A noise that distracts us from our ability to reflect on what is important to us, on what we really want, and which channels us – zombie-like – through our daily lives and routines. It’s a noise that contrasts with the silence of the electric bus – the other protagonist of the story – whose quietness allows riders to experience and appreciate the city in a more sustainable manner. Thanks to the total lack of noise generated by the electric bus, the young woman and other passengers have the necessary peace of mind to reflect on the important things in their lives: their friends, their freedom, the people they call ‘home’. The ride becomes a journey through life, not just to a specific destination.
The short feature – directed by promising Italian talent Sami Schinaia – discreetly tosses in a few examples of how electrification can improve our daily lives: a solar-powered bus stop bench recharges mobile phones; an electric bus that cuts climate altering emissions (while providing a peaceful respite from city noises). Both these features highlight the advantages of electrification, one of the key enablers of efforts to combat climate change and promote the energy transition.
“Così Fa il Silenzio” will be aired at other festivals, also, starting with the Giffoni Film Festival in July and the Venice Film Festival in September. During each event, Enel X will hold masterclass, workshops and mentorships designed to teach Zoomers about the benefits of electrification Giffoni plans to distribute the short film in 42 countries around the world, including the USA and Spain. Starting October, the film will also be available on the WeShort streaming platform.
Gen Z: the importance of the education for sustainable development
Future of sustainability: cities and projects
A trend which is expected to more than double by 2050, at which point some 70% of the global population will live in urban centers.
Future sustainable development of cities increasingly requires they adopt a circular economy model and move further on their energy transition journey towards full electrification.
But which are the world’s most sustainable cities and what key sustainable development characteristics do they share? According to the Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index, in 2022 the path to sustainable urban development was seen to be based on three pillars: the Planet Pillar, the People Pillar and the Profit Pillar.
The Planet Pillar captures environmental factors like energy usage and emissions and takes into consideration elements that affect urban quality of life like:
Air pollution
Waste management
The People Pillar concerns factors that affect personal well-being like:
Education
Health
Work-life balance
Reliability of public transport
The Profit Pillar, instead, focuses on business and economic issues:
Affordability of housing
Ease of doing business in a city
Business infrastructure (like access to reliable electricity and the internet)
Enel X and the electrification of transportation
Urban mobility accounts for 40% of all CO₂ emissions generated by the road transport sector. Cars and buses emitting pollutants crowd our cities, making the air at times literally dangerous to breathe and the noise at times truly unbearable.
Much like the young woman protagonist of “Così Fa il Silenzio” – the short film presented by Enel X at Verde Giffoni – who complains about all the noise that people make, our cities could benefit from a serious recalibration of urban mobility models in favor of quieter, cleaner and more efficient ways to get around. And in terms of the future of sustainable transportation, Enel X is taking a leading role, thanks to our public electric transport solutions, one of our many sustainable future ideas.
We’re not talking just about electrification of buses; with our e-Bus as a service model, Enel X offers public administrations a turnkey solution for electric public mobility that’s light on public finances and the environment and heavy on convenience for users. Among other features, by choosing our offer, public administrations and public transport operators can count on a solution that is:
modular and tailor made - every project is custom developed based on the specific needs of each case;
turnkey - each electrification project is comprehensive and managed by a one-stop-shop partner;
transparent - no upfront investments are requested from the customer, only a monthly subscription fee based on kilometers driven.