Study from MIT Energy Initiative will explore the future of transportation
Energy demand for transportation — which today accounts for approximately one-fifth of the world’s energy consumption — is expected to rise substantially as a growing middle class in emerging economies demands greater access. But how will such demand be addressed in the years ahead? As part of MIT’s five-year Plan for Action on Climate Change, the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) has launched a major study — “Mobility of the Future” — to explore how consumers and markets will respond to potentially disruptive technologies, business models, and government policies. The scope of this study is ground transportation with an emphasis on the movement of people. “It is well recognized that transportation is the most challenging economic sector to decarbonize,” says Robert Armstrong, director of MITEI and a professor of chemical engineering. “Our three-year ‘Mobility of the Future’ study is tackling complex questions of how technology advances, consumer choice, new business models, and government...