Consumption and the environment (SOER2010) - European ...

Thematic assessment | Consumption and the environment
Figure 6.4
Million tonnes CO 2
800
700
600
CO 2
emissions from passenger
transport (use phase only),
EU‐27, 2000 and 2005
growing demand for travel by private car in the EU‐27
(Figure 6.5).
Direct emissions from the combustion of fuels make up
about 77 % of total life‐cycle based GHG emissions from
passenger car transport. The remainder can be allocated
to fuel production and supply, 13 %; vehicle production
and maintenance, 9 %; and disposal and end of life, < 1 %
(JRC/IPTS, 2008).
500
400
300
200
100
0
Notes:
Buses
Motorcycles
2000 2005
Passenger cars
Rail
Aviation
Ferries
Emissions from ferries and aviation only include
intra‐EU traffic. CO 2
emissions from rail transport are
too low to be seen on the graph. The reason is that
only emissions from the use phase are covered —
indirect emissions such as from electricity production
for electric trains are excluded.
Unlike GHG emissions, emissions of pollutants from
transport that affect local air quality have continued to
decline across EEA member countries, but passenger
cars are still among the top six individual polluting
sources for NO X
, particulate matter (PM 10
, PM 2.5
),
carbon monoxide (CO) and non methane volatile
organic compounds (NMVOC). As a result, ambient
concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2
) still exceed 2010
limit values in many cities around Europe (EEA, 2010a).
Transport, and especially road transport, is also the major
source of noise pollution in the largest cities in the EU‐27,
with 47 million people being affected by noise levels that
are considered dangerous for public health (see also the
SOER 2010 air pollution assessment (EEA, 2010d) and
urban environment assessment (EEA, 2010e)).
Source: LIFE EC4MACS, 2010.
CO 2
from passenger transport in the EU‐27, excluding
the production and waste management of vehicles, and
international air and maritime transport, increased by
6 % between 2000 and 2005. Emissions from the transport
sector as a whole now account for just below 20 % of total
GHG emissions across the EEA‐32 countries (EEA, 2010).
Figure 6.5
Index 1990 = 1.0
1.6
1.5
1.4
Growth in private car travel
versus fuel efficiency in
EU‐27, 1990–2007
The EEA and ETC/SCP (2010) have estimated the
pressures associated with the consumption of 31 key
product categories in nine EU Member States. If the
pressures caused by the product categories associated
with mobility are added up, personal mobility is
estimated to cause 20 % of GHG emissions, 19 %
of acidifying emissions, 32 % of troposheric ozone
precursors and 15 % of material resource use activated
by national consumption. These environmental pressures
include a rough estimate of pressures arising from
international sea and air transport. Comparable results
were found using life cycle approaches: mobility was
found to be responsible for 15–25 % of the environmental
impacts in most impact categories caused by European
consumption (JRC/IPTS, 2006).
While the fuel efficiency of the average car has
been improved continuously in recent decades,
the improvements have been more than offset by
1.3
1.2
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
Stock of cars
Total car km travelled
Total fuel consumption of private cars
Specific fuel consumption of average car (litres/km)
Source: Odyssee database, 2010.
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The European environment | State and outlook 2010