This week the Italian capital city is playing host to H2Roma, the first Scientific Workshop with the Press born in 2002, and for this eighth edition the Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Fiat Professional brands are all playing a key role. The event was inspired by researchers from the University of Rome, "La Sapienza", the CNR and the ENEA. The aim: to promote a new energy culture and communicate with an increasingly vast public, not only with those employed in the industry, notifying them of today’s most advanced solutions and those of the future in order to reduce the impact of the car on the environment.

Fiat Group Automobiles, whose priorities have always included respecting the environment, is taking part in the event in Rome this week. Fiat is involved in the scientific workshop which takes place today (4th November) on the subject of The car is changing: but who will come out on top? with Daniele Chiari, senior Vice President, in charge of Product Portfolio Planning & Institutional Relations for Fiat Group Automobiles who said: "Commitment to the environment has always been one of Fiat's main objectives. It is for this reason that I was happy to accept the invitation to take part in this important event with a view to confirming our commitment to the environment and our desire to maintain the leadership of Fiat Group Automobiles in Europe for the lowest average CO2 emissions, already confirmed for the third year in succession in the first half of 2009."

This solid commitment has been demonstrated through the range of products already on the market, research and development plans and investment in new products. In addition, through its participation in "H2Roma", Fiat Group Automobiles is confirming the importance of an integrated approach to sustainable mobility in which the role of the customer and institutions is recognised.

It was precisely with the customer in mind that Fiat launched eco:Drive, the innovative software that, through Blue&Me, allows drivers to analyse their driving style and get useful advice for reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Thanks to the direct involvement of drivers about 25,700 customers have managed, in a year, to bring about a reduction, through eco:Drive, of more than 2,150 tons of CO2 emissions for their vehicles.

As far as motor technology is concerned, Daniele Chiari confirmed that Fiat's approach to sustainable mobility is founded on a portfolio of solutions based on both the improvement of the efficiency of conventional engines and on alternative fuels and technology and depending on market requirements and the availability of fuels and infrastructures. But research in this field never stands still. Since the launch of Common Rail in the nineties, a real revolution for diesel engines, the group has never stopped looking for more advanced solutions. This is how MultiAir has come about, the innovative system from Fiat Powertrain Technologies that, through the electronic management of the valves for controlling air and combustion, has allowed a reduction of 10% in consumption combined with an improvement in performance in terms of power and torque at low speed.

As far as alternative fuels are concerned, Fiat has strengthened its leadership in the field of eco-friendly vehicles running on methane through the recent launch of the Qubo Natural Power and the Fiorino Metano. This leadership position has been reinforced for more than 10 years, based on the conviction that methane is the most eco-friendly fuel currently available, the only real alternative to petroleum that can be exploited immediately.

As far as the Natural Power range is concerned, Fiat has, since the beginning of the year, been offering vehicles running on LPG, confirming their desire to give the market a wide choice of eco-friendly vehicles that includes the Lancia ECOCHIC line and the new Alfa Romeo MiTo LPG Turbo. Not forgetting that in Brazil, whose embassy is hosting the H2 Roma workshop, Fiat has reached a leadership position with an entire range of vehicles equipped with Flexfuel technology that allows the use of variable mixtures of petrol and bioethanol. A key factor in the development of this technology has been the extensive bioethanol distribution network in Brazil, encouraged over the years by the socio-political situation and the availability of the raw materials.

The attention of the entire Fiat Group has been drawn to sustainable mobility as part of a strategic commitment, acknowledged by the recent admission by Fiat S.p.A. to the Dow Jones Sustainability (DJSI) World and Dow Jones Sustainability STOXX indices with a rating of 90/100 compared with an average of 72/100 for companies in the sector analysed by SAM, a company that specialises in sustainable asset management. This is an important recognition that rewards the corporate desire for sustainability that pervades every process, at every level and in every sector of activity.

Fiat Group Automobile's involvement comes to an end with an invitation to the institutions to follow the shared goal of increasingly sustainable mobility in the framework of an integrated approach that sees everyone involved: the industry through research, development and marketing of increasingly innovative and accessible solutions; the institutions playing an important role in co-ordinating and supporting the development of technology with a low environmental impact; and, finally, the customer who, through their choices and behaviour can make a vital contribution to mobility that is truly sustainable.

Lastly, at H2Roma - in the piazza of the Palazzo della Cancelleria - the Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia and Fiat Professional brands will be displaying several cars and commercial vehicles, offering the public the opportunity of seeing the eco-friendly solutions that are already in use close up and first hand: Fiat Punto Evo Natural Power, Fiat Panda Panda Cross, Alfa Romeo MiTo 1.4 “MultiAir”, Fiat Fiorino Metano, Fiat Doblò Cargo Natural Power, Lancia Musa ECOCHIC and Lancia Ypsilon ECOCHIC. FPT - Fiat Powertrain Technologies exposes the first motor produced with the technology Multiair, the T-jet 1.4 Multiair petrol, for Alfa Romeo MiTo and Fiat Punto Evo.