Transport sector accounts for almost 30% of all energy consumption globally
Whether moving freight or passengers, transportation plays a major role in our society and economy. There are broadly four different modes of transport – air, road, rail and marine. Demand for transport has been rapidly increasing along with economic growth and is expected to continue to do so well into the future. Currently, the transport sector is one of the largest sources of both greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution because of its heavy reliance on energy-dense oil products, mainly petrol and diesel. Despite the strong pressures to move away from hydrocarbons due to the need to mitigate climate change and national plans to reduce reliance on fuel imports, there has so far been limited success in shifting towards a low carbon transport sector, especially in comparison to achievements in electricity. Shifting to lower carbon fuels in transport is a difficult task since neither batteries nor hydrogen can yet provide energy density levels high enough to substitute for oil products in some use cases. However, policy initiatives in the UK and worldwide are facilitating the shift to lower carbon means of transport, including financial incentives for buying low-emission cars, and various bans announced on future sales of petrol and diesel cars.
A transformation of the transport sector is underway, characterised mainly by three trends: electrification, shared mobility and automation. Widespread integration of electric vehicles to the energy system is expected to have significant systemic impacts, as it can allow the roll-out of smart charging at scale; this can provide additional flexibility for managing the electrical grid. Though this transformation is driven by technological developments and market forces, these changes present opportunities to achieve a more sustainable transportation sector. There is particular potential to reduce transport emissions through changes such as modal shift, behavioural change, vehicle efficiency improvements, the use of low carbon fuels, and new business models.
Learn more about transport by exploring our Energy Insights.
For the latest news and articles on the transport sector read New Energy World.
View our dedicated Collection on Road Fuels.
Around0.0 %
of new vehicles registrations in the UK are electric vehicles as of 2022 (SMMT)
0%
of global CO2 emissions come from transport and it has the highest reliance on fossil fuels of any sector (IEA)
0billion
will be invested to support the development of charging infrastructure in the UK as part of the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy (Department of Transport)
0%
of UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 came from transport, making it the highest emitting sector (BEIS)
What's new?
UK’s largest public EV charging hub
20/09/2023
A new public EV charging hub has been developed by BP Pulse, the EV Network (EVN) and NEC Group, at the NEC Exhibition Centre in the West Midland. It ...
European Parliament backs plans to boost renewable energy and SAF uptake
20/09/2023
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) agreed to update the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), raising the share of renewables in the European Union...
Carbon shipping on the rise as emitters search for large-scale storage options
13/09/2023
Based on planned carbon capture projects, Rystad predicts that more than 90mn t/y of CO2 will be shipped by the end of the decade, with these volumes ...
First fully digital electricity substation in US comes online
13/09/2023
The ‘proof of concept’ digital substation, intended to power a megawatt hub, has come online at One Energy’s Findlay headquarters in Ohio. Commen...
Urgent call for more grid capacity in Europe
13/09/2023
By 2030, Europe will see around 50–60mn heat pumps, 65–70mn electric vehicles (EVs) and over 600 GW of additional renewable capacity. Around 70% of th...
Events and training
EI LIVE | Photovoltaics and battery storage
11/10/2023
Join us to discuss a case study on photovoltaics and battery storage in a domestic dwelling to support the running of an electric vehicle.
Delivering Safety Culture Change using the Hearts and Minds Toolkit - Oct 2023
17/10/2023 - 19/10/2023
This 3-day interactive classroom course with certificate, will teach delegates the fundamentals of improving safety culture using the award-winning He...
Reservoir Microbiology Forum (RMF) 2023
15/11/2023 - 16/11/2023
New programme now announced.The RMF is an excellent multi-disciplinary platform that brings together oil producers, scientists, technologists, enginee...
Technical guidance publications
Guidance for UK hydrogen safety case development onshore and offshore
2023
The good practice guidance was commissioned by the EI’s Safety Case Working Group for operators who wish to produce, transport, and store hydrog...
Energy Essentials: A guide to hydrogen
2023
Energy Essentials: A guide to hydrogenThis guide is written for everyday energy consumers. It sets out what hydrogen is; how it is made transported an...
Research report: Landscape review of skills needed for an emerging hydrogen based economy
2023
This landscape review of skills has been commissioned by the Energy Institute (EI) as Phase 1 of a multi-phase programme to identify the skills needs ...
Properties and their derivations of commercial transport fuels
2022
The battles for the cleanness and temperature rise limitation of the atmosphere involve the development of a range of alternative fuels that are both ...
Waste to products – Technology and economic assessment (phase 1)
2022
This document is free to download for registered users.The EMG and Soil Wastes and Groundwater group (SWG) of the EI and Concawe have commissioned E4t...