Running head: GREEN TRANSPORT 1

Green Transport

Sam Long

University of California, Berkeley

College Writing, R1A

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Green Transport

Transportation is the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Gas powered

cars, trains and airplanes that dominate the lands and skies pump huge amounts of harmful fumes into

our atmosphere. They haven't stopped burning through the dwindling supply of fossil fuels available

to us. With the situation only getting worse, perhaps turning to the once common place green

transport may be the solution.

The Electric Car

One possible solution is the electric car, a vehicle propelled by one or more electric motors,

using electrical energy stored in rechargeable batteries. Electric cars have the potential to clean up the

environment and wean the automobile industry off fuel. Furthermore, with huge companies such as

GM, Chrysler and Ford constantly looking to revolutionize car design the electric car may start to

become a viable option once again.

The electric car originated as early as the 1830s. They were cleaner and more cost effective

than any car around. By the end of the 19th century British and French inventors had begun to make

electric cars available to many people. One such example was the Columbia Runabout, which became

one of the best selling electric vehicles of all-time. It had a range of 40 miles and could travel up to 15

miles per hour, which was as just as good as steam or petrol powered cars around at the time. The

electric car continued to thrive in the early 20th century. For example, the Detroit Electric was another

popular electric car, it made driving easier as it didn't require manual start-ups and never back fired.

Even Clara Ford, Henry Fords wife, was driving one by 1914.

However, it was Henry Ford himself that brought the downfall of the electric car when he

began the mass production of his own Model T which only cost $650, $1100 less than the average

electric car at the time. He went on to build 15 million by the end of 1927, making owning a car more

of a convenience than a luxury. The discovery of crude oil in Texas only added to the demise of the

electric car. It led to improved infrastructure and the appearance of many filling stations, making

cheap gas readily available. By the 1930s the now expensive electric cars had almost entirely

disappeared and for the next 40 years no research into them occurred.
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It wasn't until the 1970s when gas prices soared that research started again. The Electric and

Hybrid Research, Development and Demonstration act in 1976 and the use of an electric lunar rover

in 1971 began to raise the profile of the electric car. By the 21st century they began to become

competitive. Toyota released a hybrid powered Prius, GM released the Ev1 which could accelerate

from 0 to 50 in 5 seconds and Tesla Motors, a new company that only built electric cars, released a

car with a range of 200 miles. These cars started to gain cult followings and have begun to make

electric cars popular again. Furthermore, global warming is becoming a prominent issue, and with

cars contributing almost 30 percent of greenhouse gases, the research into electric cars has started to

become even more extensive. Tesla motors recently received a $425 million loan from the

government to aid their own research. Despite this, in 2014 electric cars still only contributed 3

percent of car sales. They continue to be less cost effective than their gas powered counterparts,

illustrated by the new Tesla Model X costing upwards of $80,000.

Ultimately, electric cars may be quieter and better for the environment. But until new

technology arrives which allows them to travel further distances for a cheaper cost, they still won't be

able to compete with the gas powered car in this economically motivated market.

Airships

Another opportunity for green transport to become successful lies with the airship. The

airship is a lighter than air aircraft that gains its lift from large gas bags filled with a lifting gas.

Similarl to the electric car it produces far less greenhouse gas than its counterpart, the airplane.

On July 2nd, 1900 the first ever airship managed to remain airborne for 18 minutes. This was

Count Zeppelins first attempt at building an airship. By 1909 he had set up the first commercial air

transport company and by the 1920s his very own Graf Zeppelin had circumnavigated the globe.

Furthermore, airships in the 1910s were even used to conduct bombing raids in World War I and by

the 1930s had halved the travel time between Europe and America. Their luxury cabins accompanied

with fine dining and smooth flying made them extremely popular.

However, everything changed on May 6, 1937 when the Hindenburg, one of the most famous

airships, caught fire and killed 36 passengers and crew on board. This brought about an abrupt end to
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the age of airships. Since then, airplanes have taken over. Nowadays there are over 100,000 flights per

day transporting passengers all over the world quickly, and at a relatively low price. This has left only

a niche market for airships.

However, with the cost of fuel now soaring and with pressure mounting to reduce carbon

dioxide emissions airships are beginning to take advantage of this niche market. Learning from the

mistakes of the early airships, modern day dirigibles (rigid airships) are made out of aluminum and

carbon fiber and use helium, instead of highly flammable hydrogen, to remain afloat. Nations all

around the world are looking to invest in airships and stay ahead of the competition. The US have

come up with the Manned Cloud, which will be a 690 foot airship with a luxury hotel attached. It will

only use one engine and therefore will provide a quiet and blissful retreat for any willing passenger.

Elsewhere, a UK based company called Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd are responsible for creating a game

changing aircraft used to transport heavy freight. It is 300ft and is part plane, part helicopter and part

airship. It is capable of staying airborne for three weeks and can travel up to 100 miles per hour, all

while producing a fraction of the carbon dioxide emissions that a cargo plane produces. It also doesn't

require a runway allowing it to carry humanitarian aid to hostile areas that are not directly accessible

to airplanes, such as mountain ranges or frozen wastelands. This shows that even though airships are

still unable to directly compete with airplanes, they may become a viable and environmentally

friendly option elsewhere in niche markets such as tourism, communication and transportation of

cargo.

Personal Rapid Transit

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) consists of small automated vehicles powered by electricity

operating on a network of specially built guideways. It is modern in comparison to the electric car and

the airship. But, with society readier than ever for change the PRT could provide another alternative

to fossil fuel powered vehicles.

The concept of the PRT is said to have originated in the 1960s with Don Fichter, a city

transportation planner and by the 1970s it had already won the attention of the federal government. It

was proposed to be able to travel at speeds of 25mph, which was 15mph greater than the average
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speed of rush hour traffic and travel with only a six second headway between vehicles. Also there

would be no waiting times in off hours and less than a minute in rush hours. All of this would be

achieved at a cost of $4 million per mile, which compared to $27 million for advanced railroads and

$50 million for subways is very cost effective.

However, the federal government stalled on investing in PRT and instead waited for other

systems to be perfected. In this time, PRT projects began to fail. Their budgets were continually

exceeded and unforeseen technical flaws appeared all too often. One such example was the

Morgantown PRT system at West Virginia University, which opened in 1975. Although this still

remains in use in the present day, it did not provide any evidence that a PRT system could work in a

more demanding urban environment, such as a city centre. Furthermore, it ended up costing $126

million, which was $112 million more than the original $14 million estimate. These budgeting

problems only got worse in the 1990s when an initially promising project was put forward to build a

PRT system in the suburb of Rosemont in Chicago. This project which managed to gain support and

funding from Raytheon, a major military contractor, aimed to link up a hotel complex, an airport and

a conference center to a nearby rail transit station. However, by 1999 the costs had soared from $23

million per mile to no less than $50 million. The project lost all support and all progress stopped.

The problems with PRT continue to grow with initial plans to build PRT systems that connect

entire cities with a network of elevated guideways becoming no more than features in science fiction

films. In reality an infrastructure like this would just create a dense forest of concrete and turn

ordinary narrow streets into tunnels. Evacuation routes in case of emergency, safety nets to protect

streets from debris and huge stations required to accommodate rush hour traffic all just add to the

complexity and size of such a project. But most of all without any evidence that even a small PRT

system could be successful such a task will never even be considered.

However there is hope, there is new technology arriving which will eliminate the need for the

expensive guideways that are causing the huge budgeting issues with the PRT system. The driverless

car is in development and it can make use of the roads we have already built. In the future, its possible

that these driverless cars could act as an automated taxi service similar to that of the original PRT
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system, but this time without the guideways. It would take over from privately owned vehicles,

massively reducing congestion and pollution, particularly in busy urban areas.

Ultimately, the future of PRT remains in the balance, with governments continually looking

for new ways to protect the environment and reduce greenhouse gas emissions there will always be

support for green transport systems like PRT. All it needs is the success of a small scale

demonstration project, such as building a system in a shopping center. However, at the moment PRT

is being continually outperformed by huge networks of subways and light rail transit systems.

Therefore, without any economic success it will only remain on the sidelines.

Conclusion

Global warming and greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to increase. Fossil fuel supplies

are being used up and the price of fuel is only getting more expensive. Governments are looking for

ways to combat these changes and green transport can help to play a large role. However, despite

large numbers of technical advancements green transport is still being outclassed by much cheaper

gas powered counterparts. If green transport is going to compete in such an economically motivated

market it must become successful not only environmentally but also financially.

References:
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Matulka, R. (2014). The history of the electric car. Department of energy. Retrieved from

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(n.d). The great airships. Century of flight. Retrieved from

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Laniado J. (2000). Slow motion. Frieze magazine. Retrieved from

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Tarantola, A. (2013). The aluminium airship of the future has finally flown. Monster machines.

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Tagliabue J. (2008). Why fly when you can float. The New York times. Retrieved from

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/05/business/worldbusiness/05dirigible.html?_r=1

(n.d.). worlds largest aircraft unveiled and hailed game changer. The telegraph. Retrieved from

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/greenertransport/10667081/Worlds-largest-aircraft-

unveiled-and-hailed-game-changer.html

Wahl, P. (1971). Personal Rapid Transit. Popular science. Retrieved from

https://books.google.com/books?id=PQEAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA74#v=onepage&q&f=false
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(2004). Personal Rapid Transit - Cyberspace dream keeps clashing with reality. lightrailnow.org.

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