Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
to the city several and integrated public transportation systems, a virtuous cycle
can be drawn, able to reverse the trend and affect the level of emissions, Freiburg,
Stockholm are an example for all cities. From slow to fast mobility, based on non-
polluting public transport or transport systems (tram and metro) by rail and not by
road. Small and big cities, but with highly integrated systems of transportation.
In Stockholm, such as in Freiburg the slow mobility, the bike is one of the most
used transportation mode. There are, in both cities, kilometres and kilometres of
bike paths running through the city. It is so that—in the streets of the city centre
there is not much traffic and cars use is very limited. The description of the
municipal car park of the city of Stockholm allows making an initial evaluation:
1,600 Buses, for 40 %power is drawn from biofuel (ethanol and biogas).
While 15 % of private transport use biofuel, 50 % employ ethanol and diesel.
And it is quite advanced a project carried out by the City of Stockholm to the
increase the use of electric vehicles (Environmentally Friendly Vehicles).
Even for the energy sector, projects, experiences, and more recent studies show
that there is a need to work on different systems of energy production to satisfy the
demand in a clean way.
One example is a simulation carried out for the island of Pantelleria in the
Mediterranean Sea in the context of a master thesis developed at the University of
Palermo (Riva Sanseverino et al.
2014
). The preliminary study of the territory of
Pantelleria showed a rather marked growth in consumption, in a context of energy
supply based almost entirely on fossil fuels. The local energy production from
renewable sources is still too limited, though the territory presents interesting
potential for exploitation that should be properly analysed and developed. The
island is rich of renewable energy resources (solar, wind and geothermal), which
led to design three different integrated scenarios (solar, wind and geothermal) that
can bring the island to be almost independent from the energy point of view.
The study carries out a preliminary analysis of the island from the point of view
it is of environmental constraints exist, the characteristics of settlement, statistics
and cultural landscapes, in order to mitigate the possible impact of new energy
systems in the area.
In the energy field the recent Project Res Novae
8
(Project Res Novae
2013
)
proposes the design of a platform for the optimized management of the energy
flows at urban level, based on the use and on the integration of innovative enabling
technologies for the development of smart grids. Recently (September 2013) in
Bari, the mayor and a representative of ENEL have recently presented the digital
platform Res Novae (acronym of Reti, Edifici, Strade, Nuovi Obiettivi Virtuosi per
l'Ambiente e l'Energia).
The project led by ENEL is also carried out by General Electrics, IBM, some
small medium local enterprises, the Italian national council of research CNR,
ENEA (another national research centre), the Polytechnic university of Bari and
University of Calabria. The project which involves two densely populated urban
8
Among these, the project Res Novae, which offers a platform for the integration of innovative
technologies for smart grids.
