Towards a More Sustainable Mobility

Abstract

The transport sector is the second most important source of emissions in the EU. It is paramount to act now towards the decarbonisation of our transport system to mitigate climate change effects. Waiting for future technological advancements to minimise the existing anthropogenic emissions and dramatically boost its sustainability is risky for human survival. The current chapter highlights how the path towards a sustainable transport system is a whole stakeholders’ effort involving the mass deployment of available technology, changing user behaviours, data-driven legislation, and researching and developing future disruptive technologies. The author analyses and classifies the available data on various transport modals and assesses the impact of the technologies and policy measures in terms of potential reduction of carbon emissions, challenges, and opportunities. It also exemplifies outstanding test settings across the world on how already available technologies have contributed to the development of a lower-carbon transport setting. The chapter considers developing countries’ economic and infrastructural challenges in upgrading to a low-carbon transport system and the lack of data-driven decisions and stakeholders’ engagement measures in addressing the sector sustainability challenges. It also emphasised how a sustainable transport system should lay the foundation on data harmonisation and interoperability to accelerate innovation and promote a fast route for deploying new and more effective policies.

Technologies and Strategies to Support Energy Transition in Urban Building and Transportation Sectors

“…Regarding the benefits of retrofitting the transportation sector with sustainable solutions, a report by the United Nations Environment Program found that implementing sustainable transport solutions could save up to $70 trillion in infrastructure investments and fuel costs by 2050 while reducing global carbon emissions by up to 90% [45]. Combining green transport technologies, such as hydrogen-powered vehicles, EVs, drones, and electric mobility as a service solution (MaaS), can lead to huge opportunities in fostering the sustainable transition in urban areas [5]. However, these technologies require adequate infrastructure integrated with the built environment, such as charging networks, refuelling stations and landing pads, particularly in large cities.…”

“…Therefore, the implementation of energy transition strategies deeply involves the transformation of urban contexts according to high-level guidelines, forming city energy plans, which should establish measurable sustainable targets and specify actions encompassing all technical, economic and social dimensions. This requires a focus on local and urban-level mitigation measures, including the construction of positive energy buildings, deployment of renewable energy systems (RES), promotion of sustainable mobility, creation of resilient urban infrastructure, implementation of circular economy and recycling practices, among others [5][6][7][8].…”