In SWOMM 2008 a brief summary of the most viable available technological options was presented by Wilfried Klanner of FIA office in Brussels. In this year’s edition the technological aspects of vehicles and the needed infrastructure to ease the dissemination of low and zero-emissions cars will be discussed. A specific focus will be placed on the concrete experience of Nissan-Renault in some European countries, and the process leading to public-private-partnerships and cooperation agreements.

Numerous other car manufacturers have strongly invested in green R&D: on November 4 and 5, the H2Roma “Scientific Workshop with the press” takes place in the city centre of Rome, near piazza Navona. Since 2002 this event aims at bringing to the attention of large audiences the results of technological research to reduce the environmental impact of cars.

Everybody can see and test the low emissions vehicles produced by groups such as Fiat, Honda, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Toyota, by booking a test drive on the H2Roma website.

The SWOMM organisers will participate in the Workshop and try to use this occasion to enrich the debate at SWOMM 2009, looking for possible synergies between the latest innovations in automobiles and the specific needs of mountain urban centres.

The H2Roma youtube channel here

In the latest years a growing pressure has been exerted on cars manufacturers inside and outside Europe, as responsible for a growing share of CO2 equivalent emissions. However, automotive industry worldwide is making great efforts aiming at greening vehicle fleet and reducing the burden of cars on the environment.

In this line the International Federation of Automobile (FIA) launched an international environmental campaign called “Make cars green“, aiming at reducing the impact of motoring on the environment in 2008.

Several initiatives have also been taken by some car manufacturers worldwide going in the same direction, that is a reduction of GHG emissions and a growing energy efficiency of the engines. Remarkable steps have also been made on specific technologies such as electric and hybrid cars. Some governments have strongly invested in the expansion of LPG and methane filling stations network, and in providing incentives for car owners shifting to lower emissions vehicles. Possible policies and concrete initiatives are taking place in several regions, and a growing interest for testing low-carbon vehicles is to be found also in mountain regions.

Within the scope of application of the Alpine Convention, a private-public agreement was signed in the Principality of Monaco with the Nissan-Renault Alliance in 2009 to establish a network for recharging electric batteries of zero-emissions vehicles.

Is an increase of these types of solutions to be expected after the Copenhagen meeting which is taking place in December 2009?

We had the occasion to explore pros and cons of the available technologies in SWOMM 2008, where a specific focus was placed on the technological options for personal mobility. It would be worth analysing how things have been evolving since last year, and which actions might be delivered in mountain areas. Additionally, integrated planning seems capable to promote a model of city where intermediate solutions between private and public transport can be adopted (e.g. by means of the latest evolutions of cars, bikes and other vehicles’ sharing), where the freedom classically associated with private cars is gradually shifted to new types of public transport.

A fruitful discussion on this topic and on how things might change in a post-Kyoto more flexible perspective is likely to be raised in the afternoon session and during the round table of the 2009 SWOMM edition, where the participation of industry, governments and experts is foreseen.

Other articles you might find interesting:

Nissan-Renault lands in Monaco with EVs too
Green Week given taste of “Make Cars Green