Managing energy demand through transport policy: What can South Africa learn from Europe?

For years, the world has enjoyed the luxury of inexpensive transport fuels, resulting in the continuous expansion of transport demand and vast improvements in mobility levels. The threat of peak oil and other environmental concerns, however, are forcing a paradigm shift in terms of transport planning. In recent times, many developed nations have been investigating alternative ways and means of weaning themselves off oil as the main transport energy source and managing transport energy demand. South Africa is a developing nation that, in terms of transportation technology and policy, lags behind developed countries. This presents South Africa with the opportunity to learn from other countries’ triumphs and mistakes and to skip over obsolete investment patterns and ineffective policy. It needs to be determined what South Africa can do to bend the stream of continuously growing transport (energy) demand, without hampering growth in mobility. Solutions can potentially be found by looking at the European Union’s past and present situation and responses. This paper summarises various European energy management transport policies. These policies are translated into a South African context—pros, cons and implementation viability are identified.