The consumption of fossil fuels must be reduced and, where possible, substituted by energy from renewable sources.
For private motorised transport electric cars carrying their energy in batteries are becoming a common sight on the streets; the Switzerland chapter of SSIT has discussed the merits of this means of providing propulsion energy in the 1980s already, when the available battery technology was suited to milk floats and fork lift trucks.

For public transport Switzerland is in the good position of having converted virtually all its rail transport to electric propulsion, starting as early as 1910. Imported coal had become too expensive at that time whilst electricity was available cheaply, when the then new high voltage lines brought hydropower from the mountains to the centres of population.

However, transport providers in less densely populated regions cannot afford to erect overhead lines for rural lines, densely populated towns don't want to see the looks of their heritage buildings spoilt by unsightly contact wires for trams and trolley busses.

The traditional Diesel locomotive and Diesel bus carries its own fuel, chemical energy, and is autonomous for several hundred kilometres.

Are the hybrid trains (battery and overhead, sometimes even with a diesel engine) being introduced now in Britain a good option to reduce electrification cost and environmental impact? Will the elimination of the risk of electromagnetic corrosion allow lower cost track and, potentially, the reconstruction of some of the light railways lost in the 1950s and 1960s?