Pathways to Carbon-Free Transport in Germany until 2050

The transport sector has to be widely decarbonized by 2050 to reach the targets of the Paris Agreement. This can be performed with different drive trains and energy carriers. This paper explored four pathways to a carbon-free transport sector in Germany in 2050 with foci on electricity, hydrogen, synthetic methane, or liquid synthetic fuels. We used a transport demand model for future vehicle use and a simulation model for the determination of alternative fuel vehicle market shares. We found a large share of electric vehicles in all scenarios, even in the scenarios with a focus on other fuels. In all scenarios, the final energy consumption decreased significantly, most strongly when the focus was on electricity and almost one-third lower in primary energy demand compared with the other scenarios. A further decrease of energy demand is possible with an even faster adoption of electric vehicles, yet fuel cost then has to be even higher or electricity prices lower.

Start me up: Science Creates Business

In the aerospace sector alone, Queensland's innovation culture is delivering results. * Black Sky Aerospace is making largescale scale solid rocket motors and plans to expand its capability to produce all the materials required to manufacture rockets including solid fuel for both space and defence applications. * Hypersonix Launch Systems is using hydrogen-powered scramjet engines to launch small satellites;* exci.ai (previously known as Fireball International) is employing technology originally used to look at supernova explosions to identify and map wildfires;* and Raytracer is developing underwater virtual-reality training simulations for astronauts. Think of Brisbane-based Ellume, which started with an Ignite Ideas grant from the Queensland Government in 2016 for a flu diagnostic test and recently secured a US Government deal for US$262 million to assist with the rollout of its COVID-19 home test. In the automotive field, Tritium is a home-grown start-up whose fast charging technology for electric vehicles has earned it a place as a publicly-listed company on the US-based and tech-focused NASDAQ stock exchange. All of the above businesses have benefited at some stage in their business development from Queensland Government funding assistance.