Cutting Transport Co2 Emissions What Progress

Reviews the progress OECD and ECMT countries have made in reducing transport sector CO2 emissions and makes recommendations for the focus of future policies.

Ce rapport passe en revue les progrès accomplis par les pays de l’OCDE et de la CEMT en matière de réduction des émissions de CO2 imputables au secteur des transports.

Reviews the progress OECD and ECMT countries have made in reducing transport sector CO2 emissions and makes recommendations for the focus of future policies.

The Committee's report examines the challenges involved in efforts to reduce carbon emissions from the UK transport sector and makes recommendations to improve future progress, as part of its overall priority for the current Parliament of focusing on climate change issues. Topics discussed include: the Government's strategic priorities; measures to reduce carbon emissions from road transport, trains, water freight and aviation; emissions from developing economies; the future price and availability of oil. The report finds that reducing carbon emissions from transport is particularly challenging, given its dependence on oil, with transport being the only sector of the UK economy in which carbon emissions were higher in 2004 than the baseline year of 1990, and projected emissions likely to be higher in 2020 than in 1990. Amongst the report's 66 conclusions and recommendations, the Committee raises concerns over the lack of consistency and accuracy in methods used by the Government to calculate emissions projections; and highlights the need for more decisive action to actively encourage modal shift towards lower carbon modes of transport (such as trains, buses and low carbon cars and lorries) and to discourage marginal car and plane journeys. It recommends the introduction of a national road-user charging scheme as soon as technically possible, and a new policy to enforce speed limits; and an increase in air passenger duty (APD) and taxes on domestic flights. The report also calls for better local rail services and the need to make rail fare and ticketing structures simpler and more transparent in order to encourage greater use of rail services; and the need for a public information campaign to raise awareness about the reality and dangers of climate change and a cross-party approach to the measures required to tackle it.

While intercity passenger transport counts for about 2% of the total passenger transport volume the share of the total passenger kilometers traveled is estimated more than one third. In many countries the major part of intercity transport is performed by car and air and as a result, the contribution to the carbon footprint is substantially higher than the share of overall passenger transport performance. This creates a challenge to develop a sustainable organization of intercity transport which requires a true joint effort of policy makers, industry sectors and households. This presupposes that all options for reducing the carbon footprint of the transport modes – car, air and rail – are fully exploited through modern propulsion technology, use of regenerative energy and efficient organization of transport processes. Basic conditions for meeting this requirement are an incentive compatible public framework of regulation, taxation, charging and education, the private willingness to adjust to new behavioral patterns and a consequent push of technological progress towards energy and CO2 savings. This book begins with an international comparison of intercity transport and the current state of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of this transport segment. A focus is given to comparing the situation in the EU, the US and Japan while describing the more recent development of intercity transport in China, followed by an analysis of intercity transport policies and their contribution to meet the global climate change issues. This book will be of interest to researchers in transportation economics and policy, as well as civil engineering and planning.

Sustainable mobility has long been sought after in cities around the world, particularly in industrialised countries, but also increasingly in the emerging cities in Asia. Progress however appears difficult to make as the private car, still largely fuelled by petrol or diesel, remains the mainstream mode of use. Transport is the key sector where carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions seem difficult to reduce. Transport, Climate Change and the City seeks to develop achievable and low transport CO2 emission futures in a range of international case studies, including in London, Oxfordshire, Delhi, Jinan and Auckland. The aim is that the scenarios as developed, and the consideration of implementation and governance issues, can help us plan for and achieve attractive future travel behaviours at the city level. The alternative is to continue with only incremental progress against CO2 reduction targets, to ‘sleepwalk’ into climate change difficulties, oil scarcity, a poor quality of life, and to continue with the high traffic casualty figures. The topic is thus critical, with transport viewed as central to the achievement of the sustainable city and reduced CO2 emissions.

The emission of greenhouse gases from shipping is a serious problem for international climate change policy and they cannot be allowed to grow uncontrolled. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has estimated that international shipping was responsible for annual emissions of around 843 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO2) in 2007, or around 3 per cent of total man-made carbon emissions. This report follows up an earlier inquiry (Reducing carbon emissions from transport, HC 981-I, 9th report of session 2005-06, ISBN 9780215030412)and examines what efforts the Government is making in three main respects: (a) negotiations to tackle shipping emissions at an international level (within the IMO, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the EU); (b) measures by which the UK is to take into account its share of international shipping emissions in domestic carbon budgets (through the Climate Change Act 2008); and (c) support in the UK for operational improvements and technological R&D aimed at reducing emissions from shipping. Very little progress has been made at the international level. A lack of urgency shown by industrialised nations and blocking actions by developing economies share the blame. The Government admits that the current calculation of the UK's share of international shipping emissions is an underestimate and should consult on how to improve the methodology it uses to calculate the UK's share of international shipping emissions. Government support for research and development should focus on technologies that can be retrofitted to existing ships, and offer a genuine alternative to fossil fuels, such as hydrogen fuel cells. There should be drastic acceleration of R&D into low- and zero-carbon propulsion systems.

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing global society. The debate over what to do is confounded by the uncertain relationship between increasing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, and the impact of those changes on nature and human civilization. Driving Climate Change will provide professionals and students alike with the latest information regarding greenhouse emissions while presenting the most up-to-date techniques for reducing these emissions. It will investigate three broad strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: 1) reducing motorized travel, 2) shifting to less energy intensive modes, and 3) changing fuel and propulsion technologies. Findings will be presented by the leaders in the field with contributions from professors, researchers, consultants and engineers at the most prominent institutions - commercial, academic and federal - dealing with environmental research and policy. Includes a comprehensive evaluation of current industrial practice Provides technologically sound and manageable techniques for engineers, scientists and designers Incorporates guidelines for a sustainable future