Alternative fuels are key to a cleaner future for Europe’s cities
In December 2006 more than thirty delegates from Italy, Great Britain, Romania, Estonia and Sweden gathered in Malmö to discuss the topic of Clean Vehicles in Europe today. Although fuels derived from plants and waste matter can significantly reduce the harmful emissions produced by transport, factors such as world fuel prices, a lack of supply infrastructure and the choices of car buyers are inhibiting further developments in Europe.
Therefore, if the goal of ‘clean transport’ in European cities is to be successfully realised, a closer degree of cooperation between governments, industry and citizens is required. This was one of the conclusions from a two-day training workshop on the subject of clean vehicles and their fuels held in Malmö, Sweden on December 13-14 2006. The event, organised by Transport and Travel Research in conjunction with the City of Malmö, was delivered as part of the training programme for the CIVITAS SMILE project.. The workshop gave delegates the opportunity to share knowledge, identify barriers and learn about good practice from presentations, site visits and case studies. The first day focused on the situation in Sweden, including clean transport initiatives in Malmö and the long-term potential of using biogas from waste and crops as a fue. Two site visits held. The light vehicle group visited the city’s clean car pool and depot. The heavy vehicle group visited the public transport company Skånetrafiken and their bus depot, and the energy company E.ON and their natural/bio gas filling station. The following day Niklas Gustafsson, from Volvo Cars presented an overview of the company’s past and future developments in clean vehicle production. Other informative presentations were given on dissemination activities relating to clean fuels and transport in Malmö and the Skåne region, and on developments in the UK. A final session summed up the main points raised at the workshop identifying barriers and potential solutions. Presentations from the workshop are available here.
Author: Daniel Nilsson
