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MOBILITY SHOW 2006 Session A
"Sustainable mobility, energy saving and air quality"
Session chairman - Luigi Sardi |
INTRODUCTION
The yearly growth in traffic volumes, which reach extremely high figures both within and near metropolitan areas, aggravates congestion and the problem of reducing the atmospheric emission of pollutants and the trend reversal of greenhouse gas emissions.
Italy is second in Europe in the number of cars per person and first in the world in terms of urban areas.
Apart from traffic control and containment measures, the development of technologies that reduce environmental impact must be studied and promoted. In this sense, national and EU policies have been developed for use of lower-impact motors and fuels. The “ICBI Project” and the “Methane Project” of the Environment Ministry have promoted the use of Methane and LPG: the recent Bio-fuels Directive sets out obligations on the use of fuels from agricultural biomasses. The purpose of this session of the conference is to go into the details of the problems of the motors of the circulating vehicle fleets, with special reference to emissions.
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· Subsidies are provided for the research and development of internal-combustion motors, with special reference to the activities carried out in Italy. Adhesion to EU regulations in terms of emissions and reduction of fuel consumption dictate major changes in technology (the goal of having vehicles that use one litre of fuel per 100 km does not look so remote). |
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· Details will be provided about the use of electric propulsion for collective transport systems (undergrounds trains, tramcars, trolleybuses) as well as for personal transport systems (cars, motorbikes, power bicycles). Likewise, details will be provided of the upsurge in the development of combination vehicles which in the short term are the greatest opportunity in terms of energy saving and emission containment. |
The other decisive issue to be addressed is LPG and methane, which today are actually used by nearly 10% of the circulating fleet, while bio-diesel and ethanol are making an appearance on the market.
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· We will review the current scenario of the use of such fuels, considering the effects of the Environment Ministry’s plans and the subsidies that the local bodies could offer to vehicles propelled by such fuels. |
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· Special relevance will be given to bio-fuels, bio-diesel and ethanol, which are a unique opportunity for reducing CO2 emissions. We will present the first results of two EEC projects which are being implemented right now: BEST and Procura. We will discuss the possibility of using bio-fuels for traditional motors and we will review the potential impacts in terms of emission containment and wider supplies. |
The opportunities offered by technology substantiate and guide in the best possible way the development of motors, but subsidies for both manufacturers and users must be better outlined as well. In particular, the issue of excise duties on fuels and their differentiated ranking by calorific value and origin (mineral of vegetal) must be addressed as soon as possible. |
Further information:
Show management
Tel. +39 0585 787963
Fax +39 0585 787602
E-mail: info@mobilityshow.it
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