Moving Billions of People on a Still-Green Planet?

…Prof. Ausubel and his co-authors say technological advances and growing wealth could lead, over a century, toward quite a grand vision:

A century or more is the rational time for conceiving a transport system. The infrastructures last for centuries. They take 50-100 years to build, in part because they also require complementary infrastructures. Railroads needed telegraphs, and paved roads needed oil delivery systems so that gasoline would be available to fill empty car tanks. Moreover, the new systems take 100 years to penetrate fully at the level of the consumer. Railroads began in the 1820s and peaked with consumers in the 1920s.


Fortunately, during the next century we may be able to afford green mobility. In fact, we can clearly see its elements: cars, powered by fuels cells; aeroplanes, powered by hydrogen; and maglevs, powered by electricity, probably nuclear. The future looks clean, fast, and green.

There are hosts of experiments under way, some, like a Green Mobility Network around Miami, Florida, driven by communities, others by elected officials (e.g., London