Renewable Energy-Powered Traffic Signalization as a Step to Carbon-Neutral Cities (The Case of Western Balkans)

Abstract

Global warming and its negative effect on the environment pose a great threat to the future of mankind. In order to overcome these challenges, EU countries have set the target of becoming climate neutral by 2050, a path defined through the policies of the European Green Deal. The Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina also agreed upon the same goal through the endorsement of the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans. One of the means to achieve this goal is by increasing the share of renewable energy sources. In this paper, we analyze the feasibility, challenges, and potential issues of substituting conventional traffic light signalization with signalization based on renewable energy sources on a national scale. An ad hoc questionnaire was used to collect data from representatives of most of the municipalities in the Republic of Srpska entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina and representatives of the city of Novi Sad in Serbia. In the city of Novi Sad, personal interviews were also carried out to collect additional information. The results of this research show that the implementation of solar-powered traffic lights is economically and environmentally viable. These results will provide the basis for understanding the benefits and challenges in the case of the application of traffic light signalization based on renewable energy sources.