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An Integrated Environmental Indicator for Urban Transportation Systems: Description and Application

Author

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  • Maria La Gennusa

    (Dipartimento di Energia, ingegneria dell'Informazione e modelli Matematici (DEIM), Polytechnic School, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Patrizia Ferrante

    (Dipartimento di Energia, ingegneria dell'Informazione e modelli Matematici (DEIM), Polytechnic School, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Barbara Lo Casto

    (Dipartimento di Energia, ingegneria dell'Informazione e modelli Matematici (DEIM), Polytechnic School, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Gianfranco Rizzo

    (Dipartimento di Energia, ingegneria dell'Informazione e modelli Matematici (DEIM), Polytechnic School, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

A simplified version of the ecological footprint method is proposed for assessing the environmental performances of urban transportation systems. The method, starting from the knowledge of the composition of the running vehicular fleet, is here applied to a southern Italian province. It represents a synthetic indicator of the environmental pressure exerted by the system also matching the pollutant emissions with the carrying capacity of the site. Particularly, the forested area needed to absorb the CO 2 emissions of the system is compared with the total forested area of the province. The results of the case-study indicates the yearly maximum distance that each vehicle of the fleet can cover in order for their emissions to be absorbed by the surrounding forested area. Specifically, if all cars of the fleet would travel for 10,000 km/year, 97% of the forested area would be involved. Thanks to its features, this indicator can be usefully adopted for ranking different transportation options. Therefore, it could allow local administrations to environmentally hierarchize alternative plans concerning urban transportation choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria La Gennusa & Patrizia Ferrante & Barbara Lo Casto & Gianfranco Rizzo, 2015. "An Integrated Environmental Indicator for Urban Transportation Systems: Description and Application," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-19, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:8:y:2015:i:10:p:11076-11094:d:56787
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    References listed on IDEAS

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