Science Café – Combating climate change: is this the end of the car?

October 10, 2019, 8:00 p.m.

On Thursday, October 10, 2019, the Science-Actions association invites you to join a discussion on climate change. The Café Scientifique event , titled “Combating Climate Change: Is This the End of the Car?” will take place at Le Beaujolais restaurant in Chambéry and will begin at 8:00 p.m.

Combating climate change: Is this the end of the car?

Not only is road transport (primarily cars) the leading source of CO2 emissions in France, but it is also the only sector in which emissions increased between 2000 and 2018. Due to its emissions of fine and ultrafine particles, the car is partly responsible (along with heating and industry) for air pollution and thus for some of the 48,000 premature deaths attributed to it each year in France. We cannot, therefore, combat either climate change or air pollution without ending the reign of our good old car. This seems to be on track: diesel cars are set to be banned in Paris by 2024, and French lawmakers have voted to ban the sale of cars with internal combustion engines by 2040.

Is this the end of the car? Has the era of bicycles and public transportation arrived? Perhaps not. Because it will be impossible to find a mode of transportation as versatile as the car. And automakers—whose resilience and capacity for innovation should not be underestimated—promise us a massive influx of “clean” cars, whether hybrid, electric, or hydrogen-powered, in the coming years. But is it enough to simply not emit CO2 directly to be considered clean? And, by the way, what do consumers think?

In the presence of:

  • Éric Boulangé, an experienced electric car owner
  • Alain Caraco, an activist with public transportation and cycling advocacy groups and author of the blog “Multimodal”
  • Christophe Kinkelin, CEA-LITEN engineer, fuel cell project manager
  • Laure Pelissier, sustainable mobility consultant at Indiggo

SCIENTIFIC CAFÉS

Cafés Scientifiques (or "Cafés Sciences et Citoyen, Débat") allow the general public to discuss a variety of topics, often related to current events, with experts, researchers, and professionals in a friendly atmosphere. They are organized by the Science-Actions association, in collaboration with:

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