• Measures: Colau will stop using the plane on journeys of less than 1,000 kilometers
  • Flights: Colau wants to end the airlift with Madrid to fight pollution

Barcelona is declared today in a climate emergency. Ada Colau's team has the announcement of measures with which it boasts of exemplarity in the face of pollution; the most striking, that the mayor, the councilors of the government and the staff of the City Council do not fly to travel less than 1,000 kilometers provided there is a railroad journey of less than seven hours, with the sole exception of an unforeseeable unforeseen event. The destinations include the main Spanish cities and, also, Paris , linked to the Catalan capital by high speed. The municipal executive admits that it is usual to prioritize the train on short trips.

Waiting to verify the effect of traffic restrictions, the Consistory involves the decree with appeals to the Government and the Generalitat so that they follow the trail of traffic limitations and stop the polluting load attributed to the port and the airport of Barcelona . Among other requests, it urges the Generalitat to tax nitrogen oxides emissions from large ships with a tax that the Catalan climate change law provided for 2019, but has not yet been established. In turn, he complains to the central executive that he advocates abolishing kerosene exemptions that airplanes use as fuel, a decision that depends on the European Union.

The Colau government is in favor of fewer vessels stopping at the port . To do this, brand ideas already programmed, such as deploying an emission control area throughout the Mediterranean , which will evaluate the sulfur dispersion of the ships by 2024, and decrease the cruise terminals from nine to seven, agreed in 2018 and what it is visible for the next few years, as the concessions that exploit companies run out.

"If no ship entered, there would be no pollution, just as there would be no city in the city of not entering cars, but it is not about that," says the chief of the port's environment, Jordi Vila . "It is about making compatible the port activity next to Barcelona, ​​which favors the commerce and the industrial and economic activity of the city and Catalonia. It does not happen to reduce the number of ships, but that they are as clean as possible and that it is achieved as soon as possible ", he wields.

The port generates 1.7% of Catalan GDP and, according to 2013 data, is responsible for 7.6% of the disseminated nitrogen dioxide in the city. In recent years, it detects a slight increase in pollution. "The fleets are increasingly new and the emissions are lower, however good they have increased with increasing scales," explains Vila. Passengers circulating through the port have risen from 3.95 million in 2016 to more than 4.47 million in 2019, including 3.05 million cruise passengers.

Measurements

To promote clean fuels, the port increases the rate of stay per stay set by 50% to 80% to ships that use them, such as natural gas. "There are few, only 175 on a world fleet of 50,000 ships, but more than 30% of ferries and cruises are expected to be propelled with natural gas in 2030," says Vila. The port dedicates 60 million to electrify the most active docks in eight years, which should allow vessels adapted to feed off the power grid to shut down the engines while docking. "It is a forceful action, it removes emissions from the ship. In the future, fuels without emissions will be used, but it may not be extended to all ships for 50 years," said the head, who estimates that "in two or three years "start to have power supply.

The port is marked to contract the level of pollution by half in 2030, although Vila notes that the capacities are "limited to reduce emissions" of ships. "The most important are maneuvers and the stay of ships. We have to work in time to push shipping companies to reduce emissions and decarbonize maritime transport. There is a lack of public support at European level and regulations that make it possible. The actions of improvements in the maritime sector are slower because the life of a ship is 25 to 35 years, when that of a utility or a light van is 8 to 12 years, "he compares.

For its part, the airport tracks pollution with four measuring stations. Aena presumes that El Prat was a pioneer in obtaining the certification of its environmental management system in Spain. In addition, he announces that in 2026 solar panels will be installed at airports to generate electricity.

However, the City Council demands a plan that reduces emissions at the aerodrome. Colau will propose to Aena to study eliminating short flights with a rail alternative, which would mean abolishing the airlift with Madrid. He also wants to review the environmental impact studies and the Airport Master Plan, which includes expansion works. Its PSC partners are reluctant to complete regular lines and reverse planned growth in infrastructure.

The mayor of El Prat , Lluís Mijoler (from En Comú Podem, like Colau), is against expanding the airport at the expense of rest and health of the neighbors. In a letter to Aena, the mayor claims that the facilities "cannot be expanded more" and that the flight operation must be adapted to minimize the acoustic and environmental impact. Mijoler raises infrastructure limits such as El Prat to "defend the general interest". In his opinion, it is the only way for the airport to contribute sustainably to the economic and social development of the Barcelona area in the face of the climatic emergency. The mayor is committed to guaranteeing an "efficient country" airport system, connecting, for example, El Prat with Girona airport .

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  • Barcelona
  • Ada Colau
  • Paris
  • European Union
  • PSC
  • GDP
  • Madrid
  • Spain
  • In Comú Podem
  • Catalonia

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