Abstract

The topic of the present study deals with the changes and future trends of the European Union’s climate policy. In addition, it studies the manner in which Hungary’s transport sector contributes to the success of the above. The general opinion of Hungarian climate policy is that the country has no need of any substantial climate policy measures, since it will be able to reach its emission reduction targets anyway. This is mostly true, because the basis year for the long term goals is around the middle/end of the 1980’s, when Hungary’s pollution indices were entirely different than today due to former large-scale industrial production. With the termination of these inefficient energy systems, Hungary has basically been “performing well” since the change in political system without taking any specific steps in the interest of doing so. The analysis of the commitments for the 2020-2030 climate policy planning period, which defined emissions commitments compared to 2005 GHG emissions levels, has also garnered similar political reactions in recent years. Thus, it is not the issue of decreasing GHG emissions but the degree to which possible emissions can be increased stemming from the conditions and characteristics of economic growth that is important from the aspect of economic policy. In 2005, the Hungarian transport sector’s emissions amounted to 11 million tons, which is equal to 1.2% of total EU emissions, meaning it does not significantly influence total transport emissions. However, the stakes are still high for developing a low GHG emission transport system, since that will decide whether Hungary can avoid those negative development tendencies that have plagued the majority of Western European transport systems. Can Budapest avoid the scourge of perpetual smog and traffic jams? Can it avert the immeasurable accumulation of externalities on the capital city’s public bypass roads caused by having road transport conduct goods shipping? JEL classification: Q58 Document type: Article

Abstract

BSTRACT: This paper presents the main applications of electric vehicles in rural areas, pointing out the trends and challenges for the future. Technological conditions and difficulties faced by the industry for a wide dissemination of this technology are discussed. The paper described the main researches with proposals to overcome the problems of implementing electric tractors, as supply and electricity storage. Technical and economic comparisons between conventional internal combustion tractors and electric tractors are also presented and discussed. The paper showed the existence of barriers to the implementation of electric vehicles in rural areas, as well as the need for batteries technological evolution, which have high costs and for that reason they are very heavy for these purposes, but there are already systems that can be applied to minimize dependence of fossil fuels in this sector and increase the use of sustainable energy. RESUMO: Este artigo apresenta as principais aplicações de veículos elétricos no meio rural, apontanto as tendências e mudanças futuras. O trabalho discute também as condições tecnológicas e dificuldades enfrentadas pelo setor industrial para a inserção do veículo elétrico no mercado. São apresentados os principais pesquisadores da área com propostas para superar os problemas da implementação dos tratores elétricos, tais como abastecimento e armazenamento de energia elétrica. As comparações técnicas e econômicas entre tratores convencionais, a combustão interna, e tratores elétricos são apresentadas e discutidas. A revisão mostra a existência de barreiras para a implantação dos veículos elétricos no meio rural, como a necessidade de evolução tecnológica das baterias, que apresentam alto custo e ainda são pesadas para este propósito, mas mostra também que já existem sistemas que podem minimizar a dependência de compubstíveis fóceis do setor e aumentar o uso de energia sustentável. Document type: Article