Ourpower Guides - Sustainable Transport - Overview

Transport is a major contributor to global warming.

To download in pdf format, click here.

Virtually all transport is powered by fossil fuels, although governments across the world are trying now to mandate increasing proportions of renewable fuels and to encourage such schemes as car sharing.
Essentially, there are a few ways we can make our own transport choices more sustainable:

• using more fuel-efficient vehicles
• running our vehicles on renewable fuels
• sharing transport with others through public transport or car pooling
• walking and travelling by bicycle, and
• by travelling less

Types of sustainable transport

Ourpower will be looking to provide information and supplier details for all sources of sustainable transport and also areas that may make all of our transport footprints smaller. This may include promoting ways of travelling less. But initially, examples of areas that will be covered are:
- Electric and hybrid cars and vans
- Cars and vans converted to run on vegetable oil and bio-ethanol
- Car sharing and pooling

Electric Vehicles

Electric cars emit no emissions - or at least they emit no emissions from their exhaust pipes as they travel. But, of course, the electricity has to be generated first - so to be truly sustainable, if you buy your electricity from a green supplier (see Energy Suppliers), then an electric car can be very good for the planet.
But you have to live with the car and use it get about. The reality is that we are just at the beginning of the journey as far as electric cars are concerned. Battery technology is set to improve significantly over the next few years. This will allow longer range, faster speeds, and 'sturdier' vehicles.
All this is not to say that there aren't real possibilities right now, particularly for those living in cities and a drive outside their house!
Ourpower will help you find suppliers, put you in touch with the Pioneers who are already using electric cars, and make sure you are informed to make your informed choice.

Converted vehicles

Ordinary diesel cars can run on biodiesel without any changes to their mechanics or engines. In fact, many diesel cars would run happily on vegetable oil....for a while. But vegetable oil is thicker, moiré viscose than biodiesel or that matter diesel itself.
So, the vegetable oil must be 'thinned' somewhat (the process of esterification to biodiesel), or the engine must be altered to allow vegetable oil to be used successfully, in all weather conditions.
Conversions can now be carried out on many diesel engines, to allow the use of vegetable oil. Similarly, a petrol engine can be converted to run on a high blend of bio-ethanol, although this is considered less economic than the diesel conversion. Flex-fuel cars are typically the answer: cars that are engineered to be able to run on petrol, bio-ethanol, or a blend of the two.

Car pooling and sharing

There are 2 quite different concepts here. Pooling relates to sharing vehicles between a number of people - really just having access to a car when you need it.

Car or lift sharing is really aimed at reducing the number of 1 or 2 occupancy car trips that occur. Government schemes such as motorway lanes exclusively for multi-occupancy cars have been tried around the world - but it is the internet that perhaps may hold the key to a breakthrough in this area.

Nowadays we have the ability to register our requirements and view resource availability - essentially tell others where and when we wish to travel, and see where and when others are travelling - on the internet. This changes the game, alongside another vital aspect. Trust. Travelling with others or allowing others to travel with us will always involve a level of trust. Internet phenomena like Ebay have shown us how 'feedback' can be used to create a real and true sense of trust. It is these factors that may drive the uptake of much more sustainable transport in this area.

As in other areas, Ourpower will look to work with those operators who are making a difference and who have the right attitude and approach to make things happen. By providing this exchange of information, we hope that we can accelerate the growth of sustainable transport in the UK.

To download in pdf format, click here.