From improved vehicle efficiency through hybrid cars and, possibly in due course, fully electric or hydrogen cars, the automobile industry faces a huge challenge to decarbonise road transport but it is achievable with a stronger focus on targeted R&D, heard members of the Institute of Physics (IOP) at the Low Carbon Cars Business Briefing.

The Briefing which took place on Thursday, 10 July, hosted at the Institute, included a selection of talks from Julia King, Vice-Chancellor of Aston University and author of the Treasury’s King Review on low carbon cars, John Hollis, Head of Government and Industrial Affairs at BMW UK, and Professor Geoff Callow, Managing Director of Turquoise Engineering Consulting Ltd.

As transport is the third largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, after power generation and land use, the automobile industry has an important role to play in saving our environment – a role which engineers and manufacturers are already embracing as an outstanding commercial opportunity.

But, as Julia King, said, “Developed countries are only spending one to three per cent of their public research funds on R&D targeting the carbon issue, yet so much more could be done. These problems are of such importance that we need our brightest young minds working on solutions to them.”

All three talks were spiced with a sense of urgency and included calls to ‘brave politicians’ to clear the path for sustainable routes to energy like hydrogen which will make it possible to maintain our current freedom of mobility without damaging our environment.

As John Hollis, from BMW UK, said, “BMW believes hydrogen is the answer to these environmental issues but until hydrogen is readily available, manufacturers have a responsibility to introduce energy efficiency mechanisms across their fleets, as we are doing at BMW.”

For now, lightweight engineering, improved batteries and management systems, electric power steering, dashboard technology which tells drivers how to be more fuel efficient, and satellite navigation which predicts the road ahead to save energy are all on or close to the market.

Although they have much more to offer, it was a shared belief that neither energy efficiency mechanisms nor the car industry can meet emission reduction targets on their own. A joint international effort between governments, the automobile industry, the energy supply industries and the consumer is the only way to achieve the desired change.

Acknowledging that it can take time to shift consumer behaviour, Geoff Callow, who led the audience through some of the many product opportunities recognised by Turquoise Engineering Consulting Ltd, stated that with everyone involved “an orderly progression” towards decarbonised road transport is “the order of the day”.

(iop.org)