Thaindian News

London, Jan 18 (IANS) The best way to cut down emissions of poisonous gases in the short term is to make smaller petrol and diesel cars.
Manufacturers are more likely to produce smaller vehicles if customers opt not to buy larger, heavier vehicles with higher carbon emissions, says a new study.

The research by Smith School of Enterprise and Environment suggests that we should not rely on manufacturers producing hydrogen or battery-powered vehicles in the next decade.

The report finds that such vehicles are likely to remain niche products for many years because of limited battery life and the high cost of platinum, which is needed for the catalysts in hydrogen fuelled cars.

Study editor David King and lead author Oliver Inderwildi urge the government to impose higher taxes on drivers of large, inefficient vehicles and reinvest the money in better public transport and measures to get more people cycling and walking.

“There is ample opportunity for emissions reductions by further improvements of currently available technology combined with a change in user habits,” says Inderwildi.

Rather than relying on the manufacturers to provide the ’silver bullet’ solution to cut transport emissions, the report recommends behavioural change, urging consumers to influence manufacturers through their buying power.

Better technology could significantly cut emissions from aircraft and shipping but incentives and regulation will be needed to encourage users to switch to low-carbon forms of transport, says the report.

It highlights algae-based biofuels as a means of significantly cutting transport emissions in the future and points out the limitations of biofuels as an alternative because of land shortages and food security concerns.

First generation biofuels, derived from food stocks, “have proved the viability of such fuels, but remain a local solution, as in Brazil,” it says, according to a Smith School release.

Inderwildi sees electric and diesel rail systems as the way forward in bringing down transport emissions but says there are disadvantages in the resulting infrastructure costs and lack of flexibility in route planning.

Even so, reducing the carbon footprint of cars and replacing domestic flights with high speed rail could still produce “drastic emissions savings”.