The Role of E-mobility and Shared Transportation Solutions in Addressing Climate Emergency
Kaushik Burman, Supply chain development & Growth, Gogoro
Kaushik Burman, Supply chain development & Growth, Gogoro
Climate risk and resilience have been the focus of scientific assessments for the past two decades–IPCC SR Ocean and Cryosphere report has done extensive modelling on the historical changes in the ocean and cryosphere since 1950, and projected future changes under low (RCP2.6) and high (RCP8.5) greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. RCPs (Representative Concentration Pathways) are scenarios that include time series of emissions and concentrations of the full suite of GHGs and Aerosols, including chemically active gases, as well as land use/land cover.
RCP2.6 represents a low greenhouse gas emission, high mitigation future that limit global warming to below 2°C by 2100. By contrast, RCP8.5 is a scenario in the absence of policies to combat climate change, leads to an increase of up to 5.2°C -- as of 2017, we are already at 1.1°C. At this unprecedented rate of melting of the glaciers, including melting of the deep permafrost at the Arctic, sea levels continue to rise, and forecasts lead to a 1-2 meters increase in the sea levels. It bodes a scary future, as cities, ranging from smaller sizes (population 1-2 million) to megacities (population > 10 million) will be at the biggest risk of rising sea levels–with over 60 cities at risk, globally, at current levels. Infrastructure investments to the tune of trillions of dollars into roads, homes and commercial establishments, warehouses would be at risk of inundation, displacing millions of people from their livelihood. Additionally, in recent years, researchers have pulled samples of smallpox, Spanish flu, bubonic plague, and even anthrax from thawing permafrost. Meltwater from glaciers and ice caps could ferry harmful pathogens along streams, rivers, and other important waterways, potentially exposing humans to new microbes. Globally, transportation contributes to as high as 30 percent of total GHG emissions, so urgency to decarbonize this sector is high! Technology, cleaner fuels combined with social empathy can decarbonize urban transportation at a faster pace: A paradigm shift has already taken place in the previous decade, with the advent of ride-hailing service providers. Leveraging technology in creating scalable platforms to provide on-demand mobility has created new value pools and a sustained value delivery process to consumers, driver-partners. While ride-hailing has encouraged people to substitute individual vehicle ownership with vehicle sharing, aggregate vehicle miles travelled (VMT) has increased manifold times. That implies that more cars on the road, leading to higher congestion, and higher GHG emissions. Hence ride-hailing in isolation will not help in reducing the carbon footprint. Ride-hailing entities need to push harder on “pooling”, where for every trip, the routing algorithms optimize the mobility of both goods and people. Asset “pooling” models enable fewer vehicles on road, lower per capita GHG emissions, and lower energy intensity. Accelerated adoption of pooling requires a mindset shift aided by higher awareness and adherence to safety standards by driver-partners.Additionally, in recent years, researchers have pulled samples of smallpox, Spanish flu, bubonic plague, and even anthrax from thawing permafrost
