Abstract
For the most part, modes of transport are characterised by a lengthy energy conversion process from the primary energy source to the mechanical energy involved in locomotion, resulting in a relatively high degree of overall energy loss. Additionally, transport vehicles are often not fully loaded, resulting in the additional disadvantage of an unfavourable relationship between payload and gross vehicle weight. These and other effects, such as traffic congestion or aircraft holding patterns, increasingly force us to concede a relatively low degree of energy efficiency in modes of transport.
The envisioned presentation aims to point out and compare various means of determining transport efficiency rates.
One approach begins by looking at the lowest energy expenditure physically possible for a ground transport task. Various idealised values are then progressively eliminated until realistic fuel consumption rates for contemporary vehicles are reached. Another approach looks at the overall traffic system, taking into account the circumstances that transport vehicles operate within a certain infrastructure and are frequently subject to the highly varied quality of traffic management systems. In addition they are forced to make use of certain power sources produced from different primary energy sources. Another assessment attempts to isolate the transportation benefit which the vehicle provides for its owner and passengers and compare it with the energy consumption as well as the overall benefit.
Comparison of these approaches shows that there are various inherently plausible methods of determining transport efficiency. This is hardly surprising, since the automobile is particularly well-suited to serving a variety of purposes, as opposed to traffic systems with clearly specifiable input and output parameters.