“Transport will come to rely on a mix of energy sources, rather than on one monopoly source,” says Jack Short, Secretary General of the International Transport Forum. In an exclusive interview with Renewable Energy Magazine, Mr. Short discusses what impact each sector of the transport industry has on emissions and how it needs to adapt to curb these emissions and save fuel.
The International Transport Forum is a strategic think tank for the transport sector. Each year, it brings together Ministers from over 50 countries, along with leading decision-makers and players from the private sector, civil society and research, to address transport issues of strategic importance.
Jack Short reports that transport is responsible for almost a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use and its share is growing. As a result, he argues that the transport industry must take considerable steps to reduce its impact on the environment. Energy efficiency, demand management and an increased use of biofuels rank among the top priorities.
“Better demand management can do a lot of good in reducing congestion and its side effects,” says Short, although he warns that “it will not work miracles in our struggle to halt climate change”. Other solutions need to be found. “The automotive industry will push ahead more quickly if policy can provide clear standards that reduce the risk for industry to invest in products that won’t be marketable,” he warns, adding that “some carmakers believe very firmly in electric vehicles, others do not. A few years ago, biofuels were seen as the cure-all, but nowadays a more balanced approach seems to be the consensus with second and later generation biofuels, grown sustainably, providing a small but significant share of the market”.
In other segments of the transport industry, much work still needs to be done too. “The volume of global shipping should equally triple by 2050, so the industry will have to be much more proactive about changing its carbon footprint,” says Short.
Short is somewhat more positive about aviation. He believes it is “a good thing” that some airlines are investing in biofuel development, given the aviation industry’s share in global emissions and the growth rates for air travel. However, while he accepts that interest in biofuels will increase as jet fuel becomes more expensive, he also highlights that “the airlines’ biofuels experiments are only the very beginning. “The sustainability and cost problems need to be solved.”
Turning to the electric car, Short recognises that “the electric car is not even a good stopgap, if the electricity it consumes is not produced in a sustainable way. Or indeed, if the batteries needed have a net negative impact on the environment,” although he concludes that e-mobility could in fact turn out to have an element of a stop-gap solution, while hydrogen “certainly has great appeal, but it also has proved a difficult technology”. “It is likely that transport will come to rely on a mix of energy sources, rather than on one monopoly source,” Short ends.
To read the interview with Jack Short, click here:
Interview with Jack Short, Secretary General of the International Transport Forum
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