Clean Energy and Equitable Transportation Solutions
Summary:
The session will address the societal, behavioral, economic, engineering, and policy dimensions of the current challenges in decarbonizing the road transportation sector and climate change. Panelists will focus discussion on (i) accelerating clean energy and transportation research efforts for clean energy and connected vehicle technologies, efficient travel options, and improved community and land use planning, (ii) enhancing international collaboration and partnership to include more countries to co-produce knowledge and accelerate the decarbonization of energy and transportation globally; and (iii) co-producing knowledge and engage communities across nations to design, develop, and share equitable solutions for fleet charging, place-based mobility, and mobility for all. We have invited representatives from organizations who have significantly contributed to this clean transportation sector across the globe, including private, non-profit, academic, and governmental.
Abstract:
Transportation emissions have increased long-lasting greenhouse gases (GHGs), deteriorated air quality, and adversely increased climate change and extreme weather impacts. In turn, extremes like heatwaves threaten public transit users, damage roads, disrupt travel, and pose health and safety risks for vulnerable communities in the summer. Similarly, winter snowstorms lead to traffic disruptions, multiple vehicle accidents, and fatalities. Reducing transportation emissions will not only enhance health outcomes and visibility but also optimize road conditions, thereby increasing road safety. Additionally, it will decrease vulnerability to environmental hazards such as heatwaves and flooding. This session invites studies to address sustainable development goals (SDGs) based on interdisciplinary studies using observations, modeling, or community/civic/industry-driven convergence science or a combination that focus on (i) strategies for decarbonizing transportation to attain carbon neutrality and climate change goals, (ii) crafting emission inventories for the transportation sector to inform climate modeling for climate scenario models, (iii) exploring topics concerning road safety and infrastructure resilience amidst local and regional climate, air quality, and hydrometeorological shifts, and (iv) addressing big data cyber security as well as public health and economic benefits and related circular economy tradeoffs in decarbonizing the transportation sector and contributing to achieving energy security and addressing climate change.
Outcomes:
This session will enhance resilience and sustainability by identifying clean, safe, secure, accessible, affordable, and equitable sustainable transportation options for people and goods, addressing climate change challenges, and contributing to achieving carbon neutrality and energy security goals. By assessing transportation decarbonization pathways, decision-makers can address deep-rooted social inequities in our regions, inadequate land use planning and design, environmental stressors impacting public health, and high emission levels from dense and congested fossil fuel transportation systems. The session will address multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 3, 7, 9, 11, 12, and 15, to achieve clean energy and equitable transportation solutions and advance interdisciplinary research. Such efforts will provide knowledge to accelerate equitable use-inspired decarbonized road transportation pathways by engaging government, private sector, industry, and end-user communities.