Carbon Footprint Of Transport Research Articles

Embodied carbon emissions of buildings: Taking a step towards net zero buildings

As global concerns about climate change and environmental sustainability escalate, the construction industry is shifting significantly towards eco-resilient and sustainable building practices. This paper comprehensively explores integrating Building Information Modelling (BIM) with eco-resilient principles to create a framework for designing and constructing sustainable buildings. This research introduced a practical approach for evaluating the embodied carbon from building construction, drawing insights from a residential building in Yangon City, Myanmar. The method developed in this study aims to assess the carbon footprints associated with distinct stages of the construction process, including raw material production and material transportation. Additionally, the proposed method compares the material embodied carbon, transportation embodied carbon, and total cost in the residential building, considering two cases of traditional and low-carbon materials. The results indicate that material embodied carbon contributes merely 84% to the overall, while material transportation makes up the remaining 16% for both cases. Utilising low-carbon materials yields remarkable reductions, with a 40% decrease in material embodied carbon and a 39% decrease in transportation carbon footprint compared to conventional materials. However, adopting low-carbon materials incurs a modest increase of approximately 6.7% in total cost. This study underscores the imperative of integrating low-carbon materials into the design of future passive buildings, advancing the pursuit of a net-zero strategy. This research underlines the potential for BIM-driven eco-resilient practices in mitigating carbon emissions and the need for continued innovation and collaboration in sustainable building design and construction.

Multi-Modal Life Cycle Assessment of Journeys by Aircraft, Train or Passenger Car

To reduce the carbon footprint of transport, policymakers are simultaneously stimulating cleaner vehicles and more sustainable mobility choices, such as a shift to rail for short-haul flights within Europe. The purpose of this study is to determine the climate impact of a journey within Europe by aircraft, train or passenger car, and to better understand what factors drive this impact in order to make smarter and more sustainable fact-based mobility choices. The study consists of a life cycle inventory (LCI) and life cycle impact assessment (LCA) of greenhouse gas emissions of specific vehicles in five case study travel scenarios in Europe. The energy and resulting direct emissions (including non-CO2) of the aircraft scenarios were calculated for the purpose of this study using the Mission Aircraft and Systems Simulation tool developed by the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre NLR. For other LCA phases and other modes of transport, the study relies on emission factors from public literature. A trip by train results in three to five times less emissions than a comparable trip by aircraft. In most scenarios, the passenger car with two people onboard emits significantly more than a train but slightly less than an aircraft. The study also shows what drives the climate impact of such a trip and how this is very different for different modes of transport. The study further highlights a lack of high-quality data, especially in the areas of indirect emissions and infrastructure, poor consistency among studies and a general under-documentation and lack of transparency regarding assumptions.

Policy of Decarbonisation of the Transport Sector of the Economy of Ukraine: Problems and Perspectives

Abstract Practically, the strategic guideline for a transformation of transport sector of the Ukraine’s economy is the reduction of the transport carbon footprint. The decarbonisation policy of the Ukrainian transport sector is characterised in the present paper. Moreover, inefficiency of the current policy is proved. The authors created the mathematical model of structural improvement in road transportations by redistribution of transportations volumes between the motor transport and the railway. Guided by the scenario approach, the three most probable scenarios for traffic optimisation are developed, such as pessimistic, basic, and optimistic. The carbon reduction percentage is computed in each of these scenarios. In addition, the priority vectors of the policy of the structural optimisation of the road transport by redistribution of traffic volumes between the motor transport and the railway are determined.

Alleviating the thermal aging of three-way catalyst applied to natural gas engine based on organic Rankine cycle

Natural gas (NG) is a possible pathway for developing countries to reduce transportation carbon footprint. However, its high exhaust temperature decreases the thermal efficiency of NG engines and accelerates the thermal aging of three-way catalyst (TWC). This study proposes to place an organic Rankine cycle waste heat recovery (ORC-WHR) system between an NG engine and its TWC to recover exhaust energy and extend the useful life of TWC. The feasibility of this design concept is confirmed by the simulation results of an experimentally validated 1D NG engine model combined with an ORC-WHR model at three TWC working temperatures representing field-average, modern, and future TWC technologies. Results show that the decrease in the outlet temperature of the ORC-WHR system benefits the availability of exhaust energy, improving the overall efficiency of the engine plus ORC-WHR system and extending the useful life of the TWC. Hence, more advanced catalyst technologies, which can achieve high conversion efficiency at lower temperatures, are deemed more favorable for ORC-WHR coupling. The cost-effectiveness of such combinations is better due to more exhaust energy recovered and less noble metal catalyst needed to be added.

A Systematic Review on Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emission Measurement Methods under PRISMA Guidelines: Transportation Sustainability and Development Programs

In the effort to urgently develop new and improved methodologies to compute and assess CO2 emissions from transportation, results have been less than ideal; this article provides a review of the methodologies currently available. When it comes to the discharge of harmful gases into the air, transportation is the biggest offender. Methods are still being developed to calculate and analyze the transportation sector’s carbon footprint, despite the fact that the need to limit the emission of gases that contribute to global warming has now become urgent. Previous studies have calculated the carbon footprint of transportation; however, there are some discrepancies in the terminology and methodologies utilized. The commonalities between CO2 emission measurement techniques and assessment techniques are the primary subject of this review. This study helps to increase public awareness of environmental concerns and promotes the use of reliable methodologies for calculating transportation-related CO2 emissions. It is hoped that choosing the optimal available method will contribute to a decrease in CO2 emissions from transportation.

Economic impacts, carbon footprint and rebound effects of car sharing: Scenario analysis assessing business-to-consumer and peer-to-peer car sharing

Car sharing is promoted as one alternative to decrease emissions from personal transport in cities. Most emission assessments have focused on the production and use phase of car sharing, but few have focused on the impacts of changes in consumption. In this article I assess changes in the total output from various sectors and in the carbon footprint of car sharing users from a consumption perspective. This study applied a mixed top-down and bottom-up approach using scenario analysis. It is based on a detailed expenditure analysis that links changes in expenditure to variations in the total output of sectors and the carbon footprint of personal mobility using environmentally extended multi regional input and output analysis. The results show that car sharing can change the total output of several sectors, with traceable climate consequences. Variations in total outputs from sectors depend on existing national economic structures. Car sharing users who abandoned private car ownership can decrease their carbon footprint of transport by approximately 40 %. Car sharing users with a car-free lifestyle who started using car sharing for 3 % of their vehicle kilometres travelled increased their transport carbon footprint by 0.42 % to 0.70 %. Meanwhile, the rebound effects of re-spending can be as high as 70 to 85 %. This indicates that the potential carbon savings from car sharing may be drastically reduced by non-transport related consumption. Differences between the carbon footprints of business-to-consumer and peer-to-peer car sharing users were marginal.

Exploring the impact of a smart solar-powered EV charging station - A case study

The transportation sector is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change. In recent years, Electric Vehicles (EVs) have emerged as a promising solution to reduce the carbon footprint of transportation. However, one of the biggest obstacles to its widespread adoption is the lack of adequate charging infrastructure. Solar-powered EV charging stations present a promising solution to this problem, as it can provide a clean and renewable energy for charging EVs while reducing the strain on the grid during peak hours. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the technical requirements for designing and developing solar-powered EV charging stations. This includes considerations such as the location, size, and capacity of the stations, as well as the types of Evs which are designed to charge. The research also examines the economic feasibility of these stations, including the initial capital costs, operating costs, and potential revenue streams.

Thermal annealing effects on the mechanical properties of bio-based 3D printed thermosets

3D printing technologies can address many sustainability aspects of creating new materials, such as reduced waste and on demand production, which reduces the carbon footprint of transport and storage.

Sustainability measurement in a logistics transportation company

We present a preliminary study to the Decision Support System for Sustainable Logistics Transportation, using as case study, the Portuguese logistics transportation company Santos e Vale. In the last five years, it has reduced its fleet carbon footprint by 20%. Our research presents a systematic literature review of indicators, carbon footprint models, and reduction measures associated to the sector, using the PRISMA method. Moreover, we considered the application of methodologies and analytical models to measure the logistic transportation carbon footprint, such as in Greenhouse Gas Protocol, ISO 14064 and EN 16258. Our aim is twofold:(1) provision of standard methodologies and analytical models targeting the reduction of carbon footprint in logistics transportation, to a more sustainable operation;(2) future development of a Decision Support System, to assist the monitoring over time.

Short run “rebound effect” of COVID on the transport carbon footprint

The COVID-19 pandemic completely transformed the mobility of cities. The restrictions on movement led to “empty cities” throughout the world, with some environmental effects in terms of clean air and the reduction of CO2 emissions. This research considers how COVID-19 mobility restrictions have affected the carbon footprint of four medium-sized Chilean cities (Coronel, Temuco, Valdivia, and Osorno) that have environmental problems and are highly dependent on motorized systems. The study uses data from 2400 household surveys at three distinct times: pre-pandemic - T0 (winter 2019), the time of implementation of restrictive mobility policies to contain the pandemic - T1 (winter 2020), and six months later when those restrictions were gradually lifted - T2 (summer 2021). The analysis suggests that CO2 emissions actually went up, declining in the winter 2020, but then increasing with the greater use of cars in the summer 2021 due to the temporary effects of commuting to work, ultimately reaching levels higher than the pre-pandemic values, known as the “rebound effect.”

Airport location for smart and sustainable living: A model and a case study of rural Missouri, U.S.

• Airports can be relocated to reduce carbon footprint of driving to airport location. • A carbon-footprint formula helps compare emissions from transportation. • Reducing transportation's carbon footprint enables sustainable and smart living. • Real-world results from Missouri, U.S., for smart and sustainable airport location. We consider the problem of determining the location of a regional airport with connections to major hubs within an airline network for the objective of minimizing the carbon footprint of travelers, road congestion, and accident risk. This is aligned with an overarching goal of smart and sustainable living. The overall travel journey is usually composed of a trip from home to the airport, called the connecting trip , and a trip in the air, which is composed of one or more flights. Currently, in the United States, millions of travelers drive in excess of 100 miles to reach overcrowded airports. The connecting trip not only magnifies the driver's carbon footprint, but also creates traffic congestion in cities that have airports—further increasing CO 2 generation in areas surrounding the airports and worsening road safety. The model proposed here identifies a suitable airport location to directly reduce total driving miles. Indirectly, congestion on roads connecting to the airport and the traffic intensity at the airports in the hub-and-spoke network will also be reduced and passengers’ comfort levels will be improved. We will employ a case study from the state of Missouri, United States, to illustrate our model and its concomitant analysis.

Gaining mechanistic insight into key factors contributing to crack path transition in particle toughened carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites using 3D X-ray computed tomography

Composite materials are increasingly used to help in reducing the carbon footprint of transportation and upscaling renewable energy infrastructure that provides clean energy for future cities. However, the inherent susceptibility of carbon fibre reinforced polymers to impact damage results in knock-down in design and is linked to the micro-mechanistic response of the material to damage. In situ experimental and high-resolution imaging techniques using X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT) have been used to gain a mechanistic understanding of the key factors controlling crack path — and hence macro-scale toughness within a composite. Multiscale Synchrotron Radiation Computed Tomography (SRCT) and lab-based micro-focus X-ray CT are used to investigate different material systems toughness response from standard Double Cantilever Beam tests. The crack transition to the weaker ply region of the composite is identified as a controlling factor across a scale of mm’s, and ‘trigger’ regions are reported on and investigated. The ‘trigger’ regions were identified as gaps in the ply adjacent to the interlayer. This work feeds directly into delamination growth predictions, a better understanding of material response, and enabling informed manufacture and design, allowing for reduced material usage, longer life and more sustainable vehicles and infrastructure.

Travel behaviour and greenhouse gas emissions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study in a university setting

The year 2020 was characterized by a marked shift in daily travel patterns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While we know that overall travel decreased, less is known about modal shift among those who continued to travel during the pandemic or about the impact of these travel-behaviour changes on transport-related greenhouse gas emissions. Focusing on a university setting and drawing from a travel survey conducted in Fall 2020 in Montreal, Canada (n = 3358), this study examines modal shifts and quantifies greenhouse gas emissions at three time periods in the year 2020: pre-pandemic, early pandemic, and later pandemic. The pandemic resulted in a sharp reduction in travel to campus. Among those who continued to travel to campus (n = 1580), car-to-final destination mode share almost tripled at the start of the pandemic. The largest modal shift seen was the transition from walking, cycling, and transit, to driving at the beginning of the pandemic. Reductions in overall travel resulted in lower overall transport-related greenhouse gas emissions. However, if modal changes persist once students, staff, and academics return to campus, the transport carbon footprint is projected to increase above pre-pandemic levels. These results highlight the importance of putting in place policies that support a return to sustainable modes as universities and businesses reopen for in-person activities.

An Evaluation Model of Green Coal Supplier for Thermal Power Supply Chain Based on PCA-SVM

A thermal power supply chain differs from other supply chains in terms of supplier selection, materials transportation, products marketing, and so on. Therefore, the green coal supplier evaluation model has its own characteristics. Although many methods have been developed to solve the green supplier evaluation problem, little is known about how to evaluate the green coal supplier in the thermal power supply chain. To overcome this drawback, an evaluation index system for the green coal supplier is established, and new indexes such as price based on calorific value, quality indexes based on the designed coal type, and transportation indexes such as transportation carbon footprint and environment indexes are created according to the characteristic of the thermal power supply chain. Then, principal component analysis (PCA) is used to create the main evaluation indexes, and the support vector machine (SVM) is adopted for the evaluation model. Finally, a practical example is applied to show that the model established in this paper outperforms others in evaluation accuracy.

Evaluation of Carbon Footprint in a Waste Recovery/Recycle Facility

The greatest danger for a healthy world is releasing greenhouse gases into the environment as a result of the industrialization activities in all countries. These released gases play an important role in damaging the health of human beings as well as of destroying nature. In addition to sustainable development practices in order to reduce emissions, it is also necessary to implement clean environment rules. In this study, the carbon footprint of a Waste Recovery/Recycle Facility within the borders of Kayseri Province as results of its operations was evaluated. Correspondingly, the amount of carbon footprint of transportation of waste collection, heating, and electricity usage in the plant site during operations has been examined. Tier 1 and Tier 2 methodologies developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were used to determine the carbon footprint of the facility. As a result, transportation activity due to waste collection contributes to the highest share of carbon footprint with 76.8%. The carbon footprint, which is caused by consumption of natural gas for heating with 23.1%, follows the transportation. Electricity usage has f share of less than 0.1%. The total CO2 emission of the plant was 132711 tons, while the CO2 emission amounts of transportation, heating and electricity use were found to be 102000 tons, 30700 tons and 11 tons, respectively.

An Eco-Friendly Multimodal Route Guidance System for Urban Areas Using Multi-Agent Technology

The use and coordination of multiple modes of travel efficiently, although beneficial, remains an overarching challenge for urban cities. This paper implements a distributed architecture of an eco-friendly transport guidance system by employing the agent-based paradigm. The paradigm uses software agents to model and represent the complex transport infrastructure of urban environments, including roads, buses, trolleybuses, metros, trams, bicycles, and walking. The system exploits live traffic data (e.g., traffic flow, density, and CO2 emissions) collected from multiple data sources (e.g., road sensors and SCOOT) to provide multimodal route recommendations for travelers through a dedicated application. Moreover, the proposed system empowers the transport management authorities to monitor the traffic flow and conditions of a city in real-time through a dedicated web visualization. We exhibit the advantages of using different types of agents to represent the versatile nature of transport networks and realize the concept of smart transportation. Commuters are supplied with multimodal routes that endeavor to reduce travel times and transport carbon footprint. A technical simulation was executed using various parameters to demonstrate the scalability of our multimodal traffic management architecture. Subsequently, two real user trials were carried out in Nottingham (United Kingdom) and Sofia (Bulgaria) to show the practicality and ease of use of our multimodal travel information system in providing eco-friendly route guidance. Our validation results demonstrate the effectiveness of personalized multimodal route guidance in inducing a positive travel behavior change and the ability of the agent-based route planning system to scale to satisfy the requirements of traffic infrastructure in diverse urban environments.

Sustainable Urban Transport on Three Wheels

Abstract Many of our global warming problems come from transport. The majority of people who need transport the most in the developing world are too poor to pay for the highest-technology vehicles which are not polluting. In the past 10 years, 3-6-passenger, battery-powered, Small Electric Passenger Vehicles (as this article is calling them, SEPVs) have appeared in major cities in the developing world. These slow, relatively safe, easily maneuverable, non-polluting and low-cost vehicles, on their three little wheels, are cutting the size of the world’s transport carbon footprint. Recognize that this paper is only focused on carbon footprint: carbon emissions. It is not about “pollution in general” or “emissions in general”. No other published article has explicitly considered the potential of the SEPV to contribute in reducing a nation's contribution to carbon footprint and thus to global warming. This article makes the case for building urban transport strategy and policy around such vehicles, in developing countries, in order to lower the countries' carbon footprint: that is its original contribution. The data showed that the SEPVs made a significant contribution to reducing the potential carbon footprint of transport in the small city of Cox’s Bazar, in Bangladesh, proportionate to its population. The inference is that SEPVs could reduce the carbon footprint of the nation if they become a major, integrated part of urban transport in the megacities, which creates most of the country's carbon footprint. Other developing countries should study Cox's Bazar's example. India is already ahead of the game.

Economic and environmental performances of natural gas for heavy trucks: A case study on the French automotive industry supply chain

Road transport is a major CO2 emitter that can be reduced by using alternative fuels. This paper offers a micro-simulation of the adoption of compressed natural gas in heavy-duty vehicles based on real French data on industrial flows in 2018 from the automotive manufacturer Renault. Our purpose is to assess the potential of natural gas as a transition fuel for the supply chain by determining the economic conditions under which natural gas is both economically and environmentally beneficial.We consider two types of natural gas: bio-sourced and fossil. Both types of gas trucks prove cost-effective for long-distance flows within a short 5-year time period. However, fossil-fuel natural gas trucks emit from 3 up to 13% more CO2eq than diesel trucks on the same trip, due to the extra kilometres required to reach refuelling stations (+6.21% of distance covered on average). Conversely, compared to diesel trucks, bio-sourced gas reduces the carbon footprint of transportation up to −76%. Thus, only bio-sourced gas proves to be favourable. We also investigate other types of externalities, such as air pollution and noise. We finally find that carbon taxes should be based on life-cycle emissions in order to boost wider adoption of biogas.

On the combustion and sooting behavior of standard and hydro-treated jet fuels: An experimental and modeling study on the compositional effects

In a context of growing level of environmental awareness, emission from aviation are the subject of increasing scrutiny. This situation poses important challenges because, due to safety, practical and economic factors, aero-transportation technologies are not likely to undergo rapid paradigm shifts. An area where important innovations are being introduced is fuel technology: fuels from alternative processes, potentially from renewable sources, offer the opportunity of limiting the carbon footprint of transportation, moreover, a better control on fuel quality can contribute to reducing emissions.Hydro-treating of oil based fuels can reduce their sulfur and aromatic content promoting a cleaner combustion. In order to better understand the impact of hydro-treating on emissions of PAHs and soot from jet fuels, new speciation data covering oxidation intermediates and soot precursors were measured in a flow reactor for a standard jet fuel and its hydro-treated counterpart. Using a detailed kinetic mechanism and complex surrogate blends mimicking the composition of the real fuels, the speciation data from the flow reactor were simulated. Additionally, soot formation trends were calculated and compared with previously published data. Using the kinetic model, which is based on mechanistic principles, it was possible to separate the relative contribution of different processes and, for the fuel blends of interest, the role played by specific components in the PAHs and soot formation. The results obtained provide useful information towards more effective fuel formulation strategies and fuel blends modeling.

On the friction drag reduction mechanism of streamwise wall fluctuations

Understanding how to decrease the friction drag exerted by a fluid on a solid surface is becoming increasingly important to address key societal challenges, such as decreasing the carbon footprint of transport. Well-established techniques are not yet available for friction drag reduction. Direct numerical simulation results obtained by Józsa et al. (2019) previously indicated that a passive compliant wall can decrease friction drag by sustaining the drag reduction mechanism of an active control strategy. The proposed compliant wall is driven by wall shear stress fluctuations and responds with streamwise wall velocity fluctuations. The present study aims to clarify the underlying physical mechanism enabling the drag reduction of these active and passive control techniques. Analysis of turbulence statistics and flow fields reveals that both compliant wall and active control amplify streamwise velocity streaks in the viscous sublayer. By doing so, these control methods counteract dominant spanwise vorticity fluctuations in the near-wall region. The lowered vorticity fluctuations lead to an overall weakening of vortical structures which then mitigates momentum transfer and results in lower friction drag. These results might underpin the further development and practical implementation of these control strategies.