Smart Cities Software Crucial for COP27 Climate Agenda to Reduce Transpo Emissions

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More than 30,000 delegates from some 200 countries are participating in this year’s COP27. The international summit on climate change is being held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from November 6 to 18. World leaders, business entities, and climate scientists are deliberating on how to slow down the effects of climate change. The summit also aims to rally countries not to waiver in their commitments to the climate amid rising inflation and the war in Ukraine.

On the top of the COP27 agenda is to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists have set this target as the effective threshold to keep the impact of climate change from spinning out of control. Cutting greenhouse gases (GHG) is the main strategy for keeping the planet’s temperature within the prescribed limit. This is where the focus goes to the transportation sector.

Fastest Growing Source of GHG Worldwide

The transportation sector is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), transportation accounted for 37% of CO2 emissions from end‐use sectors in 2021. In the United States, transportation was also the top GHG source in 2020 at 27%. GHG emissions from transportation mainly come from the burning of fossil fuels for different modes of transportation like cars, ships, and planes.  Over 90% of the fuel used for these vehicles is petroleum-based (gasoline and diesel).

In a separate study, the IEA predicts the global demand for transport to rise. This, as the world population increases, incomes rise, and when more people can afford cars and flights. In particular, the study estimates car ownership to increase by 60% and demand for passenger and freight aviation to triple by 2070. As a result, transportation emissions would also increase.

Smart Cities Software Helps Cut Transpo Emissions

The same study provides insights into mitigating carbon emissions in the transportation sector. Technological innovations play a big role in this mission. The shift to lower-carbon energy sources and the availability of electric vehicles are some well-known options that could reduce emissions from passenger vehicles. However, these are not the only viable solutions that technology can offer.

Environmental software and IoT technology are already helping the agriculture sector achieve smart farming goals. Though not all transport industries can be decarbonized, businesses can rely on cloud-based solutions and smart devices to transform road networks into energy-efficient systems; thus helping cut carbon emissions.

Fuel-Saving Solutions

Local governments, private groups, and nonprofits have been implementing initiatives that integrate smart cities software and IoT devices to support the climate agenda. IoT trends indicate that such initiatives contribute to the smart cities market growth. As more urban environments adopt technologies for smart cities, analysts project the market to reach $6.06 trillion by 2030.

The adoption of smart cities software to better connect transportation networks can deliver fuel-saving solutions for road travel. An always-connected transportation network can improve traffic management by using real-time data generated from GPS and IoT sensors communicating with cloud-based software.

Also, machine learning algorithms can identify the shortest possible routes. Combining this information can help local traffic management agencies to redistribute transport flows away from busy areas, which is crucial for traffic jam prevention. Faster routes and less traffic could lead to reduced fuel consumption.

Shared Mobility Services

Another viable option to reduce carbon emissions in the transportation sector is using shared mobility services. These services cover ridesharing, bike sharing, shared micromobility, and on-demand microtransit.

This week, coinciding with the COP27 summit, The Action Network recently released its Shared Mobility 2030 Action Agenda. The network (consisting of over 50 public, private, and nonprofit organizations) aims to make shared mobility options more reliable, accessible, and sustainable than owning or driving a car.

Essential to the success of shared mobility services are the investments needed to build smart information systems. These include software-based infrastructure that can provide drivers and passengers with better-coordinated transportation networks. Apps can also be used to standardize carbon emissions measurement frameworks from shared mobility vehicles and services.

CEO of the Shared-Use Mobility Center, Benjamin de la Peña, said in a press statement, “global climate leaders continue to underestimate, underfund and undervalue shared mobility, which has the greatest potential to provide cleaner, more accessible, more equitable transportation options to more people than any other single clean transportation solution.”