Executive chair of the Ford Motor Company, Bill Ford, who clearly had his calling set up for him before he was born – his paternal great grandfather was Henry Ford and his maternal great grandfather Harvey Firestone – recently spoke at a Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) Conference about his two passions: cars and the environment.

It is estimated that, by 2044, the world population will be nine billion people, he said. Today, there are approximately 6.8 billion people in the world with 800 million cars on the roads worldwide. That number looks set to grow to between two to four billion cars on the road by 2050.

Already, global cities that are growing the fastest population-wise are experiencing gridlock. According to Ford, in 2010 Beijing citizens had a five-hour commute on a daily basis; and somewhere in China that same year, thousands of people experienced a traffic jam that was nearly 161 kilometres long – which, after 11 days, was eventually dissolved.

The negative impact of this is enormous: Besides the time and fuel that is wasted, it affects society’s healthcare infrastructure, food transportation and other services that are vital to our existence.

Ford insisted that smarter cars, smarter roads and smarter public transportation systems are required to relieve the gridlock pressure that is currently being felt across the world, and which is set to increase.

In decades to come, 75% of the world’s populations will live in cities, and 50% of those cities will have 10 million people living in these said cities, he added.

The “global gridlock”, as Ford calls it, is going to hinder economic growth, and our ability to deliver food, products and services to society – in short, it will compromise humanity.

Obviously, creating more cars and trucks for more people is not the solution. A more automated and integrated transport system is the key, however.

Sustainable transportation and transportation systems require an “integrated system that uses real-time data”, said Ford, where we will no longer be looking for parking bays, or remaining gridlocked, or waiting to pay road tolls because very soon, the same GPS and sound systems that already exist in cars will evolve to become part of a smart car system that allows one’s car to communicate with other vehicles.

For example: If car A in front of car B experiences a traffic jam or car accident, car B will be informed by car A, offering alternative routes and the estimated time it will take.

Another example is scheduling parking bays ahead of time. And there are many other possibilities.

Ford used Hong Kong as another example: here, all modes of transport are part of an integrated card payment system called the Octopus, thus eliminating transport congestion.

A YouTube clip about green transport, submitted in May, describes the level of pollution in Manila, a city in the Philippines. Vehicles account for 80% of the air pollution, and one of the greatest contributors to carbon dioxide is the common motor tricycle, which is a popular means of commuting that creates a massive 10 million tonnes of CO2 in this city each year.

To curb this environmental disaster, eco-friendly and energy-efficient tricycles called e-trikes, which have been funded by the Asian Development Bank, will soon be on the city’s roads.

According to research, these e-trikes will cost half as much as the former tricycles; and every 20 000 tricycles introduced into the city will help to save 100 000 litres of imported fuel daily – reducing fuel costs by 85%.

Other countries making headway

The Philippine government is looking to create electric buses and other forms of e-transportation to contribute to environmentally friendly practices.

Another video on YouTube, from Sweden, shows an electric vehicle that combines the functioning of a taxi with the fuel-efficiency and energy-saving methods of a train.

Called SkyCab, it is a driverless, electric personal rapid transport system cab that can transport up to four people at a time on an elevated track system quickly and efficiently because it has a sophisticated routing system and is able to transport up to 9 000 people per hour – minimising congestion and carbon emissions.

If the SkyCab runs on the average electricity produced for Europe, it will emit 70% less than the proposed carbon efficiency for new cars in Europe by 2012.

Electric cars for Googlers

Google, the world’s largest search engine company, has an electric car-charging programme that allows electric vehicles (EVs) to be recharged. It is the largest EV charging station operator, with a total of 200 stations, with another 250 on order.

Fortunately for Google employees, recharging their electric cars is free.

According to StumbleUpon.com: “The goal of the company is to have 5% of parking space furnished with EV chargers that will be free for all Googlers.”

According to Rolf Schreiber, technical programme manager for electric transportation with Google, the company’s charging systems have lured Googlers into buying electric cars, adds the website.

Hybrid aircraft takes to the skies

Another exciting development for greener air transportation is the DA36 E-Star, an electric two-seater serial hybrid aircraft that took its maiden voyage in Vienna, Austria – the home of Diamond Aircraft Industries.

The partnership project between Siemens, Diamond Aircraft Industries, the aircraft manufacturers and aerospace giant, EADS, created the aircraft so that the main engine could rely on alternative power sources: batteries and a gasoline-powered generator.

The engine puts out 70 watts; and while it is still small, the leaders of the project state that the model can be scaled up to the likes of passenger planes. With more research further on, they hope to reduce fuel consumption by 25%.

Noise pollution is another of the considerations of greening all aspects of our lives; and with the DA36 E-Star, both taking off and landing are done far more quietly than its older counterparts.

There are sure to be even greater developments from this little aircraft.

Openly hostile tactics?

It was reported in The New York Times on 28 June that Europe and the United States – while reducing carbon emissions – have vastly different strategic means of doing so.

While the US is synchronising green traffic lights and using automated systems to find parking before arriving at the destination, parts of Europe have – in what has been worded as “openly hostile” tactics – literally closed off certain roads or dissolved lanes via what the report called “popular bike-sharing programmes”. This has made car travel so expensive for the average traveller, that it is forcing its citizens to choose other environmentally friendly means of transportation.

According to the report, one way to reduce the gridlock in London and Stockholm is for the traveller to pay exorbitant congestion fees when entering the cities; and some German cities have joined a network of “environment zones” where only electric cars, or hybrid cars, that have low-carbon emissions are allowed to enter.

It appears that the idea is to revive bicycle travel, become a pedestrian once again, or drive responsibly by car pooling – or, at the very least, choose cars that are environmentally friendly.

These are merely some of the exciting examples of what the rest of the world is doing to curb carbon emissions.

What is SA doing?

At this year’s Southern African Transport Conference (SATC), to be held in July, one of the major focuses will be the impact that transport has on our environment.

The event will be held at the CSIR Convention Centre in Pretoria. Deputy Minister of Transport Jeremy Cronin will be steering the discussions on transport and climate change.

Transport is not an insulated issue; a focus on integrating our transport systems as well as on better solutions to urban sprawling is key in this matter.

Areas that could better our transport infrastructure include combined working and commercial spaces and minimising the severe urban sprawl, among other pertinent issues.

According to allAfrica.com, Pauline Froschauer, a member of the organising committee for the SATC, said that: “The session aims to get to grips with the challenges and solutions needed in the transport sector to curb its impact on climate change. Sustainable transport solutions will be interrogated, and questions raised about technology’s role in addressing some these challenges.”

To her mind, an interesting application of thought for the transport sector is to apply the “Avoid, Shift and Improve” approach: Avoid unnecessary travel and, if necessary, ride a bicycle or walk; shift to low-carbon emitting forms, or take public transport; and find and use technology for improved transport systems, which reduces carbon emissions.

The South African National Energy Research Institute (Saneri) has been hard at work over the last couple of years in an attempt to green the country’s transportation system.

Saneri, Gauteng’s Green Transport Initiative and vehicle branding expert, Graffiti, have all aligned themselves with 14 energy-efficient, eco-friendly vehicles, 12 of which are owned by the Gauteng Provincial Department of Roads and Transport, called the G-Fleet.

All these cars are fuelled with compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

There is only one hub in South Africa thus far, called the Green Transport Centre, which is the core of further green transport evolution. This is where information is shared regarding technological developments, demonstrations and deployment of alternative fuel testing.

Refuelling on CNG occurs at South Africa’s first CNG refuelling station, located at Langlaagte in Johannesburg. The vehicles driven on LPG refuel at the Sasol LPG station in Isando. A biodiesel refuelling station will soon be erected in Bedfordview for the G-Fleet.

There are a variety of projects and programmes geared toward greening our transport infrastructure in South Africa.

But, essentially, instead of a few cars driving around the Johannesburg area advertising how eco-friendly they are, a more developed and working example of mass public green transportation is required so that the country can be on par with nations such as Sweden and the Philippines which, surely, are only a couple of global examples where green transportation systems have been successful; there are far more impressive results elsewhere.

I believe that we have the technology, we have the knowledge, we have the ability to increase employment by focusing on other transport options and giving people work to make our country a greener transport option than it is currently.

It is time to invest in the future. The future is happening. Now.

Are you going to be on the investment gravy train, steering South Africa in the right direction?

Tracee Harvard