Carmakers and oil companies unveil sustainable transport goals for 2030

Car manufacturers' representatives addressing the conference agreed that CO2 emissions needed to be cut. Asked by EurActiv about his anticipated timeframe for adopting new environmentally-friendly engines, Mr Shoichiro Toyoda ( Toyota) indicated that the trend is to take actions before problems arise, whereas in the past, the approach was more reactive. He said that fuel cell engines have not reached maturity yet: The adoption of a given technology in the future, he said, "will depend on the engineers' work". In the meantime, hybrid technologies can combine classical engines with either electric of fuel cell. 

"In order to be successful, the technologies need to be appealing and affordable," a GM official commented, adding that his company believes that "the hydrogen motor vehicle offers tremendous opportunities". Concerning public authorities' involvement in promoting sustainable transport, a Volkswagen official said he believed that "a joint action between companies and governments is definitely needed", for instance on developing fuel pr ojects and intelligent transport systems based on information technologies. "Not all solutions will come from companies," he pointed out.

Speaking to EurActiv, Norsk Hydro's Per Sandberg said that there were two reasons for his company's participation in the report: "One is that we are a large provider of aluminium and light metal solutions - and the automotive sector is a prime sector for the future. And our other main reason is our interest in hydrogen as a future fuel". Pressed about the timeframe he envisaged for adopting hydrogen fuels on a large market scale, he said: "The trick is that it has to be coordinated. You both have to have the vehicles at an affordable price and then you have to build the infrastructure and produce the hydrogen. [...] Our timeframe is 20-50 years".

Asked whether an increase in oil prices could facilitate the change to hydrogen technology, he points to hindrances due to car manufacturers' continued divisions over the choice of technology. "The challenge to make mobility sustainable is so large that you actually need a combination of technologies," he points out. He illustrates this point by taking the example of biofuels: "There are regions of the world where biofuels are much more attractive than other regions." Asked whether he thinks public authorities need to step in in favour of a given fuel technology, he says that "policy-makers should be technology neutral: set out a framework and let the best technology win".

BP's senior adviser Sir Charles Nicholson gave EurActiv some views on the report. Asked about the multi-modal approach to transport advocated in the Commission's white paper on transport, he said that "road vehicles had proven themselves to be the most in demand and the most economically efficient because of their huge flexibility. [...] A rail unit is a good point to point delivery system where perhaps time is less of the essence. But we seem to be moving to a point where speed of delivery and just-in-time issues are all the more critical". He takes the Channel tunnel as an example where modern freight was blocked by lack of political will. He believes information technologies are a good way of making better use and coordination between non-road transport infrastructures such as railways.

Turning to the question of greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, Sir Charles Nicholson anticipates that, under current technological advances, those will double by 2030. "I think we could accelerate the decline in that curve" using biofuels and hydrogen engines. Asked about the research needed and the timeframe for such technologies to be used on a mass market scale, he said: "A lot". "Our belief is that this will be quite challenging". He points to governments as having "a key role to play in determining how quickly they would like to introduce these alternatives" and therefore back and accelerate the research, notably through a "tax subsidy system". "I think you're still in a 20-50 [years] timeframe. [...] It would take an almost unimaginable effort to reach back by the middle of this century to the [emissions] levels we have at the moment," he added. The first set of measures, he believes, should be assessed in a timeframe of three to five years from now.

On public transportation's role in improving sustainability, Nicholson says that traditional public transport services have become less attractive and therefore too costly to be able to compare with the private car. "That disadvantages people who do not have access to personal mobility whether because they're old or infirm or because they can't afford it. That is a social issue that needs to be considered by public policy". He takes the example of privatised bus services in the UK as an illustration of a daring policy that delivered satisfactory results, contrary to rail liberalisation.