5. John O'Connor »
5.1 Introduction
Into a Low Carbon Future. What would a successful low carbon economy look like and how should the West Midlands transform its economy to meet that vision? The West Midlands’ Low Carbon vision is to be at the heart of low carbon technological product development and manufacturing, with the required infrastructure to support it! This [...]
Read more »5.2 Should our main priority be to increase economic growth rates or to ensure that any future growth is environmentally sustainable?
As the ‘right’ low carbon solution is not defined at present in terms of consumer usage patterns, charging infrastructure and automotive technology, the time is not yet right to prioritise economic growth. At present it will be more prudent to concentrate on successfully completing the pilot schemes in-place such as the Coventry and Birmingham Low [...]
Read more »5.3 Can we rely on culture change, consumer demand and market forces to deliver a low carbon economy or is regulation needed?
There is certainly evidence that more consumers are taking a growing interest in driving low carbon vehicles. There have also been recent announcements from major automotive manufacturers such as Nissan, General Motors and Honda on their firm plans for introducing low carbon vehicles (both pure electric and hybrid) for early adopter consumer markets in Japan [...]
Read more »5.4 To what extent can we rely on technological development to ensure that we are able to meet our environmental aspirations?
To meet our environmental aspirations we need to ensure that the low carbon roadmap developed by the New Automotive Innovation Growth Team (NAIGT) which outlines that a multi-technology strategy is required to meet proposed European legislation on CO2 reduction. The proposed roadmap indicates that continued development in current powertrain technology and vehicle weight reduction on [...]
Read more »5.5 What are the long-term consequences for the regional economy of issues such as climate change and peak oil, and what should we do in the short-term to respond?
Climate change and Peak oil are issues that will accelerate the way we live, work and plan for the future. We are already seeing changes in power generation strategy and low carbon initiatives such as the one from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles to look at low carbon in a ‘well to wheel’ process, [...]
Read more »5.6 What distinctive approaches could the West Midlands take which would set it apart?
The West Midlands has the benefit of a number of leading companies in low carbon development in a cross section of industries being located within its boundaries. It needs to forge a cohesive cross-industry strategy that looks at all elements of a low carbon environment such as infrastructure, public transport and automotive technology that will [...]
Read more »5.7 What might prevent the region taking advantage of a low carbon future and what can be done to overcome these barriers?
The major barriers to the West Midlands taking advantage of the Low Carbon Economy will be the availability of continual funding and the scarce qualified resource required to continue the research and development work required. Due to the funding constraints being imposed by the current government, I believe that the West Midlands must take the [...]
Read more »5.8 What changes in people’s working and social lives will be implied by a low carbon economy and what can be done to ensure that everyone benefits?
I believe that a low carbon economy can change people’s lives in a number of ways. Firstly if a sound strategy can be developed it will offer employment opportunities in a number of industries that will be taking the lead in developing and building the low carbon infrastructure and products. In addition the way that [...]
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