Ground propulsion

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Ground propulsion is a different term than transport, because it refers to solid bodies being propelled. Those bodies may be mounted on vats or using wheels while the latter dominates for standard applications. The primary and most natural type of propulsion is the use of muscle power. Vehicles drawn by an animal have nearly disappeared nowadays. There are some communities left, where one can make a living solely relying on the techniques employing muscle energy in a very efficient form like bicycles, wheelchairs etc.. But civilisation employs other types of methods to transport bodies with higher velocities, in the last two centuries up into the 1970s mostly steam engines. Now the main focus is on

• internal-combustion engines
• electric motors (which includes linear motors being part of the track)

or combinations of those. Turbines are not used because of the small part load efficiency. Also other types with external combustion like the Stirling engine or without combustion like the fuel cell are only used in planes.

See also: Alternative propulsion