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Energy Efficiency and Industry: How to Reduce the Energy Bill?
Wednesday, October 1st from 9:00am - 12:00pm
Energy and Environmental Constraints Facing Road Transportation
Wednesday, September 10th 2008 from 9:00am -12:00pm
Copyright 2007-2008 Agrion.org
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Energy and Environmental Constraints Facing Road Transportation
Wednesday, September 10th 2008 from 9:00am -12:00pm
Cap21: Dominique Bied, In Charge of National Transportatation
Baker & McKenzie: Arnaud Cabanes, Public/Environment Law Associate
Renault Trucks: Gérard Rousseau, Foreign Relations Management
Pernod-Ricard: Frank Gaudet, European Logistics Projects Director
Transportation has Undergone Many Changes; this is a Key Issue in Current Affairs.
Mr. Bied, in charge of transportation for Cap21, wants to tackle a gigantic project: The building of the mobility industry. The world’s urban population will explode and will use more and more cars. Several solutions exist to alleviate this phenomenon, such as the mobility plans; STMicroelectronics Grenoble for example has divided in half the number of people going to work in cars. There is also the organization of a large scale commercial carpooling system with the objective of reducing suburban traffic by 4, thanks to maximizing the occupancy per vehicle. This system will allow occupying cars to capacity which will reduce traffic. Finally, we can talk about the home office which eliminates the journey from work to home.
Mr. Rousseau, in charge of Foreign Relations for Renault Trucks, emphasizes the current and future challenges for trucks. They must begin to master 3 areas: Safety, mobility and the environment, all while respecting the human factors. Great progress has already been made; the cleanest trucks are being driven in France, fuel consumption has been divided by 2 and they have significantly reduced the CO2 emissions as well as noise pollution. It is essential to develop energy alternatives and make them more profitable because taking into account their cost and congestion, for now they are not usable in actual businesses. Attitudes change but political willingness to develop this energy and to reduce their cost is missing, if this is decreased, transporters would be more inclined to switch.
Master Cabanes, lawyer for Baker & McKenzie reveals the current and future directives in the matter of taxes for road transporters. Taxes for the big carriers do not cease to increase and we will see the day where numerous proposals of supplemental fees for contaminant and sound pollution will be included in the price. The implementation of all these taxes has no advantages; it will probably provoke businesses into not filling up their trucks or into choosing smaller carriers in greater quantity. However a smaller or lighter truck consumes and pollutes as much as a full vehicle normally would. A new tax is also a new drain on the budgets of French businesses and if they have only enough capital to survive they will never be able to invest in energy alternatives. Businesses willing to make an effort should be encouraged financially and fiscally to continue.
Mr. Godet of Pernod Ricard gives the client’s point of view. In his opinion, we must optimize transportation in regards to the environment as soon as possible. The objectives are to reduce the wasted kilometers and to develop energy alternatives. Commerce is also trying to increase alternative water and rail networks, the cost is the same and yet CO2 reductions are at 40%, in as much as one barge on the water is equal to at least 100 trucks on the road. They estimate that for distances of over 600 km, the train is the least profitable. But it is very difficult to find good players, ready to commit to moving forward together, what’s more there is often no return profit. They must know how to take risks on both sides; the transporter and the client. The purpose of all these maneuvers is to join in a citizen’s movement; to secure freight, communicate between businesses and to protect themselves from a sharp rise in oil.
Transportation has undergone many changes in the course of the last few years: Reconciliation with businesses, operational costs which impacted the sector, environmental pressures… Transportation has become a key topic in current affairs.
Mr. Bied, in charge of Cap21 transportation, takes a look at transportation that is at once political, social and economical. We must tackle an enormous project: The building of a mobility industry. « Sustainable development is a development which allows satisfying the population’s needs while drawing minimally on natural resources ». Such is the new problem for the countries of the world; it is a much more operational explanation than the first (Official definition of Sustainable Development: A development which responds to the needs of the present day generation without compromising the capability of future generations to respond to their needs) but still poses constraints which we must overcome to succeed at the industrial level.
The perspective is presented: The global urbane population will explode; we foresee it reaching a minimum of 7866 million by 2050. However, the more a population urbanizes the more vehicles it uses, thus automobile transportation represents the second most important expense in a household and it feeds real estate speculation.
Therefore, we must have more than an improvement of engines and technologies. Only a technological upheaval coupled with NICT (New Information and Communication Technology) can change the situation.
Many Solutions Exist:
The Mobility Plans: The positive example of STMicroelectronics at Grenoble in 2000 shows more than convincing results 5 years later: The number of people using cars has been divided by two and replaced by bicycles and public transportation placed at the disposal of the workforce.
A mobility plan is an ambitious project for a company but can prove to be very profitable. We must proceed openly with a genuine study of the workforce, than analyze the already existing offer to finally adapt to demands. This technique is already commonly used in Europe.
The Organization of a Commercial Car-Pooling System: The objective will be to reduce by 4 the current traffic in middle suburbia thanks to a maximum rate of vehicle occupancy on a large scale. This system will work thanks to algorithms which could optimize the requirements of the offer; it would give users who are making the demand on specific criteria (dwelling location, destination, comfort…) a response to their mobility needs. Thanks to this system, cars would be used to maximum capacity which would considerably diminish traffic. This solution could create jobs in abundance in the automobile, service and computer industries.
The Development of Telecommuting: Thanks to the simplification of computers and the internet, working at home is easier and easier and more and more accepted by certain types of workers (housewives and the disabled). This system, on top of lessening road traffic, allows people with reduced mobility not to be set apart from working people. Even if a high percentage of the population is prepared to go to their workplace and to travel short distances on their bicycles if they had the means in terms of infrastructure and increased safety, all these efforts remain very marginal for true efficiency. The general mentality remains very individualized and refutes such a global change. We must go through a national obligation and communication.
Mr. Rousseau of Renault Trucks gives a company’s point of view and emphasizes the current and future challenges for trucks. The exchanges intensify, which presents a real challenge for the future.
We must succeed at mastering 3 areas head-on: Safety, mobility and the environment, all while respecting the human factor. Great progress has already been made; the principal pollutants such as carbon monoxide or particle emission have decreased by more than 85%, since 1990. Transporting is done with trucks which have integrated the changes of the Euro 3, Euro 4 and Euro 5 Directives. Therefore, these are the cleaner trucks that are being driven in France, the fuel consumption has been divided by 2 and they have significantly reduced the CO2 emissions and noise pollution.
We must combine everyone’s efforts in matters of research, alternative technologies, logistics, computers, transporters, and public authorities because in the end they will be deciding the ways to put this into place. Taking into account the unstable price of crude oil, it is imperative that we develop and render more profitable the energy alternatives, but for this we need to consider the technological and economical risks that this represents. Taking into account the cost and size, a great deal of non-pollutant energy is not usable in real businesses: One concrete example is from Renault Trucks which has compared the economic impact of two trucks; one running on diesel and the other on electricity. The observation is that electricity still has a long technological road to travel to equal diesel in terms of price and independence. Other more interesting solutions consist of mixing standard fuel and bio-fuels, the Renault trucks can hold up to 30% bio-fuels. Attempts are also being made at the hybrid technology level.
Meanwhile, even if working on energy alternatives is a very good thing, the possibilities are numerous and varied, we have to choose (LNG « liquefied natural gas » methanol, ethanol, hydrogen, biogas, bio-diesel…) for the researches to be really efficient. We cannot imagine pulling up to the pump with our car in a few years and having the choice of ten different clean fuels, besides it is unlikely that one Lambda station of tomorrow will be able to deliver all these fuels to consumers.
The mentality evolves: Airbus has promised that by 2010 its whole fleet will function on bio-fuels; Dassault and Bolloré developed Lithium Ion batteries on a large scale but one needs political goodwill to develop these energies and lower the price; if prices are lowered, transporters will be much more inclined to use them.
In conclusion, we must continue to invest in research, even if diesel still has good days ahead, we have to proceed in this direction so that one day we can achieve energy alternatives at once profitable, safe and of good commercial quality. We must take more risks and invest more capital.
Master Cabanes, lawyer for Baker & McKenzie, specializes in European problems and then reveals the current and future directives as well as the legislation in the matter of taxes on road transporters.
Cars and trucks account for ecological and sound pollution that we cannot ignore, meanwhile large carriers remain the most taxed at the tolls and license fees never stop increasing in terms of distance and the types of vehicle. Numerous supplemental tax projects are being looked at, but from now on we must add a fee for pollutants (CO2, noise, and traffic congestion…) in the cost of license fees.
The first example is the Alsatian experience where transporters had to pay a tax of .10 to .15 Euros per ton of freight and per kilometer traveled. This money which was collected solely on the highways of the region was redistributed to local communities on the route.
From now to 2011, the Grenelle project will also put into place a tax on transporters weighing more than 3.5 tons. This will only be in effect on standard highways but will also aim for highways that have not been taxed until now as well as some national and departmental and will cost transporters .10 to .12 Euros per kilometer traveled.
However, problems are anticipated: The application of this law may encourage businesses to; carry less in their trucks or to choose smaller carriers (- to 3.5t) but in larger numbers, or a lighter or less polluting vehicle as well as a full vehicle.
A problem also presents itself at the European level because few member countries have passed this law; it is therefore not compulsory everywhere which will cause numerous unbalanced legislatures.
Local communities are equally divided on the enforcement of this directive and have doubts about the benefits generated. In fact, the freeway networks generate 42 billion Euros per year; however 9 billion is reinvested in the freeway infrastructure.
What’s more an additional tax is another drain on the budgets of French companies who are the most taxed in Europe, the taxes are added to the price of fuel and many small businesses cannot withstand the lack of profits. If they only have enough capital to survive how can they engage in research in the area of renewable energy knowing the cost this represents without any substantial long term gain?
Instead of repeated surcharges, businesses making an effort should be encouraged financially and fiscally to continue. They should also take the profits collected from freeways to develop other networks like the rail and river systems.
Mr. Godet of Pernod Ricard finally conveys the client’s main point of view. His company is present in 70 cities and consequently needs to transport its merchandise. The company is growing and must therefore optimize as quickly as possible transportation in connection to the environment.
The goals for Pernod Ricard are to reduce wasted kilometers and to develop alternative energy. However, only a few transporters on certain lines respond to the invitations (France-Spain for example). We must from this moment on move forward on the environmental requirement level for the same reasons of; safety, quality, and transport speed.
The company develops alternative water and rail networks and creates new routes between the Champagne Region and the East Coast of the United States; the cost is the same and CO2 emissions are 40% less; one barge is 100 fewer trucks on the roads. Since April 2008, the train is used more and more for trips of over 600 km, but railroad commercial services have not really developed at the same pace, train professionals prefer to focus their priorities on the passengers rather than on merchandise. Rail traffic has however increased by 81% which demonstrates a genuine willingness to satisfy the needs of businesses.
.
Many more restraints exist: It is very difficult to find good players who are ready to commit themselves and to unite to advance together. Moreover, we need capital to test and organize the new means of transport, often with no profit in return. We must know how to take risks on the transporter’s side and on the client’s side. Other solutions are not applicable in a free market; such as the sharing of ideas between companies of the same sector. We can understand that competing companies do not wish to mingle amongst themselves. For now, few people are ready to commit, particularly with so little support being given.
The purpose of all these maneuvers is to enroll in a citizen’s movement, secure freight, communicate between businesses and finally to guard against the sharp increases of oil especially as there is a strong correlation between the decrease of CO2 and the drop in fuel consumption.
Cap21: Dominique Bied, In Charge of National Transportatation
Baker & McKenzie: Arnaud Cabanes, Public/Environment Law Associate
Renault Trucks: Gérard Rousseau, Foreign Relations Management
Pernod-Ricard: Frank Gaudet, European Logistics Projects Director
Transportation has Undergone Many Changes; this is a Key Issue in Current Affairs.
Mr. Bied, in charge of transportation for Cap21, wants to tackle a gigantic project: The building of the mobility industry. The world’s urban population will explode and will use more and more cars. Several solutions exist to alleviate this phenomenon, such as the mobility plans; STMicroelectronics Grenoble for example has divided in half the number of people going to work in cars. There is also the organization of a large scale commercial carpooling system with the objective of reducing suburban traffic by 4, thanks to maximizing the occupancy per vehicle. This system will allow occupying cars to capacity which will reduce traffic. Finally, we can talk about the home office which eliminates the journey from work to home.
Mr. Rousseau, in charge of Foreign Relations for Renault Trucks, emphasizes the current and future challenges for trucks. They must begin to master 3 areas: Safety, mobility and the environment, all while respecting the human factors. Great progress has already been made; the cleanest trucks are being driven in France, fuel consumption has been divided by 2 and they have significantly reduced the CO2 emissions as well as noise pollution. It is essential to develop energy alternatives and make them more profitable because taking into account their cost and congestion, for now they are not usable in actual businesses. Attitudes change but political willingness to develop this energy and to reduce their cost is missing, if this is decreased, transporters would be more inclined to switch.
Master Cabanes, lawyer for Baker & McKenzie reveals the current and future directives in the matter of taxes for road transporters. Taxes for the big carriers do not cease to increase and we will see the day where numerous proposals of supplemental fees for contaminant and sound pollution will be included in the price. The implementation of all these taxes has no advantages; it will probably provoke businesses into not filling up their trucks or into choosing smaller carriers in greater quantity. However a smaller or lighter truck consumes and pollutes as much as a full vehicle normally would. A new tax is also a new drain on the budgets of French businesses and if they have only enough capital to survive they will never be able to invest in energy alternatives. Businesses willing to make an effort should be encouraged financially and fiscally to continue.
Mr. Godet of Pernod Ricard gives the client’s point of view. In his opinion, we must optimize transportation in regards to the environment as soon as possible. The objectives are to reduce the wasted kilometers and to develop energy alternatives. Commerce is also trying to increase alternative water and rail networks, the cost is the same and yet CO2 reductions are at 40%, in as much as one barge on the water is equal to at least 100 trucks on the road. They estimate that for distances of over 600 km, the train is the least profitable. But it is very difficult to find good players, ready to commit to moving forward together, what’s more there is often no return profit. They must know how to take risks on both sides; the transporter and the client. The purpose of all these maneuvers is to join in a citizen’s movement; to secure freight, communicate between businesses and to protect themselves from a sharp rise in oil.
Transportation has undergone many changes in the course of the last few years: Reconciliation with businesses, operational costs which impacted the sector, environmental pressures… Transportation has become a key topic in current affairs.
Mr. Bied, in charge of Cap21 transportation, takes a look at transportation that is at once political, social and economical. We must tackle an enormous project: The building of a mobility industry. « Sustainable development is a development which allows satisfying the population’s needs while drawing minimally on natural resources ». Such is the new problem for the countries of the world; it is a much more operational explanation than the first (Official definition of Sustainable Development: A development which responds to the needs of the present day generation without compromising the capability of future generations to respond to their needs) but still poses constraints which we must overcome to succeed at the industrial level.
The perspective is presented: The global urbane population will explode; we foresee it reaching a minimum of 7866 million by 2050. However, the more a population urbanizes the more vehicles it uses, thus automobile transportation represents the second most important expense in a household and it feeds real estate speculation.
Therefore, we must have more than an improvement of engines and technologies. Only a technological upheaval coupled with NICT (New Information and Communication Technology) can change the situation.
Many Solutions Exist:
The Mobility Plans: The positive example of STMicroelectronics at Grenoble in 2000 shows more than convincing results 5 years later: The number of people using cars has been divided by two and replaced by bicycles and public transportation placed at the disposal of the workforce.
A mobility plan is an ambitious project for a company but can prove to be very profitable. We must proceed openly with a genuine study of the workforce, than analyze the already existing offer to finally adapt to demands. This technique is already commonly used in Europe.
The Organization of a Commercial Car-Pooling System: The objective will be to reduce by 4 the current traffic in middle suburbia thanks to a maximum rate of vehicle occupancy on a large scale. This system will work thanks to algorithms which could optimize the requirements of the offer; it would give users who are making the demand on specific criteria (dwelling location, destination, comfort…) a response to their mobility needs. Thanks to this system, cars would be used to maximum capacity which would considerably diminish traffic. This solution could create jobs in abundance in the automobile, service and computer industries.
The Development of Telecommuting: Thanks to the simplification of computers and the internet, working at home is easier and easier and more and more accepted by certain types of workers (housewives and the disabled). This system, on top of lessening road traffic, allows people with reduced mobility not to be set apart from working people. Even if a high percentage of the population is prepared to go to their workplace and to travel short distances on their bicycles if they had the means in terms of infrastructure and increased safety, all these efforts remain very marginal for true efficiency. The general mentality remains very individualized and refutes such a global change. We must go through a national obligation and communication.
Mr. Rousseau of Renault Trucks gives a company’s point of view and emphasizes the current and future challenges for trucks. The exchanges intensify, which presents a real challenge for the future.
We must succeed at mastering 3 areas head-on: Safety, mobility and the environment, all while respecting the human factor. Great progress has already been made; the principal pollutants such as carbon monoxide or particle emission have decreased by more than 85%, since 1990. Transporting is done with trucks which have integrated the changes of the Euro 3, Euro 4 and Euro 5 Directives. Therefore, these are the cleaner trucks that are being driven in France, the fuel consumption has been divided by 2 and they have significantly reduced the CO2 emissions and noise pollution.
We must combine everyone’s efforts in matters of research, alternative technologies, logistics, computers, transporters, and public authorities because in the end they will be deciding the ways to put this into place. Taking into account the unstable price of crude oil, it is imperative that we develop and render more profitable the energy alternatives, but for this we need to consider the technological and economical risks that this represents. Taking into account the cost and size, a great deal of non-pollutant energy is not usable in real businesses: One concrete example is from Renault Trucks which has compared the economic impact of two trucks; one running on diesel and the other on electricity. The observation is that electricity still has a long technological road to travel to equal diesel in terms of price and independence. Other more interesting solutions consist of mixing standard fuel and bio-fuels, the Renault trucks can hold up to 30% bio-fuels. Attempts are also being made at the hybrid technology level.
Meanwhile, even if working on energy alternatives is a very good thing, the possibilities are numerous and varied, we have to choose (LNG « liquefied natural gas » methanol, ethanol, hydrogen, biogas, bio-diesel…) for the researches to be really efficient. We cannot imagine pulling up to the pump with our car in a few years and having the choice of ten different clean fuels, besides it is unlikely that one Lambda station of tomorrow will be able to deliver all these fuels to consumers.
The mentality evolves: Airbus has promised that by 2010 its whole fleet will function on bio-fuels; Dassault and Bolloré developed Lithium Ion batteries on a large scale but one needs political goodwill to develop these energies and lower the price; if prices are lowered, transporters will be much more inclined to use them.
In conclusion, we must continue to invest in research, even if diesel still has good days ahead, we have to proceed in this direction so that one day we can achieve energy alternatives at once profitable, safe and of good commercial quality. We must take more risks and invest more capital.
Master Cabanes, lawyer for Baker & McKenzie, specializes in European problems and then reveals the current and future directives as well as the legislation in the matter of taxes on road transporters.
Cars and trucks account for ecological and sound pollution that we cannot ignore, meanwhile large carriers remain the most taxed at the tolls and license fees never stop increasing in terms of distance and the types of vehicle. Numerous supplemental tax projects are being looked at, but from now on we must add a fee for pollutants (CO2, noise, and traffic congestion…) in the cost of license fees.
The first example is the Alsatian experience where transporters had to pay a tax of .10 to .15 Euros per ton of freight and per kilometer traveled. This money which was collected solely on the highways of the region was redistributed to local communities on the route.
From now to 2011, the Grenelle project will also put into place a tax on transporters weighing more than 3.5 tons. This will only be in effect on standard highways but will also aim for highways that have not been taxed until now as well as some national and departmental and will cost transporters .10 to .12 Euros per kilometer traveled.
However, problems are anticipated: The application of this law may encourage businesses to; carry less in their trucks or to choose smaller carriers (- to 3.5t) but in larger numbers, or a lighter or less polluting vehicle as well as a full vehicle.
A problem also presents itself at the European level because few member countries have passed this law; it is therefore not compulsory everywhere which will cause numerous unbalanced legislatures.
Local communities are equally divided on the enforcement of this directive and have doubts about the benefits generated. In fact, the freeway networks generate 42 billion Euros per year; however 9 billion is reinvested in the freeway infrastructure.
What’s more an additional tax is another drain on the budgets of French companies who are the most taxed in Europe, the taxes are added to the price of fuel and many small businesses cannot withstand the lack of profits. If they only have enough capital to survive how can they engage in research in the area of renewable energy knowing the cost this represents without any substantial long term gain?
Instead of repeated surcharges, businesses making an effort should be encouraged financially and fiscally to continue. They should also take the profits collected from freeways to develop other networks like the rail and river systems.
Mr. Godet of Pernod Ricard finally conveys the client’s main point of view. His company is present in 70 cities and consequently needs to transport its merchandise. The company is growing and must therefore optimize as quickly as possible transportation in connection to the environment.
The goals for Pernod Ricard are to reduce wasted kilometers and to develop alternative energy. However, only a few transporters on certain lines respond to the invitations (France-Spain for example). We must from this moment on move forward on the environmental requirement level for the same reasons of; safety, quality, and transport speed.
The company develops alternative water and rail networks and creates new routes between the Champagne Region and the East Coast of the United States; the cost is the same and CO2 emissions are 40% less; one barge is 100 fewer trucks on the roads. Since April 2008, the train is used more and more for trips of over 600 km, but railroad commercial services have not really developed at the same pace, train professionals prefer to focus their priorities on the passengers rather than on merchandise. Rail traffic has however increased by 81% which demonstrates a genuine willingness to satisfy the needs of businesses.
.
Many more restraints exist: It is very difficult to find good players who are ready to commit themselves and to unite to advance together. Moreover, we need capital to test and organize the new means of transport, often with no profit in return. We must know how to take risks on the transporter’s side and on the client’s side. Other solutions are not applicable in a free market; such as the sharing of ideas between companies of the same sector. We can understand that competing companies do not wish to mingle amongst themselves. For now, few people are ready to commit, particularly with so little support being given.
The purpose of all these maneuvers is to enroll in a citizen’s movement, secure freight, communicate between businesses and finally to guard against the sharp increases of oil especially as there is a strong correlation between the decrease of CO2 and the drop in fuel consumption.