The Blogs

To kick start the debate we've invited a panel of well known experts to share their views on the proliferation of hybrid cars.

View by category:

View by contributor:

Blogroll

Calendar

Options

  • Editor's overview by Paul Tyrrell
  • Urban Planning | 3:37 p.m. | Thu 18 Oct 2007

  • The purpose of this debate is to look at hybrid cars in a completely new way. Rather than speculating about where the technology is going, we’re asking our contributors to imagine it has already entered the UK mainstream, and what the implications might be for society as a whole.

    Many people assume the risks of climate change would diminish if more of us drove hybrid cars. But is this really true? And if it is, how many of us would have to trade in our conventional petrol-engined cars to make a difference? These are the kinds of questions we’ve put to our varied panel of experts, to kick-start the debate.

    As you'll see from the posts on our blog so far, each expert has interpreted their brief in a slightly different way, with some choosing to imagine the best-case scenario for our notional hybrid future, and some choosing to imagine the worst.

    The consensus seems to be that if the potential of hybrids are fulfilled, the UK would be a better place - one in which city streets were healthy, green, tranquil and convivial places to be (and surprisingly free of cars). Some contributors argue the national economy will benefit, while others point to the likelihood of cars that are much better suited to individual preferences than today.

    However, most say the hybrid future will only be positive if technological advances are coupled with widespread behavioural change , and that it should only be regarded as a single stepping stone on the way to cleaner types of transport. And others insist it will never happen at all, without major breakthroughs in science and engineering.

  • 0 comments

Comments

Your thoughts