How does climate-friendly mobility succeed?

People are more mobile today than at any point in history: We commute to work by train every day, fly to other continents on vacation, or spontaneously set off on a road trip. But the climate impact of the transport sector is devastating: Its emissions account for more than a quarter of the total pollution in the EU alone.

We are therefore researching solutions for the mobility of tomorrow: With new concepts and technologies, we want to make transport more sustainable, efficient, and digital.

To this end, our experts at the German Aerospace Center are researching and developing completely new types of vehicles and optimizing proven models, for example, we are working on alternative propulsion systems for aircraft that emit significantly less CO_2, and are also researching climate-friendly fuels. Furthermore, we are designing autonomous buses, hybrid engines for trains, and lightweight yet strong components for cars.

We examine transportation as a whole: We want to use intelligent digital systems to combine the different means of transport, such as bicycles, trains and cars, in order to reduce exhaust gases, traffic jams, and noise.

Our space research is also recognized worldwide: We not only explore space, but also develop innovative and sustainable technologies, such as robots that autonomously explore planets, or more compact, flexible satellites. These also serve to make our life on Earth easier, for example, through navigation systems that work with even greater precision. Our space technology is also proving to be important in the fight against climate change as it provides important data on changes to land surfaces, seas, and the atmosphere.

In this way, we are not only advancing the transformation of transportation, but we are also pushing the frontiers of space exploration.

Image: DLR/DFD/WIS