What Is Green Transportation And Why Is It Important?

• Green transportation is any kind of transportation

that doesn’t negatively impact the environment.
• Transportation Alternative Magazine has created a
Green Transportation Hierarchy. It uses the same
method as the Food Pyramid to illustrate the
greenest transportation methods first, giving them
priority on public roads, and then the least green
(and thus lowest priority) at the smallest portion
of the pyramid.
 Types of Green Transportation
• Walking
• Bicycling
• Electric Scooters and bikes
• Green vehicles (powered by solar, electricity,
hydrogen, wind, or biofuels)
• Car sharing
• Public transportation (buses, trains, subway)
 Why Switching To Green Transportation
Methods Is So Important
• One day we’re going to run out of fossil fuels
(oil, natural gas, etc.).
• Fossil fuels, by their very nature, are non-
renewable because they take millions of years
to form. So our Earth only has a limited supply.
• Problems:
– PEAK Oil
– Foreign Dependency
 Peak Oil

• Many people believe in the theory of Peak Oil, which says

that there is a specific point in time when our oil production
will “peak”, and then fall into permanent decline.
• Other experts believe we might have as many as 100 years
before Peak Oil occurs.
• The problem lies in the fact that our oil consumption is not
slowing down. It’s speeding up. And thanks to the
phenomenal growth of countries like India and China, we’re
consuming oil at lightning speed. Which means if Peak Oil
still is in the future, we’re going to get there sooner rather
than later.
 Foreign Dependency
• The majority of the world’s oil is controlled by
countries that are unstable (like Venezuela
and Saudi Arabia)
• According to a study done by the Rand Corp.,
the greatest risk the United States faces when
it comes to depending on foreign oil is the risk
of supply disruption.