Sustainable European Transport System in a 100% Renewable Economy

Antonio García-Olivares, Jordi Solé, Roger Samsó and Joaquim Ballabrera-Poy
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Antonio García-Olivares: Institute of Marine Sciences, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Ps. Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Jordi Solé: Institute of Marine Sciences, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Ps. Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Roger Samsó: Institute of Marine Sciences, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Ps. Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Joaquim Ballabrera-Poy: Institute of Marine Sciences, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Ps. Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-21

Abstract: Europe must move towards a 100% renewable transportation system for climate, energy and sustainability reasons. We estimate the capital and energy required for building and operating a renewable transportation system providing similar services as the EU-28 transport system of 2016. It could be based on: biogas or fuel cell vessels; liquid biogas powered aircrafts; electric railways and fuel cell or electric vehicles between major cities; and car sharing, electric buses and electric two- and three-wheelers, for short journeys. A system of charging posts on the streets and roads for passenger and commercial e-vehicles is studied. Alternatively, a Tracked Electric Vehicle system of continuous power on European roads would improve energy efficiency and the saving of scarce metals (Ni, Li), at a lower cost, if only national roads were electrified. The investment for the construction of the whole system would be 2.3–2.7% of the EU’s GDP per year for 30 years. The new system operation would require 16% less energy than that of 2016, with reduction of 70% in road transport. However, shipping and aviation would demand 162% and 149% more energy, respectively, if liquefied biogas were used as fuel. A type of land transport fully based on trains would provide a similar service to that of an electric vehicle fleet, with a 29% lower energy consumption.

Keywords: transport infrastructure; transition cost; electrification; embodied energy; decarbonisation; rail transport (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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