Page 321 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

294 Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

attempting to eliminate fossil fuels from the energy mix. There exists a clear
evolutionary path for vehicles, from gasoline, compressed natural gas and
diesel, through hybrid to electric and hydrogen-propelled. The latter have been
touted as future clean alternatives to combustion engines. Although they are
presently not commercially viable on a large scale, considerable progress has
been made on these technologies during the last decade. Many countries
are aiming at a fully electrified vehicle fleet by the end of the next decade.
For example, the market share of electric vehicles in Norway increased from
1.5% in 2011 to 23.3% in 2015, or about 36,000 vehicles (IEA, 2016). A
corresponding change from 0.0% to 1.0% was observed over the same period
in China, representing the introduction of about 215,000 electric vehicles
(IEA, 2016). In both cases, electric cars are backed by generous financial
incentives with a view of generating a viable market for zero-emission cars in
5 years, when the incentives will gradually phase out. As battery technologies
mature over the next decade, a gradual shift toward environment-friendly
vehicles will result in a progressive decline in fossil fuel imports. According
to a recent report by the United Nations Environment Programme, the cost of
batteries for electrical vehicles has dropped dramatically during the past
5 years, from USD 1000 in 2010 to USD 350 per kWh in 2015 (UNEP, 2016).
A package of accompanying measures should be deployed at an initial stage to
stimulate the uptake of electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Motorists
would benefit from financial incentives to cover the cost difference between
clean and conventional vehicles. In July 2016, electric cars have been exempt
from the costly excise duty imposed on vehicles in Mauritius. The strategy
should also include plans to provide adequate electric charging and hydrogen
fueling infrastructure to help develop a network of alternative vehicles
throughout Mauritius. Given the small geographic spread of the island, an
autonomy of 100e150 km range makes charging at home largely feasible.
Over time, as the land transport system is weaned off fossil fuels and becomes
electrified, the significance of electricity in energy system of Mauritius will
likely increase. Environmental goals make it imperative to decarbonize the
electricity infrastructure so that charging and refueling can be powered by
clean sources. Electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles,
have the added advantage of providing flexible electrical storage capacity.
Flexibility will be critical in future power systems as increased integration of
intermittent RE generation sources like wind and solar in the electricity grid
calls for additional resources to maintain the delicate balance between energy
supply and demand. Ongoing work is aimed at fully capturing the potential
synergies between variable generation and electric vehicles (NERC, 2010).

Bagasse Gasification

The use of biomass for electricity and heat generation in sugar mills has
considerably mitigated GHG emissions in Mauritius as the fuel is produced in