Estimated impact of CO2 and NOx emission reduction targets on car ownership and car use in The Netherlands

Densely populated areas are major sources of air, soil and water pollution. Agriculture, manufacturing, consumer households and road traffic all have their share. This is particularly true for the country featured in this paper: the Netherlands. Continuous pollution of the air and soil manifests itself as acification, decalcification and...

Towards Climate Resilient Freight Transport in Europe

Climate change is related with weather extremes, which may cause damages to infrastructure used by freight transport services. Heavy rainfall may lead to flooding and damage to railway lines, roads and inland waterways. Extreme drought may lead to extremely low water levels, which prevent safe navigation by inland barges. Wet and dry periods may...

Inland Rail Freight Services With Less Fuel and Lower Emissions

Many countries have enhanced their air quality agenda (NOx, PMx etc.) by a climate change agenda (CO2 etc.). A direct way to lower these emissions is by using less energy (fuel) per activity. One of these activities is freight transport. Transport from supplier to factory relies on efficient and cost-effective means of transport. Road...

Towards more environmentally sustainable intercontinental freight transport

In a world where the population and many economies are expanding rapidly the demand for freight transport keeps rising accordingly. As more goods are transported by a growing number of freight vehicles, in particular trucks and sea vessels, their already considerable negative environmental impact also rises. Technology advances, but demand...

Towards zero CO2-, NOX- and PM10-emissions by passenger cars: Technology & Behaviour

Modern societies rely on mass mobility, in particular by private car. Car numbers are growing worldwide due to economic and other factors. Nearly, all have engines that run on fossil fuels. Use of fossil fuels contributes to climate change (via CO ₂-emissions) and local air pollution (primary NO _x- and PM ₁₀...

A business-leisure traveller goes to Valencia: Fuel, CO2, time and cost

Tourism is a fast-growing key industry, which provides an economic rationale for governments to stimulate it. The more it grows, the higher the negative environmental effects and the more the use of space, resources, pollution and travel. Sustainable tourism aims to strike a balance between the environmental, economic and social effects of...

The impact of a CO2 reduction target on the private car fleet in the netherlands

Climate change mitigation calls for a massive reduction in CO2-emissions from human sources. A primary human source is combustion of fossil fuels. Transport by road is one of the major and growing users of fossil fuels worldwide. Private cars with internal combustion engines dominate our roads. This paper discusses the feasibility of aligning...

Regional goods delivery: How to reduce its CO2-, NOx- and PM10-emissions?

Regional goods delivery fulfils an essential socio-economic function, in particular, in dense urbanized areas in countries like The Netherlands. Shippers (producers or traders), transport service providers, businesses and private households favour road transport, because of logistic and financial reasons. Delivery and pick-up vehicles are mainly...

The impact of hybrid engines on fuel consumption and emissions of heavy-duty trucks

Overland transport of goods mainly goes by road. Road freight transport, trucking in particular, has a large share in the energy consumption, CO2-emissions and air pollution by human activities. This will become an even bigger issue with the expected massive growth of road freight transport.<br/>Climate change mitigation asks for a major...

More space and improved living conditions in cities with autonomous vehicles

Many people live in cities today. Many more will do so in future. This increases the demand for space and (space for) transport. Space to expand roads is usually scarce. Building tunnels or elevated bridges is very expensive. Solving one bottleneck creates a next bottleneck downstream. More road infrastructure leads to more cars and more cars to...

More space and improved living conditions in cities with autonomous vehicles

Many people live in cities today. Many more will do so in future. This increases the demand for space and (space for) transport. Space to expand roads is usually scarce. Building tunnels or elevated bridges is very expensive. Solving one bottleneck creates another bottleneck downstream. More road infra- structure leads to more cars and more cars...

Hoe SMART willen we rijden; De autonome auto als stedelijke vervoersoplossing of -probleem?

Een autonome auto bestond al in een droombeeld van GM in de VS rond 1940. Zo’n 40 jaar verder, in 1977, reed de eerste autonome auto uit een Japans lab. Sinds decennia wordt door ingenieurs gewerkt aan systemen die de autobestuurder overbodig kunnen maken. De stap van zelf rijden naar vanzelf rijden wordt door autofabrikanten ingeleid door in...

Electric cars as buffers in an electricity network

Producing more electricity from alternative sources may help to reach four goals: reduce CO2- and other emissions, compensate for depleting resources, reduce political dependency and replace an ageing and inefficient infrastructure. Billions of Euros have to be spent in ‘grey’ or ‘green technology to secure a reliable future supply of...