Perhaps, like many of my colleagues at the Oeko-Institut, you took the train to your holiday destination this summer and rented a bicycle when you arrived. Or instead of taking two long-haul trips, perhaps you spent one long “staycation” in your own country for a change. In Germany, we might choose the Baltic coast, the Black Forest or the Taunus mountains. Like sustainable transport as a whole, green tourism has many different facets. Here at the Oeko-Institut, we are working on a range of sustainable transport topics in order to answer one question: how can the transport sector help to mitigate climate change? Clearly, it’s not enough to make cars more efficient if they are then used more often or for longer journeys. We believe it takes a package of good ideas to make transport sustainable. Car sharing, for example, can offer a genuine alternative to car ownership. Cities…
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In Focus
Avoid! Shift! Reduce!
Transport and climate change mitigation
When it comes to protecting the climate, the transport sector seems to have gone off the rails. It certainly hasn’t made much progress. Transport accounts for around a fifth of Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions, but achieved only a 5.5 per cent emissions reduction between 1990 and 2012. In fact, including international air and sea traffic originating in Germany, transport emissions actually increased. But if Germany is to achieve its climate target of cutting its greenhouse gas… more
Plugging into Mobility
New challenges for the power industry
Super 95 or 98, E10 or not, diesel or automotive LPG: we already have a range of vehicle fuel options available. But there’s one fuel which is still comparatively under-utilised: electricity. This situation can and should change, according to the Oeko-Institut’s experts, for electromobility can make a major contribution to energy system transformation and the attainment of the German Government’s climate targets – provided that it is based on green power. In a new study, our… more
“The quality of the experience must improve”
Interview with Dr Konrad Götz (ISOE)
If we want people to choose sustainable transport options, we have to offer them something in return, says Dr. Konrad Götz. That includes convenient car sharing, pleasant and attractive railway stations, drinking water fountains and city centre seating. In this interview with eco@work, the mobility expert from the ISOE Institute for Social-Ecological Research in Frankfurt explains how mobility in urban and rural areas can become more sustainable and what he means by “quality of… more