CO2eq Emissions Research Articles

Single-use vs. reusable packaging in e-commerce: comparing carbon footprints and identifying break-even points

The market share of online retail has continued to grow over the past few years, most recently accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Individual shipments give rise to additional shipping packaging. Our carbon footprint comparison shows that reusable packaging is environmentally advantageous if it is reused often enough. To achieve this, however, political and economic incentives seem necessary.In Germany, the revenue of e-commerce amounted to over 68 billion euros in 2018 with over two billion shipments being delivered. Up to 30 percent of online retail’s carbon footprint comes from the use of shipping packaging. Reusable packaging could make a significant contribution to resource savings and waste avoidance. Few valid findings exist as to the environmental performance of reusable packaging systems in online retail. It is also difficult to ascertain which factors influence these results most (such as material, weight, number of cycles). Against this backdrop, we examined two types of reusable shipping packaging in terms of their CO2eq emissions: a reusable PP box and a reusable shipping bag. Both were then compared with single-use alter - natives. Compared to a single-use LDPE bag, the reusable shipping bag offered an environmental advantage after a few cycles, with the absolute carbon footprint of both bags depending on whether recycled material was used. For the reusable PP box, the break-even point was between 32 and 81 cycles, depending on which assumptions were made. For a broader application of reusable shipping packaging, further challenges arise, such as the cost-efficient design of return logistics or the optimization of the packaging design.

Co-benefits of Energy-Efficient Air Conditioners in the Residential Building Sector of China.

Electricity demand for room air conditioners (ACs) has been growing significantly in China in response to rapid economic development and mounting impacts of climate change. In this study, we use the bottom-up model approach to predict the penetration rate of room ACs in the residential building sector of China at the provincial level, with the consideration of the urban-rural heterogeneity. In addition, we assess co-benefits associated with enhanced energy efficiency improvement of AC systems and the adoption of low-global-warming-potential (low-GWP) refrigerants in AC systems. The results indicate that the stock of room ACs in China grows from 568 million units in 2015 to 997 million units in 2030 and 1.1 billion units in 2050. The annual electricity saving from switching to more efficient ACs using low-GWP refrigerants is estimated at almost 1000 TWh in 2050 when taking account of the full technical energy efficiency potential. This is equivalent to approximately 4% of the expected total energy consumption in the Chinese building sector in 2050 or the avoidance of 284 new coal-fired power plants of 500 MW each. The cumulative CO2eq mitigation associated with both the electricity savings and the substitution of high-GWP refrigerants makes up 2.6% of total business-as-usual CO2eq emissions in China over the period 2020 to 2050. The transition toward the uptake of low-GWP refrigerants is as vital as the energy efficiency improvement of new room ACs, which can help and accelerate the ultimate goal of building a low-carbon society in China.

An analysis of renewable electricity generation potential from municipal solid waste: a case study (Khuzestan Province, Iran)

A consequence of urbanization and rapid economic development is a huge quantity of municipal solid waste (MSW), which could be considered as a promising source for renewable electricity generation. This study was aimed to assess the renewable electricity generation potential in Khuzestan Province from MSW through anaerobic digestion (AD) and gasification technologies. The results showed that Khuzestan Province has the potential to generate approximately 17,678 GW of MSW-based bio-power annually. As a result, in addition to earning about 167 thousand USD, around 6.7 thousand tons of CO2eq emission could also be avoided. Also, the GIS-based Fuzzy-AHP method was applied to select the most suitable location to construct MSW power plants. Approximately, 30% of the province’s area is suitable to construct such bio-power plants. The findings provide basic scientific evidence for the government to draw a roadmap toward reducing GHG emissions by converting MSW to renewable electricity in Khuzestan Province.

Environmental efficiency assessment of the U.S. pulp and paper industry using an SBM-DEA model

The pulp and paper industry contributes to the economic development of the U.S., producing goods that meet primary needs. However, this sector must operate in a balance with the environment to ensure ecological preservation. Proposing a non-radial slacks-based measure – data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) approach, this study assessed the environmental efficiency of the pulp and paper industry in the U.S. from 2015 to 2018. External environmental impacts and random interferences on efficiency assessment were explored by using a stochastic frontier approach (SFA) regression. This study revealed that the U.S. pulp and paper industry was highly non-eco-efficient in the period evaluated, presenting an average environmental efficiency value of 0.509. Also, it is suggested that a total of 2.967 million metric tons of CO2eq emissions were in excess of those that were estimated based on an assumption of perfect environmental efficiency from 2015 to 2018 in the U.S. pulp and paper Industry. Based on the analysis of input and output slacks and the external environmental factors which reflect the environmental features of each decision-making unit (DMU), these facilities should substantially reduce CO2eq emissions and enhance the resources-allocation efficiency for improving the environmental efficiency of the U.S. PPI.

The potential of sustainable municipal solid waste-to-energy management in the Palestinian Territories

Global energy demand and MSW generation are increasing as population and living quality continue to grow. Efforts are oriented towards developing and adopting sustainable solutions. Palestinian territories depend on imported energy (100% fossil fuel and 89% electricity) from Israel, and suffer from MSW accumulation environmental consequences due to improper disposal method. West Bank MSW generation rate reached 2600 ton per day (0.91 kg per capita per day) in 2019, and it increases 4% annually. Three MSW dumping sites are currently operating, namely; Zahrat Al-Finjan to serve middle and northern West Bank area (of 88% utilization rate), Al-Menia (of 9% utilization rate) to serve southern area, and one in the city of Jericho (overloaded). Palestinian government strategic plans (2017–2022) aim to reduce imported energy dependency, reduce CO2eq emissions, and adopt sustainable solutions for MSW disposal. WTE is considered a promising solution to achieve these objectives.This research investigates three WTE options for the West Bank, two of them assume producing electricity by incineration, which are building a plant in Zahrat Al-Finjan (1500 ton/day), or building a smaller plant in a transfer station (750 ton/day), the third option assumes waste-to-heat option for local industrial loads. To perform the study, all MSW, energy, and population data were collected and analyzed spatially. After that, considered options were analyzed from economic and environmental point of view, and different operational incentives were proposed to enhance its feasibility.Results show that waste to heat plant is the most feasible. Unfortunately, this option is impractical due to demand unavailability. For electric generation plants in Zahrat Al-Finjan and the transfer station, MARR and plant life time were assumed 10% and 30 years, respectively. If the proposed plants will be responsible for handling MSW collection and transferring costs, NPV for it will be 25.2 and −2.63 million U.S dollars, RoR equals to 12% and 9.7%, and SPP equals to 8.5 and 11 years, respectively. While if the Palestinian government will continue taking this burden, Zahrat Al-Finjan and transfer station WtE plants NPV will be 207 and 12.5 million U.S dollars, RoR equals to 22% and 11.3%, and SPP equals to 4.6 and 9 years, LCOE equals to 0.0486 and 0.0497 $/kWh, and annual saved CO2eq equals to 1.23 and 0.58 Mt CO2eq, respectively.

Sustainable End of Life Management of Crystalline Silicon and Thin Film Solar Photovoltaic Waste: The Impact of Transportation

This work provides economic and environmental analyses of transportation-related impacts of different photovoltaic (PV) module technologies at their end-of-life (EoL) phase. Our results show that crystalline silicon (c-Si) modules are the most economical PV technology (United States Dollars (USD) 2.3 per 1 m2 PV module (or 0.87 ¢/W) for transporting in the United States for 1000 km). Furthermore, we found that the financial costs of truck transportation for PV modules for 2000 km are only slightly more than for 1000 km. CO2-eq emissions associated with transport are a significant share of the EoL impacts, and those for copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) PV modules are always higher than for c-Si and CdTe PV. Transportation associated CO2-eq emissions contribute 47%, 28%, and 40% of overall EoL impacts of c-Si, CdTe, and CIGS PV wastes, respectively. Overall, gasoline-fueled trucks have 65–95% more environmental impacts compared to alternative transportation options of the diesel and electric trains and ships. Finally, a hotspot analysis on the entire life cycle CO2-eq emissions of different PV technologies showed that the EoL phase-related emissions are more significant for thin-film PV modules compared to crystalline silicon PV technologies and, so, more environmentally friendly material recovery methods should be developed for thin film PV.

Energy Balances and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Agriculture in the Shihezi Oasis of China

The objective of this study was to evaluate the difference of crop and livestock products regarding energy balances, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, carbon economic efficiency, and water use efficiency using a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology on farms in three sub-oases within the Shihezi Oasis of China. The three sub-oases were selected within the Gobi Desert, at Shizongchang (SZC), Xiayedi (XYD), and Mosuowan (MSW), to represent the various local oasis types: i. Oasis; ii. overlapping oasis-desert; and iii. Gobi oasis. The results indicated that crop production in XYD Oasis had higher energy balances (221.47 GJ/ha), and a net energy ratio (5.39), than in the other two oases (p < 0.01). The production of 1 kg CW of sheep in XYD Oasis resulted in significantly higher energy balances (18.31 MJ/kg CW), and an energy ratio (2.21), than in the other two oases (p < 0.01). The water use efficiency of crop production in the SZC Oasis was lower than that of the XYD and MSW oases (p < 0.05). Alfalfa production generated the lowest CO2-eq emissions (8.09 Mg CO2-eq/ha. year) and had the highest water use efficiency (45.82 MJ/m3). Alfalfa (1.18 ¥/kg CO2-eq) and maize (1.14 ¥/kg CO2-eq) had a higher carbon economic efficiency than other crops (p < 0.01). The main sources of GHG emissions for crop production were fertilizer and irrigation. The structural equation modelling (SEM) of agricultural systems in the Shihezi Oasis showed that the livestock category significantly influenced the economic income, energy, and carbon balances.

Mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP) multi-period multi-objective optimization of advanced power plant through gasification of municipal solid waste (MSW)

Abstract Multi-objective optimization is one of the most effective tools for the decision support system. This study aims to optimize the gasification of municipal solid waste (MSW) for advanced power plant. MSW gasifier is simulated using Aspen Plus v11 to produce syngas, to be fed into power generation technologies. Four power generation technologies are selected, solid oxide fuel cell, gas turbine, gas engine, and steam turbine. Mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP) multi-objective optimization is developed to provide an optimal solution for minimum levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and minimum CO2eq emissions. The optimization is conducted with a ε-constraint method using GAMS through time periods of 2020–2050. Decision variables include gasifier temperature, steam to carbon ratio, and power generation technologies. The optimization result demonstrates that the lower steam to carbon ratio gives lower LCOE and higher CO2eq emissions, and temperature variation gives no significant impact on LCOE and as it increases, CO2eq emission is reduced. It demonstrates that a gas turbine is the best option for generating electricity from 2020 to 2040 and beyond 2040 SOFC is the best option.

Low-cost small-scale distillation column: assessment of polymeric materials on its economic, chemical, mechanical, and environmental performance

Distillation columns can have high economic impact on small-scale ethanol production because their capital cost and, therefore, a lower investment in this equipment may turn it more feasible. The present work aims to assess the substitution of stainless steel and borosilicate glass by polymeric materials in the manufacturing of distillation columns. A decision tree was proposed, considering chemical, mechanical, thermal, and economic aspects. In addition, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to evaluate potential reduction on environmental impacts from columns manufactured with polymeric material. Tests were performed to investigate chemical resistance, including determination of the degree of swelling and characterizations by X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared, and exploratory scanning calorimetry. Mechanical properties were evaluated by 3-point bending tests. Polymeric materials were selected due to their lower cost in comparison with stainless steel, e.g., polypropylene, high-density polyethylene, and glass fiber-reinforced polyester resin. Results showed satisfactory chemical and mechanical resistance of these three polymers after contact with ethanol, and a 68% reduction in capital cost related to a manufacturing of distillation column with polypropylene. LCA results showed that replacing stainless steel and borosilicate glass by polypropylene in distillation column manufacturing would result in lower environmental impacts in all impact categories considered. A reduction in CO2eq emissions of 85% and 59% was observed when polypropylene replaced stainless steel and borosilicate glass, respectively.

Assessment of hybrid, firm renewable energy-based power plants: Application in the southernmost region of Thailand

The objective of this paper is to evaluate appropriate sites for Small Power Producers (SPP) hybrid, firm renewable energy-based power plants and their scenario suitability, focusing in the southernmost provinces of Thailand. The siting suitability of renewable SPP hybrid, firm power plants was assessed by employing the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. Para rubberwood distribution map, 1-km resolution Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) map, and high resolution (50 m) wind potential map are overlaid in possible regions for site selection. The inclusion of energy storage is also assessed in order to achieve the firm output of the optimized power plant, as per the requirement of the SPP policy. In total, 14 possible combinations of renewable SPP scenarios, ranging from 10 to 50 MW, were analyzed in order to identify an optimum scenario in terms of technical power potential, environmental suitability and socio-economic viability. The cost of each renewable SPP hybrid scenario was analyzed, as well as the annual energy production (AEP) for each scenario. The cost-benefit and the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) were analyzed using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) in the ranking of all scenarios. Results show that the optimum scenario is a 40 MW solar PV power plant, complemented with a 10 MW biomass power plant and with a substantial energy storage system (ESS). This configuration has the highest generation capacity, at over 1,200 PWh/yr, the lowest LCOE, at 11.2 US cents/kWh, and avoiding CO2eq emissions of nearly 38 ktonnes per year. The methodology developed, based on a cost-benefit analysis, levelized cost of energy and greenhouse gas emission reductions, can also be applied in other jurisdictions characterized by the availability of biomass, solar and wind resources for electricity generation.

Life Cycle Assessment of Electric Vehicle Batteries: An Overview of Recent Literature

In electric and hybrid vehicles Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), batteries play a central role and are in the spotlight of scientific community and public opinion. Automotive batteries constitute, together with the powertrain, the main differences between electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles. For this reason, many decision makers and researchers wondered whether energy and environmental impacts from batteries production, can exceed the benefits generated during the vehicle’s use phase. In this framework, the purpose of the present literature review is to understand how large and variable the main impacts are due to automotive batteries’ life cycle, with particular attention to climate change impacts, and to support researchers with some methodological suggestions in the field of automotive batteries’ LCA. The results show that there is high variability in environmental impact assessment; CO2eq emissions per kWh of battery capacity range from 50 to 313 g CO2eq/kWh. Nevertheless, either using the lower or upper bounds of this range, electric vehicles result less carbon-intensive in their life cycle than corresponding diesel or petrol vehicles.

Energy requalification and waste production: new urban metabolism processes. A case study in Trevignano Romano

A distorted urban development, built in the absence of specific regulations, obliges today to carry out energy requalification interventions.In an economic/regulatory context that requires the transition, from an artisan logic to a para-industrial one, towards industry 4.0 with greater economies of scale, acting not on individual buildings but on urban sectors.It also means putting the statutory and functional profile up to standard to meet the needs of the society.We refer to new processes of urban metabolism which, in the circular economy, in construction also means the reuse and recycling of its own waste.This contribution, regarding some researches carried out at the Interdepartmental Center Territory, Building, Restoration, Environment CITERA of Sapienza University of Rome, evaluates the incoming and outgoing flows (matter / energy) in urban centers, to point out best system efficiencies.Objective in a nutshell: the balance between the benefits obtained from the interventions and the impacts caused by the waste related.The paper illustrates: working methodology, technical operations carried out, calculation methods through indicators analyzed at 360°. Finally, the proposal for the overall reduction of energy consumption, C&D waste and CO2eq emissions and ends with the results achieved and possible further developments.The results confirm that if properly managed, the waste inevitably produced as a result of the interventions can turn from problem to resource.

Environmental efficiency of rice production in Vietnam: An application of SBM-DEA with undesirable output

Abstract. Le TL, Luu TTH, Huynh N, Chung RH. 2020. Environmental efficiency of rice production in Vietnam: An application of SBM-DEA with undesirable output. Biodiversitas 21: 2710-2715. In Vietnam, the agricultural sector is one of major sources of the country’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and over half of that comes from rice cultivation. This study evaluates the environmental efficiency of 400 rice farms in the Mekong Delta using slack-based measure (SBM) data envelopment analysis (DEA) with considering the total amount of CO2-equivalent (CO2-eq) emissions in the rice field as undesirable output. The findings revealed that the average environmental efficiency score of the farmers was very low, just only 0.461. Only 2.25% of the sample farms were environmentally efficient while majority of them (58%) obtained the efficiency values less than the mean indicating that their environmental efficiency needs to be further improved. The small rice farms were higher in environmental efficiency scores compared with large farms. The sample rice farmers who are members of agricultural cooperatives obtained a significantly higher environmental efficiency than the non-cooperative members. The estimated results of input and bad output excesses showed that about 1.35 tons of CO2-eq ha-1 could be reduced and an average of 54.18 kg N ha-1 could be saved in order to improve the environmental performance of rice production in the study area.

Retrofitting a building to passive house level: A life cycle carbon balance

The building sector is one of the major contributors to global carbon emission. Energy retrofit of existing buildings reduces CO2-eq emission in the operation phase but typically entails further emissions from the production, maintenance and disposal of the materials used for the retrofitting (non-operation CO2-eq emission). This study analyses the life cycle carbon balance of a building retrofitted to passive house level, considering two alternative standards applicable in Sweden. The study considers the implications of using different building materials for thermal insulation, building façade and windows of the retrofitted building. It also considers different electricity production scenarios, assuming standalone production with fossil coal, fossil gas, and a mix of wind and biomass. Our results show that the operation CO2-eq emission decreases by between 50 and 82% in the retrofitted building depending on the passive house standard, with minor deviations between the electricity scenarios. The non-operation CO2-eq emission accounts for between 4 and 25% of the operation CO2-eq savings depending on the passive house standard and material option. Deviations between material options are increasingly reduced when assuming fossil gas and wind/biomass for electricity production instead of fossil coal. A careful selection of materials can reduce the net CO2-eq savings by up to 68%, especially when using wood material.

A specialised delivery system for stratospheric sulphate aerosols (part 2): financial cost and equivalent CO2 emission

Temporary stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) using sulphate compounds could help avoid some of the adverse and irreversible impacts of global warming, but comprises many risks and uncertainties. Among these, the direct financial cost and carbon emissions of potential SAI delivery systems have hitherto received only modest attention. Therefore, this paper quantifies the initial and operating financial costs and initial and operating equivalent CO2 (CO2eq) emissions of the specialised aircraft-based SAI delivery system developed with relatively high-fidelity tools in part 1 of this series. We analyse an interval of operating conditions, within which we devote special attention to four injection scenarios outlined in part 1: Three scenarios where H2SO4 vapour is directly injected at several dispersion rates and one SO2 injection scenario. We estimate financial cost through Raymer’s adjustment of Rand Corporation’s Development and Production Costs for Aircraft (DAPCA) model, augmented by additional data. CO2eq emission is computed from existing data and the computed fuel consumption for each of the scenarios. The latter estimates include an emission weighting factor to account for non-CO2 aircraft combustion products at altitude. For direct H2SO4 injection, both financial cost and CO2eq emission are sensitive to the design dispersion rate. For scenarios where higher dispersion rates are achieved, the delivery system’s cost and CO2eq are relatively small compared with the presumed benefits of SAI. The most optimistic H2SO4 scenario is found to have a financial cost and CO2eq emission similar to that of SO2 injection, while potentially allowing for reductions in the annual mass of sulphur injected to achieve a target negative radiative forcing. The estimates of financial cost and CO2eq emission were subjected to sensitivity analyses in several key parameters, including aircraft operational empty weight, engine specific fuel consumption, fuel price and aerosol price. The results indicate that the feasibility of the considered scenarios is robust.

Approaching a zero-waste strategy by reuse in New York City: Challenges and potential.

In New York City (NYC), the aspiring target of zero waste to landfills is robustly engaging the often poorly understood solid waste management technique of reuse. The reuse activities occurring in NYC are reported, accounting for the quantities of reuse of various products, such as furniture, appliances and automobile accessories, amongst others. The quantities of products are translated to reuse mass and net CO2-eq emissions saved as a consequence of reuse. This quantitative assessment employs the Reuse Impact Calculator (RIC), based on the Waste Reduction Model (WARM). The RIC is a novel calculator used to quantitatively assess the environmental impact of material reuse. It uses the information about the material to be reused from the WARM database and estimates the emissions and energy savings based on the product's final destination, that is, reuse, landfill, recycle or composting. A close monitoring of reuse activities in NYC shows 45 × 106 kg of reuse occurring for different products that would otherwise be directed to landfills. The net emissions reduced annually by reuse is approximately 122 × 106 kg of CO2-eq. This article compares the NYC reuse activities with that occurring in some select cities of the world. It is shown that the maximum recycle potential is saturated at 66%, and only auxiliary strategies like reuse can achieve the zero waste to landfill ambitions. Furthermore, this work discusses the role of reuse in the circular economy, wherein the resource utilization is maximized by increasing the shelf life of the product, and thereby enabling a maximum reuse potential.

Biocomposites of Bio-Polyethylene Reinforced with a Hydrothermal-Alkaline Sugarcane Bagasse Pulp and Coupled with a Bio-Based Compatibilizer

Bio-polyethylene (BioPE, derived from sugarcane), sugarcane bagasse pulp, and two compatibilizers (fossil and bio-based), were used to manufacture biocomposite filaments for 3D printing. Biocomposite filaments were manufactured and characterized in detail, including measurement of water absorption, mechanical properties, thermal stability and decomposition temperature (thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA)). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed to measure the glass transition temperature (Tg). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was applied to assess the fracture area of the filaments after mechanical testing. Increases of up to 10% in water absorption were measured for the samples with 40 wt% fibers and the fossil compatibilizer. The mechanical properties were improved by increasing the fraction of bagasse fibers from 0% to 20% and 40%. The suitability of the biocomposite filaments was tested for 3D printing, and some shapes were printed as demonstrators. Importantly, in a cradle-to-gate life cycle analysis of the biocomposites, we demonstrated that replacing fossil compatibilizer with a bio-based compatibilizer contributes to a reduction in CO2-eq emissions, and an increase in CO2 capture, achieving a CO2-eq storage of 2.12 kg CO2 eq/kg for the biocomposite containing 40% bagasse fibers and 6% bio-based compatibilizer.

Offshore wind power assessment on the western coast of Thailand

This paper presents an offshore wind resource assessment and offshore wind power feasibility analysis on the western coast of Thailand using coupled mesoscale atmospheric and microscale Computational Fluid Dynamics wind flow modeling, along with a climatic database. Offshore wind maps at elevations of 80 m, 90 m and 120 m above mean sea level (amsl) are presented and validated with measured wind datasets gathered from nine met masts installed along the coast of the Andaman Sea and the Strait of Malacca on the western part of Thailand. Results show that, at an elevation of 120 m amsl, the northern region near Myanmar is characterized by wind speeds in the range of 5.5 to 6.0 m/s, while the area around Phuket Island has wind speeds in the range of 4.6 to 5.3 m/s. In line with the Thai energy policies for wind power plant development, the annual energy production, the capacity factors, the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), the CO2eq emission avoidance, and the required Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) are analyzed for wind power plants integrating 3.3 MW, 8.0 MW and 9.5 MW offshore wind turbine generators. Results show that offshore wind power plants with 3.3 MW wind turbine generators could produce over 13 GWh of electricity per year under the Very Small Power Producer (VSPP) scenario for 10 MW wind power plants. For its part, 50 MW wind power plants under the Small Power Producer (SPP) scenario could produce 68 GWh/yr, and nearly 123 GWh/yr for SPP wind power plants with 90 MW of installed capacities. With capacity factors in the order of 16%, the lowest LCOE is 0.188 USD/kWh and the CO2eq emission avoidances reach 774 tonnes CO2eq per year. Finally, the required FiT to sustain the development of VSPP offshore wind power plants in the vicinity of Phuket Island is in the range of 0.314 to 0.688 USD/kWh.

Erratum to: Greenhouse gas mitigation through dairy manure acidification

Erratum to: Greenhouse gas mitigation through dairy manure acidification

The emission reduction potentials of First Generation Electric Aircraft (FGEA) in Finland

Under the looming climate crisis, aviation needs to find new solutions to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. One pathway towards zero emissions is the use of electric aircraft. While current battery technology will not allow for medium and long-haul flights at full capacity, on short-haul routes First Generation Electric Aircraft (FGEA) could play a significant role in the near future. Current FGEA under development could carry 9–19 passengers on distances of 400–1046 km by 2025. This study focuses on the emissions reduction potentials of FGEA in Finland. It compares the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq) emissions and real travel times (RTT) from door-to-door of FGEA on 47 routes with existing aircraft, train and car transport modes, as well as with proposed high-speed rail (HSR) and electric vehicle implementation. The study found that replacing all existing aircraft with FGEA can clearly be recommended as it would result in a reduction of CO2-eq emissions and RTT. Existing cars should only be replaced by FGEA on routes beyond 170 km. The replacement of existing trains by FGEA under the current energy mix is not recommended. However, once electricity could be provided from renewable energy sources exclusively, it would become feasible to replace existing trains on distances beyond 170 km and HSR beyond 400 km with FGEA.