Jennifer Jacquemart / © European Voice.

Steiger, who is director of future technologies at VW and charman of European technology platform ERTRAC made the key point that we should decouple transport from mobility, and optimise transport infrastructure.

He certainly did not sound the death knell of the private car, but instead imagined constantly connected cars that warned their drivers of congestion and suggested alternative routes, cars which used a combination of renewably produced electricity and oil-alternatives like biogas, and cars that were much more efficient than those we have now. 

Steiger argues that current cars are often not suited to the task they perform. For example a large family estates is often overkill for the school run,  but can feel small on a 700km trip to see the relatives, and that’s because they’re designed as a compromise.

His focus was on city mobility, and there he saw a great move towards that most traditional of transport methods – two feet. In the future he believes we’ll walk a lot more, use electric scooters and electrically-assisted bikes, and adopt a new class of what he called ‘micro-vehicles’, often electric, to complete the last few kilometres of our journey.

The idea is that we switch, swap and match our transport modes to our mobility needs, much the same argument that we heard from Portuguese Professor Tiago Farias on Comment Visions earlier this year.

Where Steiger went a few steps further, however, is in explaining how urban areas would be transformed by new mobility systems. At the moment if you look at your average city street, whether it’s in the suburbs or downtown, and you’ll see at least one line of cars. These are parked, motionless, and as far as everyone apart from their owner is concerned, they are uselessly cluttering the road.

What Steiger proposes is to create purpose-built compact high-rise carparks where residents would be obliged to leave their vehicles. And there are many benefits to his plan, prinicpally that all that space currently occupied by motionless private vehicles could be used for bus lanes, bike lanes and pedestrian pavements. The car parks could host a new suite of services for the owners, and excess heat from the vehicle engines could be captured and used too.

It was a fascinating presentation, and an interesting insight into how a company like VW may see mobility developing. To hear such a radical, multi-modal vision of sustainable mobility from someone high-up within one of the world’s largest car-makers was also, in my opinion, a pleasant surprise.

The next step is to find a city with the courage, conviction and budget to implement those kinds of plans, because I’m pretty sure that once we’re able to see the ideas in action then most of us will be convinced of the benefits.

The bikes are run as a public private partnership between Lyon town hall and media company JC Decaux – in simple terms the deal means the media company can sell advertising space on hoardings around the town in return for running the bike network. Cost and availability of bikes are the key to success – Lyon claims 4,000 bikes across 340 stations, with a yearly subscription at 15 euros, and most importantly for occasional users like me, a daily card at one euro, or weekly at three euros. The first 30 minutes of each trip is free, with costs ramping up quite steeply afterwards, encouraging rapid turnover of bikes. The Lyon system works well because the bikes are constantly monitoried, moved around and replaced, meaning that it’s rare to turn up at a Velo’V station and not find a bike available, or conversely to find there aren’t any parking spaces available because there are too many bikes.

The Lyon model has since been applied in Paris, Brussels and London. In Paris the Velib’ system has been a huge success, and really changed the face of the city, with bikes now a much more common sight on the streets. Three quarters of the journeys made are by Paris residents with yearly subscriptions, underlining how the system has changed mobility habits for locals as well as visitors. The sheer size of the system – there are claimed to be over 20,000 bikes spread over 1,200 stations – is part of the success, creating a kind of critical mass of bicycle mobility.

The other plus, in my opinion, is that each station is fully equipped with a credit card reader, so a potential user can take out a daily subscription and ride away on a bike within a couple of minutes. And that feature is greatly missing from the Brussels system I tried recently while in town for the Comment Visions debate on transport. Plonked down outside a TV production house in a quiet area a few kilometres from the centre of town my plan was to pick up a bike at the ‘Villo‘ station (the marketing guys must be running out of French-language bike-town pun naming possibilities by now) and cycle back to the European Parliament for a meeting, but unfortunately the bike station would only accept users with annual subscription cards.In fact it’s only the larger Villo stations that offer the possibility to instantly buy a card, and that’s a great shame, because in other respects it’s a step on from the French networks, as riders, or potential riders in Brussels can download a smart phone application that gives them the location of the nearest bike station and the number of bikes and parking spaces available. The next innovation must surely be to transfer that information to screens at each station. Once on the bike I found the Brussels machines marginally better than the Velib’ and Velo’V bikes because they have seven gears, meaning it’s a little easier to ride up the cobbled streets from the city centre, and more fun blasting down Rue de la Loi.

I am yet to try London’s Barclays-sponsored scheme, the so-called Boris Bikes, but my impressions when walking around the city are that although the system has been a success, the relatively low number of bikes and station, reportedly 5,000 and 315 respectively at launch in 2010, means that it lacks that crucial ‘critical mass’ that has allowed the French networks to have a real impact on mobility patterns. The upside as a cycling fan however is that London was already much more of a cycling city than Brussels, Paris or Lyon, with a huge growth in the number of regular cycle commuters each year in the past decade.

Given that this month we are discussing public acceptability for low-carbon technologies, I am very pleased to report that in so many European cities, getting about on two wheels under your own steam has finally become socially acceptable, really rather fashionable, and as ever, resoundingly green.

But the contributor whose words are still ringing in my ears is Tiago Farias. When he spoke of the need to encourage people to rethink their transport habits I think he really struck the nail on the head, and when he said people should ‘just try’ the likes of the bus, tram and metro he was, in my opinion, absolutely right. These collective transport systems have changed in recent years, all over Europe. They have changed not only in terms of how they function – for example Lisbon has many natural gas buses on the roads now – but also in term of comfort. The city’s metro has free wi-fi and mobile phone booster stations, which, as Tiago explained to me, is a great way to encourage youngsters and business people to hop on board  – they can check their social network sites or their work emails on the move. Those sorts of seemingly simple changes could be enough to tip the balance for a good percentage of commuters, as the realise travel time can also be social time, or work time.

With Tiago’s message in mind I have personally been trying out some of the alternatives to the car for commuting to work. I bike down to the station, take the train into town and then ride my bike to the office. Here in the Rhone Alpes region of France the local trains have improved in recent years, they are modern, efficient, on-time, and crucially there’s somewhere to park my bike. The other upside is I can read the paper on the way to work. The downside is time and convenience – commuting in the car takes 35 minutes on a good day, but the train-bike combo takes 1hr15min! Price-wise the two are comparable until you apply the French government subsidy for home-work public transport travel passes, which means employers will pay half your subscription costs.

So, even if the service is infrequent from my rural station, the train has indeed been worth a ‘try’.

There is value in waste

Yesterday’s trash could be tomorrow’s energy solution, according to industry leaders and experts at a London conference last month. Thirty-six speakers analysed the waste market, uncertain funding and policymaking at the 7th Annual Waste Management Finance Forum from 19-20 January 2011.

The event, hosted by Euromoney Energy Events included:

• The current situation of the EU waste market
• The placement of waste in future energy strategies
• The relationship for waste with the energy sector
• The viability of new technologies

Dave Farebrother, Environmental Director for Land Securities, the UK’s largest commercial property company, spoke about his strategies to help retailers reduce their carbon emissions and energy costs. He said relevant and achievable targets for London offices and shopping centers managed to double their recycling rates. One way was to encourage them in competing with each other on recycling league tables and being able to win ten Pound trophies. This shows that policy makers and business leaders can influence the public’s behavior, he said.

Margaret Doherty, Programme Director of European Pathway to Zero Waste talked about waste as an asset. Giving examples of rubber material and ash being used for concrete blocks or the London Borough of Richmond on Thames council using waste cooking oil as bio-diesel, she emphasized: “There is a lot of value in waste.”

Stuart Hayward-Higham, Technical Director of the recycling and resource management company SITA UK, demanded a society where materials are reused, recycled or recovered for their energy content. He insisted: “I want the word waste to be removed.” EBay is a great example for the public to take part in a re-use scheme, he highlighted.

Allan Barton, Director of Recources and Waste Management at Arup, assessed the viability of new technologies in the waste sector. Incineration, a waste to energy technology is “the cheapest solution” to reduce waste, he said.

Dr. Tim Rotheray, Policy Manager of the Combined Heat and Power Association was discussing how waste Combined Heat and Power (CHP) will factor in to the Renewable Heat Incentive. He stated that Energy from Waste (EfW) is a way to the future, but demanded significant changes in understanding the role of EfW past 2020. “EfW offers values for both- decarbonisation and renewable energy if you link CHP with district heating”, Rotheray said.

Participants agreed – a significant change in policymaking and better investments must happen in the UK waste management sector to ensure a more sustainable future.

- Monika Thomasberger

What lessons should the EU draw from Copenhagen? Can the EU still be a driving force in global climate politics? Should the EU continue to push for a global agreement, or should it consider other options, such as bilateral agreements? Should it even take unilateral action, as advocated by some European stakeholders, and increase its emissions reduction target from 20% to 30% without waiting for the US and China to follow? Is a global deal still possible, and when might it be reached?

These are just some of the questions that Comment:Visions invites you to debate with a panel of senior EU decision-makers and stakeholders.

The climate change conference in Copenhagen ended without a binding global agreement on curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

So, if governments cannot agree on measures to mitigate climate change, who then will provide the incentives and initiatives and perhaps more importantly the finances, that are needed? A growing number of leaders are beginning to look to the private sector to provide solutions. With regard to climate change, is it business to the rescue?

As nations gather to seek an agreement on solving climate change, many are working behind the scenes to create the innovations and protocols that will form the foundation of a new, emission-free society. The fossil fuels that are greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions also provide the majority of the energy that we rely on. Is it possible to create new clean sources of energy and a business environment that will help transform our planet without compromising our way of life?

At the beginning of the year, Euronews began a journey, travelling throughout Europe, seeking out scientists, engineers, researchers and entrepreneurs for their opinions. At the same time, European Voice held regular debates inviting delegates from politics, industry, government and science to take part in finding answers to the burning questions that confront us. Visions of Future Energy is a selection of the opinions expressed in the television programmes.

In this month’s Comment Visions we travel to Norway to talk to a man whose career has involved studying the changing nature of our planet. Dr Pal Prestud is an ecologist and serves as the Director of the Centre for Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo. His work has focused on the Polar Regions, which have acted as an early warning system for the sort of climatic changes greenhouse gases are driving.