April 4th – April 8th
Lecturer in charge of the moduleProf. Bruno Dalla Chiara (Dept. DIATI, Transport systems, Politecnico di Torino) - BDC bruno.dallachiara@polito.it
Lecturer(s) contributing to the module
• Prof. Marco Diana, Ph.D., Transport planning (Dept. DIATI, Transport systems, Politecnico di Torino) - MD
• Prof. Francesco Deflorio, Ph.D, Traffic engineering and transport networks (Dept. DIATI, Transport systems, Politecnico di Torino) - FD
• Dr. Claudia Caballini, Ph.D. Freight transport and Logistics, M.Sc. Ind. Eng. (Dept. DIATI, Transport systems, Politecnico di Torino) - CC
• Dr. Miriam Pirra, Ph.D. Data analysis for transport systems, M.Sc. Math. Eng. (Dept. DIATI, Transport systems, Politecnico di Torino) - CC
Deadline for the single course enrolment: March, 30th
Module Learning Objectives and Skill Acquisition
This module consists of three parts. The 1st part deals with basic concepts of transport sustainability, in terms of planning, operations and technologies, with reference to:
• Energy consumption of each transport mode, energy carriers for vehicles, ships and aircrafts, new powertrains as well as mitigation aspects in climate change;
• Transport planning, with reference to mode choice in favor of less polluting mobility and transport;
• Transport networks, in terms of adaptation in presence of anomalous events as well as mitigation, in terms of control of traffic flows when disruptions occur.
A particular attention is devoted to the energy consumption of rail transport (transport mode of the year 2021 by European Commission, within the main goals of the Green Deal), besides that associated to road and air modes, given the current implicit independence of transport systems operated on fixed electrified guideways from oil-derived fuels.
The application of optimization techniquesrepresents a key point for improving the sustainability of transport chains, which may bring to massive mitigations, besides traffic reductions.
The 2nd part deals with transport globalization and related environmental issues: global transport and logistics, shipping and containerization. Given high volumes of handled freight, both at international level and at local scale when cargoes of ships are reversed on roads and rails, the impact on traffic, energy consumption and consequent emissions is utmost when we deal with optimization of shipments.
The 3rd part allows the attendants to apply to practical cases:
• by using data collected directly on board through a CAN device named OBD scanner, applied on automobiles during the module;
• by optimizing transport and shipments through a software package, named Lindo.
Detailed Teaching Agenda
Part I: Sustainable transport systems, transport planning and transport network modelling
| Lecture topic | Lecturer | Hours |
Sustainable transport systems: energy used as a whole, for each transport mode, within each transport mode and the consequent environmental aspects, both at local level and global one (GHG). Energy carriers (electric batteries, fuel cells, etc.) for transport, evolution of powertrain technologies and fuels for road vehicles. Various modes and related impact; use of energy in each transport mode. Possible practical applications for mitigation: driving cycles, powertrains and use of vehicles including their sharing, modal choice and hierarchic approach (including HSL and micro-mobility), network equilibrium, optimisation techniques in mobility and logistics [mitigation]. | BCD | 4 |
Transport planning activities are more and more focused in mitigating the impacts of passenger transport systems, with special focus on urban areas where most traffic flows are concentrated. The contribution will review related techniques mainly at the European level, focusing on the recent release of the second edition of the guidelines for developing and implementing a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) and providing practical examples of best practices in different cities where important results have been achieved; a specific attention to modal choice and sharing mobility will be devoted [mitigation]. | MD | 4 |
Transport network modelling: simulation of network performance (nodes, links and routes) in relation to capacity reduction and transport services interruptions (resilience and vulnerability of the road network); traffic flow estimation on road networks and effects on CO2 emissions [adaptation and mitigation] | FD | 2 |
The use of mathematical optimization as a mitigation strategy, with applications (exercises): - Introduction to optimization techniques
- Numerical examples by using Excel/Lingo software for pursuing a reduction in CO2 emissions.
The level of filling up and loading of vehicles, as well as the number and size of related operations, is much influenced by the variable “time”, both in case of advanced planning and real-time management. A Practical application with attendants [mitigation]. | CC | 2.5 |
Part II: The climate change in the land based transport modes and in shipping sector: impacts and mitigation strategies
| Lecture topic | Lecturer | Hours |
Energy Consumption and consequent emissions in rail transport and air transport: their impact on the energy network, evolutions related to HSL, optimisation techniques, rail operation and planning [mitigation]. | BDC | 1 |
| Trends on powertrains and energy carries for road transport | BDC | 1 |
Introduction to the shipping sector: - Macro-economic and transportation trends
- The naval gigantism: motivations and effects [mitigation].
| CC | 1 |
| The impacts of climate change (high wind, precipitation and fog, low and high temperature, storm and storm surges, sea level rise) on shipping and related mitigations strategies [adaptation and mitigation] | CC | 1.5 |
The impacts of shipping (environmental pollution, greenhouse gas emissions,..) on climate change and related intervention strategies: - Adaptation
- Mitigation:
- Shipping companies actions
- Ports actions
- Hinterland actions
- Policymakers and regulators actions [adaptation and mitigation].
| CC | 1.5 |
Part III: Applications
| Lecture topic | Lecturer | Hours |
| Collection and analysis of data obtained directly on board during a short travel by automobile, through an OBD scanner collecting data from the on board CAN, applied during the module. | MP | 2 |
| The use of mathematical optimization as a mitigation strategy, with applications (exercises), numerical analyses by using Excel/Lingo software for pursuing a reduction in CO2 emissions. Practical applications with attendants [mitigation]. | CC | 3 / 3.5 |
| Sustainable transport and calculation of emissions, using the GLEC methodology; The GLEC Framework for Logistics Emissions Methodologies combines existing methods for comparing GHG into one framework. It enables a company to understand its carbon footprint alongside cost and time to decide the best way to transport its goods. | Xavier Lluch Oms | 2 |
Involved stakeholders
A number of relationship with the territory, administrative bodies and companies will be mentioned and used as practical examples at the occasion.
Assessment and grading
A multiple choice test, lasting 20-25’, dealing with almost all subjects of the module, at a very general level, i.e. the level of knowledge that an expert in Clime change is expected to know dealing with moderns and sustainable transport system, also in order to be able to assign a personal mark to each mature attendants, as requested by the Master.
ECTS: 2
Hours of lecture: 25