A world of mobility needs green energy

The international trade in goods is around US $ 20 trillion and, with ups and downs in the last two decades, it has grown more than the world global GDP. This translates into thousands of ships and containers, commercial flights, trucks, and vehicles constantly moving goods from one place to another. The increase in the mobility of people between countries, between regions and cities has also grown dramatically in the past two decades.

About 37 million flights depart worldwide each year, carrying around 2 billion passengers. We transport almost 1 billion containers annually by sea. In the 174 largest cities in the world, 300 million people travel daily on buses, railways, and other types of public transport. We live in a world of permanent mobility.

Energy challenges

It is not our incessant and growing mobility that affect climate change, but the energy we use to do so. Mobility represents a major challenge in the use of energy: 99% of the energy used for transportation is generated from fossil fuels with the emission of approximately 35 billion tons of CO². The goods and people transportation is the activity responsible for one of the largest carbon footprints. Especially when we use air transport or roads.

The climate effects of this immense mobility are devastating

Climate change has a real impact on all economies in the world, but the effects of this change are felt increasingly clearly in emerging economies: natural disasters, droughts and floods, and population exodus are occurring more frequently. There is an urgent need to find a more sustainable way to travel and to do business.

The global coronavirus crisis (Covid-19) highlighted the central role of mobility in CO² emissions. In most countries affected by this health crisis, the reduction in economic activity and transport of people and goods has resulted in a radical drop in greenhouse gas emissions.

To reduce CO² emissions

In the ECB Group we have been working for a long time towards sustainable mobility based on the adoption of renewable and innovative fuels. A green energy that reduces emissions, eases the impact of climate change, and takes advantage of natural raw materials for a less polluting economy and new development opportunities for all nations, especially in emerging countries.

We do this because we believe that in this way, with hard work and commitment, we will build a legacy that will remain for the next generations. We will address all these mobility and sustainability challenges in future posts.