April 7, 2011 in Blog
April 1, 2011 in Live Debates, Other
Background
The European Commission published its new transport white paper, a strategic document that sets the tone of EU transport policy for the next decade. The main stated objective of the white paper is to make transport more sustainable, from an economic, social and environmental point of view.
Over the past decade, the environmental dimension of transport policy has grown in importance, as climate change mitigation has risen to the forefront of EU priorities.
Transport accounts for 27% of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, a share that is set to grow. If current trends are left unchecked, growth in transport emissions could even offset reductions achieved in other sectors. If the EU is to de-carbonise its economy by 2050, this issue will have to be addressed.
Commissioner Kallas recently stated that the Commission would probably aim at a reduction of GHG emissions from 50% to 70% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels, by halving Europe’s transport sector’s reliance on oil. Linked objectives include a pledge to fully de-carbonise urban mobility, a shift of most long-distance inland freight to rail and inland waterways, and a shift of most medium-distance passenger transport to these same modes.
To achieve this, the Commission is betting heavily on technologies, with the hope that a shift to greener and smarter transport will help to establish a competitive low-carbon economy, deliver green jobs and change users’ habits.
Beyond research and development, the deployment of new technologies will depend on political will and financial resources. With investment in transport infrastructures at an all-time low, and in a context of shrinking public resources, how can this be achieved? Is the private sector ready to step in? Are national governments ready to commit? Will citizens follow?
Comment:Visions convened a high level panel of experts to debate the future of European tranport.
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March 8, 2011 in Blog
March 3, 2011 in Other
NB – Online registration for this event is now closed. Registration is still possible for people with a permanent EP accreditation (permanent badge or express list) only. For more information please contact EVevents@economist.com.
Background
The European Commission is in the process of finalising its new transport white paper, a strategic document that will set the tone of EU transport policy for a decade. The main stated objective of the white paper is to make transport more sustainable, from an economic, social and environmental point of view.
Over the past decade, the environmental dimension of transport policy has grown in importance, as climate change mitigation has risen to the forefront of EU priorities.
Transport accounts for 27% of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, a share that is set to grow. If current trends are left unchecked, growth in transport emissions could even offset reductions achieved in other sectors. If the EU is to de-carbonise its economy by 2050, this issue will have to be addressed.
Commissioner Kallas recently stated that the Commission would probably aim at a reduction of GHG emissions from 50% to 70% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels, by halving Europe’s transport sector’s reliance on oil. Linked objectives should include a pledge to fully de-carbonise urban mobility, a shift of most long-distance inland freight to rail and inland waterways, and a shift of most medium-distance passenger transport to these same modes.
To achieve this, the Commission is betting heavily on technologies, with the hope that a shift to greener and smarter transport will help to establish a competitive low-carbon economy, deliver green jobs and change users’ habits.
Beyond research and development, the deployment of new technologies will depend on political will and financial resources. With investment in transport infrastructures at an all-time low, and in a context of shrinking public resources, how can this be achieved? Is the private sector ready to step in? Are national governments ready to commit? Will citizens follow?
Comment:Visions invites you to debate these issues with a panel of high-level decision makers and experts.
Provisional Timing
18.00-18.30 Welcome of participants and registration
18.30-18.35 Introduction of participants by Jennifer Rankin, energy and environment reporter, European Voice
18.35-19.05 Panel discussion
- Gesine Meissner, MEP, ALDE co-ordinator in the transport committee, European Parliament
- Keir Fitch, deputy head of cabinet of Siim Kallas, vice-president in charge of transport, European Commission – responsible for the white paper within the cabinet
- Martin Rocholl, policy director & programme director, transport, European Climate Foundation
- Richard Aumayer, director, central division external affairs, governmental and political relations, Robert Bosch GmbH
19.05-19.55 Debate (audience participation strongly encouraged)
19.55-20.00 Conclusions by Mark Gainsborough, executive vice-president strategy, portfolio & alternative energy, Shell
20.00 Networking reception
Discussion:
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February 28, 2011 in Sustainable Mobility
Road transport accounts for about 17% of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. By 2050 the number of cars on the road is expected to treble and trucking activities double. Meeting growing demand for cleaner, lower-CO2 transport fuels will need a range of approaches, including vehicles powered by biofuels, electricity, compressed natural gas and hydrogen fuel cells.
Discussion: Is sustainable mobility about changing users' behaviour, or changing transport infrastructure?Related Content:
Live Debate: Can europe de-carbonise transport?
Live Debate: De-carbonised transport: with or without biofuels?
November 1, 2010 in Biofuels, Other
To overcome dwindling oil supplies and to reduce greenhouse gases, we can derive our transportation fuels from plants. But environmentalists argue biofuels encourage unsustainable agriculture and sacrifice food for fuel. So, are biofuels really the green saviour?
Discussion: What would it take to unlock the full potential of biofuels?Related Content:
Live debate - De-carbonised transport: with or without biofuels?
October 19, 2010 in Other
As the European Commission is in the process of finalising its new transport white paper, a strategic document that will set the tone of EU transport policy for a decade, controversy about the sustainability of biofuels remains.
One of the goals of future EU policy will be to decarbonise the transport sector by 2050. Whereas electricity is seen to be the future of urban and short distance mobility, liquid fuels are likely to remain an essential part of rural and long-distance mobility. Biofuels have long been perceived to have an important role to play in the transition towards low-carbon transport. However, doubts have been cast about the carbon footprint of biofuels, in particular when it comes to conventional biofuels made from corn, wheat, sugar and palm oil. The potential impact of biofuels on food security is a further point of debate.
The uncertainty about the contribution of biofuels to reducing CO2 emissions was reflected in the agreement on the directive on the promotion of renewable energy. EU leaders originally intended to include a target of 10% of biofuels in transport by 2020. However the final text only mentioned 10% of ‘energy from renewable sources’ in transport.
One of the main elements of the Directive was the inclusion of mandatory sustainability criteria for biofuels in order to protect forests, wetlands and other areas of high conservation value. It allows for a voluntary certification scheme for biofuels, which would also apply to imports.
The directive also foresees that the Commission should review the impact of indirect land use change – that is, the notion that biofuels production can displace existing agricultural activities, creating indirect emissions elsewhere. The Commission is required to report the European Parliament and Council by the end of 2010, reviewing the impact of indirect land use change effects on greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels and addressing ways to minimise that impact.
The question of indirect land use change (iLUC) remains a divisive issue, over which Commission departments have not been able to agree. There is evidence that iLUC risks can be mitigated by introducing better agricultural practices. Others actors are calling for iLUC penalty factors to be added to the greenhouse gas calculations for biofuel feedstocks to reflect iLUC risk. The Commission launched a public consultation in July 2010, to get external feedback on the studies it has carried out or commissioned thus far.
What will be the place of biofuels in the future energy mix of Europe’s transport sector? Can a transition to low-carbon transport happen without biofuels? What can be done to prevent or mitigate the negative impacts of indirect land use change?
* * *
Timing
18.00-18.30 Welcome of participants and registration
18.30-18.35 Introduction of participants by Jennifer Rankin, energy and environment reporter, European Voice
18.35-19.05 Panel discussion
• Jens Rohde MEP, coordinator of the ALDE group on the ITRE committee
• Hans van Steen, head of unit, regulatory policy and promotion of renewable energies, DG energy, European Commission
• Thomas Gameson, director government and public affairs Europe, Abengoa Bioenergy
• Jos Dings, director, Transport & Environment
• Jeremy Woods, lecturer in bioenergy, Imperial College London
19.05-19.55 Debate (audience participation strongly encouraged)
19.55-20.00 Conclusions by Luis Scoffone, vice-president, alternative energies, Shell
20.00 Networking reception
Provisional Timing
18.00-18.30 Welcome of participants and registration
18.30-18.35 Introduction of participants by European Voice senior editorial staff
18.35-19.05 Panel discussion
· Jens Rohde MEP, coordinator of the ALDE group on the ITRE committee
· Günther Oettinger, EU commissioner for energy*
· Antonio Vallespir de Gregorio, CEO Europe, Abengoa Bioenergy*
· Jos Dings, director, Transport & Environment*
· Representative of a development NGO
19.05-19.55 Debate (audience participation strongly encouraged)
19.55-20.00 Conclusions by Shell senior executive
20.00 Networking reception
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April 1, 2010 in Electric Vehicles
The internal combustion engine dominated the twentieth century. It changed landscapes, industries, communities; it fundamentally altered the way we lived. However, its drawbacks went hand-in-hand with its benefits and the high environmental cost of motoring remains a matter of intense debate in countries across the world.
Here’s the rub; cars are machines that rely on ever-dwindling resources and create emissions, yet their use is entrenched in our societies; not driving is simply not a viable option. It’s this problem that has lead to the growth of interest in electric cars as potential solution and this month Comment Visions talks to a man who believes it is a very real solution.
Jacques de Selliers is an engineer and the founder of the European Association for Battery Electric Vehicles. While realistic over the limited impact electric vehicles have made in mainstream motoring he argues convincingly that their time will come; largely because it has to.
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March 1, 2010 in Transport Systems
With cheap oil supplies dwindling and pressure on to decrease emissions, there are significant question marks over how we’re going to get around in the future. Action needs to be taken soon but in what form should that action come? Are we going to be relying on biofuels, electric and hydrogen or some other form of energy to power our vehicles in years to come? Euronews met with Dr. Oliver Inderwildi of Wadham College in Oxford, lead author of one of the most comprehensive academic studies ever published on transportation.
Dr Inderwildi’s over-riding message is that nothing will change quickly. The current fleet of cars will be on the road until 2025, so any cut in emissions will only be gradual. “There is no silver bullet,” Dr Inderwildi concludes. “We have to get a smooth transition to a new transportation system by using now in the short term more efficient smaller cars, by choosing less carbon intensive modes of transport, like public transportation and railways. That’s what we can do in the short term and at the same time we should give R&D incentives to improve novel technologies like electric cars, green electricity production and fuel cells.”
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March 1, 2009 in Biofuels
In this months’s Comment Visions, we discuss the hot topic of whether biofuels are an ecologically-sound solution to the world’s increasing energy needs, or a potentially disastrous cause of deforestation and food shortages.
Dr Jeremy Woods, Lecturer in Biofuels at Imperial College London, believes that there are many challenges facing the world when it comes to energy in years to come, and also that biofuels will be a major factor in dealing with them, if it is managed properly.
Can bioethanol and biodiesel power the world of the future? Comment Visions meets Dr Woods at the British Sugar factory in Wissington, Norfolk, to find out.
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