The future of mobility


Electric cars, greener airports, more efficient trains... Mike Scott explains how technology, integration and infrastructure can play a major part in the drive to cut carbon emissions across the transport system


Change is up and running


T


ransport has rarely been an integrated sec- tor – aviation has been segregated from rail, which has been separate from road transport and public transport has been divorced from cars, while freight has been in a silo of its own. However, we are moving to a multi-modal world where not only will journeys involve many different types of transport but vehicles have the potential to become part of the energy infrastructure.


According to the International Energy


Agency, 76% of transport emissions come from road traffic, so the private driver is the primary target of efforts to cut emissions. As well as attempts to shift travel from private cars to buses, trains and trams – public transport is inherently less polluting than cars – there will also be a focus on making all these forms of transport more efficient.


Electric vehicles (EVs) are set to hit the streets next year. The £250M Plugged in Places initia- tive, which provides grants of up to £5,000 for buyers of electric vehicles “is a direct incentive for public bodies and private companies to adopt electric vehicles,” says Phil Skipper, direc- tor of business development for e-mobility at Siemens UK.


But because the electric car is not a like-for- like replacement for a fossil-fuelled car, a shift in behaviour and expectations will be needed as well. “We need to see a change from seeing vehicle ownership as a symbol of success,” Skipper adds. In addition, drivers will have to think differently about how they refuel – less and more often, rather than all in one go as happens now – as well as about the finances of car ownership.


Battery tech- nology is likely to


progress rapidly in the next few decades. “There is a fear over residual values and this will lead to a business model where drivers buy the car, but lease the battery at a cost that will ideally work out at slightly less than the cost of petrol,” he continues. As battery technology develops and people become more used to EVs, the cost is likely to drop further.


The charging infrastructure remains a signifi- cant challenge – most charging will be done at home, overnight or at work, but other sites where people leave their cars for long periods, such as hotels, shopping centres and airports will also offer charging, but will also in the future make use of parked cars as an energy resource. For airports, such measures will be at the end


The electric car is not a like-for- like replacement for a fossil fuelled car, so a shift in behaviour and expectations is needed


of a long list of initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint, says Franz-Josef Herchenbach, direc- tor for portfolio and innovations at the Siemens Airport Centre. The possibilities range from energy efficient baggage-handling systems to renewable energy installations, along with the full range of other green buildings solutions dis- cussed elsewhere. Solar panels are the most obvi- ous application of renewables, but East Midlands airport has its own wind turbine and there is potential at many airports for combined heat and power (CHP) plants, possibly fuelled by biomass. Whatever approach is taken, the key is to take a sys- tematic approach,


looking at the entire airport as one system and planning integrated solutions.


Along with improved layout and routing of aircraft movements on the ground, a shift towards hybrid technology for the ground- based vehicles can also have a big effect, not just on the operations of the airport but also on the performance of the aircraft that use it. Aircraft use far less fuel if they are towed rather than using their own engines to taxi and efficiencies are further improved through the use of hybrid tractors, says Herchenbach.


Integrating airports with the rest of the trans- port system is also vital. Options range from encouraging car-sharing and clean taxis by the use of a special clean car lane to switching airport fleets to EVs and providing preferential parking for passenger EVs. Where it is possible, linking airports to high-speed rail systems is important. Rail is inherently greener than most other forms of transport, but there is still scope for further efficiency improvements. Siemens’ new Desiro City trains, for example, have replaced copper cabling with fibre optics and reduced the weight by 25%. This has contributed to a vehi- cle that is 50% more efficient than previous models. The reduced weight also reduces stress on the tracks and consequently to maintenance costs.


Returning to the roads, hybrid buses that use 40% less energy and offer a smoother, quieter ride are all part of the drive to persuade more people to use public transport. In London, the congestion charge and measures to make travel- ling by bus more reliable and quick reduced vehicle traffic by 20% and increased bus usage by 38%. Road charging schemes have encoun- tered resistance in other cities in the UK, says Gordon Wakeford, managing director at Siemens Mobility, “but necessity dictates there will be more congestion reducing initiatives in future”.


Sustainable Business | Green works | September 2010 | 07


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