CO2-free mobility: (how) is that possible?

(Repost from ETH news) Right now, everyone is talking about mobility, how it ought to be CO2 -neutral and clean. Yet how do we get there? Banning combustion engines, changing how we usually get around or gradually shifting towards electric vehicles – the ideal path is not exactly clear.

Enlarged view: Traffic jam
About 40 percent of Switzerland’s CO2 emissions arise from transport. (Image: Maxiphoto / iStock)

How is Switzerland expected to manage its transport sector in the future? What options do we have and what scenarios are realistic? A working group from the Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research in Efficient Mobility (external page SCCER Mobility) is dedicated to addressing these issues. It recently published two reports [1, 2] to identify facts and opportunities.

Let’s start with the facts: over the last three decades, transport is the only sector in Switzerland in which energy consumption has risen steadily. Today, it makes up almost 30 percent of the final energy consumption (not including international air transport) and accounts for roughly 40 percent of Switzerland’s CO2 emissions. Within these fractions, motorized private transport (MPT) accounts for about 70 percent of consumption and emissions. If Switzerland hopes to meet the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement and the Energy Strategy 2050, all energy sectors – thus also mobility – will have to be largely CO2-free in less than 50 years.

See the full article in ETH News

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