Phys.org July 2, 2024
Researchers in the UK characterized the long-distance travel pattern in England and explored its importance on carbon emissions from and decarbonization of passenger travel. They found that only 2.7% of a person’s trips are for long distance travel (>50 miles one-way), but they account for 61.3% of the miles and 69.3% of the greenhouse gas (CO2 equivalent) emissions from passenger travel. Flying for leisure and social purposes are the largest contributors to long distance miles and emissions. Overall, per capita travel emissions have started decreasing slowly from 2007, but are still higher than in 1997. They proposed a new metric—emissions reduction sensitivity to understand the efficiency of travel demand related initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Long-distance travel, especially flying, can offer orders of magnitude larger emissions reduction compared with urban travel. They suggest a proportionate policy approach… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Shares of annual trips, miles and emissions per capita in 2017 by trip distance bands. Credit: Nature Energy, 02 July 2022