COP26 comment: Focus on new technology 'damaging' to low-emission transport targets

Dr Stefán Smith, Lecturer in Energy Systems and the Built Environment at the University of Reading, said:

"The talk of low emissions in relation to transport at the moment most strongly relates to ‘tail pipe emissions’. To be truly low emission in terms of electric vehicles requires the electricity to be generated by renewables, or nuclear. The potential for low emission transport is, therefore, strongly dependent on broader energy system issues.

"It should be noted that recent research on transport emission reduction points towards a hierarchy of effective changes in relation to transport that goes beyond adoption of any new technology such as electric vehicles. This hierarchy, of Avoid-Shift-Improve, is based on understanding that demand needs to reduce if we are to meet emission targets.

"There are many issues wrapped up in this simple hierarchy such as changes in vehicle ownership, use of transport modes, policy, and technology efficiency. The focus we see on ‘new technology’ alone as a solution is not only insufficient, it is potentially damaging to reaching already ambitious targets."