Sustainability, technological innovation and challenges of the future for the sector of transport: are the main themes of the MIMS-STEMI report “Decarbonising Transport – Scientific evidence and policy proposals”. In particular, Andrea Gibelli, president of Asstra, the association of local public transport companies, expressed his opinion on the decarbonisation of local public transport: "Today, on the subject of energy transition, crucial for the future of LPT, it is not easy to bet on a winning technology as an exclusive choice. The photograph we get by observing the scenario is that of the prevalence of electricity, but technological innovation is not a linear process, it moves by leaps that are not always predictable”. Gibelli added that today more than ever “prudence” is needed, “there's no need to fall in love with one technology over another because it's a wrong bet. The right one is to keep open to all possible options and think of a programming that allows the system to realign itself, in step with technological evolution".
Furthermore, for the president of Asstra, the evolution of the picture requires "a medium-long term reflection that opens up various possibilities related to technologies that can be developed within the national perimeter, as in the case of blue hydrogen, in partnership with primary players energy companies such as ENI, Snam, A2A and Enel”.
“Asstra therefore takes up the challenge and discussion on the energy transition, which passes through the decarbonization of local public transport - added Gibelli - ready to give the necessary support to the members in the purchasing phase and in the difficult reorganization of the industrial cycles of the sector, when one passes from internal combustion engines to other forms of propulsion, starting with electricity” concluded the number one of the Association of LPT companies.
During the intervention Gibelli then quoted FNM that in the case of the Hydrogen Valley of Valcamonica, in the adoption of thehydrogen as an energy carrier, has successfully adopted the prudential criterion of appropriateness which can be seen under the threefold profile of location (the province of Brescia is highly energy-intensive, a district in which the 14 FNM trains benefit from an entire electrolysis ecosystem for heavy vehicles and industries ), respect for environmental data (minimizing the impact on a highly man-made area such as the Sebino Valley and Lake Iseo) and the geopolitical issue (avoiding dependence on technologies and supplies of rare earths from abroad for the production of lithium batteries).
The STEMI report on the decarbonization of transport
In Italy, the transport sector is directly responsible for 25,2% of greenhouse gas emissions and 30,7% of CO2 emissions, to which must be added the emissions in the international aviation and maritime transport sector. 92,6% of the national emissions of the entire sector is attributable to the road transport of passengers and goods, a sector for which there was a 3,2% increase in emissions between 1990 and 2019, in contrast to the decline in the 19% of total emissions during the same period. To help achieve the European objectives of the "Fit for 55" package, which envisage a 55% reduction in climate-changing emissions by 2030 and their zeroing by 2050, it is necessary to accelerate the decarbonisation process, starting precisely from the mobility sectors.
To reduce the climate-altering emissions of the sector, technological solutions based on electrification are currently the most promising for various sectors, especially that of road transport. Biomethane, green hydrogen, advanced biofuels and synthetic fuels, due to the current low production capacity and the high costs associated with it, will be able to decarbonise transport that is more difficult to electrify, such as sea and air transport. Furthermore, if for some vehicles (cars, commercial vans, buses, trains) alternative technologies can already be adopted on a large scale, for others (ships, planes and long-distance trucks) experimentation is still ongoing and it is therefore necessary to continue invest in research and development.
