On 19 November 2024, Global Mobility Call hosted a roundtable discussion concerning the challenge of decarbonised mobility.
Ángel Domínguez, head of the Mobility Department of the Salamanca City Council, Radines López, director of the Transport Consortium of the Principality of Asturias, Eugenia Sillero, General Secretary of GASNAM, and Arturo Pérez de Lucía, general director of the Business Association for the Development and Promotion of Electric Vehicles (AEDIVE), outlined various strategies for the transition to a cleaner, greener mobility system.
Domínguez discussed decarbonisation efforts in the City of Salamanca, with a special focus on autonomy and the electrification of its bus fleet. Salamanca has transformed a significant number of public transport vehicles from diesel to electric, however, Domínguez noted that timing and costs are often obstacles for progress. It’s also impossible to know with certainty just how beneficial an investment in electrification will be in the future.
López presented examples of ongoing decarbonisation from the Principality of Asturias, which is committed to sustainable mobility. She defined the Principality’s future projects as focused on decarbonisation, but also recognised in agreement with Domínguez that this can be a relatively difficult challenge.
In addition, López emphasised that there is no “clear and unique solution” for decarbonisation efforts, as individual operators and regions with diverse populations will need their own solution – and often more than one. Individual circumstances of supply, cost and infrastructure must be taken into account when planning sustainable practices.
The speakers also noted that biomethane is being examined as an option to decarbonise public transport, as long as costs are reasonable and stable. Biomethane is a purified version of biogas and is produced by the breakdown of organic waste. Eugenia Sillero of GASNAM, which promotes the use of natural and renewable gases such as this, highlighted the potential of biomethane as a means of energy autonomy, a concept with which Arturo Perez de Lucia agreed.
Cities and municipalities must consider transitioning to the generation of their own energy, which is a self-sufficiency that, de Lucia says, Spain is more than capable of.
