Action 13201 - Sustainable Transport (SusTrans)

Sustainable mobility: the greener approach

Can we change the transport sector's GHG emissions intensity and increase our security of supply?

Transport is a key factor in modern economic development, as economic growth requires readily access to resources and market. Furthermore, quality of life is generally perceived as dependant on the population access to employment, health and other services. However, this need for mobility and economical growth has a significant impact on health and the environment (urban air pollution, climate change). Therefore, industrialised countries are compelled to look for and strive to develop means of transport with low or zero impact to both the environment and the health of the population. The ultimate goal is to have a society where transport, and therefore economic growth, has minimum (if not zero) impact on the environment, thus achieving a sustainable transport system. In addition, concerns on security of energy supply drive the need of finding alternatives to the nearly full dependence of the transport sector on oil.

As far as sustainable development is concerned, the multidimensional nature of transport needs to be addressed in order to develop a sustainable transport system, considering the environmental, technical and socio-economic dimensions. These dimensions cannot be addressed separately as they are strongly interdependent and consequently require a holistic approach (integrated assessment).

The main purpose of this Action is to provide scientific and technical support to the European Commission’s strategies for the definition and implementation of future policy on a sustainable transport system in Europe.

 

Specific objectives of the Action

• To develop test programs and test procedures for assessing the efficiency and overall environmental performance of hydrogen vehicles.

• To study the emissions from alternative/advanced fuels and their blending with traditional ones (e.g. Compressed Natural Gas, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, ethanol blending in gasoline, bio-diesels, hydrogen blending with natural gas).

• To identify application opportunities for hybrid electrical (HEV) and battery electrical vehicles (BEV) considering the vehicle solutions in terms of their technology maturity, operating ability, overall energy effectiveness, local and general impact on the environment, economical sustainability, and infrastructure requirements.

• To carry out a comparative analysis of studies on external costs of transport.

• Scenario settings for emission control.

• To study the impact of the present and future vehicle technologies within the Well-to-Wheels (WtW) study.

• To develop sustainability indicators for the transport options using as basis the WtW analysis.

• To define an integrated approach for a Trans-European Transport Network and to assess the environmental impacts and other implications of different transport modes (short sea shipping, rail and road transport and their combinations) along the extended transport Corridor V (Lisbon-Kiev).

 

SUSTRANS provides inputs to the transport policy decision makers and supports the development of the transport infrastructure in order to find a sustainable balance between different transport modes. It therefore addresses the dimensions and tools to achieve sustainability; i.e. Environmental, Social and Economical dimensions. A case study is proposed to assess the environmental impacts and other implications of different transport modes (short sea shipping, rail and road transport and their combinations) along the extended transport Corridor V (Lisbon – Kiev). The effects of this long distance transport can be then compared either to the other modes or to other types of transport in a specific mode.

The final expected result is a framework for a modal shift from unsustainable road transport to inter-modal solutions (sustainable) which takes into account the three pillars of sustainability and also identifies and analyses economics and social barriers for such a shift.

 

Contact info

Adolfo Perujo

tel: (+39) 0332 785175   E-mail: adolfo.perujo(at)ec.europa.eu  

 

Main customers

- DG Enterprise and Industry

- DG Environment

- DG Energy and Transport

- DG Research and Technological Development

- United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE)

- European Parliament

- Environment and Transport Ministries of Member States

- Regional Government of Lombardy

- European Industrial Associations (automotive/car/HD/engine/machinery industries, oil/fuel/additive industries, agriculture/bio-fuel industries)

 

EU Legislation and Documents supported by this Action

- White Paper on European Transport Policy “European transport policy for 2010: time to decide. European Commission, 2001 (COM(2001)370), September 2001

- Keep Europe moving: a transport policy for sustainable mobility. Communication of European Commission, 2006 (COM (2006) 314 final, 22/6/2006

- Green Paper on the Security of Energy Supply. (COM(2000)769)

- EU Sustainable Development Strategy. (COM(2001)264)

- Directive 2003/30/EC on the promotion of liquid biofuels for transport

 

Relevant links

WELL-TO-WHEEL ANALYSIS

European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform

ZERO REGIO Project

ROADS2HYCOM Project

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)