Future Transportation Systems - Decreasing Fuel Consumption and Exhaust Gas Emissions in Transportation - page 287

systems are common with the catalyst, are connected to the ECU, and can be
regenerated by heat when required. They reach a higher rate of filtering than
passive filter systems, but their costs are higher.
Hybrid vehicles with both an electric motor and an internal combustion engine
will become more accepted in certain regions, initially in megacities. Electric
motors can be optimally used when large forces are needed, when accelerating,
driving up hill, and in ''stop and go'' traveling. Nowadays not technology or
human behavior, but traffic jams are usually the main reason for higher fuel
consumption and higher exhaust gas emissions.
In the future more plug-in hybrid vehicles will be recharged from the net,
extending their range. The cost of hybrid systems will remain very high, since a
combined system must contain many duplicate elements in comparison to single
systems. Due to new promising developments in low and high temperature
membrane technology, many manufacturers consider the fuel cell as an alternative
to the combustion engine. May be, future designs could sooner prefer fuel cells.
However, the single cell is only one component of the combined engine and
storage system in the vehicle. Realistically, it will be a long time before it is on the
market.
Self Diagnosis system will ensure that internal combustion engines operate with
optimal combustion and beyond it, at the best range of load level and number of
revolutions over longer distances. The specific fuel consumption and the pollutant
emissions of future cars will be lower, in comparison with recent types, particu-
larly in urban traffic. The energy of future electric vehicles will be stored in new
types of lithium-ion batteries.
17.4.2 Future Aviation Technology
The airplanes of the future will presumably look just like those of today. However,
finances, not the engineering, will more and more determine future designs. The
cost of the fuel, operation, inspection, and maintenance, as well as environmental
friendliness will powerfully influence the economy of an airliner.
Biogenic and alternative fuels or other renewable energy sources will become
more important to protect the environment and the climate. Other aspects will also
become more important, such as the use of light weight materials, the introduction
of laminar flow over the wings, the integration of airframe, and nacelle and new
engine technologies.
Airspace near airports is overcrowded everywhere, so aviation must develop
higher safety standards. The growth of aviation requires new innovations, such as
• The Single Sky initiative in Europe, flights on individually optimized tracks and
profiles, independently from the established route structures;
• The complete digitalization and automatic communication between airplane to
airplane, not only between pilot and flight officer;