• Energy Research

A Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) is a strategic (long period) transportation plan aimed to improve welfare of both people and workers living in the city as well as in its surrounding area. Compared to “traditional” urban transportation plans, SUMP moves the focus from traffic (vehicles) to people with significant advancements in the direction of a sustainable mobility jointly with the quality of life. According to the recent European Guidelines, this type of strategic plan has to be built on existing planning practices and take due consideration: the integration, the participation, and evaluation. Starting from these considerations, in absence of a detailed national guideline implementing SUMP, the aim of this paper was to apply an innovative theoretical decision-making approachfor the development of the Naples (Italy) SUMP. This case study appears to be interesting because of the specificity of Naples, that is the third largest Italian city and metropolitan area with the highest population density. In 2016, the city of Naples has efficiently concluded and ratified a first formalization of acts: 'The analysis of mobility system' and ‘The statement of strategic objectives

A Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) is a strategic (long period) transportation plan aimed to improve welfare of both people and workers living in the city as well as in its surrounding area. Compared to “traditional” urban transportation plans, SUMP moves the focus from traffic (vehicles) to people with significant advancements in the direction of a sustainable mobility jointly with the quality of life. According to the recent European Guidelines, this type of strategic plan has to be built on existing planning practices and take due consideration: the integration, the participation, and evaluation. Starting from these considerations, in absence of a detailed national guideline implementing SUMP, the aim of this paper was to apply an innovative theoretical decision-making approachfor the development of the Naples (Italy) SUMP. This case study appears to be interesting because of the specificity of Naples, that is the third largest Italian city and metropolitan area with the highest population density. In 2016, the city of Naples has efficiently concluded and ratified a first formalization of acts: 'The analysis of mobility system' and ‘The statement of strategic objectives

The conjecture discussed in this paper was that the daily number of certified cases of COVID-19 is direct correlated to the average particular matter (PM) concentrations observed several days before when the contagions occurred (short-term effect), and this correlation is higher for areas with a higher average seasonal PM concentration, as a measure of prolonged exposure to a polluted environment (long-term effect). Furthermore, the correlations between the daily COVID-19 new cases and the mobility trips and those between the daily PM concentrations and mobility trips were also investigated. Correlation analyses were performed for the application case study consisting in 13 of the main Italian cities, through the national air quality and mobility monitoring systems. Data analyses showed that the mobility restrictions performed during the lockdown produced a significant improvement in air quality with an average PM concentrations reduction of about 15%, with maximum variations ranging between 25% and 42%. Estimation results showed a positive correlation (stronger for the more highly polluted cities) between the daily COVID-19 cases and both the daily PM concentrations and mobility trips measured about three weeks before, when probably the contagion occurred. The obtained results are original, and if confirmed in other studies, it would lay the groundwork for the definition of the main context variables which influenced the COVID-19 spread. The findings highlighted in this research also supported by the evidence in the literature and allow concluding that PM concentrations and mobility habits could be considered as potential early indicators of COVID-19 circulation in outdoor environments. However, the obtained results pose significant ethical questions about the proper urban and transportation planning; the most polluted cities have not only worst welfare for their citizens but, as highlighted in this research, could lead to a likely greater spread of current and future respiratory and/or pulmonary health emergencies. The lesson to be learned by this global pandemic will help planners to better preserve the air quality of our cities in the post-COVID-19 era.

The conjecture discussed in this paper was that the daily number of certified cases of COVID-19 is direct correlated to the average particular matter (PM) concentrations observed several days before when the contagions occurred (short-term effect), and this correlation is higher for areas with a higher average seasonal PM concentration, as a measure of prolonged exposure to a polluted environment (long-term effect). Furthermore, the correlations between the daily COVID-19 new cases and the mobility trips and those between the daily PM concentrations and mobility trips were also investigated. Correlation analyses were performed for the application case study consisting in 13 of the main Italian cities, through the national air quality and mobility monitoring systems. Data analyses showed that the mobility restrictions performed during the lockdown produced a significant improvement in air quality with an average PM concentrations reduction of about 15%, with maximum variations ranging between 25% and 42%. Estimation results showed a positive correlation (stronger for the more highly polluted cities) between the daily COVID-19 cases and both the daily PM concentrations and mobility trips measured about three weeks before, when probably the contagion occurred. The obtained results are original, and if confirmed in other studies, it would lay the groundwork for the definition of the main context variables which influenced the COVID-19 spread. The findings highlighted in this research also supported by the evidence in the literature and allow concluding that PM concentrations and mobility habits could be considered as potential early indicators of COVID-19 circulation in outdoor environments. However, the obtained results pose significant ethical questions about the proper urban and transportation planning; the most polluted cities have not only worst welfare for their citizens but, as highlighted in this research, could lead to a likely greater spread of current and future respiratory and/or pulmonary health emergencies. The lesson to be learned by this global pandemic will help planners to better preserve the air quality of our cities in the post-COVID-19 era.

this study aims, for the Italian case, to: a) estimate the national passenger and freight road travel demand with respect to three different time periods: 2005 (reference year for EU “fit for 55” target); 2019 (last consolidated pre-covid year); 2022 (base-line year); b) define possible road transport scenarios to 2030 following the Avoid-Shift-Improve (ASI) approach; c) estimate the GHG and energy consumption inventory related to national road transport for the 2005, 2019; 2022 and 2030 scenarios.

this study aims, for the Italian case, to: a) estimate the national passenger and freight road travel demand with respect to three different time periods: 2005 (reference year for EU “fit for 55” target); 2019 (last consolidated pre-covid year); 2022 (base-line year); b) define possible road transport scenarios to 2030 following the Avoid-Shift-Improve (ASI) approach; c) estimate the GHG and energy consumption inventory related to national road transport for the 2005, 2019; 2022 and 2030 scenarios.

Abstract The paper presents an in-depth analysis of a novel scheme for the sustainable mobility, based on electric vehicles, photovoltaic energy and electric energy storage systems. The work aims to analyse such innovative system, putting in evidence its advantages in comparison to a conventional one, based on the grid-to-vehicle technology. The study also provides interesting guidelines for potential users and system designers. Two case studies are presented: i) the taxi fleet of the city centre of Naples and ii) the cargo vans of the city of Salerno; both towns are in Southern Italy. For each case, the hourly power consumption of the vehicles was evaluated, as a function of the daily trip length. An accurate procedure was implemented to select the sites suitable for the installation of the charging stations, including a photovoltaic field and an electric storage system. A comparison was also performed between two different electric storage technologies: lead-acid and lithium-ion battery. The case studies were analysed by means of a detailed dynamic simulation model, developed in TRNSYS. A sensitivity analysis was also performed, to evaluate how different values of the most important design and operating parameters affect the system overall performance. It was found that the results are mostly affected by solar field area, capacity of the energy storage system and investment cost. The comparison between the two selected storage technologies did not exhibit significant differences. For both the cases investigated, it was found that, during the summer, solar energy covers an important amount of the total energy demand. On the contrary, in winter the amount of energy provided by the public electric grid was high. From an economic point of view, assuming a lithium-ion battery capital cost equal to 90 €/kWh, acceptable pay-back periods (about 6 years) were obtained, for both the applications considered.