Alternative Technology Options for Road and Air Transport

In the transport sector, despite a number of political initiatives, the energy demands as well as greenhouse gas emissions are growing at an alarming speed. This holds true especially for road and air transport. Recent volatility in oil prices as well as the corresponding political instabilities in important oil-exporting countries has -again - brought the oil dependence of these sectors as well as related issues of energy security and economic perspectives to public and political attention. One option to break through the vicious circle between economic growth, energy demand in transport and oil dependence is to substitute oil-based fuels and propulsion technologies with alternative technologies. A wide range of non oil-based options for road and air transport has been developed in the last decade, and some technologies are already commercialised. However, it is currently impossible to predict which technologies will emerge as the front-runners for Europe.