Page 261 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Transportation Industries 237

in 2002 called “Sustainable Mobility,” sponsored by leading global
companies and focusing on road transportation. Completed in 2004,
the study proposed incremental solutions that assumed continued
growth in private vehicle use but did not examine scenarios under
which global mobility patterns might be fundamentally altered [3]. A
follow-up study focused on solutions to mobility problems in cities
around the world.
From a holistic perspective, the transportation industries have
access to a broad portfolio of technologies that can be deployed to
satisfy future societal needs for mobility. The choices include different
modes of transport, such as air, sea, rail, and highway; different fuel
sources—fossil fuels, biofuels, electricity, and hydrogen; and different
infrastructure configurations. Yet we have only a vague understand-
ing of the potential social, economic, and environmental conditions—
for example, population density or use of digital communication—that
will both drive the demand for mobility and constrain access to mobil-
ity. These conditions will vary enormously among developing and
developed nations, between urban and rural settings, and across dif-
ferent geographic and climatic settings. Nor do we understand the full
ramifications of technology choices upon economic vitality, ecological
integrity, or community well-being under various future scenarios.
There is active ongoing research in sustainable mobility, address-
ing two main facets:
1. Technological innovation, including alternative materials, vehi-
cle designs, energy sources, propulsion systems, and trans -
portation networks that are safer, more effective, and more
environmentally benign.
2. Technology assessment to determine the feasibility, eco-
efficiency, sustainability, and resilience of alternative mobility
technology combinations under various future scenarios,
providing a sound scientific basis for public policy formula-
tion and R&D priority-setting.
For example, the University of Michigan has launched a broad,
interdisciplinary program in Sustainable Mobility and Accessibility
Research and Transformation (SMART) that focuses on the growing
challenges in urban regions of the world. The Center for Automotive
Research at The Ohio State University has engaged both automotive
and electric power companies in a new program focused on electric
vehicles, including plug-in hybrids and intelligent charging. The ben-
efits of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are discussed in Chapter 18.

DFE in the Transportation Life Cycle
Investigation of life-cycle environmental issues in transportation sys-
tems is extremely complex for several reasons. First, many forms of