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The Concept of Sustainable Mobility

An abstract by guest commentator Klaus Schmid, board member at BieM, Bundesinitiative eMobility Austria, and lecturer of the course Mobility, Energy & Environmental Aspects of the MBA program Automotive Industry at TU Wien ACE

Klaus Schmid, MBA

Overview of the course

In this Automotive Industry course, we deal with the key drivers and framework conditions for sustainable mobility and the energy sources and storage required for this.

Fundamentally, we deal with these in the topics

  • Technology,
  • Environment, and
  • Socio-economic aspects for the demand.

The concept of sustainable mobility and its goals

The concept of sustainable mobility is derived from the broader concept of "sustainable development," defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." (see more details on: Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, opens an external URL in a new window)

Thus, in considering the mobility of the future, we are also concerned with the benefits and purposes of mobility.

Evidence in the professional literature emphasizes that it is not sufficient to refer to environmental aspects, although they are of primary importance, but that social and economic impacts must also be considered. Furthermore, strategies to pursue the goal of sustainable mobility cannot be limited to the production/use of more environmentally friendly transport systems, although this is essential.

The promotion of sustainable mobility is one of the most widespread objectives of transport policy. Nowadays, almost all concepts related to the transport sector include at least the calls for a plan or project for the promotion of sustainable mobility. From a scientific point of view, the international literature has been and continues to be increasingly interested in the subject from the different subject-specific perspectives (technological, territorial, urban, social, economic, health, etc.).

Meanwhile, we can also draw on the ideas or even experiences of use cases from industry, and incorporate them into our course.

In addition, we deal with the topic in practical exercises under the aspects of

  • production,
  • storage,
  • transport of energy,
  • charging points and refueling,
  • e-Vehicle vs. H2-Vehicle
  • Interfaces to Intermodal Mobility in urban as well as rural areas.

It applies to this very new and innovative segment of the Automotive Industry for a successful strategy and implementation:

"Success is the progressive approach to a worthy goal." (Earl Nightingale)

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More details about the MBA program and the individual courses and lecturers can be found at: MBA Automotive Industry