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Freight transportation accounts for approximately 9% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States.
The individual contributions of each of the five freight transportation modes to total freight transportation GHG
emissions are 60, 6, 5, 13, and 16 percent for truck, rail, air, water, and pipeline modes, respectively. Energy
use for all modes could increase by 75% from 2003 to 2030. We surveyed 59 potential best practices for reducing
energy use and GHG emissions in freight transportation. The GHG emissions of interest here are CO2, methane (CH4),
and refrigerants.
Over half of the potential best practices are for the truck mode. Reduction in energy use is the basis of GHG emissions
reductions for 51 of the potential best practices. The potential best practices are of varying stages of development,
with some already proven and others merely concepts. The total estimated GHG emissions reductions by 2025 if all
of the potential best practices are aggressively implemented is estimated to be 42% of 2025 GHG emissions compared
to if none of the potential best practices are implemented. If all identified potential best practices for the
truck mode are implemented aggressively, 2025 GHG emissions could be "reduced" by as much as 28% compared
to 2003 levels. Thus, if potential best practices are aggressively implemented, it is possible for there to be
a net decrease in total GHG emissions and energy use in freight transportation. Potential additional reductions
might be possible if inter-modal shifts are encouraged where possible, such as from trucks to rail. Limited quantitative
data is available upon which to base assessments of the costs of potential best practices.
Ongoing work is recommended to obtain or develop cost estimates for best practices for which costs are not reported
here, as well as to update cost estimates reported here as new data become available. The impact of variations
of key assumptions, such as market penetration rates, fuel prices, capital costs, and operation and maintenance
costs, should be assessed via sensitivity analysis. It is critical to develop a decision support framework that
will allow parties who might adopt or use a best practice to compare multiple best practices on the basis of site-
or situation-specific assumptions. As an example, we are currently engaged in a collaborative field study to evaluate
anti-idling technologies for 20 long-haul sleeper cab trucks and in a pilot field study to assess plug-in hybrid
diesel technology for a prototype school bus. |
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H. Christopher Frey, Ph.D., is a professor of environmental engineering at North Carolina
State University. Dr. Frey's research focuses on: (1) measurement and modeling of real-world activity, fuel use,
and emissions of onroad and nonroad vehicles using portable emission measurement systems; (2) modeling and evaluation
of advanced technologies for power generation and environmental control; (3) exposure and risk assessment; and
(4) systems analysis methodologies, including uncertainty and sensitivity analysis.
Dr. Frey was a lead author for the chapter on uncertainties in the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories and served in a similar role for the 2005 NARSTO emission
inventory assessment. Dr. Frey is a fellow and recent past president of the Society for Risk Analysis. In 2006
Dr. Frey authored a white paper on incorporating risk and uncertainty into the assessment of impacts of global
climate change on transportation systems. Dr. Frey has served on numerous advisory panels, such as the Clean Air
Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel, a World Health Organization working
group on uncertainty in human exposure assessment to chemicals, and the FACA MOVES review group that is advising
EPA on the next generation vehicle emissions model. Dr. Frey holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from
Carnegie Mellon University. |
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For more information on this
Seminar please contact:
Alberto Ayala at (916) 327-2952 or send email to: aayala@arb.ca.gov
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For a complete listing of
the ARB Chairman's Series and the related documentation for each one of the series please check this page
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