Electro-mobility offers an unequalled solution to make Europe’s transport more efficient, less dependent on imported energy, low carbon, clean and quiet. Specifically, the electrification of surface transport will enable Member States to meet their greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for 2030; and addresses the public health crisis arising from urban air pollution.
The Platform for Electro-mobility is an alliance of organisations from across industries and transport modes representing producers, infrastructure managers, operators and users of transport means as well as cities and civil society. It shares a vision of electro-mobility for surface transport delivered through multiple modes including electric bikes, cars and vans, trucks, buses, rail and other public transport. The Platform has been created to drive forward this transformation.
As a founding member of the platform, Bellona is a contributing author to this recommendations paper on ‘Decarbonising Transport through Electro-mobility’ which provides an overview of existing barriers and suggests solutions for fostering the large-scale electro-mobility uptake in Europe. The paper was launched at the platform’s inaugural event which took place on 21 April 2016 in Brussels.
Electro-mobility can play a key role in delivering the EU Transport White Paper objectives to halve emissions in urban centres by 2050; attain zero-emission urban logistics by 2030; and ban conventionally-fuelled cars from cities by 2050. Only electrification of transport in conjunction with broader sustainable transport principles provides such wide ranging benefits, which multiply when coupled with low-carbon generation of electricity connected through smart grids. The Energy Union’s aim to “to break oil dependency and to decarbonise transport, especially for road (short and medium distance) and rail” when implemented in conjunction with broader sustainable transport principles, should make the shift to electro-mobility a cornerstone of Europe’s 2016 decarbonisation of transport strategy.
This paper outlines the key EU and other actions needed to create a single market for electro-mobility and enable the Union to become a “leader in e-mobility” generating growth and jobs. The upcoming European Commission Communication on the Decarbonisation of Transport provides the ideal opportunity to make detailed proposals in the areas identified above to help deliver these objectives.
