"We skate that mobilitat, measured as a sum of backward passenger kilometers, will triple until 2050. And in emerging markers, where people become more prosperous, buy cars and generally become more mobile, they could even shape themselves." These expectations exulted Jack Short, General Secretar of the International Transport Forum (ITF) in the interview with the German Press Agency for the prelude of the fourth world traffic forum, which until Friday, the 27. May 2011 in Leipzig takes place.
Under the umbrella of the organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD), the ITF as a thinking industry for future questions of traffic, logistics and the environment sees itself. This year, representatives from 52 countries meet in the Sachsian metropolis under the title "Traffic and society". According certainly, shorts are looking for answers to ask questions like this "How do we organize mobility for a world with nine billion people? How can we make sure that the burgers of the new mega-cities can come to work or school?" or "Is there a right to mobility? If so, how do we pay for it and who pays? Western societies age – how can we make sure that even old people come from a to b?"
As far as the challenges of climate change is concerned, the ITF General Secretar doubts that the electric car is liable as the sole panacea: "Electromobilitat is a first step. But we can not believe that a single technology OL will replace. Traffic is currently still around 97 percent depending on OL, but it will be replaced in the transport sector from a mixture of energy sources. And we can not forget that electromobility does not mean that there are no emissions anymore. The emissions are shifted: greenhouse gases are not produced directly from electric cars, but in the power plant on the outskirts. If that is an old coal power plant, the electric car is not really clean."
The studied mathematician and statistician short, which was tendered before his career within the OECD in Ireland in the ministries for transport and finance, relies on a mix of different types of power and energy sources: "To really get ahead, we have to drive everything: electromobilitat, biofuel, hydrogen, fuel cells. And we should not forget the good, old internal combustion engine. In order to reduce greenhouse gases from traffic, it will bring a lot to improve the efficiency of normal cars at short notice." (With material of the DPATo)