Transportation

Developing better alternatives to current transportation systems and technologies is critical to any sustainable development strategy. Globally, mobility services are responsible for more than 60 percent of world oil consumption. The International Energy Agency predicts that global oil consumption will increase from its 2007 level of about 83 million barrels per day to more than 106 million barrels per day in 2030. In addition, despite all of the talk in recent years about alternative fuels, petroleum-based products remain dominant, constituting 98 percent of all transport energy consumption in 2008.

Given the growing demand in carbon-based transportation services, the following questions will be critical to meeting the challenges of sustainability. What are the principal modes of transportation? How do environmental externalities vary among modes? What are some ...