Innovation and Incremental development

If you raise your view from the ground and look at transportation from above you will observe a few things. First, it's a steady flow of objects carrying people and goods constantly burning fossil fuels to move. Second, the patterns of flow is very similar to that of small water creeks turning into small rivers turning into a big massive flood of water.

Now, let's reverse the view and be a part of this flow. We are going from one place to another, either chained to the steering wheel and trying to find a way to get rid of our car when we arrive at our destination - or using public transit and trying to match timetables and routes in a way that does not mess up our precious time too much.

In this context I raise the issue again - Real Innovation in transportation can not come from within the existing modes. Anything that does that will always be limited to the current paradigm and can never break out of the box it´s put in.

Close you eyes and imagine a six lane congested freeway. Put in a little "innovation", let's say they are all now electric vehicles. Any difference? Not really. Let's add some more - imagine all of them being automatic driven by computers? It will still look the same, but maybe the people trapped in those cars at least can use their time working with their laptop or something. I don't object to electric self driving cars at all, I think it's great  that this evolution is happening. But it is incremental development within the current paradigm of city development - same roads, same parking issues, almost same accident problems, still congested roads and not least - a lof of energy misused for personal transportation.

The possibilities of solar powered Automated Transit Networks is far beyond the limitations of current technologies. We can get around way safer, faster, comfortable, greener and use land for what is should be used for - humans, not machines. I am going to Los Angeles at the end of June to meet with people looking into just that at a gathering hosted by Aerospace Corporation, the Mineta Transportation Institute and City of San Jose. An update will come soon at this blog.

The importance of continuity

Today I had a short visit with people at Capitol Hill to talk about the upcoming conference in Washington DC in October. For both US and European decision makers the issue of unemployment is high on the list of important tasks to address, something that ties closely into what we do at the conference and in the ATN/Podcar community. We want a lot of young people to be engaged in building their own sustainable future as infrastructure projects take a long time. Continuity is a major challenge in our work. Politicians and decision makers change, and so do we. By having a large contingent of students and backing organizations behind them we can create a strong flow of information that carries experiences and work from today into the new realities of tomorrow. So, the next item on my personal agenda is to invite motivated students to the conference and make sure we propagate the good work of the students and supporters we have today to a larger audience at the October conference. in DC.

Longworth House, Washington DC

A short other note - I was invited as a panelist and speaker for the ASES Conference  in Baltimore last week. It was refreshing to see a larger audience than expected and also that  the possibilities of solar energy and Podcar technology was well recieved. I look forward to continue in talks with ASES on this subject as I believe that we can support each other well.

The Solar Component

I sometimes get the question "Why solar?" for Podcar systems. Well, there are many reasons for it. First, the sun is the most natural source of energy on earth, and it's endless free energy. Second, the electric energy derevied by PV cells is very suitable for transportation as electric motors are highly efficient. Third, we move with almost exactly the same pace as the sun shows itself - we sleep in the night and travel during the day. All of these good reasons add up to a solution that outperforms all non-renewable sources of energy for transportation. To furthermore add to the good news, todays cost for PV is more competitive than ever, and to install a PV system for a podcar network is also a sound financial investment.

 

 "But, how can you travel when there is no sun?"

 We just use the other sources of storage - hydro and wind. Since the travel patterns are much less intense during the night we need much less than during the day. For this day and time, solar energy as primary source of energy for transportation is not only a great idea, it's a very feasible and economical solution. On March 27 I will travel to the European Investment Bank to present the Uppsala preliinary ELENA application. The key component for the Podcar network proposed in Uppsals is the solar canopy over the track, feeding the system with 100% energy. It's amazing that less than 100 years after the break-through of the car that we now can seriously approach a solar based transportation system that performs better than the car. Human innovation and entrepreneurship that led us here is impressive, and it's the effort of many, many people that has made this possible. I really feel their strength and appreciation in my work, and it's an honor to carry these ideas forward. 

Lastly, one example of many of the change solar energy can bring to people: The Barefootcollege