IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jotrge/v40y2014icp43-52.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analysis of greenhouse gas emissions of freight transport sector in China

Author

Listed:
  • Tian, Yihui
  • Zhu, Qinghua
  • Lai, Kee-hung
  • Venus Lun, Y.H.

Abstract

Due to the increasing commercial activities in China, the rapid growth of energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the freight transport sector has alarmed the Chinese central government. However, there is a lack of standard measure for evaluating GHG emissions generated from freight transport operations. To improve this situation, Chinese policy makers need to evaluate GHG emissions for energy saving and pollution reduction. This background leads us to examine the GHG emission trajectories and features of Chinese freight transport patterns in the last decade, i.e. between 2000 and 2011. In this study, we examine different regions’ freight turnover and energy consumption by various transport modes (i.e. railway, highway, waterway, aircraft, and oil pipeline) in China. Our results show that the total amount of GHG emissions caused by the Chinese freight transport sector reached 978 million tons in 2011, indicating an average annual growth of 74 million tons CO2e for the last decade. Shandong, Anhui, and Henan are the main provinces producing GHG emissions, representing 11.7%, 10.3%, and 10% of total emissions generated from the freight transport sector in China, respectively. This study also compares the regional GHG emissions from different freight transport modes including railway, highway, waterway, air transport, and oil pipeline. Based on the findings, policy implications are provided on how to mitigate freight transport emissions among different Chinese regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Tian, Yihui & Zhu, Qinghua & Lai, Kee-hung & Venus Lun, Y.H., 2014. "Analysis of greenhouse gas emissions of freight transport sector in China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 43-52.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:40:y:2014:i:c:p:43-52
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2014.05.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692314000891
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2014.05.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lane, Bradley W., 2012. "On the utility and challenges of high-speed rail in the United States," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 282-284.
    2. Hickman, Robin & Ashiru, Olu & Banister, David, 2011. "Transitions to low carbon transport futures: strategic conversations from London and Delhi," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 1553-1562.
    3. Shenle Pan & Eric Ballot & Frédéric Fontane, 2013. "The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from freight transport by pooling supply chains," Post-Print hal-00733678, HAL.
    4. Zhang, Ming & Li, Huanan & Zhou, Min & Mu, Hailin, 2011. "Decomposition analysis of energy consumption in Chinese transportation sector," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 2279-2285, June.
    5. Geels, Frank W., 2012. "A socio-technical analysis of low-carbon transitions: introducing the multi-level perspective into transport studies," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 471-482.
    6. Yan, Xiaoyu & Crookes, Roy J., 2009. "Reduction potentials of energy demand and GHG emissions in China's road transport sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 658-668, February.
    7. Urry, John, 2012. "Changing transport and changing climates," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 533-535.
    8. Cadarso, María-Ángeles & López, Luis-Antonio & Gómez, Nuria & Tobarra, María-Ángeles, 2010. "CO2 emissions of international freight transport and offshoring: Measurement and allocation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 1682-1694, June.
    9. Pan, Shenle & Ballot, Eric & Fontane, Frédéric, 2013. "The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from freight transport by pooling supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 86-94.
    10. Liu, Zhu & Liang, Sai & Geng, Yong & Xue, Bing & Xi, Fengming & Pan, Ying & Zhang, Tianzhu & Fujita, Tsuyoshi, 2012. "Features, trajectories and driving forces for energy-related GHG emissions from Chinese mega cites: The case of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 245-254.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tapia, Rodrigo J. & de Jong, Gerard & Larranaga, Ana M. & Bettella Cybis, Helena B., 2020. "Application of MDCEV to infrastructure planning in regional freight transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 255-271.
    2. Talbi, Besma, 2017. "CO2 emissions reduction in road transport sector in Tunisia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 232-238.
    3. Jiang, Jingjing & Ye, Bin & Liu, Junguo, 2019. "Peak of CO2 emissions in various sectors and provinces of China: Recent progress and avenues for further research," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 813-833.
    4. Liu, Jiaguo & Li, Sujuan & Ji, Qiang, 2021. "Regional differences and driving factors analysis of carbon emission intensity from transport sector in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    5. Bangjun Wang & Yu Tian, 2023. "Green and Low-Carbon Efficiency Assessment of Urban Agglomeration Logistics Industry: Evidence from China’s Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Area (2008–2020)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-18, August.
    6. Xiaodong Chen & Anda Guo & Jiahao Zhu & Fang Wang & Yanqiu He, 2022. "Accessing performance of transport sector considering risks of climate change and traffic accidents: joint bounded-adjusted measure and Luenberger decomposition," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 111(1), pages 115-138, March.
    7. Tiago Sequeira & Liliana Reis (ed.), 2019. "Climate Change and Global Development," Contributions to Economics, Springer, number 978-3-030-02662-2, October.
    8. Li, Wei & Jia, Zhijie & Zhang, Hongzhi, 2017. "The impact of electric vehicles and CCS in the context of emission trading scheme in China: A CGE-based analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 800-816.
    9. Guo, Bin & Geng, Yong & Franke, Bernd & Hao, Han & Liu, Yaxuan & Chiu, Anthony, 2014. "Uncovering China’s transport CO2 emission patterns at the regional level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 134-146.
    10. Jaewon Lim & DooHwan Won, 2019. "Impact of CARB’s Tailpipe Emission Standard Policy on CO 2 Reduction among the U.S. States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Luo, Xiao & Dong, Liang & Dou, Yi & Liang, Hanwei & Ren, Jingzheng & Fang, Kai, 2016. "Regional disparity analysis of Chinese freight transport CO2 emissions from 1990 to 2007: Driving forces and policy challenges," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-14.
    12. Jing Li & Kevin Lo & Meng Guo, 2018. "Do Socio-Economic Characteristics Affect Travel Behavior? A Comparative Study of Low-Carbon and Non-Low-Carbon Shopping Travel in Shenyang City, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-11, June.
    13. Xiaoxuan Wei & Meng Ye & Liang Yuan & Wei Bi & Weisheng Lu, 2022. "Analyzing the Freight Characteristics and Carbon Emission of Construction Waste Hauling Trucks: Big Data Analytics of Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-21, February.
    14. Xiaopeng Guo & Jiaxing Shi & Dongfang Ren & Jing Ren & Qilin Liu, 2017. "Correlations between air pollutant emission, logistic services, GDP, and urban population growth from vector autoregressive modeling: a case study of Beijing," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 87(2), pages 885-897, June.
    15. Zuo, Dajie & Liang, Qichen & Zhan, Shuguang & Huang, Wencheng & Yang, Shenglan & Wang, Mengyun, 2023. "Using energy consumption constraints to control the freight transportation structure in China (2021–2030)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PB).
    16. Linna Li, 2019. "Structure and influencing factors of CO2 emissions from transport sector in three major metropolitan regions of China: estimation and decomposition," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 1245-1269, August.
    17. Xu, Bin & Lin, Boqiang, 2015. "Carbon dioxide emissions reduction in China's transport sector: A dynamic VAR (vector autoregression) approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 486-495.
    18. Tapia, Rodrigo Javier & dos Santos Senna, Luiz Afonso & Larranaga, Ana Margarita & Cybis, Helena Beatriz Bettella, 2019. "Joint mode and port choice for soy production in Buenos Aires province, Argentina," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 100-118.
    19. Nadia Benali & Rochdi Feki, 2020. "Evaluation of the relationship between freight transport, energy consumption, economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions: the VECM approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 1039-1049, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guo, Bin & Geng, Yong & Franke, Bernd & Hao, Han & Liu, Yaxuan & Chiu, Anthony, 2014. "Uncovering China’s transport CO2 emission patterns at the regional level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 134-146.
    2. Mustapa, Siti Indati & Bekhet, Hussain Ali, 2016. "Analysis of CO2 emissions reduction in the Malaysian transportation sector: An optimisation approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 171-183.
    3. Palak, Gökçe & Ekşioğlu, Sandra Duni & Geunes, Joseph, 2014. "Analyzing the impacts of carbon regulatory mechanisms on supplier and mode selection decisions: An application to a biofuel supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 198-216.
    4. Qian Dai & Jiaqi Yang & Dong Li, 2018. "Modeling a Three-Mode Hybrid Port-Hinterland Freight Intermodal Distribution Network with Environmental Consideration: The Case of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-26, August.
    5. Yi Zheng & Huchang Liao & Xue Yang, 2016. "Stochastic Pricing and Order Model with Transportation Mode Selection for Low-Carbon Retailers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-19, January.
    6. De Moor, Bram J. & Creemers, Stefan & Boute, Robert N., 2023. "Breaking truck dominance in supply chains: Proactive freight consolidation and modal split transport," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    7. Jianming Yao, 2017. "Optimisation of one-stop delivery scheduling in online shopping based on the physical Internet," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(2), pages 358-376, January.
    8. Zhao, Rui & Zhou, Xiao & Han, Jiaojie & Liu, Chengliang, 2016. "For the sustainable performance of the carbon reduction labeling policies under an evolutionary game simulation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 262-274.
    9. Meng, Xiaoge & Yao, Zhong & Nie, Jiajia & Zhao, Yingxue & Li, Zenglu, 2018. "Low-carbon product selection with carbon tax and competition: Effects of the power structure," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 224-230.
    10. Mrabti, Nassim & Hamani, Nadia & Boulaksil, Youssef & Amine Gargouri, Mohamed & Delahoche, Laurent, 2022. "A multi-objective optimization model for the problems of sustainable collaborative hub location and cost sharing," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    11. Zhalechian, M. & Tavakkoli-Moghaddam, R. & Zahiri, B. & Mohammadi, M., 2016. "Sustainable design of a closed-loop location-routing-inventory supply chain network under mixed uncertainty," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 182-214.
    12. Nchofoung, Tii N. & Asongu, Simplice A., 2022. "Effects of infrastructures on environmental quality contingent on trade openness and governance dynamics in Africa," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 152-163.
    13. X.J. Wang & S.H. Choi, 2016. "Impacts of carbon emission reduction mechanisms on uncertain make-to-order manufacturing," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(11), pages 3311-3328, June.
    14. Bouchery, Yann & Ghaffari, Asma & Jemai, Zied & Tan, Tarkan, 2017. "Impact of coordination on costs and carbon emissions for a two-echelon serial economic order quantity problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 260(2), pages 520-533.
    15. Fahimnia, Behnam & Sarkis, Joseph & Eshragh, Ali, 2015. "A tradeoff model for green supply chain planning:A leanness-versus-greenness analysis," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 173-190.
    16. Nassim Mrabti & Nadia Hamani & Laurent Delahoche, 2022. "A Comprehensive Literature Review on Sustainable Horizontal Collaboration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-38, September.
    17. Huiling Wang & Jiaxin Luo & Mengtian Zhang & Yue Ling, 2022. "The Impact of Transportation Restructuring on the Intensity of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Empirical Data from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-16, October.
    18. Asghari, Mohammad & Mirzapour Al-e-hashem, S. Mohammad J., 2021. "Green vehicle routing problem: A state-of-the-art review," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    19. Manikas, Andrew S. & Kroes, James R., 2015. "A newsvendor approach to compliance and production under cap and trade emissions regulation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 274-284.
    20. Thomas Hacardiaux & Christof Defryn & Jean-Sébastien Tancrez & Lotte Verdonck, 2022. "Balancing partner preferences for logistics costs and carbon footprint in a horizontal cooperation," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 44(1), pages 121-153, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:40:y:2014:i:c:p:43-52. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-transport-geography .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.