Assessment of carbon dioxide emission from urban freight transport

Abstract

Transportation now accounts for around a quarter of all energy-related CO2 emissions, with that number anticipated to climb to one-third by 2050, faster than any other industry. CO2 is the primary greenhouse gas emitted by automobiles. India as a country, emits almost one-third of the world’s GHG emissions. Due to increase in population, the rate of urbanization increases, which results in the increase of consumer demand, urban distribution centres and movement of goods within the city limits. In recent times, more people are shifting to online retail resulting in the boom of e-commerce. Hence, the vehicles used for service delivery increases which results in the increase of congestion and carbon-dioxide emission during peak hour in urban areas. The aim of this thesis is to assess the carbon dioxide emissions of on-road urban freight transport for current scenario and predict for the future. As a result, it aspires to provide a standardised technique for capturing data on urban freight operations that can be used to estimate carbon dioxide emissions. It will assess the characteristics of urban freight by comparing various cities in India using population class as the primary parameter. The carbon dioxide emissions will be calculated using vehicle type, vehicle size, age, fuel consumption, vehicle kilometres travelled, fuel efficiency and load factor using the ASIF framework. Different carbon-dioxide emission scenarios will be calculated for the future based on the recorded features, and actions will be offered in the city to decrease or limit tailpipe carbon dioxide emissions from urban freight motor movements. The developed framework will serve as a means of comparing the carbon dioxide emissions for various urban areas of Indian cities. This will be evaluated to help understand the sustainable transport options in the coming years to reduce the carbon footprint from urban freight vehicles. This will be evaluated to predict the future trends and help understand the sustainable transport options in the coming years to reduce the carbon footprint from urban freight vehicles. Analyzing the range of policy concerns surrounding transportation emissions, as well as the possibilities for integrating modelling methodologies, adds to our knowledge and of using sustainable modes of transport.