Ambitions and resources for alternative fuels

Introduction

Decarbonizing a society implies a structural transformation of all sectors, from the production to the distribution of energy and the equipment that uses it.

Today, transportation is still the sector that emits the most CO₂, after energy generation. More specifically, road transport is by far the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs), accoun-ting for 73 percent of the transportation sector’s CO₂ emissions and nearly 12 percent of total global GHG emissions. Maritime and air transport are each responsible for 1 percent of total emissions with relatively similar emission levels up until 2014. Since then, the increase in emissions from aviation has intensified by almost 2 percent per yearFact Sheet – Climate Change, United Nations Global Sustainable Transport Conference, October 15, 2021, Beijing. – accounting for around 13 percent of CO₂ emissions from global transport. Emissions from aviation are now increasing faster than CO₂ emissions from maritime transport, which are growing at around +0.85 percent per yearThese measurements do not apply to other pollutants present in fuels, such as aromatics (nitric oxides, NOx) or sulfur (sulfur dioxide SO2). Final Report: Updated analysis of the non-CO₂ climate impacts of aviation and potential policy measures pursuant to the EU Emissions Trading System Directive Article 30(4), European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), September 2020..

While the health crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic caused global carbon emissions from the transportation sector to drop by around 15 percent, they are now gradually returning to pre-Covid levels. This is mainly due to the fact that means of transport are highly depen-dent – at 91 percent – on hydrocarbons. Additionally, the steady rise in the use of means of transport worldwide is alone driving 5 percent annual growth in commercial air traffic.

No. 1: Global CO₂ Emissions from Transport

by Sub-Sector in the Net Zero Scenario (NZE), 2000-2030

Source : Agence Internationale de l'Énergie (AIE), 22 septembre 2022

Crédit image : @Shutterstock

[...]

Download (PDF)