Abstract
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from motorised travel are hypothesised to be associated with individual, household, spatial and other environmental factors. Little robust evidence exists on who contributes most (and least) to travel CO2 and, in particular, the factors influencing commuting, business, shopping and social travel CO2. This paper examines whether and how demographic, socio-economic and other personal and environmental characteristics are associated with land-based passenger transport and associated CO2 emissions. Primary data were collected from 3474 adults using a newly developed survey instrument in the iConnect study in the UK. The participants reported their past-week travel activity and vehicle characteristics from which CO2 emissions were derived using an adapted travel emissions profiling method. Multivariable linear and logistic regression analyses were used to examine what characteristics predicted higher CO2 emissions. CO2 emissions from motorised travel were distributed highly unequally, with the top fifth of participants producing more than two fifth of emissions. Car travel dominated overall CO2 emissions, making up 90% of the total. The strongest independent predictors of CO2 emissions were owning at least one car, being in full-time employment and having a home-work distance of more than 10km. Income, education and tenure were also strong univariable predictors of CO2 emissions, but seemed to be further back on the causal pathway than having a car. Male gender, late-middle age, living in a rural area and having access to a bicycle also showed significant but weaker associations with emissions production. The findings may help inform the development of climate change mitigation policies for the transport sector. Targeting individuals and households with high car ownership, focussing on providing viable alternatives to commuting by car, and supporting planning and other policies that reduce commuting distances may provide an equitable and efficient approach to meeting carbon mitigation targets.
Highlights
The transport sector is a major source of unsustainable energy use currently contributing 20–25% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and with its global share projected to rise to 30–50% by 2050 [1]
Using primary cross-sectional data collected in a large population survey across three case study sites in the UK, this paper aims to explore how demographic and socio-economic position and other personal characteristics are associated with carbon emissions from motorised travel
This paper started by noting that there is little evidence from robust studies exploring the disaggregate distributions of CO2 emissions from land-based passenger travel and identifying the demographic, socio-economic and environmental predictors of those emissions
Summary
The transport sector is a major source of unsustainable energy use currently contributing 20–25% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and with its global share projected to rise to 30–50% by 2050 [1]. C. Brand et al / Applied Energy 104 (2013) 158–169 emissions [2].2. In the UK, total domestic CO2 emissions were 590 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO2) in 1990, of which 120 MtCO2 (20%) were from the transport sector [2]. By 2009, total CO2 emissions were 20% below this level at 474 MtCO2, but as domestic transport emissions stayed roughly constant its share rose to 26% by 2009. Cars and taxis accounted for more than half in 2009 (58%) at 70 MtCO2, or 15% of all UK domestic CO2 emissions
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