Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 4 Mean fuel consumption (l/100 km) against congestion level in different groups of cars
(Own analysis based on manufacturers' data for the most popular car models)
Engine displacement (cm 3 )
Up to 1,399
1,400-1,999
Over 2,000
Petrol
Diesel
Petrol
Diesel
Petrol
Diesel
6.8
10.1
8.1
14.9
11.5
7.4
tram (15.2 kWh/100 pkm). The yearly energy consumption may be estimated at
2200 million kWh for passenger cars, 106 million kWh for buses and 56.2 million
kWh for trams. It means that the inhabitants of Poznan agglomeration used
156 million l of petrol and 61 million l of diesel fuel in 2013 for their typical
obligatory and non-obligatory journeys within the agglomeration.
8 Conclusion
In the face of the already-achieved, or at least imminent peak oil and with constant
growing demand for transportation, the inescapable consequence will be a rise in
oil prices in world markets. It can only be stopped by another economic crises. A
crisis is a fairly weak remedy for the problem, which additionally causes a number
of unfavourable side effects. Technological progress may contribute to lower oil
consumption by its more effective use. Hybrid cars may be one example. This may
in turn lead to the Jevons paradox as a lower consumption level will result in more
frequent travel and lengthening of the distances covered. So, over a long period
of time, oil consumption is not only not likely to decrease, but quite the oppo-
site. Obviously, hybrid cars are not the only solution aimed to stop being depend-
ent on oil. Each solution has a number of limitations. In modern electric engines
and batteries, rare-earth metals are used, whose supply is very limited and remains
mostly under control of China. Additionally, batteries have a very short life and
are a serious burden to the environment. Engines running on compressed natural
gas have similar limitations to typical internal combustion engines, as gas supplies
at the current consumption use is estimated to be sufficient for around 50 years.
Hydrogen-powered cars are still being developed and it is hard to assume their
economic and energetic effectiveness could be improved any time soon. Changing
the type of propulsion to a more energy-efficient causing less pollution will not
solve one of the most common, key problems tormenting cities—traffic congestion
and the costs thereof.
Instead of continuing the current development trends and maintaining the dom-
ination of vehicle transport while waiting for another technological revolution to
happen in order to make the world independent of oil, it would be better to use
one of the off-the shelf, tested solutions. The widely accessible, punctual and safe
public transport whose frequency of service is adjusted to the demand will improve
the energy efficiency of passenger transport in cities. Especially transportation by
 
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