The new material is lighter than water and has a high stiffness . Within seconds a cube made from aluminum starts to inflate into the shape of a sponge under the impact of heat.

Italian and German researchers of the European Research Project MC-WAP have replaced the diesel engines with a propulsion system based on molten carbonate fuel cells.

Overloaded trucks may cause excessive damage to the road infrastructure and lead to road accidents. For this purpose, there are strict government regulations imposed regarding permissible loads on the truck and its distribution.

German highway engineers have set up a new system of cameras and sensors in the ground – to determine weight, speed and even state of the wheels and brakes.

The new composite material contains double the volume of glass fibres compared to common composites and thus is extremely stabile.

There are 5 582 000 kilometres of road network in the European Union that have to be kept up. A never ending task regarding the damages caused annually. Repairing potholes, car ruts and cracks disturbs the flow of traffic.

Extremely hot or cold periods are a serious problem to road surfaces: many cracks, potholes and car ruts are the consequence.

By comparing the weights of latest Volkswagen Golf VI with its predecessor Golf I, built in 1978, the scale shows the difference: Golf I weighs 880 kilograms, Golf VI lets the numbers on the scale rise to 1.

The European Union has set a standard that emissions may not exceed an average of 130 grams CO2 per kilometre. This corresponds to the consumption of approximately 4,5 litres of fuel per 100km.

A delivery van double-parking and blocking the road . This could be a scene of the past according to Werner Schönewolf, who is developing new delivery methods for parcel services.

Fuel cell vehicles (FCV’s) are already in use, but only for demonstration purposes, and a good infrastructure for hydrogen refuelling is not in place yet.

To reduce the vehicle impact on the environment many companies are introducing new technology. Fuel cells came into the spotlight last year when leading vehicle manufacturers said they expect to introduce a few hundred thousand fuel cell vehicles (FCV’s) to the market beginning in 2015.

The cars today - even in their basic configuration - are equipped with many features: air conditioning, electric windows and airbags for example. The price for improved comfort and safety on board has been an increase in weight.

The idea is that all vehicles and road infrastructure such as road signs, parking spaces or tolling stations will communicate with each other to create and share new kind of travel and traffic information.

Whether to go for a deluge system like the one which worked wonders for the emergency services during the 2007 Burnley Tunnel fire in Melbourne, Australia, or rather opt for a water mist model spraying small droplets of about 100 micron with a low terminal velocity and a high surface to volume ratio, several European countries are rethinking fire suppression mechanisms for their tunnels.

Worldwide gas prices continue to rise daily- as well as environmental and safety consciousness. Hydrogen as an energy carrier in fuel cells could now bring forward a solution to many of these problems.

These days, a walk with your loved one along the quiet alleyways of Naples’ old city centre will not induce any feelings of romance, that’s for sure. The smell is unbearable, and the view is simply unimaginable.

In Sweden, an industrial factory co-digests ley crops and organic household waste to create biogas fuel and helps in reducing dependency on fossil fuels for transportation.

In Lille, France, buses are running on biogas produced from organic waste. Twenty-eight research partners gathered together to exploit waste for transportation system in Lille (France), Göteborg and Stockholm (Sweden), Haarlem (The Netherlands) and Rome (Italy).