel cars
- More fully electric buses to run in London in drive to clean up air
- EasyJet plans to use electric planes for short haul flights within 10 years
- World’s first zero-emission hydrogen train to begin operations in Germany
- Paris orders battery-overhead electric locomotives
- British Airways tries again on waste-based biofuels
- Electric vehicle charge points to outnumber petrol stations by 2020 in UK
- Oxford plans to leapfrog London with world’s first Zero Emission Zone
The fundamental question is whether this has made any difference to the original broad vision for the clean transport system, involving electric cars for personal use and short haul logistics, hydrogen or biomethane in heavy goods vehicles for longer trips, the complete electrification of railways and biofuels for aeroplanes.