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'60-20 emission'--The unequal distribution of greenhouse gas emissions from personal, non-business travel in the UK

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  • Brand, Christian
  • Preston, John M.

Abstract

Relatively little is known about the composition of greenhouse gas emissions from personal, non-business travel at the disaggregate levels. This paper aims to give insights into the distribution of emissions amongst the UK population. When including non-carbon climate effects air travel dominates overall greenhouse gas emissions. There is a huge range in emissions, with the highest 20% of emitters producing 61% of emissions. This '60-20 emission' rule is surprisingly similar across units and scale of the analysis. Disaggregated data tell a different story than aggregated data. While income, working status, age and car ownership are significantly related to overall emissions, factors related to accessibility, household location and gender are not.

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  • Brand, Christian & Preston, John M., 2010. "'60-20 emission'--The unequal distribution of greenhouse gas emissions from personal, non-business travel in the UK," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 9-19, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:17:y:2010:i:1:p:9-19
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