The technology exists now to make a 95% reduction in the typical European or North American's energy consumption in personal transport, removing the need for biofuel (and fossil fuel, because the much-reduced requirement could be met with solar, wind and tidal energy; lithium batteries now enable an electric-powered vehicle to run for hundreds of kilometres on one charge). There are two obstacles that cannot at present be overcome and that are now spreading to India and China: (1) The social compulsion to use the most wasteful vehicle you can afford to run, so as to advertise your social status. SUV owners will willingly pay much more for their fuel than poor people can afford to pay for their food. In the UK petrol and diesel cost Rs.80 per litre and still SUV sales are booming. (2) The idea that a vehicle must be "safe" meaning that you can ram it into a huge concrete block at 60 km/h and suffer no more than minor injuries. This is now a legal requirement for new cars in many countries. If the safety of a vehicle were to be defined instead in terms of its liability to injure people other than its own users, this would encourage light and energy-efficient vehicles. It would also encourage careful and courteous driving. The sole reason why cars go faster than motorcycles in city traffic is that the car drivers are willing to take a bigger risk of an accident because they know they are well protected.
