It may sound futuristic, but cars in 20 years are likely to be running on batteries, flywheels and hydrogen fuel cells rather than petrol or diesel engines. They will also be much less polluting; fuel cells, for example, emit nothing but water vapour and carbon dioxide.
The first beneficiaries will be motorists, as the level of pollution inside a petrol-driven car is invariably higher than that of the air outside; a motorist breathes in about twice as much carbon monoxide as a cyclist and approximately 50 per cent more nitrous oxides. Health risks from air pollution are not uniform, as Earthwatch has noted. "The most vulnerable members of the community are infants, the elderly, pregnant women and those with existing health problems, such as asthma, which can be triggered by poor air quality".
Dublin Corporation has warned that the EU guide level for benzene, a known carcinogenic emitted from petrol engines, is likely to be exceeded across much of the built-up area. Nitrogen dioxide pollution levels in the city centre are also hovering close to the limits.
Emissions from the transport sector are expected to account for more than half of the increase in Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions by 2010, with car numbers estimated to increase by 25 per cent to 1.5 million and trucks by about 44 per cent to more than 250,000. During its life, the average car travels some 100,000 miles, consuming 2,500 gallons of petrol and some 50 gallons of oil. If it was powered by electric batteries, solar panels or hydrogen fuel cells, damaging emissions from cars could be reduced close to zero.
California, of all places, is leading the way. To help combat the traffic pollution which has plagued Los Angeles, it has put the motor industry on notice that 10 per cent of new car sales in the state in 2003 - or about 100,000 cars - must be "zero emission vehicles". As Ms Sadhbh O'Neill noted in her 1998 paper for Earthwatch, Fed Up With Fumes, ZEVs - as they are called - are 30 to 50 per cent dearer to build than conventional cars, but she believes the California decision will speed up technological progress and reduce unit costs.
She also sees the relatively short ranges associated with electric cars as a benefit. "If only 50 miles can be travelled between re charges, it will be necessary to plan journeys better, drive more carefully and less wastefully, as well as asking: is this journey really necessary?"
Any integrated transport policy "must address the need for suitable financial incentives and supports so that companies will consider buying electric vehicles as part of fleet purchases", she said, adding that Britain has already has a grant scheme to promote such a switch.
In Stockholm, bio-gas from sewage treatment plants now fuels more than 22 per cent of the municipal fleet of 1,500 vehicles. Ethanol and battery-charging facilities are also offered to drivers all over the city in co-operation with petrol stations - or rather "energy stations".
Electric cars enjoy reduced parking fees and this privilege is likely to be extended to other zero and low-emission vehicles. Copenhagen has special designated parking spaces in the city centre for electric vehicles, where owners can avail of free battery-charging facilities.
Gustaf Landahl, head of Stockholm's environmental protection department, said such infrastructure for ZEVs was still absent in most European countries, though the picture is changing; London has become the latest major city to install battery-charging facilities.
Three European car manufacturers - Fiat, Citroen and Peugeot - are already producing electric cars on pilot basis. In Palermo, there are solar-powered buses which park at the main railway station to recharge from solar panels which also provide shelter from the sun.
Under the EU Commission's ZEUS project, which promotes alternative energy use, Luxembourg now has 45 bio-diesel buses, Athens is building fuelling facilities for compressed natural gas and Bremen is offering motorists Dm 3,000 to convert their cars to CNG.
Earthwatch launched an electric car in Dublin last year, sponsored by BioForce, the Swiss producer of herbal remedies. Custom-built from recycled 1991 Rover Metro, it will be featuring in a "road-show" in Kerry, Longford, Louth and Waterford this autumn.
It seems unlikely that electric cars will catch on in Ireland in the short-term. In the meantime, the Government could cut excise and VAT rates on cleaner fuels, such as LPG. A switch to alternative fuels would help reduce pollution, though it would do little to reduce congestion.