Discussions about the future of transportation are marked by three key factors À growing energy demand and energy security on the one side and climate change and environmental protection on the other. The word that is most often used to embody all these concerns is ‘sustainability’ or, in the field of transportation, ‘sustainable mobility’. Achieving sustainable mobility is the big challenge for the future in the vehicle and associated industries. It is now common wisdom that transport based on fossil resources is a finite proposition. Until today, the burning of fossil fuels in internal combustion engines (ICEs) was the. | Buses Fuel Cells N Whitehouse and S Whitehouse PE Australia South Perth WA Australia A Huss AKOMBE Market and Technology Communications Sachsenring Cologne 2009 Elsevier . All rights reserved. Introduction Discussions about the future of transportation are marked by three key factors growing energy demand and energy security on the one side and climate change and environmental protection on the other. The word that is most often used to embody all these concerns is sustainability or in the field of transportation sustainable mobility . Achieving sustainable mobility is the big challenge for the future in the vehicle and associated industries. It is now common wisdom that transport based on fossil resources is a finite proposition. Until today the burning of fossil fuels in internal combustion engines ICEs was the most common power source for vehicles. As long as oil was cheap and seemed to be abundant this seemed to make sense. Times have changed and energy efficiency and the search for alternatives are becoming increasingly important throughout the world. Currently few disagree that there is a link between the burning of fossil fuels producing greenhouse gases and damaging climate change. Many countries have launched very strong environmental protection regulations in order to reduce emissions. As a result the transport industry is working on technical solutions to meet these new and stringent environmental standards. Although there is a high potential for energy and emissions savings these can only be achieved gradually. In addition the world population continues to grow and with it the demand for energy. Today about half of the world population already lives in urban areas. This trend will continue over the next decades and will lead to increasing urbanization throughout the world. Developing countries with massive populations such as China and India are likely to be the economic drivers into the future. The need for energy in these two countries alone not to
