Energy and environmental impacts of alternative pathways for the Portuguese road transportation sector

Patrícia C. Baptista, Carla M. Silva, Tiago L. Farias and John B. Heywood

Energy Policy, 2012, vol. 51, issue C, 802-815

Abstract: This study presents a methodology to develop scenarios of evolution from 2010 to 2050, for energy consumption and emissions (CO2, HC, CO, NOx, PM) of the road transportation sector (light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles). The methodology is applied to Portugal and results are analyzed in a life-cycle perspective. A BAU trend and 5 additional scenarios are explored: Policy-based (Portuguese political targets considered); Liquid fuels-based (dependency on liquid fuels and no deployment of alternative refueling infrastructure); Diversified (introduction of a wide diversity of alternative vehicle technology/energy sources); Electricity vision (deployment of a wide spread electricity recharging infrastructure); Hydrogen pathway (a broad hydrogen refueling infrastructure is deployed). Total life-cycle energy consumption could decrease between 2 and 66% in 2050 relatively to 2010, while CO2 emissions will decrease between 7 and 73% in 2050 relatively to 2010. In 2050 the BAU scenario remains 30% above the 1990 level for energy consumption and CO2 emissions; the other considered scenarios lead to 4 to 29% reductions for energy consumption and 10 to 33% for CO2 emissions in 2050 compared to the BAU. Therefore, alternative vehicle technologies are required in the long-term, but changes in taxation and alternative transportation modes policies are crucial for achieving short-term impacts.

Keywords: Energy consumption; CO2 emissions; Alternative road transportation pathways (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:51:y:2012:i:c:p:802-815

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.09.025

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