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A holistic analysis of passenger travel energy and greenhouse gas intensities

Author

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  • Andreas W. Schäfer

    (University College London)

  • Sonia Yeh

    (Chalmers University of Technology)

Abstract

Transportation is a major energy consumer and emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Exploring the opportunities for energy savings and GHG emissions reductions requires understanding transportation energy or GHG intensity, which is defined as energy use or GHG emissions per unit activity, here passenger-kilometres travelled. This aggregate indicator quantifies the amount of energy required or GHGs emitted to provide a generic transportation service. We show that the range of observed energy and GHG intensities of major transportation modes is remarkably similar and that occupancy explains about 70–90% of the variation around the mean; only the remaining 10–30% is explained by differences in trip distances and other factors such as technology and operating conditions. Whereas average occupancy levels differ vastly, they translate into roughly similar levels of energy and GHG intensity for nearly all major transportation modes.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas W. Schäfer & Sonia Yeh, 2020. "A holistic analysis of passenger travel energy and greenhouse gas intensities," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(6), pages 459-462, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:3:y:2020:i:6:d:10.1038_s41893-020-0514-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-020-0514-9
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    Cited by:

    1. Johannes Morfeldt & Daniel J. A. Johansson, 2022. "Impacts of shared mobility on vehicle lifetimes and on the carbon footprint of electric vehicles," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Song, Weize & Zhang, Xiaoling & An, Kangxin & Yang, Tao & Li, Heng & Wang, Can, 2021. "Quantifying the spillover elasticities of urban built environment configurations on the adjacent traffic CO2 emissions in mainland China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    3. Jiang, Mingkun & Qi, Lingfei & Yu, Ziyi & Wu, Dadi & Si, Pengfei & Li, Peiran & Wei, Wendong & Yu, Xinhai & Yan, Jinyue, 2021. "National level assessment of using existing airport infrastructures for photovoltaic deployment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    4. Bu, Chujie & Cui, Xueqin & Li, Ruiyao & Li, Jin & Zhang, Yaxin & Wang, Can & Cai, Wenjia, 2021. "Achieving net-zero emissions in China’s passenger transport sector through regionally tailored mitigation strategies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    5. Erhardt, Gregory D. & Hoque, Jawad Mahmud & Goyal, Vedant & Berrebi, Simon & Brakewood, Candace & Watkins, Kari E., 2022. "Why has public transit ridership declined in the United States?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 68-87.
    6. Xu, Jin-Hua & Guo, Jian-Feng & Peng, Binbin & Nie, Hongguang & Kemp, Rene, 2020. "Energy growth sources and future energy-saving potentials in passenger transportation sector in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    7. Ján Ďungel & Peter Zvolenský & Juraj Grenčík & Lukáš Leštinský & Ján Krivda, 2021. "Localization of Increased Noise at Operating Speed of a Passenger Wagon," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, January.
    8. Liao, Yuan, 2021. "Ride-sourcing compared to its public-transit alternative using big trip data," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    9. van der Zwaan, Bob & Lamboo, Sam & Dalla Longa, Francesco, 2021. "Timmermans’ dream: An electricity and hydrogen partnership between Europe and North Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    10. Ren, Lei & Zhou, Sheng & Peng, Tianduo & Ou, Xunmin, 2022. "Greenhouse gas life cycle analysis of China's fuel cell medium- and heavy-duty trucks under segmented usage scenarios and vehicle types," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    11. Lukas Lanz & Bessie Noll & Tobias S. Schmidt & Bjarne Steffen, 2022. "Comparing the levelized cost of electric vehicle charging options in Europe," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    12. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Cheng, Hao-Sen, 2021. "The impact mechanism of the ETS on CO2 emissions from the service sector: Evidence from Beijing and Shanghai," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).

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