Stijn Vernaillen's List: VITO

The (policy) instruments on energy efficiency of cars in the world may be various and include
also measures to influence the use of cars versus other more energy efficient modes, as well, as
measures to help to reduce the specific consumption of cars.
In the following report 5 instruments/measures are treated more deeply:

"This section provides access to the ELTIS case study database. The database currently contains more than 1560 good practice case studies. The ELTIS team is continuously developing new case studies, and more than 1600 case studies will be available by the end of 2009. In addition, ELTIS gives its users the possibility to submit good practice case studies themselves. As an information dissemination tool, ELTIS offers its users the possibility to spread their good practice examples.

ELTIS is cooperating with other projects and initiatives with good practise databases like EPOMM, CIVITAS, SUGRE, LINK, ADD HOME, VIANOVA etc.

The case studies are classified into 13 local transport concepts:

* Clean and energy-efficient vehicles
* Cycling
* Demand management and pricing
* Flexible mobility services
* Integration, intermodality, organisation of transport
* Mobility management & Travel awareness
* Public passenger transport
* Safety and security
* Traffic management
* Transport and land use planning
* Transport for people with reduced mobility
* Urban goods traffic / city logistics
* Walking


The search function provides the option to search by keyword. More than 80 keywords are provided in order to facilitate the search for case studies. The case studies submission form allows new keywords to be added, should a keyword proposed in the case study not be provided in the list."

EUCAR*, CONCAWE* and JRC* have performed a joint evaluation of the Well-to-Wheels energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for a wide range of potential future fuels and powertrains options. The first version was published in December 2003. The documents below present the results of the second version (May 2006). The objectives of the review remained the same:

The Centre for Sustainable Transportation is a membership-based, non-profit organization that facilitates best practices for the movement of people and goods over the long-term.

We bridge academic, business, and public interest to identify and help craft winning transportation solutions that benefit society and the environment while enhancing mobility.

A list of Transport related tools to check your impact on the environment

Ecoinvent v2.1 is a life cycle inventory database that contains more than 4000 LCI datasets in the areas of agriculture, energy supply, transport, biofuels and biomaterials, bulk and speciality chemicals, construction materials, packaging materials, basic and precious metals, metals processing, ICT and electronics as well as waste treatment.


The high-quality generic LCI datasets are based on industrial data and have been compiled by internationally renowned research institutes and LCA consultants. The data is available in the EcoSpold data format, and is compatible with all major LCA and eco-design software tools. Ecoinvent is used by more than 1500 users in more than 40 countries worldwide and is included in the leading LCA software tools as well as in various eco-design tools for building and construction, waste management or product design. It can be used for Integrated Product Policy (IPP), Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Management (LCM) and Design for Environment (DfE)."

An interesting list of foresights for the near and far future created by the UK Foresight group.

From the report: "The Foresight Project on Intelligent Infrastructure Systems (IIS) set out to examine the challenges and opportunities for the UK in bringing ‘intelligence’ to its infrastructure – the physical networks that deliver such services as transport,
telecommunications, water and energy. In particular, the project explored how, over the next 50 years, we can apply science and technology to the design and implementation of intelligent infrastructure for robust, sustainable and safe
transport, and its alternatives.

The technological opportunities and social factors are such that IIS can develop in many different ways. The direction will depend on the direction that society takes. The Foresight project investigated many alternative futures and identified
60 different ‘drivers for change’ (see Appendix). It is difficult to say how these drivers will change the future. However, to illustrate the possibilities, and guide its thinking and analysis, the project created four scenarios of how the future might look."

The Foresight Project on Intelligent Infrastructure Systems set out to explore how science and technology could, over the next 50 years, be used to deliver infrastructure for transport, and its alternatives, that would be sustainable, robust and safe. The project considered the three central aspects of sustainability –economic, environmental and social.

This searchable database contains over 3,800 proven solutions from more than 140 countries to the common social, economic and environmental problems of an urbanizing world. It demonstrates the practical ways in which public, private and civil society sectors are working together to improve governance, eradicate poverty, provide access to shelter, land and basic services, protect the environment and support economic development.

The database is a powerful tool for:

• Analyzing current trends and emerging issues;
• Networking with the people and organisations involved in implementation;
• Capacity-building including new knowledge management tools and methods.
• Technical Cooperation through the matching of supply with demand for proven expertise and experience.
• Policy development based on what works.

For more information on how best practices can help your community, please visit the Learning Centre.

In 2008, 470+ submissions and updates from more than 68 countries and territories were received and reviewed.

UN-HABITAT and Dubai Municipality invite you to submit your initiatives for the 2010 Dubai International Award for Best Practices in Improving the Living Environment and for inclusion in the next edition of the database.

The Best Practices database is a joint product of UN-HABITAT, and the Best Practices Partners."

"Brussels. April 13, 2010 - 'Roadmap 2050: a practical guide to a prosperous, low-carbon Europe' was published today by the European Climate Foundation (ECF).

The project finds that in a decarbonised power system, the future cost of electricity is comparable to the future cost of electricity in the current carbon-intensive infrastructure. Roadmap 2050 also shows that with the necessary investments in energy efficiency and Europe's power network infrastructure, a decarbonised power sector using available technologies can provide the same high level of reliability that consumers enjoy today - in all, low/zero carbon pathways."

The Michelin Challenge Bibendum has just finished its tenth staging in Brazil, and thanks to championing what was an unfashionable cause when it started, has become the major annual sustainable mobility event as environmental concerns have grown. One of the highlights of the event this year was Michelin's release of a 145 page book entitled “Driving in the future – towards sustainable road mobility” and it's a great resource for understanding the challenges we face collectively, and the ways in which are likely to overcome them. Even better news is that you can download the entire book for free in PDF format and that it's available in English, French and Portuguese.

"Electric cars are the cleanest, most efficient, and most cost-effective form of transportation around. Seriously, electric cars are high-performance vehicles that will continue to meet new challenges in the future.

Here are some other reasons why we do need to have more electric cars on the road:

* No oil changes
* No spark plugs
* No other real repairs.

In addition, here are some more great reasons why we need more electric cars on the road.

1. Electric cars represent the most environmentally friendly car fuel, as they have absolutely no emissions.

The energy generated to power the electric car and the energy to move the car is 97 percent cleaner in terms of noxious pollutants.

2. Another advantage of electric motors is their ability to provide power at almost any engine speed. Whereas only 20 percent of the energy in a gas car converts to actual, useable energy, 75 percent or more of the energy from a battery reaches the wheels.

3. Less than 2 percent of U.S. electricity is generated from oil, so using electricity as a transportation fuel would greatly reduce dependence on imported petroleum.

4. Even assuming that the electricity to power the EV is not produced from rooftop solar or natural gas (let's assume it comes 100 percent from coal), it is still much cleaner than gasoline produced from petroleum!

5. The power plants are stationary sources that can be modified over time to become cleaner.

6. The electric car would cost no more than $1.25 to fill up regularly. In New York terms, that's less than a token on the subway.

"