When it comes to using mobility concepts, you have to weigh the balance
Professor Marschner, what does sustainability mean for you?
For me, sustainability is the responsibility to leave our planet not in a worse condition than we inherited, but in a better one instead. Fossil fuels take millions of years to form, and we are burning them at breakneck speed – this is simply not acceptable. At issue is the responsible use of resources.
What else is at stake? After all, sustainability has not only an environmental dimension but also an economic and social one as well.
It’s also about striking the right balance between economic and social issues, of course. I‘m thinking about the tradeoff between economic and ethico-moral interests. Here, we need to answer questions about raw materials for e-mobility, just as we do about fair treatment and decent payment for all players. We’re talking about universal problems that can only be solved at the global level. But each person can put their own house in order and make the world a better place to live in.
Where does responsible management begin — in the areas of environment and natural resources, for instance?
It begins with thinking and acting in a holistic and forthright manner. Not everything that’s supposedly bad is genuinely as bad as people think, and not everything touted as good is so on a lasting basis. Take, for instance, the hype surrounding e-mobility. No doubt, e-mobility has its rightful place – still, the good old diesel and combustion engines have their good points as well. Our top priority ought to be conserving energy. It makes little sense to drive a heavy SUV into the city, especially since space is tight there. And the electrification of two- to three-ton vehicles makes even less sense. When properly deployed – for freight transport or in a bus – a biodiesel- or biogas-consuming internal combustion engine can also be unbeatable in street traffic. Diesel is not as bad as people make it out to be. And the emissions scandal is not a diesel scandal. That’s not on Rudolf Diesel. Rather, the emissions scandal is an emissions fraud scandal.
Does responsible stewardship of the environment also mean that we have to cut back?
We would do well to also rethink our dependence on some cherished habits and items and to discard them depending on the test results. There was a time when we also drove to the city and back in cars like the Fiat 500 and the Beetle that produced 18 to 34 hp. For that you don’t need 300 hp or more – and electric-powered to boot. In the case of the internal combustion engine, for example, saving energy is tantamount to downsizing, so you can say goodbye to the six- and eight-cylinder engine. We have succeeded in making all kinds of dreams come true over the years, and we are still doing the same today – only a bit greener. This is not the way to go about it. True, it initially requires cutting back on our part, but whether this gets our spirits down is up to us.
Are we seeing a willingness to rethink and set new priorities in society?
I ask myself the same question. A pertinent example that springs to mind is the acceptance of wind turbines and transmission lines to deliver electricity. I don’t know how anybody can object to wind turbines. We’re currently researching noise radiation generated by these facilities. But I simply don’t know yet. Otherwise, I see some very engaging contributions to a more sustainable way of life: there are more and more bicycle lanes cropping up, and whole families are also riding their bikes to go shopping. Cargo bikes with 250-watt motors are the modern “city SUVs,” and they help to maintain individual mobility needs.
Have you transitioned to a more sustainable lifestyle?
Five years ago I bought an e-bike, for instance, and still ride it to the University everyday. I’ve clocked 15,000 kilometers in these past five years, with a total savings of 20,000 car kilometers – that’s because by bike I can take a shortcut that is not suitable for cars. This shows that we don’t need even more output to get from A to B – and, what’s more, e-biking is lots of fun, most especially when riding over a bridge and passing a traffic jam just below.
As a university professor, do you take it as your challenge to deepen the understanding of sustainability and to promote its idea?
I try to integrate into my own teaching all of the issues I’ve been addressing here, including the willingness to be thoughtful and forthright. Without a sledgehammer. And it’s popular with young people – or I should say, rather, they’re already with the program. And I’m involved in research as well. For instance, how to make refuse collection vehicles – which have been a fascination for me since my childhood – more economical and environmentally friendly. A refuse truck powered solely by an internal combustion engine is arguably the most extreme example both from an environmental and from an economic perspective. Garbage trucks are all stop and go, their engines running continuously at full blast while powering all of their hydraulic systems – even an urban bus is a long-distance cruising vehicle by comparison. So it makes particularly good sense to come up with a clean and quiet alternative drive system for refuse collection vehicles. This is where electrification can prove to be most effective.
Do you also conduct research together with your students?
Yes, we do research on refuse collection vehicle improvement and traffic noise reduction, for example. I assign related topics not only for Bachelor’s and Master’s theses but also for doctoral dissertations. This is my way of making a positive contribution to research, the environment and human well-being.
How does a university become sustainably sustainable?
By motivating students at the university level to develop improvements for day-to-day life – such as micro-vehicles, alternative drive systems and e-vehicles – and by motivating young minds to carry this motivation with them in addition to the set of tools they have acquired at our University. By applying and exemplifying what we teach in our research labs. Half of the students’ time during their Master’s program is spent working on individual projects, which can also be in research. Here in Frankfurt, we are fortunate to be able to provide quality education to students from over 100 countries and to lay the relevant foundations for international collaboration.
Do you receive any public recognition for your commitment?
Yes, I received the Frankfurt Research and Education Foundation’s publication award in 2017 for a study on the actuation mechanisms of self-excited oscillations. The study was co-authored by three students, and I’m pleased to learn that they were able to include such an honor of distinction in their application files.
A small research project blossomed into a highly esteemed spin-off venture. The electrification of drive systems means that our vehicles are becoming quieter. But when there are no longer any engines around to drown out all of the vehicular noises and vibrations that in fact do not originate from internal combustion engines, then they become conspicuous. So it makes eminent sense to research the topic of noise, vibration and harshness. One of our teams has developed data glasses that are able to visibly display ambient noise and background sounds, including their source. For this technological achievement the team won the Frankfurt UAS 2018 Ideas Competition and subsequently the Hessen Ideas Scholarship and, most recently, the EXIST Business Start-up Grant from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy [Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie] for a one-year funding period.
Which is more important in your view when it comes to implementing sustainability — technical solutions or instruction in technology?
Your question is well placed in that technical solutions abound. It all depends on how solutions are deployed, tested analyzed and selected. Personally, it’s uplifting for me when I see my teaching bear fruit and engage young motivated people.