Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
emissions in the final energy consumption, but also in the chain of energy transfor-
mations which allow having final energy
[6]
.
Even though there is awareness about CO2 emissions reduction and there is
improvement on vehicle efficiency due to new technology of engines and fuels,
private vehicle ownership and use continue to grow at an increasing rate together
with rising personal incomes and desire to experience faster and more reliable
transportation technology. Inefficient modal share and dominance of passenger
road transport are key factors of increasing level of vehicle private use and own-
ership, and associated levels of unsustainability. As personal incomes rise, rela-
tive use of private transportation over public transit increases. Similarly, freight
transport energy use will continue growing unless there are important reductions
in energy intensities of road freight and there is change of modal share.
Transport and Greenhouse Gases
In 1990, transport consumed 39.5% of the total primary energy in Spain and 40.7% in
2004
[7]
. In 2004, final energy consumption of the transport sector was slightly more
than 38 million tones (tones oil equivalent). Besides being the economic sector with
major final energy consumption, transport is the sector with major consumption of fos-
sil fuels (55.2%, 2004). In absolute terms, GHG emissions from transport during this
period have grown 66%
[8]
. At an annual growth rate of 3.7%, emissions are expected
to double over 20 years. Emission growth is due mainly to road passengers and freight
transport. Road transport alone is responsible for 75% of total sector emissions.
GHG emissions of the transport sector are not explained by either the population
growth or the economical growth, because they have lower growth rates. This indi-
cates that production processes in our country have an increasing growth of trans-
port, contrary to EU objectives to generate economical growth with smaller
increments of passengers and freight transport flows
[9]
.
On the other hand, annual consumption of 26 million road vehicles is 34,696
million liters of fuel (mainly gasoline and diesel). Of this total, consumption of the
car fleet (19.5 million) represents 54%, 2.4 million trucks 33%, vans 10% and buses
and motorcycles 3%
[10, 11]
. It must stand out that consumption of the truck fleet
represents 60% of the fuel used by cars. Urban consumption constitutes 22% of the
total consumption, of this 73% corresponds to vehicles with diesel engines. These
mean consumptions vary based on the type of engine and vehicle. For further
details Table
1
can be consulted.
Current transport demand trends and associated GHG emissions in Spain have
higher growth rates than in the rest of EU countries (Fig.
1
). The mobility of per-
sons and goods grows at a higher rate compared with the mobility of European
neighbors. It is observed, in addition, that the growth of transport passengers is
greater than the growth of transport freight, when Europe has an opposite trend.
These data show the greater importance of the problem in our country, and that in
our case, the mobility of persons is still more worrying than the one of goods.
