An examination of the greening of the automotive industry by the path dependence of countries and carmakers' trajectories. Three sources of path dependency can be detected: business models, consumer attitudes, and policy regulations. The automobile is changing and the race towards alternative driving systems has started!

. . . fascinating and stimulating book, which is both comprehensive and partial in equal degree. Peter Wells, Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning Greening the Car Industry is an innovative book in the Varieties of Capitalism tradition. Its interviews and analysis offer rich insights into why the US car industry struggles, particularly on environmental impact, compared to Japanese and German firms. John Mikler shows that regulatory institutions matter, and how they matter. For the car industry at least, more collaborative forms of capitalism show more promise. Mikler gives us a masterpiece of regulatory scholarship. John Braithwaite, The Australian National University Corporations, including those in the car industry, are increasingly keen to proclaim their green credentials. But what motivates firms to reduce the environmental impact of their products? Rather than accepting the conventional wisdom, John Mikler addresses this question in a novel way by taking a comparative institutionalist approach informed by the Varieties of Capitalism literature. Focusing on Germany, the US and Japan, the author shows that national variations in capitalist relations of production are central to explaining how the car industry tackles the issue of climate change, such variations are crucial for understanding the normative as well as material basis for firms motivations. This ground-breaking book will be of great benefit to students and academics, particularly those with an interest in comparative politics, public policy and international political economy. It may also serve as a resource for courses on environmental politics and environmental management as well as aspects of international relations and business/management. Given the book s contemporary policy relevance, it will be a valuable reference for policy practitioners with an interest in industry policy, multinational corporations, the environment, and institutional approaches to comparative politics.

Greening Auto Jobs: A Critical Analysis of the Green Job Solution details current and problematic understandings of what constitutes a "green job." Adopting an approach grounded in critical political economy, this book presents a framework to scrutinize the green job solution and the theoretical framework which overwhelmingly informs contemporary green job creation efforts and ecological modernization. The text also explores the tensions that encircle the world of work and environmental action, often referred to as "jobs versus the environment," by detailing the conflicting commitments of political-economic actors to the idea of green job creation. These conflicts are outlined through an examination of the political-economic debate that has surrounded the Australian Government’s environmental plans from 2008 to 2012 and the conflicting positions of Australian trade unions on environmentally transitioning the world of work. Interviews with key political-economic actors provide in-depth and nuanced understandings of the varied perspectives of political and union leaders in Australia. The second part of the book presents a detailed case study of the posited green job solution within the specific context of the Australian automotive manufacturing industry. The case study is also informed by interviews with key industry, union, and policymakers. The automotive industry is scrutinized not only because it has expressed going green as important to its long-term economic future, but because the Australian Government declared that its $6.2 billion "New Car Plan for a Greener Future" policy would create green jobs. Therefore, the book engages with the task of examining the three multinational vehicle producers operating in Australia—Ford, GM Holden, and Toyota—and how they have responded and engaged with the idea of green jobs, greening the manufacturing process, and the vehicles they produce in Australia.

The automotive industry currently faces huge challenges. The fundamental technological paradigm it relies on, volume production, has become progressively more unprofitable in the face of increasingly segmented niche markets. At the same time it faces increasing regulatory and social pressures to improve both the sustainability of its products and methods of production. Building on a wealth of research, The automotive industry and the environment addresses those challenges and how they can be met in producing a sustainable and profitable industry for the future.The authors first discuss the development of the automotive industry and the problems it currently faces. They then consider the solutions the industry can adopt. The book reviews trends in more environmentally-friendly technologies such as the use of more sustainable fuel sources and new types of modular design with built-in recyclability. However, these technologies can only be fully exploited if methods of manufacture change. The book also describes models of decentralised production, particularly the micro factory retailing (MFR) model, which provide an alternative to volume production and promise to be both more sustainable and more profitable.The automotive industry and the environment provides both a cogent diagnosis of the environmental and other problems facing the industry and a blueprint for a better future. It will be widely welcomed by the industry, policy makers and all those concerned with sustainable transport. - Addresses the challenges facing the automotive industry, from the increasing unprofitability of volume production to regulatory and social pressures to improve environmental and product sustainability - Examines how the automotive industry can meet the current challenges in producing a sustainable and profitable industry for the future - Reviews trends in more environmentally-friendly technologies such as the use of more sustainable fuel sources and new types of modular design with built-in recyclability

There are approximately one billion automobiles in the world. In 2012, world production went above 84 million vehicles. With the increasing global demand for cars, it is estimated that there will be two billion of them by 2020. In fact, with ten billion people living on planet earth by 2050, we could have around six billion cars registered, if developing countries follow the same patterns of mobility and car ownership as the USA and Europe. When Henry Ford's assembly line was aimed at producing for mass market, his philosophical drivers included personal mobility and freedom. For 100 years, cars could deliver this - and they still do in many of the World's newly industrialized nations. However, nowadays cars are no longer synonymous with personal mobility and freedom. For people living in mega-cities, (think of São Paulo, Tokyo, and Jakarta); the use of automobiles is not only reducing personal mobility and freedom; but is also a reason for poor urban air quality, fatal accidents, and increasing concerns about end-of-life waste and landfill availability. The question of “greening” the automotive industry no longer has a “yes or no” answer. The debate has moved on from “why” to “how” and “by when”; such that the greening innovations support other business conditions including profitability, customer satisfaction, product safety, and reliability.

This edited collection offers deeper understanding of the green and digital transition in the automotive industry. It explains how mobility products, services and business models are changing, the opportunities and threats correlated to this double transition as well as the competences and resources needed for firms in this fluid scenario. The book firstly provides an in-depth overview of the strategic and managerial implications for automotive and mobility incumbent firms. Chapters describe how sustainable technologies have been changing over time and identify the challenges of the shift imposed by the new competitive environment, such as the so-called servitization of the industry. The second section describes the new drivers of growth and profitability, such as open and collaborative innovation, and provides guidance on how incumbents can surf this turbulent landscape.

Building on the success of its second edition, the third edition of the Sustainable Urban Development Reader provides a generous selection of classic and contemporary readings giving a broad introduction to this topic. It begins by tracing the roots of the sustainable development concept in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, before presenting readings on a number of dimensions of the sustainability concept. Topics covered include land use and urban design, transportation, ecological planning and restoration, energy and materials use, economic development, social and environmental justice, and green architecture and building. All sections have a concise editorial introduction that places the selection in context and suggests further reading. Additional sections cover tools for sustainable development, international sustainable development, visions of sustainable community and case studies from around the world. The book also includes educational exercises for individuals, university classes, or community groups, and an extensive list of recommended readings. The anthology remains unique in presenting a broad array of classic and contemporary readings in this field, each with a concise introduction placing it within the context of this evolving discourse. The Sustainable Urban Development Reader presents an authoritative overview of the field using original sources in a highly readable format for university classes in urban studies, environmental studies, the social sciences, and related fields. It also makes a wide range of sustainable urban planning-related material available to the public in a clear and accessible way, forming an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the future of urban environments.

Reviews the latest advances in biofuel manufacturing technologies and discusses the deployment of other renewable energy for transportation Aimed at providing an interface useful to business and scientific managers, this book focuses on the key challenges that still impede the realization of the billion-ton renewable fuels vision. It places great emphasis on a global view of the topic, reviewing deployment and green energy technology in different countries across Africa, Asia, South America, the EU, and the USA. It also integrates scientific, technological, and business development perspectives to highlight the key developments that are necessary for the global replacement of fossil fuels with green energy solutions. Green Energy to Sustainability: Strategies for Global Industries examines the most recent developments in biofuel manufacturing technologies in light of business, financial, value chain, and supply chain concerns. It also covers the use of other renewable energy sources like solar energy for transportation and proposes a view of the challenges over the next two to five decades, and how these will deeply modify the industrial world in the third millennium. The coming of age of electric vehicles is also looked at, as is the impact of their deployment on the biomass to biofuels value chain. Offers extensive updates on the field of green energy for global industries Covers the structure of the energy business; chemicals and diesel from biomass; ethanol and butanol; hydrogen and methane; and more Provides an expanded focus on the next generation of energy technologies Reviews the latest advances in biofuel manufacturing technologies Integrates scientific, technological and business perspectives Highlights important developments needed for replacing fossil fuels with green energy Green Energy to Sustainability: Strategies for Global Industries will appeal to academic researchers working on the production of fuels from renewable feedstocks and those working in green and sustainable chemistry, and chemical/process engineering. It is also an excellent textbook for courses in bioprocessing technology, renewable resources, green energy, and sustainable chemistry.