Decarbonisation in road transport, looking for the 'Italian way'

"Our country will have to find an 'Italian way' to the decarbonisation of transport". This, in a nutshell, is the message of the Green Book produced by Autostrade per l'Italia with Il Sole 24 Ore, which, for obvious reasons, is mainly dedicated to the national motorway network, which this year marked the first one hundred years since the first section was built. The document, full of data and considerations on the Italian road network, leads straight to the central issue of the sustainability of road transport, especially in light of the European targets to be met by 2030 and 2050. 'It is possible to estimate,' reads the Green Paper, 'that the policies currently in place for road transport will lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 compared to 2005 of between 15 and 33 per cent. These values are still insufficient and lower than the overall 43% reduction target for transport imposed on Italy by the Fit for 55 objectives'.

"No policy alone," it goes on to say, "can achieve ambitious decarbonisation targets such as those set by the European Union in a few years. Moreover, the level of uncertainty on many of the key parameters to date does not allow us to say that the targets will be met, so it is necessary to monitor the system and adapt policies to the changes that will occur in these years of transition'.

"To ensure the achievement of the transport decarbonisation targets," it goes on to say, "it is necessary to use and coordinate a set of possible solutions, to support the principle of technological neutrality by developing alternative energy vectors (e.g. electricity and less impactful fuels) and to promote a general culture of sustainability. The right mix of joint policies on energy sources, digitalisation, incentives, investments and lifestyles represents precisely the concretisation of the 'Italian way to decarbonisation' advocated by the Green Paper, 'consistent with the country's structure and European objectives'.