Mobility
Mobility has become one of the key enablers of the Commission to fulfil its duties. With the digitalisation of our ways of working and the development of soft or green mobility, the Commission will reduce the environmental impact linked to travels whilst ensuring that it continues to reach out to stakeholders, international partners, and the public.
Reducing emissions from professional travel
Emissions are calculated using specific factors for the different modes of travel as shown in the figure below which highlights in particular the difference in emissions between different classes of air travel. It shows the importance of encouraging economy travel where flights are necessary to reduce emissions.
These factors take into account both combustion and upstream or Well to Tank (WTT) emissions - those associated with extracting the fuel and making it available for use.
Emissions factors for staff professional travel in 2023 gCO2e/passenger.km
Emissions from staff professional travel, tCO2e
Background
Data from staff missions has been extracted from a new dashboard developed by the Paymasters Office (PMO). This uses the information encoded in the Commission's management system for professional travel (MiPS). The new approach was used to calculate emissions back to 2019 and provides more accurate real-time output than data previously extracted from the MiPS green reporting tool.
Staff define the geographical parameters of their travel itineraries, identifying individual travel segments and the mode of travel for each. The conversion factors described above (and that are reviewed annually) are used to calculate the emissions based on the distance and mode of travel.
Greening Communication objective
A core component of the Commission's 2030 emissions reduction target is to reduce staff missions emissions by 50% from 2019 to 2024. To deliver this, 50 of 51 services pledged to reduce emissions. As shown in the figure below, 45 services reduced emissions between 2019 and 2023, of which13 met or exceeded the 2019-24 reduction target while a further 19 achieved between a 30% and 50% reduction.
Distribution of services' staff missions emissions reductions, 2019 - 2023
Other tools to assist reducing missions emissions include:
- A new Guide to Missions (under finalisation in 2024), allowing train travel in certain circumstances when more costly than flying
- Display of emissions by different transport modes on the missions booking tool to increase awareness of the environmental consequences of different travel choices.
A breakdown of modal data in MiPS is presented in the figure below. It is evident that:
- In 2020 emissions reduced to less than 20% of the 2019 value, reducing further to 16% of the 2019 value in 2021. However a rebound, already evident in 2022, continued in 2023 with emissions nearly 80% of the 2019 total.
- Air travel dominates emissions, in 'normal' times accounting for 90% or more of the total although in 2020 and 2021, the proportion of non-air travel was 22% and 33% respectively. In 2023, with the return to more "normal" times, air travel accounted for more than 95% of professional travel emissions.
- Air taxi (i.e, private charters) accounted for roughly 1% of professional travel emissions in 2019, but this increased to 19% in 2021 before reducing to 3% in 2023. The reduced availability of commercial services in 2020 and 2021 explains this trend.
Total professional travel emissions by mode (2019 - 2023), tCO2e
Emissions intensity by site
The figure below display the carbon intensity for the sites between 2019 and 2023, based on PMO dashboard data. It is evident that Luxembourg, and JRCs Geel, Seville and Karlsruhe have the lowest values (all below 200gCO2e/km) which is indicative of a greater proportion of surface travel and or predominantly economy class travel by air.
Grange has the highest value as many of its staff are inspectors who travel widely from Ireland, and consequently largely by air.
Carbon intensity is a useful measure that should reduce as staff fly less (or in economy rather than business class), or convert to surface travel, particularly rail. The Commission value increased during the COVID pandemic, with the increased used of private charters as commercial services were severely diminished, and has been reducing since.
Emissions intensity per site, gCO2e/passenger.km
Reducing emissions from experts' travel
In 2021 the Commission included emissions for expert travel (covered by the Commission's administrative budget) for the first time, and has extended the calculations back to 2019.
The calculations use a database describing an expert's country of origin with mode of travel assumed based on distance. In 2024 the Commission developed a more automated approach to calculate 2023 data.
A more systematic method to allocate meetings by site is under development, so currently all experts' travel emissions are allocated to Brussels. Emissions are summarised in the figure below which suggests that emissions in 2023 reduced by 66% compared to 2019.
Total experts' missions emissions (2019-2023) by mode, tCO2e
Greener commuting
Emissions from staff commuting are presented below. Values from 2019 onwards were updated and data collected from a staff survey conducted in 2022 used to evaluate emissions at several sites, that was re-evaluated with the 2023 population and presence data and the updated emission factors.
The calculations use a Commission wide average for the number of working days according to HR data that takes into account bank holidays, sick leave, annual leave, and other absences. Prior to 2019 not all sites reported commuting emissions.
Evolution of commuting emissions, tCO2e
The Greening communication requires that the following corporate actions be completed:
- Revision of the mobility policy (in progress) in relation to commuting
- Facilitation of charging electric or hybrid vehicles at some Commission car parks.
Actions implemented at the sites are as follows:
COBRACE (1) compliance works were carried out as part of the extension of different buildings’ environmental permits. Since 2017 the Commission has removed 3 558 parking spaces including 535 in 2023. Between 2021 and 2023, 1 410 bicycle parking spaces were created. The demand for electric bike chargers has risen substantially and OIB has steadily increased the number of chargers available. OIB has recently asked the electrical grid supplier for adequate development of charging capacity and established a working group.
Large capacity hubs for cyclists are already installed in 3 buildings, L130, BRE2 and L-41. A digital tool (Where2Park) developed to allocate parking space, and already available in 19 buildings (2). The mobility actions organised by OIB in 2023 enabled 341 colleagues to follow training Bike Repair or Safe Cycling.
(1) Code bruxellois de l'Air, du Climat et de la Maitrise de l'Energie
(2) L107, L-51, L130, BREY, BRE2, J-27, CSM1, SB34, B232, B-28, F101, J-70, L-15, MO15, J-54, J-99, L-41, MADO, ORBN.
In March 2020, when all public transport became free of charge in Luxembourg, OIL put in place a scheme to partially reimburse the public transport ticket for staff members living abroad (Germany, France or Belgium). In 2023, there were 197 requests reimbursed, an increase of more than 50% compared to 2022. In addition, the Commission continues to offer free subscription to Vel’OH!, the self-service bike rental system of Luxembourg City. In 2023, 158 new codes were attributed, representing an increase of 73% compared to 2022. A total of 887 staff members benefited from this measure since the beginning of the campaign on 2021.
Commission staff continues to benefit from the use of the Parliament's shuttle between Luxembourg and Brussels.
Most JRC sites are located in remote areas, which makes it more difficult for staff to use sustainable modes of transportation as the sites are often not well connected by public transport. The JRC nevertheless supports sustainable commuting by organising shuttle buses or offering service bikes/e-bikes and providing showers and bike parking infrastructures. Charging stations for electric vehicles and electric/hybrid service vehicles are also available on most of the JRC sites. The JRC also performs awareness-raising activities as a strong sense of responsibility on the part of all staff is essential to achieving the ambitious Commission's target.
In JRC Geel, the majority of the staff commute by car due to the remoteness of the site. The CO2e emissions for the commuting is estimated as previous years from a 2016 survey but considering the new way of working (teleworking regime). As an incentive to reduce on-site CO2e emissions charging stations for electrical vehicles are available for visitors and staff. Bicycles are also provided to facilitate movement between buildings. Moreover, commuting by bike was promoted (e.g., during the VeloMai initiative). However, staff residences are spread widely throughout Flanders and Wallonia. Teleworking may have reduced carpooling efficiency.
In JRC Ispra, commuting staff emissions are mostly related to the use of private cars (704 tCO2e in 2023). This value is related to a higher presence on site (45% in 2023 vs 42% in 2022). This is explained by the fact that the site is not connected to a widespread public transport system. The emissions deriving from the use of other means of transport are significantly lower (e.g., only 112.4 tCO2e for the use of JRC buses). In 2020, a JRC Ispra Transport Survey was carried out in the framework of the Living Labs. This was used to calculate the JRC Ispra commuting mode split. This revealed that the car is the most commonly used mode of transport (used by 76% of staff), followed by the bicycle (8%) and the JRC bus (6%). Ispra site management is committed to fostering more sustainable commuting, in particular looking into creating synergies with public transport. From June 2021, following an agreement with the local public transport agency TPL, the site has a terminal stop at the main entrance for two main public bus lines, connecting the site with the city of Varese and other regional transport hubs.
In JRC Karlsruhe, the CO2e footprint of staff commuting was estimated in 2016 with a survey conducted on site using a simple approach considering the main and potentially second modes of transport along with the distance to the workplace. The CO2e commuting footprint resulted in approximately 273 tonnes per year. In 2022, the Commission-wide mobility survey resulted in slightly higher values However, as this survey uses only data based on the first "main" mode of transport, these results should be looked at carefully.
In JRC Petten, the majority of staff reside in and around the next city, Alkmaar. JRC Petten organise three buses with different routes between Petten and Alkmaar and surroundings. One bus links Petten and Amsterdam. Furthermore, service bikes (together with showers) are provided, giving the staff the options to cycle within and beyond the site perimeter.
In JRC Seville, a mobility survey conducted in 2022 garnered responses from approximately 40% of the staff, with over 50% indicating that they commute by bicycle, walking, or public transport. The 2023 data are directly proportional to the number of staff, taking the aforementioned survey as a reference. The site is served by a comprehensive network of bike paths and several bus lines. Furthermore, staff have access to safe bike parking and shower facilities. Lastly, five electric vehicle chargers have been installed in the building, of which two are for exclusive use of JRC staff.
The rural location of our site and the poor public transport network make it difficult for staff to use sustainable modes of transport. An increase staff in purchasing EVs led to a feasibility study for installation of EV chargers in 2023. Unfortunately, due to technical and resource reasons it was not possible to launch the procurement procedure in 2023.
Developing a more sustainable vehicle fleet
The Commission sites have sought to rationalise their fleets, and in recent years the total number of vehicles has been below 300 as shown in the figure below. They also seek to use more vehicles with no (or lower) tailpipe emissions, and the proportion of the total vehicle fleet comprising hybrid or electrical vehicles has risen to 65% (Table Evolution of Commission vehicle fleet characteristics). The evolution in manufacturer tailpipe emissions is presented below.
The Commission's carbon footprint has included emissions for experts' travel since 2019. The calculations use a database describing an expert's country of origin with mode of travel assumed based on distance. The Commission developed a more automated approach to evaluating these emissions. The output is shown in a dashboard that is similar to that used for staff emissions.
Evolution of Commission vehicle fleet characteristics
Brussels has steadily increased the number of hybrid and electrical vehicles in the fleet, since 2019 it has increased to represent a majority of vehicles.
All Commission fleet cars in Luxembourg are being gradually replaced by less polluting leased cars, leading to a reduction in manufacturer emissions. In 2023, 4 full electric vehicles were added in the fleet replacing thermic or hybrid ones. Currently 65% of the fleet is either fully electric or hybrid.
Approximately half of the vehicles in use at the JRC (not only cars but also mini bus, vans, forklifts, etc.) are electric or hybrid electric vehicles. This number went up in the past years and progress is even more significant in terms of CO2e emissions linked to the use of JRC's vehicles fleet. In addition to greening its fleet, the JRC has also taken further steps towards greener mobility. For example, via the installation of charging stations for electric vehicles or the offer of alternatives to cars such as services bikes/e-bikes (see section case study).
In 2023, JRC Geel's vehicle fleet was unchanged from 2022. The total CO2e missions increased by 23% due to higher kilometres made by the inspections rounds from the security service, and to send the fire truck for repairs and maintenance.
JRC Ispra has a service vehicles fleet of 110 vehicles, which support site staff in their research and other technical and operational activities, providing mostly internal mobility. The fleet includes mobile laboratories, internal postal service, firefighting, ambulance and other work vehicles. In 2023, electric cars decreased by three units due to non-repairable faults while combustion vehicles increased by two units following the entry into operation of a new ambulance and a new fire engine in use by the JRC fire brigade ERSS.
33 recharging points for internal electric vehicles (EVs) have been installed with a monitoring system that allows the site to monitor the EV's electrical consumption (16.49 MWh in 2023 with a 7.8% increase with respect to 2022) and their indirect upstream CO2 emissions. In an effort to promote sustainable mobility, JRC Ispra has also upgraded its service bicycles policy, which comprises a dedicated on-site service which manages 159 service bicycles (of which 45 are electric).
JRC Karlsruhe has a fleet of 11 vehicles, five of which are primarily or exclusively used on the premises. Four electric cars became operational in since mid 2022. In 2023, the fleet emitted a combined CO2e output of 7.7 t, significantly lower than in 2022. This reduction can be mostly attributed to the two electric service cars mentioned above. The contribution of CO2e emissions from cars to the site's carbon footprint is very low (e.g., 0.2% in 2023 or 0.3% in 2022).
JRC Petten has four site service vehicles, which are used for internal goods transport, missions, taxi support to Schiphol and Petten. One of the service vehicles is an electric car. In addition, 40 service bicycles are available, which can be used within and outside the premises of the site.
JRC Seville no longer has a service car.
The graph above shows that there was a long term downward trend in vehicle fleet emissions, although in 2022 there was a slight rise, probably due to the regularisation of office activities after the COVID pandemic.