Title: A plan for 21st century land transport

Authors: Ronald Adams, Terry Brewer

Addresses: 333 East 30th Street - 14F, New York NY 10016-6476, USA. ' 333 East 30th Street - 14F, New York NY 10016-6476, USA

Abstract: This paper examines a methodology for reducing the CO₂ generated by vehicular traffic, a major source of global warming. Climatologists say the world cannot wait 20 years for alternative fuels to start reversing the global warming trend-line, since by then considerable climate alteration and coastal damage will be manifest. The point is to dramatically reduce CO₂, a by-product of internal combustion engine operations, as quickly as feasible to overcome the half-century lead-time of CO₂ buildup already in the atmosphere. Since CO₂ production correlates directly with vehicle mass, this paper makes the case for quickly reducing vehicle size. It also argues for re-introducing electric vehicles on a large scale, and altering the conventional highway configuration to achieve greater productivity. Fuel cells, even when fully accepted, will not improve important aspects of modern urban transport such as safety and traffic flow.

Keywords: alternative fuels; CO₂ reduction; electric vehicles; highway configuration; right-of-way productivity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2004.004052

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2004 Vol.35 No.1/2, pp.137 - 150

Published online: 10 May 2004 *

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