The current necessity of social distancing is re-shaping urban transport. In several cities the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is already evident. Like the 'bike revolution' started in the Netherlands after an economic and social crisis in the Seventies, the pandemic may be a fly-wheel for sustainable mobility in many polluted urban areas

Despite the lockdown and decreasing car sales, electric vehicles are on the increase. Europe doesn’t want to miss the moment and is boosting the research on technologies that can make electric mobility more efficient such as new lithium-ion batteries

Spanish innovator Ana Maiques has developed a wireless device to treat brain diseases at patients’ homes. Her research has had a considerable boost during the Covid-19 emergency

Researchers have used planes and drones equipped with multispectral and infrared cameras to detect water losses in pipes in rural areas. The data has been analysed through a pioneering method combining the measure of the temperature of the surface and the vegetation cover fraction

In 2020 Spain declared a national climate emergency. As mobility plays a big role in producing greenhouse gas emissions, Madrid and Barcelona are testing blockchain technology in transport services, while Valencia is studying innovative solar-powered e-ink displays in multimodal hubs

If computers transmitted data using photons instead of electrons, they would perform better and devour less power. European researchers are now studying a new light-emitting alloy of silicon and germanium to obtain photonic chips, which can revolutionise computing

Lowering consumption is not as simple as introducing a new gadget. Besides implementing innovative technologies, it is necessary to stimulate an end-user behavioural change. And cognitive sciences can support energy conservation attitudes

The Covid-19 emergency is trialling our technologies, infrastructure and laws. In this context the EU has released a common toolbox for contact tracing apps to support gradual lifting of confinement measures. From the frantic race against time to fight off the coronavirus, we will inherit scientific and technological knowledge that could make our cities smarter and better equipped to face such global crisis in the future

The coronavirus emergency won’t affect the timeline of the EU’s Green Deal. This is despite some fossil-fuel-reliant countries asking the Commission to put its flagship policy on hold, even if they stand to benefit most from the Deal's Just Transition Fund