Self-driving cars, maglev trains, electric jets. The world of transportation is accelerating towards the future, yet there is one crucial destination still to reach: sustainability. From automotive electrification to biofuels, battery recycling to rail innovation, the news issue of Renewable Matter is dedicated to Transport and the complex circular and low-emission transition.
EDITORIALS
Gate 15
Emanuele Bompan
Since the first attempts to cross the seas more than 10,000 years ago, we are now ready to discover the borders of the solar system. Yet, the world of transport still has a threshold to cross, namely that of sustainability.
The Future Is Public Transport
Caterina Sarfatti
What does the city of the future look like? This starts with rethinking how we move. As a global campaign by C40 and the International Transport Workers’ Federation declares: “The future is public transport.”
THINK TANK
Transport in Transition: Europe amid Climate Goals and Industry Support
Interview with William Todts
Emanuele Bompan
The transition of the transport sector to meet climate goals is urgent. But Europe, which has been losing technological leadership for some time now, must contend with an increasingly competitive global market and a domestic industry that needs support.
Autonomous Mobility: The Future Is Here, but Europe Has Yet to Grasp It
Interview with Daniel Serra Segarra
Simone Fant
Self-driving vehicles are set to transform the way we travel, both within cities and beyond. It is a technological and cultural challenge in which the United States and China are already ahead, while the European Union still lacks the ecosystem to compete.
BYD, China’s Electric Car Rises to the European Challenge
Interview with Maria Grazia Davino
Giorgia Marino
The unstoppable rise of Chinese electric cars finds its standard-bearer in BYD. The Shenzhen-based multinational, after making its way into the emerging markets of Latin America and Southeast Asia, now aims to win the European hearts.
INSIGHT
Mobility-as-a-Service: The Great Potential of Sharing
Antonella Ilaria Totaro
With a global market estimated at 390 billion dollars by 2023 and a growth potential of up to 1.7 trillion dollars by 2032, Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is a reality with tremendous promise that already involves a broad ecosystem of participants.
Car Scrapping in the Age of Electrification
Daniele Di Stefano
Electric vehicles differ significantly from combustion vehicles, which also impacts how their components are disposed of, reused, and recycled. Batteries, in particular, need specific regulations and the establishment of new supply chains, as well as a market for reuse.
The Illegal Routes of Car Parts
Giorgio Kaldor
Black market, illicit trafficking, and counterfeit parts jeopardise the environment and entire automotive supply chains, undermining buyers’ trust in product safety. Yet, fighting the trend is possible.
Circular Automotive: Remanufacturing Has Shifted into High Gear
Simone Fant
From engines to gearboxes, all the way to electric vehicle batteries: how the European automotive industry has turned remanufacturing into a sustainable business, reducing waste and costs for car components.
The Future Rides on Tracks
Giorgia Marino
Today, trains are the most efficient, sustainable, and democratic mode of transport for people and cargo around the world. Amidst artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, hydrogen-powered carriages, and magnetic levitation, it is already projected into the future.
Navigating Towards Circularity
Antonella Ilaria Totaro
Companies are increasingly adopting circular and sustainable materials that reduce waste and improve efficiency, accelerating their efforts to decarbonise shipping.
Bike Economy: Good, but Not Great
Davide Mazzocco
After the surge in sales during the pandemic, the bicycle industry is now stalling and transforming. E-bikes are growing in popularity and new mobility models such as cargo bikes are entering the market. All the while, the bicycle touring sector knows no decline.
Urban Mobility: How to Prevent the Royal Rumble Effect?
Marco Moro
While getting around the city has become an “all against all”, rural and inland areas are facing a transportation crunch. Among excess fleets and limited mobility, what role do policies play in making urban transportation sustainable, both environmentally and socially?
Robotaxi and Flying Cars: A Preview of the Future in Las Vegas
Marco Morello
No better place to find out about the innovations we will be using in the near future than CES in Las Vegas, the world’s biggest technology fair. There we went to try out robotaxis, flying cars, electric motorbikes, and self-driving tractors.
CASE STUDIES
Smart Mountains by Design: The Example of Madonna di Campiglio
Roberto Giovannini
During ski season, traffic can become a significant issue for mountain communities and the environment. The Mountain Progress Lab project harnesses data from Audi electric car sensors to map mountain roads and make vehicle circulation more sustainable.
CONOU: How Biofuel Is Decarbonising Used Oil Transport
Giorgio Kaldor
In Italy, the National Consortium of Waste Oils is promoting the use of HVO biofuel among its operators, to enhance sustainability in the collection and regeneration sector. A virtuous model that is increasingly setting an example worldwide.
Cycles: A Circular Economy Network for the Automotive Sector
Maria Carla Rota
The Certified Vehicle Scrapyard Network (Rete Certificata degli Autodemolitori) is a Haiki Cobat initiative dedicated to the sustainable and transparent end-of-life management of vehicles. This fast-growing sector is strengthening extended producer responsibility and stakeholder cooperation.
Working Towards Decarbonising the Aviation Sector with SAF
Emanuele Bompan
Air traffic is set to double by 2050. Decarbonisation targets will not be met if fossil fuels are not replaced, and quickly, with Sustainable Aviation Fuel. But what are the challenges for the industry and the market?
STARTUP
by Antonella Ilaria Totaro
It’s electric: Recharging EVs with Excess Energy from Buildings
Hybrid Flying Cars with India’s Vinata Aeromobility
Electric Planes for Short-range Mobility with Væridion
Meight: Data and AI to Optimise Freight Logistics
OUROBOROS
Cities of the Future Must Leave Cars in the Past. And Make it Pleasant to Do So
Ana Birliga Sutherland
Living in Utrecht, the Netherlands, active transport is the norm—not something I force myself into to be healthier, cheaper, or even more sustainable…
CIRCULAR FUTURES: DISPATCHES FROM TOMORROW
2040s: The Rise of a New Mobility System
Patrick Schröder
We are in 2042 and the world largely transitioned to electric mobility, overcoming numerous technical, cultural, and economic barriers. Efficient charging infrastructure primarily powered by decentralised solar energy became the norm…
ESG VALUE
Mobility Management: When 15 Minutes Are Enough
Ada Rosa Balzan
First of all, let’s start with a dutiful premise: what is the most sustainable form of mobility ever? The one we take with our feet! This choice is not only of undisputed benefit to the environment but also to our health. That is the reason we increasingly talk about the “15-minute city.”
READING MATTER
Travelling Through the Pages
Giorgia Marino
Trains, flying cars, and bicycles: three books to explore the future of mobility.