Carbon Emissions in Transportation: A Synthesis Framework

Abstract

With the growing concern worldwide regarding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and their impacts on human health and the environment, transportation has become a central theme in their mitigation, responsible for 15% of anthropogenic GHG, 23% of global energy-related, and 8.7 Gt CO2-eq emissions. This study’s objective was to comprehensively review the current state of carbon mitigation in the transportation sector. This was conducted through a systematic literature review based on the multi-level perspective of socio-technical transition theory and structural contingency theory. In total, 30 review papers covering 3561 original articles were selected for full-text examination. The main findings were related to the fact that in order to build resilience against climate change, transportation services must adapt to the current scenario and act quickly to avert future changes. Enablers, barriers, benefits, disadvantages, and metrics in carbon emission reduction were identified. A comprehensive framework and a dynamic co-word analysis emphasised the interrelationships among the dimensions of sustainability transition in transportation. Important trade-offs among the transition dimensions are context-dependent and should be adapted to different countries and transport modes to succeed. The study sheds light on the need to investigate mitigation’s often-neglected consequences and disadvantages.

Green Tollways: Strategizing Carbon-Emissions-Based Government-Owned Public Toll Road Operations in China

“…Zhu et al (2012) provided an early foray into the effectiveness of road dust emission control measures [22]. Studies have paved the way for more comprehensive reviews, such as those conducted by Ferrer and Thomé (2023), which underscores the need for transportation services to adapt to climate change imperatives [23].…”

Environmental and Psychosocial Barriers to Active Commuting to University in a Spanish University Community

“…There is documented evidence about enablers and barriers of reducing carbon emissions in transportation, with the main categories being technological innovations (e.g., electrification and alternative fuels), operational measures (e.g., vehicle routing and intermodal transportation), regulatory and economic measures (e.g., urban governance), urban form and human behavior (e.g., modal shift and shared mobility), and strategy and stakeholder pressure (e.g., business strategies and carbon polices) [3]. Regarding human behavior, the preferences for the use of individual cars prevail over shared mobility, public transportation, and less-polluting transport modes such electric bikes [3]. Regarding the university context, previous studies indicated that the car was the main means of transport to university in Spain [4], and that most students were passive commuters [5,6].…”

“…Given the aforementioned health and environmental benefits associated with AC, initiatives and policies that encourage PA and reduce greenhouse gas emission are required for the university population. For this purpose, understanding the influences on this behavior is essential to designing effective measures since each urban area is particular in many ways (e.g., geography, infrastructure, and socioeconomic characteristics), and, as a result, has specific transportation challenges [3]. The choice of the mode of transportation depends on multifactorial variables.…”