a part in the future of mobility or is this the end of the road. despite all the bad press there are signs that the combustion engine won't sputter out for good at least not anytime soon as our reporter found out there are all sorts of new fuel like synthetic ones that can significantly reduce an engine's carbon footprint. invented 140 years ago it's powered countless cars around the world and provided the driving force for entire industries all reliable old friend the internal combustion engine and all of a sudden it's history in china house official leave rolled out a plan to ban gasoline cars france the united kingdom and india all they're all doing it phase out gasoline and diesel fuel vehicles here in germany a cool his rule in favor of banning diesel vehicles and parts of the car industry isn't merely helping about a new one dongle is a good trick that sounds good for the movie shows some people are claiming hey we've got the perfect solution for making the combustion engine carbon neutral and i would love that because then i could do this. without having any regrets and for the sound doesn't get better than the perhaps the lender to come up. and these are the silver bullets to save the combustion engine supposedly straw that is processed into bio methane and the latest innovation fuel that can be created from thin air. 5 tons of straw processed here every hour every day for this there is a lot of soul. the straw used is what's left over from the harvest. the company verb buys it up and turns it into bio methane. than it's sold to more to risk at filling station. and. germany there are currently just 100000 vehicles that can run on bio methane on natural gas not many considering there are more than 47000000 cars on the road and that's despite the fact that fueling with wild gas that uses 90 percent of your greenhouse gas and costs and less than gasoline costs costs that run and have less mileage there are only a few gas stations that have that and you're right it will cost you. have the moment bio methane isn't very popular. producers say they need more political support as much as find. things need to change at the political level biofuels such as rapeseed or made locally have many environmental benefits but there needs to be a push politically and a significant carbon reduction commitment has to be in place a the pressure is on to develop new technologies and new biofuels cost of. already has gone is going to go. for a car that runs on bio fuel it's a pretty smooth ride. so there's a myth about these cars that has been busted but it's a persistent one so that they don't have to publish after watching cars that used to be a problem because the engines got so much more involved and it's really not longer an issue and pedal to the metal is still a lot of thought. the problem is there just isn't enough biomass waste and that's the major limiting factor and ways to fuel proposals according to laura buffett even as far off as 2050 biofuels would only replace 11 percent of the kerosene that's. needed in the europe's every nation industry. i mean tradition in which the reasons are limited. in our everyday lives we all try to reduce waste so we're not changing at this age where we have. produced. and in addition to that there's a lot of other industries that. move away from fossil based threats so all of these points out to the fact that there will always be a limited amount of. for energy and for transportation ok it was worth a try but fumes from thin air they could rescue the combustion engine couldn't they . that's what they're working on applecarts roy institute of technology fuels from air capture carbon dioxide are produced inside these containers in the hydrogen and c o 2 are turned into gaseous hydrocarbons further processing plant them into liquid synthetic fuels. there are norms in place already in some areas and our fuel needs built in other words i can fill up my car with it and don't need to worry about safety issues when i'm driving around. so anderson fuel is almost carbon neutral as long as the entire production process is politics clues if we buy excess electricity from renewable sources but it's still early days in the development of such a tactic you know you can sniff it is not dangerous or that's not ok let's go live to it smells quite strong. this is going to come on its own it's not like it will smell off a gas station function for the world this is our politics but all these electricity based simply have some and mine are. all that green electricity has to be generated in the 1st place and that can only happen when there's enough. with water. to produce as much if you will for all of germany's transport needs it would take around half of all the electricity currently generated in the entire country the new fuel isn't cheap either about 4 euros 50 elite or one of the country's water powers its delivery fleet with a synthetically produced fuel that's a little cheaper than that. the company believes the age of the internal combustion engine has not yet cost. i don't think the combustion engine is there we need customized concept. will be around for another few years but there are also electric cars and hopefully also new technologies new solutions will have to be customized i'd say that's the key issue this isn't. so is it the end of the road for the tried and trusted technology or not. well it doesn't look too good for the. new technologies but it won't disappear overnight biofuel if you would. at least. it's clear that we need all of these technologies electricity. fuels to keep our heads above water when it comes to climate change motorcycles i hope to keep. the. greens were like that well some car makers and car owners are still hoping the diesel will make a comeback despite its tarnished reputation diesel vehicles don't spew out quite as much carbon dioxide as regular cars that run on petrol but they do heaps of health harming nitrogen oxides and particulate matter so tiny a competitor deep into the body the pollution they cause has led to bans in some german cities for example in stuttgart for all but the cleanest diesels our reporter you are a mega set out to find out more about the pros and cons of diesel. this is the bam of a bet all shown off takes 2 demonstrations. he's always driven to work in stuttgart but since early last year he's no longer allowed to do so. for a borderline drunk in the banner says no to the driving ban we think it's unfair that diesel car drivers are punished because of a botched traffic policy. polluted with. so you're an activist and you just. i wouldn't call myself an activist i'm just politically active i would consider it civic participation. fighting for justice precisely. his diesel car sounds a bit like tractor. commander from 2007 it's a mission standard is 04 it was state of the art when i bought it. what is hero for me. these girls are categorized from one to 6 according to their exhaust emissions. banned in stuttgart yes so we're breaking the law i mean i wouldn't call what we're doing a criminal act it's a traffic offense. fined 108 euros. the diesel ban applies to all of stuttgart but no one pulls us over. my next stop in the city is this air quality measuring station the absolution of a stretch of road used to be the worst in germany japan was introduced on the strength of the data collected here and the ban has made a difference exhaust pollution has decreased over the past year now the only diesels allowed to drive here are latest generation ones that produce very low levels of harmful exhaust emissions. sadie's is based in stuttgart and it still makes diesel cars it was implicated in the diesel emissions cheating scandal the 1st company to be unmasked was volkswagen later it turned out that my safety's had also been cheating claiming its diesel engines were cleaner less polluting than they really were it has cost my sadie's billions and dented its reputation. thorsten ada is in charge of engine development at the company. one wonders why it's still working on diesel powered models. costumers trust you. of course they can because emission levels have been checked and confirmed by independent external bodies they tested engines like this their own locations and they confirmed. this is the engine he's referring to. it's a diesel electric hybrid designed to power an s.u.v. . the only manufacturer to make a. great advantage is that fuel consumption is low on longer trips and with its large capacity high voltage battery it's entirely emissions free tailpipe. emissions for. electric no emissions coming out the tailpipe. but only in electric mode while most cities evidently thinks that diesel has a future some industry analysts do not. know how much time is left on. 10 or 15 years. battery powered cars will be so far advanced that there will be hardly any deficit in terms of usability or performance compared to today's combustion engines. well until diesel and gasoline a gone for good if ever the current catch phrase when it comes to cars is highbridge that means a combo of combustion engine and electric motor we visited one of germany's biggest automotive supply is to find out how it's being gearing up for a hybrid electric future. this electorate motor is destined for a mercedes germany's said f group has been making car parts for board than a century. your gordon tossed heads the electro mobility department as the combustion engine falls out of favor electric cars and hybrid drives are the future despite the company's decades of experience technology for electric cars is still uncharted territory for them. an electric motor is much more efficient than a combustion engine it just hasn't been through the long history of optimization that the combustion engine has always and i think that's the achievement of german engineering in particular and so this is where the journey really begin that's. almost. electric motors are easy to produce because they have fewer components than combustion engines. the technology is less difficult to develop which means there is much more competition. i'm elected building an electric motor isn't just something that's done in the west there are now supplies all over the world that provide all manner of electric motors all kinds of applications. that competition means workers have to be flexible there are $50000.00 in the sector in germany alone which products are updated every 2 to 4 years and workflows change at the same time sales of german cars are slumping on global markets the total number of cars produced in germany fell in 20182019. our employees and the works council have worked hard over the past year to ensure that we actively embrace the changes but in the knowledge that we have security. that the company will hold onto its workers . he said has agreed to cut no jobs for the next 5 years no one knows for sure whether the promise will be honored though. the rapid technology race also puts enormous pressure on the engineers they are designing motors and other parts in anticipation of their use years from now. when a manufacturer puts an order out to tender in this field we have significantly more competitors than we have for our established products in some places well over 10. this automatic transmission is symbolic of the changing industry it's still being used in cars with combustion engines but it has its own built in electric motor. the automotive industry supplier received a double digit 1000000000 euro order for a plug in hybrid engine it's based on technology that's becoming an increasingly significant part of its business. that's really thrilled to have won several big orders for our new 4th generation 8 speed automatic transmission some of the clients are well known carmakers like. chrysler so. b.m.v. chrysler. the industry is going through radical changes technology for pure combustion engines is not so much in demand anymore they have can compensate for this with their new trick and hybrid business but many other traditional suppliers are feeling the strain. now for the elephant in the room do we actually need cars in cities if there is a good system of public transportation and bike lanes and sidewalks to walk on of course many cities don't fulfill those requirements unfortunately according to my colleague christine a coup us women are more likely the men to shake off the shackles of car ownership at least hear about it. if. and by that i take my scooter and use public transportation to get around berlin is the quickest and nicest way for me to travel to work a torch of relativity. believe. it or not what is the urban travel gender just do men and women do it differently. if. you. leave and leave your local i don't drive myself and i have a driver you can say during the ride i work read or chat with my friends you know the tram is really quite luxurious. and. what is going on i don't get why some people would rather drive battle the traffic and arrive at work in a follow up. seems to be a gender thing in the way we get around in big cities and here women are more apt to take public transportation or walk well almost half of men drive. but i know ours are a status symbol for them ample so less so for women doesn't matter what. that's consequently at that means women coast less pollution more we move more ecologically is most likely look like i. lost him but i'm the guy is times have changed your travel habits need to change to the want to. see that it was what we do take public transportation vehicle. sears' enjoy the fresh air read a book get to work feeling relaxed. do yourself and the planet a favor a moment on everyone and everything will benefit us. a good idea but i'm not sure everyone is so keen to give up the thrill of being behind the wheel true it may be more of a man's game but what do you expect just look at the volvo logo nevertheless volvo is keeping up with the times and has decided to focus solely on developing models that will have a reduced environmental impact it's been a rocky road for the swedish car maker but it may now be back on track as a subsidiary of a chinese automotive group with a commitment to an electric future. the new volvo s.u.v. quite the gas guzzler you might think but it has both an electric motor and a combustion engine in the city covering short distances its fuel consumption is lower making for guilt free driving even the long distance it's the same as any s.u.v. . henrik green is head engineer at volvo he regularly uses the company's test circuit in sweden the full electric variant is expected to come out this year we are fully dedicated we are not hesitating whether or not it should be a pure electric future i see many of our competitors still have that secondly we are probably among the smallest steel premium car companies and we have a very solid a technology an architecture so for us to actually transition our entire vehicle portfolio is probably not less complicated compared to many of the bigger car companies. the black cliff e.m.i. and battery weighing 200 kilograms is destined for a hybrid motor here at the volvo factory in gothenburg sweden. carolyn and carolyn is one of 8000 engineers designing the company's new electric models. in 21 feet we are expecting. 20 percent of our total sales to be clogging hybrids and looking a bit farther along in $15155.00 we take a step longer and expect. or able to have 50 percent of our sadists to be fully electric cars volvo plans to roll out a new electric model every year and ambitious plan but is it realistic. in the past 10 years the swedish company has seen steady growth. sales amounted 237-0000 cars in 2010 and climbed 270-0000 in 2019 largely thanks to a chinese investor. well i mean it's definitely a new spirit i remember the 1st time i heard mr li shifu address the volvo team after the acquisition and he spoke about releasing the tiger and as i see it it was to create trust in our society build for us to acquire new competence and build the competence we have and really becoming a leading company in 2010 volvo was struggling then it was bought by chinese billionaire li shu food who also bought a 10 percent stake in dima with the help of the bank of china the shoe for you is chairman of the jelly group one of china's largest auto makers. the launch of pole star soon followed a new brand jointly owned by volvo in chile. production takes place in china design and development in gothenburg. we of course do common sourcing when it comes to. important elements like batteries and stuff that is of course where the scale effect of that group is important of course we do not have to invent each and every detail on our own we can build a pole such true in the existing. which saves money volvo pollstar in g. components such as this chassis as well as engineers g.t. employees another 1600 people in the volvo development division and often. the aim is to develop electric motors and batteries and house rather than buying them from supply is. this 2nd generation that we are heavily undergoing in development right now will be developed in the house and we are taking big steps on energy efficiency and weight deficiency also the high voltage but the. volvo plans to be manufacturing mainly electric hybrid vehicles in 20 years time the company is confident that the future is electric. maybe the combustion engine is on its way out after all made today thanks for joining us. on twitter or facebook as you know we're always keen to get a. feel good. the. audio. africa. and more is the way to save listen endangered species. bills are threatened by environmental destruction. a south african project tries to protect the baby birds lovingly rearing them by hand. but there's nothing to stop nature from calling eco africa. 30 minutes on d w. earth mog home to movements of species. a home worth saving. given those are big changes and most start with small steps but global ideas tell stories of creative people and innovative projects around the world the body is the country club which used greenwich zoom shots and resource to show. the current interactive content teaching the next generation of the took such an. odd recent channels available to inspire people to take action and most are turning to build something new for the next generation the idea is the environment series of global 3000 on t.w. and on. mine every journey begins with the 1st step and every language but the 1st word emerged from the. eco is in germany to learn german why not come with them it's simple online on your mobile and free to suffer from the same d w z e learning course nikos fake german for me to see. you know that 77 percent. are younger than 65. that's me and me and. a lot of time all voices. in the 77 percent who talk about the stuff. from politics to flash from calzaghe to top this is what. welcome to the 77 percent. this weekend g.w. . play . play. is the c.w. news live from berlin in his state of the union address president trump tells americans you've never had it this good the american adventure has only just begun and my fellow americans the best is yet to come. republicans cheer and chant 4 more years for the debt.