THE IMPACT OF TRANSPORT ON CLIMATE CHANGE FROM A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE Carme Miralles-Guasch & Louis Lemkow

Transport, energy and emissions The transport sector is one of the major consumers of energy, surpassing other sectors such as domestic or industrial consumption It is one of the main sources of gas emissions which have produced the greenhouse effect and prompted climate change

EU Policy In response to this situation, a fundamental objective being actively pursued by the European Union is to disassociate the transport sector from GNP The objective: economic development in the EU member states without this entailing a parallel increase in movements of people and goods via mechanical transport means Sustainable development is expressed through a policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by transport

Transport and energy data In the EU transport accounts for over one third of final energy consumption energy consumption is not only growing in absolute terms, but also is directly related to tons and people transported

Growth in terms of GNP, energy consumption and passenger transport

Spain In Spain the trend is similar: in 2005 transport accounted for 37.5% of final energy consumption, with industry accounting for 35.4% and 27.1% attributable to other economic activities Industry has reduced energy consumption levels

Energy costs of transport The energy costs involved in manufacturing private vehicles & the fuel they consume, motorised transport is the sector which consumes most. At the other end of the scale the bicycle accounts for the lowest costs while public transport energy consumption figures rank around midway between the two.

Greenhouse gases and transport Although C0 2 is not the only element responsible for the greenhouse effect, it is the one which has the biggest impact: CO2 accounts for almost 97%, N 2 0 for 2.8% and CH 4 for 0.4% There is a close link between energy consumed and C02 emissions

Impact of commuting The very high numbers of journeys using private motorised transport, most of them commutes to and from work, are to a large degree responsible for high gas emissions.

Contribution of transport to climate change

The Problem of the Private Vehicle Journeys made in private vehicles generate higher gas emissions in relation to distance travelled in comparison with journeys made by public transport. Despite the fact that in recent years we have seen improvements in engines and fuel quality, these have been minimised by the increase in total vehicles on the road and journeys made, the introduction of more powerful engines and lower vehicle occupancy

Reducing Impacts Reducing the impact of the transport sector on greenhouse gas emissions, above all regarding CO2 emissions, is founded on three basic principles: Efficiency, Accessibility Sustainability

Short term strategies: internalising costs The main goal behind these policies is to reorient private vehicle users towards other ways of travelling that are more efficient from an energy consumption point of view Internalising costs would reduce the present advantages of using private means for making trips, many of which are indirect and not immediately visible There are also cases in which given the characteristics of certain spaces it is becoming more necessary or advisable to introduce direct road traffic restrictions.

Medium and long-term strategies: reducing costs explore whatever possibilities there are to restrict the present trend in territorial planning to produce mono-functional and dispersed spaces which establish distances between different activities From dispersed urban model to compact model, thus shortening travel distance and time

THE IMPACT OF TRANSPORT ON CLIMATE CHANGE FROM A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE Carme Miralles-Guasch & Louis Lemkow Many thanks for your attention!!