When it comes to the environmental movement, the first thing most people will hear about is the future of transportation. Society depends heavily on modern transportation, and it’s a radical idea to consider changing this entirely. Most commonly, people suggest electric cars for the future of green energy transportation, but these don’t come without their environmental flaws. It’s hard to not turn a blind eye to the negative impacts of electric cars, but it’s important to consider that our current alternative is not as beneficial as some may say.

 

According to a study by the Environmental Protection Agency, as of 2015, transportation was the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. at 27 percent, just behind electricity at 29 percent. Breaking this down further, 60 percent of emissions come from light-duty vehicles. In comparison, aircraft only account for 9 percent of emissions. This accounts for around 1.7 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution per year.

 

Today, there are around 340,000 electric and hybrid cars being used in the U.S., according to Scientific American. The issues come from the production of electricity for these cars, which is produced via smokestacks. Many of these smokestacks are attached to coal-fired power plants, which is the “single-largest source of greenhouse gas pollution in the U.S., at two billion metric tons of CO2 per year.” There’s also no current major difference between hybrid and electric vehicles. Hybrids switch to gasoline use when their batteries are not being used, but both hybrid and electric vehicles produce about the same amount of greenhouse gas pollution, about 200 grams per mile on average, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

 

The EPA offers future solutions as well as alternatives to cars on their website. They first mention the fact that America has already had massive changes to its major forms of transportation, going from cars to horses in just 20 years from 1900 to 1920 and building the entire highway system in just 35 years. The EPA suggests the use of public transportation as well as more commonly walking and biking to locations when possible, all of which drastically cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

 

The future may also lie in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, when hydrogen fuel is produced even in the least green way possible, it still cuts back on emissions by over 30 percent in comparison to gasoline-powered vehicles. Though they require hydrogen refueling stations and are just starting to infiltrate into the U.S., it’s important to consider the possibility of this cleaner alternative.

​

The future of transportation is not set in stone and could drastically alter the course of the planet. Instead of relying on creating new technology, a smaller carbon footprint can be achieved by using public transportation, biking and walking by decreasing emissions and waste associated with production.