New Opportunities and Constraints Emerging for Carbon-Neutral Individual Transport

Authors

Univ.-Prof. Dr. G. Brasseur, Graz University of Technology; Univ.-Prof. Dr. J. Lercher, Technical University Munich, Garching / Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, USA:

Year

2021

Print Info

Production/Publication ÖVK

Summary

The extent and volume of the world's dependence on fossil fuels is frequently overlooked when scenarios are drafted on how current energy consumption can be transformed in a carbon-neutral and sustainable way. The key to a sustainable energy transition lies in the collection of energy from the inevitably volatile solar radiation as well as from wind and hydropower. Since electricity, along with heat, is the form in which the energy can be made available, electromobility fits well into this scenario. However, it is also shown that not only is the majority of electricity generated today from fossil carbon resources, but in particular, 84 % of the primary energy required globally is derived from these carbon sources. To generate, convert, and distribute these amounts of energy in a sustainable way requires a complex global strategy. The high population density of Europe makes it a major challenge to compensate locally for the current import of energy sources using wind and solar energy. In this article a global distribution of power generation is proposed that considers both the impact of sustainable energy extraction on land and water resources as well as the global balance of wealth. Transportation of extracted electrical energy will require its storage in chemical bonds. For achieving carbon-neutral mobility, approaches are shown that point both to regulation of access to electricity as well as to new concepts of transformation, i.e., it is discussed under which boundary conditions carbon-neutral individual transport is possible.

Number of pages

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