A Win-Win Scheme for Improving the Environmental Sustainability of University Commuters’ Mobility and Getting Environmental Credits

Abstract

European Union Member States are called upon to meet internationally proposed environmental goals. This study is based, in particular, on the recommendation of the European Union (EU), which encourages Member States to pursue effective policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, including through appropriate changes in the behavioral habits of citizens. In this respect, among the main sectors involved, transport and mobility should certainly be mentioned. National institutions should be adequately involved in order to achieve the objectives set; in this regard, universities must certainly be considered for their educational value. These latter, for instance, could commit to improving the environmental performance of the mobility of their commuter students (to a not insignificant extent), since commuting modes are often the cause of high CO2 emissions; indeed, they still largely involve the use of internal combustion engines based on fossil fuels. In this paper, the effectiveness of a smartphone-app-based method to encourage commuter students to adopt more sustainable transport modes is evaluated. In more detail, starting from a statistical analysis of the status quo of mobility habits of a sample of students at the University of Palermo (Italy), an improvement of current habits toward a more sustainable path is encouraged through a new application (specifically created for this purpose) installed on students’ smartphones. Then, the daily and annual distances traveled by commuters with the new mobility modes are calculated, and the resulting savings in energy and CO2 emissions are estimated. Finally, it is proposed that the reduced emissions could be converted into energy-efficiency credits that the University could use to enter the emission trading system (ETS), here contextualized within the Italian “TEE” (“Energy Efficiency Credits”) scheme, while the benefits for students participating in the program could consist of reduced fees and free access to university services. The results obtained show the feasibility of the proposal. This approach can be considered a useful model that could be adopted by any other public institutions—not only universities—to facilitate their path toward decarbonization.

The Making of Smart Campus: A Review and Conceptual Framework

“…Sustainability innovations explored campuses as urban living labs (ULL) [64] for prototyping an open architecture for sustainable evolution [59]. These included the following developments: a platform for promoting sustainable campus [65], smart green campus [66] to reduce carbon footprint using solar photovoltaic (PV) power [67], mobility for promoting decarbonization and credit trading [68], and finally, a smart waste bin [54]. On the other hand, smart campus solutions uncovered significant resource efficiency gains, offering better experiences [57] which included, smart grid innovations for integrating power generation and infrastructures through digital technology networks [61].…”

Enhance Urban Energy Management and Decarbonization Through an EC-based Approach

“…According to the latest available reports, in fact, urban environments are responsible for 25%-40% of the overall energy use, corresponding to 17.5%-39% of the total energyuse-related carbon emissions, at global, European and Italian levels [1; 2; 3]. Adding to this, urban transport accounts for a share comprised between 20% and 30% of the energy consumption (which result in 10-20% of human activityrelated CO2 emissions) [4, 5,6]. It should also be considered that urban areas are subjected to a continuous urbanization process (due to both demographic variations and migratory flows) that requires a constant supply of energy (hence causing significant pollutant emissions) [3,7].…”

The Landfilling of Municipal Solid Waste and the Sustainability of the Related Transportation Activities

“…In particular, regarding the aim of improving the livability of the urban context both in environmental and health terms, the reduction of CO 2 emissions resulting from anthropogenic activities is one of the main objectives to be achieved under the CoM program. For example, one must consider the repercussions that urban pollution, especially related to transport [8], has on the indoor air quality of buildings, particularly those used for public services around which the social life of citizens gravitates [9].…”