Weert Canzler

Mobility in the age of digital modernity: why the private car is losing its significance, intermodal transport is winning and why digitalisation is the key

Abstract The private automobile is a central enabler for modern societies and is thus a culturally charged symbol. Can this societal promise of private car ownership and automotive mobility in the face of climate change and permanent congestion imply the continued guarantee of social participation? The digital options for transportation allow for a general safeguarding of mobility without the direct need for private vehicles, but the current market structures do not allow for that. It is obvious, that new business models triggered by digitalisation are struggling to find support in the current legal frameworks, although they increase the capacity and efficiency of transport and energy systems, reinforcing decarbonisation initiatives and eventually also address the citizens needs and interest in a more effective way. The dynamics of digitalisation are speeding up, eroding current patterns of mobility behaviour; the current legal framework, however, preserves the status quo and even contradicts the promise of social participation. Considerable restrictions on the private car need and will be implemented as urban and environmental pressures can no longer be mitigated. Electrification of the entire transportation sector is thus not only necessitated due to climate change mitigation, but is in line with the increased interlinking of different modes of transport into integrated mobility services. This shift will involve a fundamental transformation of the transport sector. It is driven not only by economic and technological factors, but importantly also by important societal developments and considerations. The use of digital technologies in order to economise the mobility sector, making it more efficient and intermodal, cannot be stopped. The automobile with its combustion engine was only the first generation appliance. Its broad success, however, has forced us to consider alternatives and reinterpret the product with the help of digital technologies.

Auf dem Weg zum Gewährleistungsstaat: Netzvermarktung und Infrastrukturpolitik für die schrumpfende Gesellschaft

Infrastrukturpolitik war in Deutschland jahrzehntelang eine Strategie der offentlichrechtlichen Vorleistung, geplant und realisiert, um wirtschaftliches Wachstum in allen Teilen des Landes zu schaffen, materiellen Wohlstand zu sichern und gleichzeitig durch eine hohe Erreichbarkeit gleichwertige Lebensbedingungen fur alle Bundesburger zu schaffen. Doch knapp 60 Jahre nach Grundung der Bundesrepublik und mehr als 15 Jahre nach der Wiedervereinigung ist diese Strategie erschopft. Klimawandel, demografische und wirtschaftsstrukturelle Veranderungen sowie die Verschuldung offentlicher Haushalte zwingen starker denn je zum selektiven Einsatz offentlicher Mittel.

Vom Batteriefahrzeug zur Elektromobilität

Im mittlerweile dritten Jahr des E-Mobility-Hypes ist klar, dass es sich beim Elektrofahrzeug nicht nur um ein Auto mit einem anderen Antrieb handelt, sondern dass es um den Einstieg in eine neue Form von Mobilitat geht. Mehr noch, es geht um den qualitativen Sprung vom Elektroauto zur vernetzten Elektromobilitat. Elektromobilitat umfasst ebenso Elektrofahrrader, so genannte Pedelecs, E-Roller, daruber hinaus neue, erst als Prototypen oder Designskizzen vorhandene elektrische Fahrzeuge und eben auch die klassischen Elektrofahrzeuge – Schnellzug, S- und U-Bahn, Tram und Oberleitungsbusse. Und es geht dabei auch um neue Nutzungskonzepte jenseits des Privatfahrzeugs [2].

Mass motorization in China

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to give an answer to the questions whether China can make the quantum leap in automotive technology from engines that burn fossil-fuel to those that do not and whether China will take an “alternative Asian path of development.” Design/methodology/approach - This paper is based on a sociological approach to prove potential technical innovations reflecting the social conditions of radical innovations like post-fossil mobility concepts. Findings - Innovations like a post-fossil car concept consist of more than new technical infrastructures and mere imitations, they require decentralized spaces for incubation and experimentation. Translated into conditions governing the policy milieu, that need means that potential promoters of innovations need fundamental political freedoms, equality before the law, legal certainty, and the advancement and protection of personal rights Research limitations/implications - This paper reflects the opportunities and restrictions of radical change in car technology in china. It does not give evidence for the future of conventional mass motorization as the continuance of the state of the art in car technologies. Practical implications - This paper implies – as a practical consequence – that the established car industry in the triad is furthermore responsible for progress in car and motor concepts being more energy efficient and less dependent from oil. Originality/value - The original contribution of this paper is that it connects the technical debate on the future of cars and their drive system with the discussion of social and political terms of collective capacity of radical innovations.

Energiewende durch neue (Elektro-)Mobilität? Intersektorale Annäherungen zwischen Verkehr und Energienetzen

Die Energiewende wird medial und politisch oftmals mit regenerativen Energien, dem Ausbau der Stromnetze und der Neuorganisation des Strommarktes gleichgesetzt. Wenig Beachtung findet dagegen die Interaktion dieser technischen, infrastrukturellen Neuerungen mit angrenzenden Bereichen wie dem Mobilitatssektor. Im folgenden Beitrag mochten wir aus wirtschafts- und organisationssoziologischer Perspektive den Blick auf die durch die zunehmende Elektrifizierung des Verkehrs entstandene Dynamik zwischen Energiewende und Verkehrswende richten.

The German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Community – Successes and Failures

Abstract Recently, the German Federal Government made the consequential decision to change its energy program. This not only as a result of the decision to shut down the existing nuclear power plants within the next few years, but also due to vital challenges like climate change and security of energy supply. The shift in the energy-technology paradigm from fossil fuel technologies to regenerative energies constitutes a major technical process but also new economic and social constellations. This paper focuses on hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in Germany. The institutional set up in this field is analysed and the new organizational actors are identified who have actively lobbied towards a political consensus. However, the experts in this field could not attain the required leadership in the public discourse on these technologies. It seems that an attractive guiding vision of a post-fossil energy future and a broad acceptance in daily use would have been major prerequisites for such leadership.