ONWARD TO ELECTRIC AVENUE
IN CASE you haven’t noticed, the world is changing. Fast! Global warming, greenhouse gases, climate change. These are the terms driving the greatest changes of all and it matters little whether you’re a sceptic or a believer, the evolutionary ball is rolling and it won’t be slowing down. Not at all!
Certainly, there’s still a long road ahead and no doubt there will be a few bumps, bounces and even economic bruises along the way, but the momentum for change is building and only the naïve and nonsensical can’t or won’t acknowledge it. Ignorance, indifference and vested interests among political powerbrokers and their marketing and media mouthpieces will not quell the fires of public concern. At least, not for long.
Funny thing, though, while big business and public opinion aren’t always cut from the same social cloth, it seems climate change is one of those rare issues able to bring the two dynamics closer together, creating a powerful platform for supply and demand.
In this instance, however, it could be argued the supplier is actually the main driver of demand, with or without fiscal incentive, infrastructure or even verbal support from some governments, not least our own.
Take Daimler, for example. On the face of it, the global automotive giant is perhaps more sharply attuned to the snowballing public impetus of environmental concern than most other entities and over the past decade in particular, has appeared unflinching in its pursuit of operationally practical, economically feasible and environmentally sustainable alternatives to oil-based automotive energy.
The stakes are high but apparently, the corporate ambition is even higher. As Daimler announced in a statement last October, the goal is to have its
