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104-433: Sustainable transport systems make a positive contribution to the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the communities they serve. Transport systems exist to provide social and economic connections, and people quickly take up the opportunities offered by increased mobility , with poor households benefiting greatly from low carbon transport options. The advantages of increased mobility need to be weighed against

208-413: A "network society" and suggested that the "space of places" is being surpassed by a "space of flows." Feminist scholar Caren Kaplan (1996) explored questions about the gendering of metaphors of travel in social and cultural theory. The contemporary paradigm under the moniker "mobilities" appears to originate with the work of sociologist John Urry . In his book, Sociology Beyond Societies: Mobilities for

312-406: A 'win-win' opportunity. Transport systems are major emitters of greenhouse gases, responsible for 23% of world energy-related GHG emissions in 2004, with about three-quarters coming from road vehicles. Data from 2011 stated that one-third of all greenhouse gases produced are due to transportation. Currently 95% of transport energy comes from petroleum. Energy is consumed in the manufacture as well as

416-453: A 24 km roundtrip along which the bus will receive 100 kW (136 horsepower) electricity at an 85% maximum power transmission efficiency rate while maintaining a 17 cm air gap between the underbody of the vehicle and the road surface. At that power, only a few sections of the road need embedded cables. Hybrid vehicles , which use an internal combustion engine combined with an electric engine to achieve better fuel efficiency than

520-542: A European urban dweller. These differences cannot be explained by wealth alone but are closely linked to the rates of walking , cycling , and public transport use and to enduring features of the city including urban density and urban design. The cities and nations that have invested most heavily in car-based transport systems are now the least environmentally sustainable, as measured by per capita fossil fuel use. The social and economic sustainability of car-based transportation engineering has also been questioned. Within

624-456: A continuum rather than incompatible extremes. Indeed, traditional transport geography has not been wholly quantitative any more than mobilities is wholly qualitative. Sociological explorations of mobility can incorporate empirical techniques, while model-based inquiries can be tempered with richer understandings of the meanings, representations and assumptions inherently embedded in models. Shaw and Sidaway (2010, 505) argue that even as research in

728-410: A critique of contradictory orientations toward both sedentarism and deterritorialisation in social science. People had often been seen as static entities tied to specific places, or as nomadic and placeless in a frenetic and globalized existence. Mobilities looks at movements and the forces that drive, constrain and are produced by those movements. Several typologies have been formulated to clarify

832-548: A document containing a non-complete overview. In the UK , employers have for many years been providing employees with financial incentives. The employee leases or borrows a bike that the employer has purchased. You can also get other support. The scheme is beneficial for the employee who saves money and gets an incentive to get exercise integrated in the daily routine. The employer can expect a tax deduction, lower sick leave and less pressure on parking spaces for cars. Since 2010, there has been

936-413: A grassroots movement, albeit one which is now recognized as of citywide, national and international significance. Whereas it started as a movement driven by environmental concerns, over these last years there has been increased emphasis on social equity and fairness issues, and in particular the need to ensure proper access and services for lower income groups and people with mobility limitations, including

1040-438: A list of typical subjects which have been explored in the mobilities paradigm (Taylor and Francis, 2011): Sheller and Urry (2006, 215) place mobilities in the sociological tradition by defining the primordial theorist of mobilities as Georg Simmel (1858–1918). Simmel's essays, "Bridge and Door" (Simmel, 1909 / 1994) and "The Metropolis and Mental Life" (Simmel, 1903 / 2001) identify a uniquely human will to connection, as well as

1144-485: A logical follow-on from sustainable development , and is used to describe modes of transport, and systems of transport planning, which are consistent with wider concerns of sustainability . There are many definitions of the sustainable transport, and of the related terms sustainable transportation and sustainable mobility . One such definition, from the European Union Council of Ministers of Transport, defines

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1248-452: A method in which the embodied energy of a product or material is rated, along with other factors, to assess a building's environmental impact . Embodied energy is a concept for which scientists have not yet agreed absolute universal values because there are many variables to take into account, but most agree that products can be compared to each other to see which has more and which has less embodied energy. Comparative lists (for an example, see

1352-416: A network of urban motorways. These ideas captured the popular imagination, and are credited with influencing city planning from the 1940s to the 1970s. The emergence of the car in the post-war era led to major changes in the structure and function of cities. There was some opposition to these changes at the time. The writings of Jane Jacobs , in particular The Death and Life of Great American Cities provide

1456-638: A poignant reminder of what was lost in this transformation, and a record of community efforts to resist these changes. Lewis Mumford asked "is the city for cars or for people?" Donald Appleyard documented the consequences for communities of increasing car traffic in "The View from the Road" (1964) and in the UK, Mayer Hillman first published research into the impacts of traffic on child independent mobility in 1971. Despite these notes of caution, trends in car ownership, car use and fuel consumption continued steeply upward throughout

1560-525: A positive contribution to environmental sustainability . Such claims can be legally challenged. For instance the Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman has targeted car manufacturers who claim that their cars are "green", "clean" or " environmentally friendly ". Manufacturers risk fines if they fail to drop the words. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) describes "green" claims on products as "very vague, inviting consumers to give

1664-415: A powerful socio-technical system that "impacts not only on local public spaces and opportunities for coming together, but also on the formation of gendered subjectivities, familial and social networks, spatially segregated urban neighborhoods, national images and aspirations to modernity, and global relations ranging from transnational migration to terrorism and oil wars " (Sheller and Urry, 2006, 209). This

1768-873: A regular combustion engine, are already common. Natural gas is also used as a transport fuel, but is a less promising technology as it is still a fossil fuel and still has significant emissions (though lower than gasoline, diesel, etc.). Brazil met 17% of its transport fuel needs from bioethanol in 2007, but the OECD has warned that the success of (first-generation) biofuels in Brazil is due to specific local circumstances. Internationally, first-generation biofuels are forecast to have little or no impact on greenhouse emissions, at significantly higher cost than energy efficiency measures. The later generation biofuels however (2nd to 4th generation) do have significant environmental benefit, as they are no driving force for deforestation or struggle with

1872-559: A scheme in Iceland (Samgöngugreiðslur) where those who do not drive a car to work, get paid a lump of money monthly. An employee must sign a statement not to use a car for work more often than one day a week, or 20% of the days for a period. Some employers pay fixed amounts based on trust. Other employers reimburse the expenses for repairs on bicycles, period-tickets for public transport and the like. Since 2013, amounts up to ISK 8000 per month have been tax-free. Most major workplaces offer this, and

1976-590: A series of serious reports by the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP) , sustainable transport can help create jobs, improve commuter safety through investment in bicycle lanes, pedestrian pathways and non-pedestrian pathways, make access to employment and social opportunities more affordable and efficient. It also offers a practical opportunity to save people's time and household income as well as government budgets, making investment in sustainable transport

2080-440: A significant proportion of employees use the scheme. Since 2019 half the amount is tax-free if the employee signs a contract not to use a car to work for more than 40% of the days of the contract period. The EU Directorate-General for Transport and Energy (DG-TREN) has launched a program which focusses mostly on urban transport. Its main measures are: Most of the tools and concepts of sustainable transport were developed before

2184-537: A specific example, a Nissan Leaf in the UK in 2019 produced one third of the greenhouse gases than the average internal combustion car. The Online Electric Vehicle (OLEV), developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), is an electric vehicle that can be charged while stationary or driving, thus removing the need to stop at a charging station. The City of Gumi in South Korea runs

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2288-438: A sustainable transportation system as one that: Sustainability extends beyond just the operating efficiency and emissions. A life-cycle assessment involves production, use and post-use considerations. A cradle-to-cradle design is more important than a focus on a single factor such as energy efficiency . Sustainable transport has many social and economic benefits that can accelerate local sustainable development. According to

2392-636: A system of accounts which records the energy flows through an environment can be traced back to the origins of accounting itself. As a distinct method, it is often associated with the Physiocrat 's "substance" theory of value, and later the agricultural energetics of Sergei Podolinsky , a Russian physician, and the ecological energetics of Vladmir Stanchinsky . The main methods of embodied energy accounting as they are used today grew out of Wassily Leontief 's input-output model and are called Input-Output Embodied Energy analysis . Leontief's input-output model

2496-544: A wide range of meanings to the claim, which risks misleading them". In 2008 the ACCC forced a car retailer to stop its green marketing of Saab cars, which was found by the Australian Federal Court to be "misleading". Several European countries are opening up financial incentives that support more sustainable modes of transport. The European Cyclists' Federation , which focuses on daily cycling for transport, has created

2600-734: Is carsharing , which is becoming popular in North America and Europe, and according to The Economist , carsharing can reduce car ownership at an estimated rate of one rental car replacing 15 owned vehicles. Car sharing has also begun in the developing world, where traffic and urban density is often worse than in developed countries. Companies like Zoom in India, eHi in China, and Carrot in Mexico, are bringing car-sharing to developing countries in an effort to reduce car-related pollution, ameliorate traffic, and expand

2704-661: Is a human right and committed to work together to form a global coalition for clean air. Papers have been written showing with satellite data that cities with subway systems produce much less greenhouse gas. In 2021 the Institute for Public Policy Research issued a statement saying that car use in the United Kingdom must shrink while active transport and public transport should be used more. The Department for Transport responded that they will spend 2 billion pounds on active transport, more than ever, including making England and

2808-418: Is an accounting method which aims to find the sum total of the energy necessary for an entire product lifecycle . Determining what constitutes this lifecycle includes assessing the relevance and extent of energy into raw material extraction, transport , manufacture , assembly, installation, disassembly, deconstruction and/or decomposition as well as human and secondary resources. The history of constructing

2912-464: Is generally much less reliable than process data and rarely relevant for a specific product or material. Hence, hybrid methods for quantifying embodied energy have been developed, using available process data and filling any data gaps with EEIO data. Databases that rely on this hybrid approach, such as The University of Melbourne's EPiC Database , provide a more comprehensive assessment of the embodied energy of products and materials. Selected data from

3016-534: Is not straightforward because different types of energy (oil, wind, solar, nuclear and so on) emit different amounts of carbon dioxide, so the actual amount of carbon dioxide emitted when a product is made will be dependent on the type of energy used in the manufacturing process. For example, the Australian Government gives a global average of 0.098 tCO 2 = 1 GJ. This is the same as 1 MJ = 0.098 kgCO 2 = 98 gCO 2 or 1 kgCO 2 = 10.204 MJ. In

3120-478: Is so complex that no one dares to put forward a figure. According to the Institut du développement durable et des relations internationales , in the field of transportation, "it is striking to note that we consume more embodied energy in our transportation expenditures than direct energy", and "we consume less energy to move around in our personal vehicles than we consume the energy we need to produce, sell and transport

3224-411: Is so high that rechargeable hybrid cars constitute the most appropriate solution, with their batteries smaller than those of an all-electric car. As regards energy itself, the factor energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) of fuel can be estimated at 8, which means that to some amount of useful energy provided by fuel should be added 1/7 of that amount in embodied energy of the fuel. In other words,

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3328-921: Is subject to sustainability measurement and optimization. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that each year 2.4 million premature deaths from outdoor air pollution could be avoided. Particularly hazardous for health are emissions of black carbon , a component of particulate matter , which is a known cause of respiratory and carcinogenic diseases and a significant contributor to global climate change. The links between greenhouse gas emissions and particulate matter make low carbon transport an increasingly sustainable investment at local level—both by reducing emission levels and thus mitigating climate change; and by improving public health through better air quality . The term "green mobility" also refers to clean ways of movement or sustainable transport. The social costs of transport include road crashes, air pollution, physical inactivity, time taken away from

3432-566: Is the Environmental Performance in Construction (EPiC) Database developed at The University of Melbourne, which includes embodied energy data for over 250 mainly construction materials. This database also includes values for embodied water and greenhouse gas emissions. The main reason for differences in embodied energy data between databases is due to the source of data and methodology used in their compilation. Bottom-up 'process' data

3536-569: Is the work of early 20th-century sociologist Georg Simmel , who identified a uniquely human "will to connection," and provided a theoretical connection between mobility and materiality. Simmel focused on the increased tempo of urban life , that "drives not only its social, economic, and infrastructural formations, but also the psychic forms of the urban dweller." Along with this tempo comes a need for precision in timing and location in order to prevent chaos, which results in complex and novel systems of relationships. A second body of theory comes from

3640-556: Is typically sourced from product manufacturers and suppliers. While this data is generally more reliable and specific to particular products, the methodology used to collect process data typically results in much of the embodied energy of a product being excluded, mainly due to the time, costs and complexity of data collection. Top-down environmentally-extended input-output (EEIO) data, based on national statistics can be used to fill these data gaps. While EEIO analysis of products can be useful on its own for initial scoping of embodied energy, it

3744-680: The Sail Cargo Alliance . The European Investment Bank committed €314 million between 2018 and 2022 to green marine transport , funding the building of new ships and the retrofitting of current ships with eco-friendly technologies to increase their energy efficiency and lower harmful emissions. The Bank also offered an average of €11 billion per year from 2012 to 2022 for sustainable transportation solutions and climate-friendly initiatives. In 2022, railway projects received around 32% of overall transport loans, while urban mobility received approximately 37%. Car travel increased steadily throughout

3848-559: The Transport Integration Act – to compel its transport agencies to actively consider sustainability issues including climate change impacts in transport policy, planning and operations. Many other cities throughout the world have recognized the need to link sustainability and transport policies, for example by joining the Cities for Climate Protection program . Some cities are trying to become car-free cities , e.g., limit or exclude

3952-461: The family while commuting and vulnerability to fuel price increases . Many of these negative impacts fall disproportionately on those social groups who are also least likely to own and drive cars. Traffic congestion imposes economic costs by wasting people's time and by slowing the delivery of goods and services. Traditional transport planning aims to improve mobility, especially for vehicles, and may fail to adequately consider wider impacts. But

4056-579: The food vs fuel issue. In practice there is a sliding scale of green transport depending on the sustainability of the option. Green vehicles are more fuel-efficient , but only in comparison with standard vehicles, and they still contribute to traffic congestion and road crashes. Well-patronized public transport networks based on traditional diesel buses use less fuel per passenger than private vehicles, and are generally safer and use less road space than private vehicles. Green public transport vehicles including electric trains, trams and electric buses combine

4160-408: The postcar system ." Mimi Sheller and John Urry (2006, 217-219) presented seven methodological areas often covered in mobilities research: Embodied energy Organizations: Embodied energy is the sum of all the energy required to produce any goods or services, considered as if that energy were incorporated or 'embodied' in the product itself. The concept can be useful in determining

4264-842: The postmodern conception of spatiality , with the substance of places being constantly in motion and subject to constant reassembly and reconfiguration (Thrift 1996). A fourth body of theory is a "recentring of the corporeal body as an affective vehicle through which we sense place and movement, and construct emotional geographies". For example, the car is "experienced through a combination of senses and sensed through multiple registers of motion and emotion″ (Sheller and Urry 2006, 216). A fifth body of theory incorporates how topologies of social networks relate to how complex patterns form and change . Contemporary information technologies and ways of life often create broad but weak social ties across time and space, with social life incorporating fewer chance meetings and more networked connections. Finally,

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4368-525: The 2000s drought conditions in Australia have generated interest in the application of embodied energy analysis methods to water. This has led to the use of the concept of embodied water . A range of databases exist for quantifying the embodied energy of goods and services, including materials and products. These are based on a range of different data sources, with variations in geographic and temporal relevance and system boundary completeness. One such database

4472-573: The Inventory of Carbon and Energy ('ICE') prepared by the University of Bath (UK) Theoretically, embodied energy stands for the energy used to extract materials from mines, manufacture vehicles, assemble, transport, maintain, and transform them to transport energy, and ultimately recycle these vehicles. Besides, the energy needed to build and maintain transport networks, whether road or rail, should be taken into account as well. The process to be implemented

4576-517: The Twenty-First Century , Urry (2000, 1) presents a "manifesto for a sociology that examines the diverse mobilities of peoples, objects, images, information and wastes; and of the complex interdependencies between, and social consequences of, these diverse mobilities." This is consistent with the aims and scope of the eponymous journal Mobilities , which "examines both the large-scale movements of people, objects, capital, and information across

4680-503: The UK, 36% in Germany and 29% in France. According to association négaWatt , embodied energy related to digital services amounted to 3.5 TWh/a for networks and 10.0 TWh/a for data centres (half for the servers per se, i. e. 5 TWh/a, and the other half for the buildings in which they are housed, i. e. 5 TWh/a), figures valid in France, in 2015. The organization is optimistic about the evolution of

4784-500: The United States, residents of sprawling cities make more frequent and longer car trips, while residents of traditional urban neighborhoods make a similar number of trips, but travel shorter distances and walk, cycle and use transit more often. It has been calculated that New York residents save $ 19 billion each year simply by owning fewer cars and driving less than the average American. A less car intensive means of urban transport

4888-425: The University of Bath Embodied Energy & Carbon Material Inventory ) contain average absolute values, and explain the factors which have been taken into account when compiling the lists. Typical embodied energy units used are MJ/kg (mega joules of energy needed to make a kilogram of product), tCO 2 (tonnes of carbon dioxide created by the energy needed to make a kilogram of product). Converting MJ to tCO 2

4992-713: The advantages of green vehicles with those of sustainable transport choices. Other transport choices with very low environmental impact are cycling and other human-powered vehicles , and animal powered transport . The most common green transport choice, with the least environmental impact is walking . Transport on rails boasts an excellent efficiency (see fuel efficiency in transportation ). Cities with overbuilt roadways have experienced unintended consequences, linked to radical drops in public transport , walking , and cycling . In many cases, streets became void of "life." Stores, schools, government centers and libraries moved away from central cities, and residents who did not flee to

5096-496: The age, gender, and ability of the individual to cycle in the first place are key determinants of their willingness to shift to a more sustainable mode. Transport system improvements that could reduce the perceived risks of cycling were also seen to be the most impactful changes that could contribute towards the greater use of bicycles. Cities are shaped by their transport systems. In The City in History , Lewis Mumford documented how

5200-495: The analysis has been focused on emending the Von Karman model, Dewulf and Van Langenhove have introduced a model based on the second law of thermodynamics and exergy analysis. Chester and Orwath, have developed a similar model based on the first law that accounts the necessary costs for the infrastructure. The environmental impacts of transport can be reduced by reducing the weight of vehicles, sustainable styles of driving, reducing

5304-452: The appropriateness of data scales and methodologies is pending. This difficulty can give a wide range in embodied energy values for any given material. In the absence of a comprehensive global embodied energy public dynamic database, embodied energy calculations may omit important data on, for example, the rural road/highway construction and maintenance needed to move a product, marketing , advertising, catering services, non-human services and

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5408-570: The basis of thermal equivalence assuming 38% conversion efficiency in a modern thermal power station". In France , by convention, the ratio between primary energy and final energy in electricity amounts to 2.58, corresponding to an efficiency of 38.8%. In Germany , on the contrary, because of the swift development of the renewable energies, the ratio between primary energy and final energy in electricity amounts to only 1.8, corresponding to an efficiency of 55.5%. According to EcoPassenger , overall electricity efficiency would amount to 34% in

5512-484: The cars, trains or buses we use". Jean-Marc Jancovici advocates a carbon footprint analysis of any transportation infrastructure project, prior to its construction. According to Volkswagen , the embodied energy contents of a Golf A3 with a petrol engine amounts to 18 000 kWh (i.e. 12% of 545 GJ as shown in the report ). A Golf A4 (equipped with a turbocharged direct injection ) will show an embodied energy amounting to 22 000 kWh (i.e. 15% of 545 GJ as shown in

5616-507: The case. Electric vehicle technology significantly reduces transport CO 2 emissions when comparing battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with equivalent internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). The extent to which it does this depends on the embodied energy of the vehicle and the source of the electricity. Lifecycle greenhouse gas emission reductions from BEVs are significant, even in countries with relatively high shares of coal in their electricity generation mix, such as China and India. As

5720-496: The center of constellations of power, the creation of identities and the microgeographies of everyday life." ( Cresswell , 2011, 551) The mobility turn arose as a response to the way in which the social sciences had traditionally been static, seeing movement as a black box and ignoring or trivializing "the importance of the systematic movements of people for work and family life, for leisure and pleasure, and for politics and protest" (Sheller and Urry, 2006, 208). Mobilities emerged as

5824-457: The effectiveness of energy-producing or energy saving devices, or the "real" replacement cost of a building, and, because energy-inputs usually entail greenhouse gas emissions , in deciding whether a product contributes to or mitigates global warming . One fundamental purpose for measuring this quantity is to compare the amount of energy produced or saved by the product in question to the amount of energy consumed in producing it. Embodied energy

5928-490: The embodied energy. Given an EROEI amounting to eight e.g., a seventh of the final energy corresponds to the embodied energy. Not only that, for really obtaining overall embodied energy, embodied energy due to the construction and maintenance of power plants should be taken into account, too. Here, figures are badly needed. In the BP Statistical Review of World Energy June 2018 , toe are converted into kWh "on

6032-464: The energy associated with mobility of occupants and the embodied energy of infrastructure requirements, in order to avoid shifting energy needs across scales of the built environment. EROEI (Energy Returned On Energy Invested) provides a basis for evaluating the embodied energy due to energy. Final energy has to be multiplied by 1 EROEI-1 {\displaystyle {\frac {\hbox{1}}{\hbox{EROEI-1}}}} in order to get

6136-400: The energy used to extract raw resources, process materials, assemble product components, transport between each step, construction, maintenance and repair, deconstruction and disposal. As such, it is important to employ a whole-life carbon accounting framework in analyzing the carbon emissions in buildings. Studies have also shown the need to go beyond the building scale and to take into account

6240-563: The entire Ile-de-France region, walking is the most popular way of transportation. In Amsterdam , 28% of trips are made by walking, 31% by bicycle, 18% by public transport and only 23% by car. In Copenhagen 62% of people commute to school or work by bicycle. Outside Western Europe, cities which have consistently included sustainability as a key consideration in transport and land use planning include Curitiba, Brazil ; Bogota, Colombia ; Portland, Oregon ; and Vancouver, Canada . The state of Victoria , Australia passed legislation in 2010 –

6344-400: The environmental, social and economic costs that transport systems pose. Short-term activity often promotes incremental improvement in fuel efficiency and vehicle emissions controls while long-term goals include migrating transportation from fossil-based energy to other alternatives such as renewable energy and use of other renewable resources . The entire life cycle of transport systems

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6448-475: The fast-growing population of older citizens. Many of the people exposed to the most vehicle noise, pollution and safety risk have been those who do not own, or cannot drive cars, and those for whom the cost of car ownership causes a severe financial burden. An organization called Greenxc started in 2011 created a national awareness campaign in the United States encouraging people to carpool by ride-sharing cross country stopping over at various destinations along

6552-416: The friction of tires, encouraging electric and hybrid vehicles, improving the walking and cycling environment in cities, and by enhancing the role of public transport , especially electric rail . Green vehicles are intended to have less environmental impact than equivalent standard vehicles, although when the environmental impact of a vehicle is assessed over the whole of its life cycle this may not be

6656-486: The fuel consumption (i.e. 6%). Treloar, et al. have estimated the embodied energy in an average automobile in Australia as 0.27 terajoules (i.e. 75 000 kWh) as one component in an overall analysis of the energy involved in road transportation. Although most of the focus for improving energy efficiency in buildings has been on their operational emissions, it is estimated that about 30% of all energy consumed throughout

6760-412: The fuel consumption should be augmented by 14.3% due to the fuel EROEI. According to some authors, to produce 6 liters of petrol requires 42 kWh of embodied energy (which corresponds to approximately 4.2 liters of diesel in terms of energy content). We have to work here with figures, which prove still more difficult to obtain. In the case of road construction, the embodied energy would amount to 1/18 of

6864-431: The hierarchal order in populated cities from many perspectives. Islanders prioritize the social cohesion and trust of their communities before the alienation of mega-cities. There is a clear physical isolation that marks the boundaries between urbanity and rurality. From another view, nonetheless, this ideological dichotomy between authenticity and alienation leads residents to commercialize their spaces to outsiders. Although

6968-416: The last body of theory is the analysis of complex transportation systems that are "neither perfectly ordered nor anarchic." For example, the rigid spatial coupling, operational timings, and historical bindings of rail contrast with unpredictable environmental conditions and ever-shifting political winds. And, yet, "change through the accumulation of small repetitions...could conceivably tip the car system into

7072-427: The lifetime of a building can be in its embodied energy (this percentage varies based on factors such as age of building, climate, and materials). In the past, this percentage was much lower, but as much focus has been placed on reducing operational emissions (such as efficiency improvements in heating and cooling systems), the embodied energy contribution has come much more into play. Examples of embodied energy include:

7176-411: The like. Such omissions can be a source of significant methodological error in embodied energy estimations. Without an estimation and declaration of the embodied energy error, it is difficult to calibrate the sustainability index , and so the value of any given material, process or service to environmental and economic processes. The SBTool, UK Code for Sustainable Homes was, and USA LEED still is,

7280-504: The location and layout of cities was shaped around a walkable center, often located near a port or waterway, and with suburbs accessible by animal transport or, later, by rail or tram lines. In 1939, the New York World's Fair included a model of an imagined city, built around a car-based transport system. In this "greater and better world of tomorrow", residential, commercial and industrial areas were separated, and skyscrapers loomed over

7384-673: The main transit that people use is personal vehicles. About 80% of their travel involves cars. Therefore, California, is one of the highest greenhouse gases emitters in the United States. The federal government has to come up with some plans to reduce the total number of vehicle trips to lower greenhouse gases emission. Such as: Other states and nations have built efforts to translate knowledge in behavioral economics into evidence-based sustainable transportation policies. In March 2022, an advertising regulation will come into force in France, requiring all advertising materials for automobiles to include one of three standard disclaimers promoting

7488-403: The mobilities paradigm has attempted to reengage transportation and the social sciences, mobilities shares a fate similar to traditional transportation geography in still remaining outside the mainstream of the broader academic geographic community. Sheller and Urry (2006, 215-217) presented six bodies of theory underpinning the mobilities paradigm: The prime theoretical foundation of mobilities

7592-440: The more productive ways of distinguishing postmodernism from modernism proper, whose experience of temporality -- existential time, along with deep memory -- it is henceforth conventional to see as dominant of the high modern." For Oswin & Yeoh (2010) mobility seems to be inextricably intertwined with late-modernity and the end of the nation-state. The sense of mobility makes us to think in migratory and tourist fluxes as well as

7696-564: The movement of people through social classes, social mobility or income, income mobility. A mobility "turn" (or transformation) in the social sciences began in the 1990s in response to the increasing realization of the historic and contemporary importance of movement on individuals and society. This turn has been driven by generally increased levels of mobility and new forms of mobility where bodies combine with information and different patterns of mobility. The mobilities paradigm incorporates new ways of theorizing about how these mobilities lie "at

7800-400: The necessary infrastructure for that displacement takes place. P. Vannini (2012) opted to see mobility as a projection of existent cultural values, expectancies and structures that denotes styles of life. Mobility after all would not only generate effects on people's behaviour but also specific styles of life. Vannini explains convincingly that on Canada 's coast, the values of islanders defy

7904-485: The needs of persons with reduced mobility , families and children. The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) is a group of 94 cities around the world driving urban action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, while increasing the health and wellbeing of urban citizens. In October 2019, by signing the C40 Clean Air Cities Declaration, 35 mayors recognized that breathing clean air

8008-649: The number of people who have access to cars. The European Commission adopted the Action Plan on urban mobility on 30 September 2009 for sustainable urban mobility. The European Commission will conduct a review of the implementation of the Action Plan in the year 2012, and will assess the need for further action. In 2007, 72% of the European population lived in urban areas, which are key to growth and employment. Cities need efficient transport systems to support their economy and

8112-450: The only options for most people in the developing world. Freight was moved by human power, animal power or rail. Mobilities Mobilities is a contemporary paradigm in the social sciences that explores the movement of people ( human migration , individual mobility , travel , transport ), ideas (see e.g. meme ) and things (transport), as well as the broader social implications of those movements. Mobility can also be thought as

8216-428: The other" (Sheller and Urry, 2006, 216; Engel and Nugent, 2010, 1; Soja, 1999 / 2005, 261). Engel and Nugent (2010) trace the conceptual roots of the spatial turn to Ernst Cassirer and Henri Lefebvre (1974), although Fredric Jameson appears to have coined the epochal usage of the term for the 1980s paradigm shift. Jameson (1988 / 2003, 154) notes that the concept of the spatial turn "has often seemed to offer one of

8320-517: The phrase was coined. Walking , the first mode of transport, is also the most sustainable. Public transport dates back at least as far as the invention of the public bus by Blaise Pascal in 1662. The first passenger tram began operation in 1807 and the first passenger rail service in 1825. Pedal bicycles date from the 1860s. These were the only personal transport choices available to most people in Western countries prior to World War II , and remain

8424-554: The post-war period. Mainstream transport planning in Europe has, by contrast, never been based on assumptions that the private car was the best or only solution for urban mobility. For example, the Dutch Transport Structure Scheme has since the 1970s required that demand for additional vehicle capacity only be met "if the contribution to societal welfare is positive", and since 1990 has included an explicit target to halve

8528-454: The rate of growth in vehicle traffic. Some cities outside Europe have also consistently linked transport to sustainability and to land-use planning , notably Curitiba, Brazil , Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Canada . There are major differences in transport energy consumption between cities; an average U.S. urban dweller uses 24 times more energy annually for private transport than a Chinese urban resident, and almost four times as much as

8632-490: The real purpose of transport is access – to work, education, goods and services, friends and family – and there are proven techniques to improve access while simultaneously reducing environmental and social impacts, and managing traffic congestion. Communities which are successfully improving the sustainability of their transport networks are doing so as part of a wider program of creating more vibrant, livable, sustainable cities . The term sustainable transport came into use as

8736-453: The report ). According to the French energy and environment agency ADEME a motor car has an embodied energy contents of 20 800 kWh whereas an electric vehicle shows an embodied energy contents amounting to 34 700 kWh. An electric car has a higher embodied energy than a combustion engine one, owing to the battery and electronics. According to Science & Vie , the embodied energy of batteries

8840-655: The rest of the UK's railways greener. UK studies have shown that a modal shift to rail from air could result in a sixty fold reduction in CO2 emissions. Some Western countries are making transportation more sustainable in both long-term and short-term implementations. An example is the modification in available transportation in Freiburg, Germany . The city has implemented extensive methods of public transportation, cycling, and walking, along with large areas where cars are not allowed. Since many Western countries are highly automobile-oriented,

8944-458: The retirement of Baby Boomers who now drive less, preference for other travel modes (such as transit) by younger age cohorts, the Great Recession , and the rising use of technology (internet, mobile devices) which have made travel less necessary and possibly less attractive. The term green transport is often used as a greenwash marketing technique for products which are not proven to make

9048-508: The science and technology studies which look at mobile sociotechnical systems that incorporate hybrid geographies of human and nonhuman components. Automobile , rail or air transport systems involve complex transport networks that affect society and are affected by society. These networks can have dynamic and enduring parts. Non-transport information networks can also have unpredictable effects on encouraging or suppressing physical mobility (Pellegrino 2012). A third body of theory comes from

9152-661: The study of migration or transport: Mobilities can be seen as a postmodern descendant of modernist transportation studies , with the influence of the spatial turn corresponding to a " post-structuralist agnosticism about both naturalistic and universal explanations and about single-voiced historical narratives, and to the concomitant recognition that position and context are centrally and inescapably implicated in all constructions of knowledge" (Cosgrove, 1999, 7; Warf and Arias, 2009). Despite these ontological and epistemological differences, Shaw and Hesse (2010, 207) have argued that mobilities and transport geography represent points on

9256-908: The suburbs experienced a much reduced quality of public space and of public services. As schools were closed their mega-school replacements in outlying areas generated additional traffic; the number of cars on US roads between 7:15 and 8:15 a.m. increases 30% during the school year. Yet another impact was an increase in sedentary lifestyles , causing and complicating a national epidemic of obesity , and accompanying dramatically increased health care costs. Car-based transport systems present barriers to employment in low-income neighbourhoods, with many low-income individuals and families forced to run cars they cannot afford to maintain their income. In developing countries such as Uganda, researchers have sought to determine factors that could possibly influence travelers to opt for bicycles as an alternative to motorcycle taxis (Bodaboda). The findings suggest that generally,

9360-469: The system. The total amount of energies, direct and indirect, for the entire amount of production was called the embodied energy . Embodied energy analysis is interested in what energy goes to supporting a consumer , and so all energy depreciation is assigned to the final demand of consumer. Different methodologies use different scales of data to calculate energy embodied in products and services of nature and human civilization . International consensus on

9464-461: The tourism industry is adopted in these communities as a form of activity, many locals have historically migrated from urban populated cities. The intellectual roots of mobilities in sociology distinguish it from traditional transportation studies and transportation geography , which have firmer roots in mid 20th century positivist spatial science. Cresswell (2011, 551) presents six characteristics distinguishing mobilities from prior approaches to

9568-564: The traditionally fixed forms of media) and ‘disembodied mobility’ (the transformation in the social order). The categories are typically considered interrelated, and therefore they are not exclusive. While mobilities is commonly associated with sociology , contributions to the mobilities literature have come from scholars in anthropology , cultural studies , economics , geography , migration studies , science and technology studies , and tourism and transport studies. (Sheller and Urry, 2006, 207) The eponymous journal Mobilities provides

9672-530: The twentieth century, but trends since 2000 have been more complex. Oil price rises from 2003 have been linked to a decline in per capita fuel use for private vehicle travel in the US, Britain and Australia. In 2008, global oil consumption fell by 0.8% overall, with significant declines in consumption in North America, Western Europe, and parts of Asia. Other factors affecting a decline in driving, at least in America, include

9776-540: The urban demands of tempo and precision that are satisfied with mobility. The more immediate precursors of contemporary mobilities research emerged in the 1990s (Cresswell 2011, 551). Historian James Clifford (1997) advocated for a shift from deep analysis of particular places to the routes connecting them. Marc Augé (1995) considered the philosophical potential of an anthropology of "non-places" like airports and motorways that are characterized by constant transition and temporality. Sociologist Manuel Castells outlined

9880-454: The usage of cars. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed several cities to adopt a plan to drastically increase biking and walking ; these included Milan , London , Brighton , and Dublin . These plans were taken to facilitate social distancing by avoiding public transport and at the same time prevent a rise in traffic congestion and air pollution from increase in car use. A similar plan

9984-558: The use of sustainable transport practices. This applies to all vehicles, including electric vehicles. In 2028, it will also become illegal to advertise vehicles which emit more than 128 grams of carbon dioxide per-kilometre. Sustainable transport policies have their greatest impact at the city level. Some of the biggest cities in Western Europe have a relatively sustainable transport. In Paris 53% of trips are made by walking, 3% by bicycle, 34% by public transport, and only 10% by car. In

10088-463: The use of vehicles, and is embodied in transport infrastructure including roads, bridges and railways. Motorized transport also releases exhaust fumes that contain particulate matter which is hazardous to human health and a contributor to climate change. The first historical attempts of evaluating the Life Cycle environmental impact of vehicle is due to Theodore Von Karman . After decades in which all

10192-421: The way and documenting their travel through video footage, posts and photography. Ride-sharing reduces individual's carbon footprint by allowing several people to use one car instead of everyone using individual cars. At the beginning of the 21st century, some companies are trying to increase the use of sailing ships , even for commercial purposes, for example, Fairtrannsport and New Dawn Traders They have created

10296-493: The welfare of their inhabitants. Around 85% of the EU's GDP is generated in cities. Urban areas face today the challenge of making transport sustainable in environmental ( CO 2 , air pollution , noise ) and competitiveness ( congestion ) terms while at the same time addressing social concerns. These range from the need to respond to health problems and demographic trends, fostering economic and social cohesion to taking into account

10400-515: The wide variety of mobilities. Most notably, John Urry divides mobilities into five types: mobility of objects, corporeal mobility, imaginative mobility, virtual mobility and communicative mobility. Later, Leopoldina Fortunati and Sakari Taipale proposed an alternative typology taking the individual and the human body as a point of reference. They differentiate between ‘macro-mobilities’ (consistent physical displacements), ‘micro-mobilities’ (small-scale displacements), ‘media mobility’ (mobility added to

10504-453: The world, as well as more local processes of daily transportation, movement through public and private spaces, and the travel of material things in everyday life" (Taylor and Francis, 2011). In 2006, Mimi Sheller and John Urry published an oft-cited paper that examined the mobilities paradigm as it was just emerging, exploring its motivations, theoretical underpinnings, and methodologies. Sheller and Urry specifically focused on automobility as

10608-407: Was adopted by New York City and Paris . The pandemic's impact on urban public transportation means revenue declines will put a strain on operators' finances and may cause creditworthiness to worsen. Governments might be forced to subsidize operators with financial transfers, in turn reducing resources available for investment in greener transportation systems. Sustainable transport is fundamentally

10712-490: Was further developed by the journal Mobilities (Hannam, Sheller and Urry, 2006). Mobilities can be viewed as an extension of the " spatial turn " in the arts and sciences in the 1980s, in which scholars began "to interpret space and the spatiality of human life with the same critical insight and interpretive power as have traditionally been given to time and history (the historicality of human life) on one hand, and to social relations and society (the sociality of human life) on

10816-473: Was in turn an adaptation of the neo-classical theory of general equilibrium with application to "the empirical study of the quantitative interdependence between interrelated economic activities". According to Tennenbaum Leontief's Input-Output method was adapted to embodied energy analysis by Hannon to describe ecosystem energy flows. Hannon's adaptation tabulated the total direct and indirect energy requirements (the energy intensity ) for each output made by

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