2009/09/10
Sustainable-mobility.org - Sustainable mobility, star of September
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The alternative to the traditional car: a question at the heart of the news this September.
Hit of the week
As well as the 2009 edition of the
Festival of Sustainable Transport and Mobility, organised by the “Transports Passion” association in partnership with the Ministry for Ecology, which will take place on the 13th and 14th September at Place de la Bastille, Paris, the number of popular initiatives is increasing and has devoted September 2009 to sustainable mobility.
On 4th and 5th November, IDEAL Connaissances, the town of Villeneuve-sur-Lot, the Community of villages of Villeneuvois, the Lot-et-Garonne county council and the Aquitaine region will attempt to respond to questions on green transport by organising the 1st national conference on sustainable transport in medium-sized towns. Cdurable.info reports on this event, as well as the first ideas mentioned: "Developing public transport, taking soft transport measures into account, redefining town planning policies, these are solid examples in terms of sustainable mobility. How do we promote sustainable transport among citizens? Which applications do we use in the urban setting and which in the rural setting?"
As for Roulons vers le futur (‘driving towards the future’), it has announced the 6th edition of its international Mobilis Encounters, organised by Pôle Véhicule du Futur. This will take place on the 17th and 18th November 2009 at the Axone in Montbéliard (Doubs). The theme this year is "Liberty Equality Mobility – What changes in society, economy and technology to achieve sustainable urban mobility?". On the programme will be: round-tables, themed workshops, speeches from experts on numerous subjects including Electric and hybrid vehicles: what is the true status? What are the short-term perspectives for technologies which are giving rise to every expectation?
Public policies
Sustainable mobility is an issue at the heart of political action this September, as proven by the interview with Patrick Millet in Midi Libre. The newcomer arrival at the Ministry of Industry presents his new role, dedicated to the reconciliation of business and environment. "I was appointed to the Ministry of Industry on the 1st August in fact. I am responsible for 2 precise areas: eco-industry and sustainable transport. Eco-industry has to allow French industry to win back market share, internationally. In the transport sector, my mission will be to develop sustainable mobility (electric car, hybrid…) and new mobilities. The final objective is, of course, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change."
On the other side of the Atlantic, President Obama himself is putting an effort into the promotion of clean driving. The Edmund’s blog considers his decision to reduce Co2 emissions by imposing a new average mileage per litre of fuel (henceforth fixed at15 km per litre) on big-engined cars.
Business
If we sow today, we reap the benefits tomorrow: this is, in substance, what US manufacturers claim. With no less than 274 patents filed in the second trimester of 2009, the manufacturers have just established a new record in the fuel cell, clean vehicles and renewable energies sectors. If we look at the companies filing these patents, we notice that the automobile sector is easily in the lead, which demonstrates a tardy, but clear cut, change in policy for the sector towards simple solutions in terms of energy and greenhouse gas emissions, considers the blogger nyfrenchpress on le Post.
American CoulombTech, another well-placed automobile sector business, offers in 28 US States, and lately in Germany, Milan and Amsterdam, an ambitious plan of recharging stations for electric batteries. TreeHugger stressed that the company’s card payment system lets you charge your car in any station with a charging terminal. The anguish of breakdown moves a bit further away from the electric world.
Other events
To mark the 100 days remaining before the Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Bizi movement of the Biarritz-Anglet-Bayonne agglomeration community announced a bike ride on Saturday 29th August, from Bayonne town hall to Anglet town hall, we learned from their website. The ride is organised in favour of Chronobus, a clean site travel system put into place in the framework of a new sustainable mobility strategy to combat global warming.
‘Green Ardèche’ has the ambition to play a driving role in the fight against greenhouse gas emissions. To do this, the region is preparing a Territorial Energy Climate Plan, a programme of ambitious actions aiming to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the territory and to adapt local policies to climatic change. To construct and to fuel this ‘Climate Plan’, enormous awareness-raising and dialogue work is taking place. The objective is to write a ‘White book’ in 2010 which will compile all the proposals, ideas and remarks collected over the territory. A blog dedicated to the project has been set up.
In the UK, the Royal Mail has also been preparing for this important climate summit by signing up for 10:10, a national programme which aims to cut Co2 emissions by 10% by 2010. Fleetnews specifies that the British Post Office will over the next 12 months improve its delivery vehicle route planning, use more double-decker delivery trucks, and encourage its staff to reduce their emissions at home, as well as at work.
