| 1. |
- Liljenström, Carolina, et al.
(författare)
-
Annual climate impact and primary energy use of Swedish transport infrastructure
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- By 2045, Sweden is to have zero net emissions of greenhouse gases, implying that also the transport sector must reduce its emissions to nearly zero by that year. Planning for emission reduction measures require network level studies showing environmental impacts of the transport network. Previous studies do not allow assessment of current hotspots in the infrastructure network, which limits their relevance for decision-support in this question. The aim of this paper is to assess the current annual climate impact and primary energy use of Swedish transport infrastructure by using a methodological approach based on life cycle assessment. The scope includes new construction and management of roads, railways, airports, ports, and fairway channels. The climate impact was estimated to 3 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalents and the primary energy use was estimated to 27 terawatt hours. Mainly road and rail infrastructure contributed to these impacts. The environmental hotspots in the infrastructure network were identified as management of the infrastructure stock (particularly reinvestment of road and rail infrastructure) and material production (particularly production of asphalt, steel, and concrete). Planners should work systematically with emission and energy efficiency in these areas to reduce impacts of Swedish transport infrastructure. Additional research on impacts of small construction measures, the size of biogenic carbon emissions (in standing biomass as well as soil carbon), and the use and impacts of asphalt used in road construction and management would further increase the understanding of Swedish transport infrastructure at the network level.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Liljenström, Carolina, et al.
(författare)
-
Life cycle assessment as decision-support in choice of road corridor: case study and stakeholder perspectives
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The possibilities to influence environmental impacts during the road life cycle are greatest in early planning; however, the lack of project specific data makes it difficult to use life cycle assessment as decision-support. This paper examines how life cycle assessment can be used to support the choice of road corridor, considering the practical prerequisit of simplicity and usefulness of results for decision-making. The model LICCER was used to quantify life cycle impacts of road corridors in a construction project in Sweden. Availability of input data and usefulness of results was discussed with road authorities in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Traffic operation contributed most to life cycle impacts in all road corridors, thus the shortest construction alternative had the lowest life cycle impacts. However, the shortest alternative had the highest infrastructure related impacts due to large quantities of earthworks. Parameters that had the highest influence on results were those that affected the impacts of traffic, earthworks, and pavement. While workshop participants agreed that project specific data are scarce and uncertain in early planning, they also believed that planners can make satisfactory estimations and that the model output is useful to support the choice of road corridor. To balance simplicity and usefulness of results, data collection should focus on parameters that have high contribution to environmental impacts, that differentiate the road corridors, and are not proportional to the road length. To implement life cycle assessment in practice, models should preferably include nation specific data approved by the national road authority.
|
|
| 4. |
- Liljenström, Carolina
(författare)
-
Life cycle assessment in early planning of transport systems : Decision support at project and network levels
- 2018
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Swedish Climate Policy Framework implies that the Swedish transport sector must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to nearly zero by 2045. Previous studies have – using life cycle assessment – shown that indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicle and infrastructure life cycle are significant and should be considered in transport policy and planning of transport systems, in addition to direct emissions of vehicle operation.The aim of this thesis is to contribute with knowledge on climate impact and primary energy use of transport systems for decision-support in early planning at project and network levels, and evaluate and demonstrate how life cycle climate impact and primary energy use can be assessed in early planning. This thesis includes three papers that contribute to achieving this aim. Paper I developed a methodological approach to assess annual climate impact and primary energy use of Swedish road, rail, air, and sea transport infrastructure at a network level. Paper II then expanded this system to the assessment of the Swedish transport system at a network level, including national and international freight and passenger transport by road, rail, air, and sea. At the project level, Paper III examined how LCA can be used as decision-support in choice of road corridor, considering the practical prerequisite of data availability in early planning and usefulness of results in the decision-making process.Paper I showed that the annual climate impact of Swedish transport infrastructure is around 3 million tonnes CO2 equivalents and that the annual primary energy use is around 27 TWh. Road infrastructure accounted for the largest proportion of impacts – around 70% of the climate impact and around 80% of the energy use. Paper II showed that the annual climate impact of the Swedish transport system was around 44 million tonnes CO2 equivalents and the primary energy use was around 178 TWh. Road transport and aviation together accounted for 90% of the climate impact and primary energy use. Indirect impacts were significant, especially for road and rail transport, accounting for 30% of the total climate impact and primary energy use. Paper III found that (1) collection of project specific data should focus on parameters that differentiate the road corridors, that can be influenced in early planning, and that are not directly related to the road length and (2) life cycle assessment based models used in early planning should include nation specific generic data approved by the national road authority.
|
|
| 5. |
- Liljenström, Carolina
(författare)
-
Life cycle assessment of transport systems and transport infrastructure : Investigating methodological approaches and quantifying impacts at project and network levels
- 2021
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector is a key challenge to reach global climate targets and limit global warming to below 2 ºC. The use of life cycle assessment (LCA) may provide knowledge about the environmental impacts of transport systems so that emission reduction measures can be identified.The aim of this thesis is to investigate how LCA can contribute with knowledge that can be used to support specific decisions in the context of transport system policy and planning, to demonstrate how LCA can be conducted at project and network levels, and to contribute with knowledge of direct and indirect climate impact and primary energy use of the Swedish transport infrastructure and the Swedish transport system at a network level.The thesis includes four papers that contribute to achieving this aim. Paper 1 demonstrates an approach for the identification of hotspots in Swedish road, rail, air, and sea transport infrastructure at a network level. Paper 2 demonstrates this approach for the full transport system at a network level, including national and international freight transport and passenger travel by road, rail, air, and sea. At the project level, Paper 3 investigates how LCA can be used as decision-support in choice of road corridor, considering prerequisites of data availability and usefulness of results for decision-making. Paper 4 maps approaches used to quantify impacts of the maintenance stage in 92 project-level LCAs of road and rail infrastructure and discusses their applicability in policy and procurement.Paper 1 estimated that the annual climate impact of Swedish transport infrastructure is about 3 Mtonne CO2 equivalents and that the corresponding primary energy use is about 27 TWh. Road and rail infrastructure contributed to 90% of these impacts. Additional hotspots identified were reinvestment of roads and railways and production of asphalt, concrete, and steel. Paper 2 estimated that the annual climate impact of the Swedish transport system is about 40 Mtonne CO2 equivalents and that the corresponding primary energy use is about 196 TWh. Road transport and aviation together accounted for 85% of these impacts. Indirect impacts were significant, accounting for about a third of the impacts. The main causes of indirect impacts were fuel production for road passenger travel and manufacturing of passenger cars.Paper 3 found that LCA-based models used in early planning should include generic data that are nation specific (preferably approved by the national road authority) and that can be replaced by project specific data when needed. Further, both traffic and infrastructure should be included at a level of detail that allows the identification of improvement measures and the assessment of uncertainty in the results. Results should be presented relative to a reference alternative and complement results from other decision-support used in planning. Paper 4 found a variety of approaches to quantify impacts of the maintenance stage in LCA. The analysis period was often determined based on the infrastructure’s service life. The maintenance frequency was commonly estimated based on the current practice of maintenance in a region or on performance prediction modelling. Only two of the reviewed papers included the effects of climate change on results of the LCA. How the approaches can be implemented in decision-making depends on their abilities to be standardised for use in procurement and to incorporate multiple scenarios.Stakeholders involved in transport system policy and planning can use these results as support in considering life cycle impacts in their decision-making practice to reduce environmental impacts in line with national and international targets.
|
|
