Specifically, switching from fossil fuels to electric power and hydrogen will drive down emissions and support the worldwide shift to net zero.
In the UK, for example, transport accounted for 28% of the country’s total GHG emissions in 2022 (domestic figures only – not including international aviation and shipping). Of these transport emissions, 89% came from road vehicles: broken down into 53% from cars and taxis, 17% from heavy goods vehicles (HGV) and 16% from light vans.
A decarbonised transport network gives us more benefits than just reducing GHG emissions. Electrification will reduce air pollution and improve health, while improving our quality of life with quieter and cleaner streets. For example, London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has substantially improved air quality and cut emissions, with 27% lower NO2 levels and 31% lower PM2.5 particle emissions from vehicle exhausts.
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The road to decarbonisation
While we are making progress to decarbonise transport, it’s slow-going. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), GHG emissions from transport in 2030 will still be 4% above 1990 levels, unless we adopt additional measures and policies. To reduce our GHG emissions, the transport sector needs a substantial shift to low-carbon fuels or zero-emission technologies, which primarily means electrification across both private and public transport.
Trends by sector
In the sections below, we’ll look at current trends in the most important transportation sectors, and how they are moving towards lower emissions.
Cars and taxis
The most visible change in transportation is the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid cars. The automotive industry has committed to a massive shift to electrification, enabling it to hit targets for emission cuts set by governments around the world.
While their rate of adoption has slowed recently, EV sales are still growing. A McKinsey report predicts that by 2030, 30% to 42% of new passenger vehicles sold worldwide are forecast to be battery electric vehicles (BEVs).
To enable this increase in EV sales, car makers and their suppliers are continuing to push for improved efficiency in on-board power electronics, and improvements in battery technology. The shift from silicon to silicon carbide (SiC) devices is making a big impact, and can increase range by up to 5%. Charging times are also being reduced dramatically, for example with BYD claiming its new battery and charging system can add 400km of range in only five minutes.
Commercial transportation
Trucks and other commercial vehicles are also going to need to transition towards zero emissions, but their size and weight make this difficult – not to mention the long journeys that are required.
Charging time is a problem, with the large batteries needed for trucks and electrified trailers meaning that charging can be unacceptably slow – and a vehicle that’s charging isn’t on the road earning its keep. One approach is to use replaceable batteries, where a fully-charged battery can rapidly be swapped in to replace the empty one.
Alternatively, hydrogen-powered trucks, using fuel cells, provide another viable option, particularly where battery charging infrastructure is lacking – for example, Volvo hints its hydrogen trucks will be commercially available by the end of the decade. Overall, commercial fleets are more predictable than consumer cars, in terms of where they drive, and how far they travel each day. This can make it simpler to plan and manage the charging infrastructure that’s needed.
Buses and coaches
Low emission buses and coaches on our roads include those powered by hydrogen fuel cells and batteries – which both, of course, use electric powertrains with the associated electronics. Governments are increasingly tightening regulation on emissions from buses and coaches, making greener power sources more attractive to fleet operators.
For example, in London, the main bus operator, Transport for London (TfL), has more than 1,600 zero emission buses, out of a total fleet size of around 9,000. These include electric and hydrogen vehicles. Electric bus technology is improving all the time, with efficiency (kWh per mile) increasing by 20% in the last three years, while new double-decker buses have a typical range of 250 miles or more, up by 25% compared to 2017’s vehicles.
Maritime
Another difficult sector to decarbonise is maritime transport, which has huge energy demands for boats of all sizes. While large, long-distance ships are beyond the reach of today’s technology, the near-future targets for emissions reductions include plug-in hybrid or electric power for smaller craft with shorter journeys, such as ferries and tugboats. Even here, charging times of multiple hours are a challenge, with fast charging technologies starting to be used to address this issue.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has committed to a GHG strategy which aims to reduce CO2 emissions of international shipping by at least 40% by 2030, compared to 2008 levels. It is also aiming for zero or near-zero emission technologies to provide 10% of the energy used in this sector by 2030.
Aviation
Air transport is a well-publicised target for electric power and alternative fuels, but its combination of long journeys and tight weight constraints makes flying a tough ask for electrification. Even so, there are big savings in fuel consumption and emission to be made by shifting components such as control systems from hydraulic control to electric – thus saving weight.
Research is ongoing around the world to find ways to reduce aircraft emissions, including reducing component weight, improving efficiency, and development of innovative electric motors. For example, NASA is sponsoring work to develop power converters with two to three times the power density of today’s components. Hydrogen is another focus for research, such as in Airbus’s concept aircraft that is powered by four 2MW electric engines, each driven by a hydrogen fuel cell system.
Rail
Rail is already a low-emission mode of transport, particularly compared to flying, but there is still much progress to be made. Emissions per passenger kilometre from rail are only around 20% of air travel, and this will likely fall further as more of our railways are electrified (up from today’s figure of 85% of passenger movements and 55% of freight movements), and as a higher proportion of electricity comes from renewables in the future.
Technology
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Shifting from diesel to electric trains requires substantial investment in infrastructure, which may not always be practical, particularly on long distance routes with low utilisation. Hydrogen fuel cells can therefore provide an attractive alternative, with hydrogen and hybrid trains already running in countries including China, India, Japan, the Netherlands, and Germany.
Two- and three- wheelers
Two-wheel EVs (E2Ws) and three-wheel EVs (E3Ws) are a massive market around the world, with scooters, motorcycles and rickshaws selling in huge numbers, particularly in China and India. The global E3W market is projected to grow from US$4.32 billion in 2025 to US$12.81 billion by 2032, with adoption driven by tightening emissions regulations.
In the past, most E2Ws and E3Ws have used lead-acid batteries, with their low cost making them more appealing than lithium-ion – particularly as journeys tend to be short. Falling battery costs are changing this, with an increasing shift to lithium power.
Agriculture and construction
The construction market is a broad and varied sector, with a wide range of different vehicle types, sizes, and requirements. In Europe, the market for electric construction equipment is forecast to grow at 26% year-on-year to 2030, with the strongest demand in compact and low battery-capacity equipment.
In agriculture, electrification is accelerating, to support reductions in emissions as well as lower fuel costs for farmers. Electric tractors are reaching the market, but lack of charging infrastructure is a challenge, although helped by swappable battery carts, and battery-powered vehicles are typically only useful for relatively short trips and light duty cycles. John Deere and Monarch are among many companies developing electric equipment, such as Monarch’s autonomous MK-V tractors.
Common challenges
Across all these transport sectors, there are several key challenges. For a start, power conversion efficiency must be as high as possible, to enable battery vehicles to get the most out of their stored power, as well as to speed up charging and reduce heat dissipation. As well as efficiency, we need power components that are reliable, compact, and cost-effective.
There are multiple applications to consider. For example, BEVs have on-board powertrain systems including the charger, traction inverter, and DC/DC converter. The charging infrastructure also relies on efficient, high-voltage power electronics to deliver the high power needed for fast charging.
Silicon MOSFETs have been the traditional choice for power switching and conversion, but they are reaching their limits. Increasingly, they are being replaced by wide bandgap semiconductors, most commonly silicon carbide (SiC).
Compared to silicon, SiC provides high thermal conductivity, a low thermal expansion coefficient, and high maximum current density, giving it excellent electrical conductivity. SiC MOSFETs can withstand higher voltage thresholds than silicon variants, and their low switching losses and high operating frequencies offer superior efficiency.
Conclusions
While we may feel we are making progress, the reality is that transport continues to rely on oil products for more than 90% of its final energy, down only slightly since the early 1970s. GHG emissions have rebounded to pre-COVID levels, and the current geopolitical climate is threatening to weaken government commitments around the world.
In this context, the electronics industry has a responsibility to do all we can to reduce GHG emissions. To enable the successful decarbonisation of transportation, engineers need to choose the optimum components and semiconductor materials, which requires consideration of multiple factors such as efficiency, power density, cost-effectiveness, and reliability.
The Field Application Engineers (FAEs) and power specialists at Avnet Silica possess a wealth of expertise in the transportation sector and are ready to assist you in selecting the most suitable material for your application, whether it is silicon, SiC, or GaN. Get in touch now.
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