Page 260 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

236 Cha pte r T w e l v e

FIGURE 12.1 Aggregate resource fl ows and economic impacts of the U.S.
motor vehicle industry.

disposition of vehicles. This has prompted manufacturers to imple-
ment design for recovery programs; as mentioned in Chapter 8, some
companies like BMW, had anticipated these programs and developed
advanced recovery technologies.
However, since 2001, a perfect storm of environmental, geopoliti-
cal, and economic realities have combined to drive home the fact that
our world faces an increasingly uncertain energy future. Global cli-
mate change, regional conflicts in the Middle East, natural disasters in
the Gulf of Mexico, and extraordinary economic growth in China and
India are driving serious concerns about energy supply, the environ-
ment, sustainable growth, and even national security. Today, more than
a third of the world’s energy needs are met with petroleum. In 2008 the
price of oil briefly exceeded $140 a barrel, and will likely do so again.
Yet, the global automobile fleet is 96% dependent on fossil fuels [2].
Given these challenges, the automotive industry must do everything it
can to design vehicles with environmental constraints in mind.

Sustainable Mobility Research
The continued growth in mobility demand has led to increasing con-
cerns about potential impacts on the environment, public health and
safety, and quality of life, raising questions about how existing trans-
portation systems can meet today’s mobility needs without compro-
mising the welfare of future generations. This prompted the World
Business Council for Sustainable Development to launch a program