Before any of us can commit to what we can do for our climate by 2030, - In terms of how we travel, and how we heat residential homes, commerical buildings.
We first have to look back in history to the late 1800's, early 1900's to understand why fossil-fuelled vehicles came to be as the preferred mode of transport.
The Trigger which led to the dawn of the Combustion Engine
In 1909 the cost of fuel was very low, this led to the mass production of petrol powered vehicles. There was a surplus of oil supplies due to oil discovery in the USA. Henry Ford condemned the electric vehicle technology when he produced a "model T" for as little as $260 by 1925
The combustion petrol engine was conceived, and marketed as the preferred mode of travel by road. Electric technology (attract and repell) was paused temporarily, for another 100 years. - But what Henry Ford didn't know then was that electric vehicles would have their second coming.
Technological Innovation - Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford.
Henry Ford was a market leader in building a low cost automobile, In 1909 the price of a "model T runabout" was $825. After Ford moved production to a moving assembly line in 1913, prices began to drop as manufacturing efficiency rapidly increased. The vast improvements to the build process are visible in the production numbers achieved. In 1912, 68,773 "model T's" were produced, the next year saw 170,211 tin lizzys built. By 1916, when production topped 500,000, a brand new "model T" could be bought for just $345. In 1925, the car price reached a new low of $260. The production cost dropped 10x fold in 13x years, making models very attractive to purchase.
Electric Vehicle (EV) Technology (Attract / Repell) is not new! It was first developed in the 1820's
200 year old technology is at the core of today's space age EV designs, being brought to market by mainstream automobile manufacturers.
Hydrogen Technology
Blue hydrogen is currently being developed for both vehicles and infrastructure. Utilising energy produced by hydrogen, which is then stored to heat homes of the futuristic design.
The Future of Transportation 2030+ and beyond
Global communities world-wide will need to be educated in new modes of travel, using every form of electric and hydrogen vehicle, to lesson the impact of global emissions. Within 10x years perhaps we will even book flights in electric and hydrogen powered planes. Planes will land and recharge, rather than be refuelled at a lower cost.
Electric Technology
The appeal about electric technology "attract / repell" is that it can be designed and embedded in to not only cars, but 4x4's, buses, coaches, agricultural and plant vehicles, even motorbikes, cycles and scooters. With the purchase of fossil-fuelled vehicles being banned in the UK by 2030, the incentive is change the mode of transport sooner rather than later.
Fact: You'll be able to travel twice as far for every $1.60 spent on fuel.
Infrastructure for Charging Vehicles
Research shows, that at August 2021, 600x electric charging points are being installed daily in public spaces up and down the UK. Within the next 2/3 years driving an electric vehicle will become even more attractive for the mass population, because the infrastructure will enable optimum 'range' driving, * This calculation is taking running costs and maintenance costs in to account, as well as the initial capital cost of purchasing the EV.
Fact: A trend is occuring; drivers are making a decision to migrate from a fossil-fuelled vehicles, to EV's
@ 2021 one in ten UK car sales are attributed to EV's.
So, what can we do to lesson the impact of emissions?
Vehicle of Choice
We can begin to evaluate the EV/Hydrogen options, and having weighed up the pro's and cons we might decide to commit, the key question is when to commit? Indications are that in 2/3 years time the electric and hydrogen infrastructures will be in place, and capital costs will have reduced as more manufacturers compete for their market share.
Residential Home heating
We can begin to evaluate hydrogen and other fuels, as well as energy storage as a means of heating our homes. Yes, sure there will be product choices and price options to make, - but doing nothing is simply not an option. Time is ticking and the longer we leave this matter unaddressed the more resistance there will be to change. 9 years is no time we need to act decisively, and have made a decision by 2028
We should not only consider the product choices, but also how we intend to pay for them over 10+ years. Purchasing outright is one option, but equally renting or leasing could well be a viable selection of choice.