ABSTRACT
In light of the mounting oil supply problem, the need to diversify the fuel sources of our transportation industry is growing increasingly urgent. The most promising, scalable, near-term solution is to switch to electric propulsion. The emphasis of our work so far has been on electrified public transport as the basis for transit-oriented development that can help transform cities into a less car-dependent form (Newman and Kenworthy, 1999; Newman et al, 2008; Went et al, 2008). The electric transit systems can then be switched to run on renewables and in some parts of the world this is being done: for example, Calgary’s light rail runs on wind power. Even if this is dramatically successful, cities will still have cars and hence these, too, need to be switched to a renewable source of power. This chapter looks at how a new approach to electric vehicles can enable cities to not only have renewably powered private transport but how this can enable the city to become 100 per cent renewable in all its fuel and power needs.
