Policy options for reducing carbon emissions in road freight transport

The European Commission presented last January an ambiguous [?ambitious] action plan to reduce the emission of green house gases (GHG) by at least 20% by 2020. It is said that that the common policy on transport will not be effective enough to reduce CO2 emissions from transport enough to meet the targets. The Dutch government has set a national objective of achieving a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. This paper addresses the question of what can be considered a feasible reduction aim in CO2 emissions. CO2 is by far the most common greenhouse gas produced by transport activities for the road freight transport sector. The instruments the government can implement to achieve this objective are reviewed. Proportionately applying the proposed objective to achieve a 30% reduction in emissions by 2020, compared to 1990 levels, to the domestic activities of these sectors (domestic freight transport by road) is expected to necessitate the implementation of very expensive measures which are not cost-effective. Technical measures alone are not effective enough to achieve the 30% reduction and should be implemented in combination with other measures such as the large-scale use of second-generation biofuels, the cumulative CO2 impact and costs of which remain largely unknown. A closer look reveals that a reduction of one billion kilograms (approx. 10%) in heavy goods vehicles emissions can be achieved by 2020. A reduction of one billion kilograms (approx. 20%) in light goods vehicles emissions seems also possible by 2020. The cost estimate does not take into account possible reductions in the amount of excise duties generated. For the covering abstract see ITRD E145999

• Record URL:
  https://aetransport.org/past-etc-papers/conference-papers-pre-2012/conference-papers-2008
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/14749122
• Authors:
  • FRANCKE, J
  • ANNEMA, J A
  • WOUTERS, P
• Publication Date: 2008

Language

• English

Media Info

• Serial:
  • EUROPEAN TRANSPORT CONFERENCE 2008; PROCEEDINGS
  • ISSN: 1474-9122

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air quality management; Carbon dioxide; Conferences; Delivery vehicles; Freight transportation; Policy; Trucks
• Geographic Terms: Netherlands
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Motor Carriers; Policy; I15: Environment; I90: Vehicles;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01163499
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: TRL
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Jul 22 2010 11:03AM