Transport revolutions: moving people and freight without oil

摘要

In Transport Revolutions Richard Gilbert and Anthony Perl present a vision of future global transportation systems. The authors predict a progressive abandonment of our current dependence on oil-powered vehicles in favour of electric and renewable resource powered engines during the next twenty years. They kick off with an intriguing idea: the recent economic downturn and market volatility could give birth to a revolution in transportation. This hypothesis is based on the observation of the volatility in price and the fluctuations in consumption of oil over the last few years. In order to substantiate their thesis and provide the reader with a theoretical framework, Gilbert and Perl examine past transportation revolutions.