Abstract

The reduction of air pollutants for the purpose of maintaining or improving air quality across the globe is a fundamental concern to which all modern governments are allocating varying amounts of attention and resources. The successful amelioration of air pollution requires strategic investments in the commercialization and adoption of “clean energy technologies” by both private and public entities, the conversion of contemporary houses to “smart houses”, the diffusion of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) including photovoltaic systems (PV), wind farms, and different forms of bioenergy, and the integration of electric-powered vehicles. In concert with these ideas, this paper aims to discuss the possibility of undertaking a feasibility study in two countries Canada and Italy concerning the integration of electric vehicles (EVs) and electric motorcycles (EMs). The proposed feasibility study would seek to assess the prospect of replacing the current vehicle fleets in these two countries with EVs in a manner that utilizes renewable energy sources and, thus, does not generate new toxic emissions. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that a pronounced introduction and distribution of RES, EVs, and EMs can operate as a great opportunity for both the environment and the capacities and needs of energy production. Today, the EV is not widespread. With this contribution, it is shown how EVs can be well integrated with renewable energy. Therefore, it is the duty of governments to implement policy strategies, in order to spread them across more territory.

Highlights

  • Air pollution is a major environmental risk to health

  • According to a study performed by the IEA, the emissions from coal power plants have substantively increased from 66% to 72% during the period 1990–2011

  • The high level of clean energy production in Canada indicates that emissions from power plants for electricity generation are a relatively small part of total emissions, accounting for only 12% in 2014

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Summary

Introduction

Air pollution is a major environmental risk to health. A substantial proportion of the world’s population live in cities [1,2], where exceedances of air quality standards occur [3,4,5,6]. Considering the above-mentioned concerns, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the possibility of undertaking a feasibility study concerning the potential impact of replacing the current vehicle fleet of Canada and Italy with electric vehicles Such a transition is possible given the existent production of renewable resources in Canada and Italy, in the form of photovoltaic systems (PV) and wind farms. The reason to consider the two countries is because the present work is part of a funded collaborative research project between Canada and Italy, aiming at development of user-friendly and cost-effective tools for assessing the impact of replacing current vehicle fleet with electric vehicles through the use of renewable energy sources. The results, in terms of potential reductions in CO2 emissions for both Canada and Italy, are addressed in the concluding remarks (Section 5)

Renewable Energy in Canada and Italy
Case Study and Discussion of Results
Findings
Conclusions
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