EU greenhouse gas emissions from transport increased in 2015

Total European Union greenhouse gas emissions increased by 0.5 % in 2015, according to new European Environment Agency (EEA) data published on the 1st of June. Transport was a key reason for that increase: better fuel efficiency in that sector was not enough to counter the effects of an increasing demand for transport.

The EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions increased in 2015 for the first time since 2010. Higher emissions were caused mainly by increasing road transport, both passenger and freight, and slightly colder winter conditions in Europe, compared to 2014, leading to higher demand for heating.

Ministerial Conference on Water and the informal EU Environment Council in Bratislava (11 to 12/07/16)

Up to 70 million persons in EU are affected by water problems especially during the summer periods. Shortages are already being perceived in north states of EU, while the Baltic States are affected frequently by floods. Europe spends 5 billion Euros per year to deal with the consequences of floods and 3 billion Euros for drought damage.

Ministers agreed on the need to improve water recycling estimating that about 17% of water could be recovered and reused. EU

The fourth Copernicus sentinel satellite, Sentinel-1B, was successfully launched!

The fourth Copernicus sentinel satellite, Sentinel-1B, was successfully launched from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on 26th April at 23:02 Brussels time (22:02 GMT). The 2.3 tonne unit lifted off on a Soyuz rocket that delivered the European Union satellite into orbit at a height of 693km. Sentinel-1B is now orbiting around the Earth, with a 180° orbital phasing difference with its twin brother, Sentinel-1A, which was launched 2 years ago.

Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) – The EU funds pilot projects of 1,3M€

The Platform for the Deployment of C-ITS in the European Union (C-ITS Platform) was launched by the Commission in July 2014. The platform provides an operational instrument for dialogue, exchange of technical knowledge and cooperation, among the Commission, public stakeholders from Member States and local/regional authorities, and private stakeholders such as vehicle manufacturers, service providers, road operators, telecomm companies, Tier 1 suppliers, etc. with the aim to build a shared vision on issues hampering coordinated deployment of C-ITS across the EU and supporting their actual deployment.

Explaining road transport emissions - A non-technical guide

  EMISIA, GYM consortium's member, has co-authored a non-technical guide “explaining road transport emissions”, recently published by the European Environment Agency. The report provides a summary of the current knowledge on vehicle emissions in Europe, it also explains how emissions are monitored and the common technologies used to limit them.

Road transport is an important source of both greenhouse gases and air pollutants. Despite improvements in vehicle efficiencies over past decades, today the sector is responsible for almost one fifth of Europe's greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions from vehicles also lead to high concentrations of air pollutants above EU standards in many of Europe's cities. This report provides a summary of the current knowledge on vehicle emissions in Europe. It also explains how emissions are monitored and the common technologies used to limit them.

GYM objectives

The objectives of GYM are:

• To develop tools that will accurately measure the emissions of public vehicle circulating in the EU public transport networks under consideration.
• To develop tools that will provide the environmentally friendliest journey from any point of the network under consideration (at least Czech, Dutch and Greek) to another by using public transport and optimize passengers’ logistics.