01350033

Monograph

http://www.trb.org/main/blurbs/165535.aspx

This report examines U.S. transportation’s consumption of petroleum fuels and the public interest in reducing this consumption to enhance national energy security and help control emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs). Scientific analyses and models indicate a need to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of these gases by the middle of this century. Worldwide emissions reductions of up to 80 percent may be needed over the next four decades as a consequence. A response by the transportation sector to this energy and emissions challenge will be important, because the sector accounts for more than two-thirds of the petroleum consumed in the United States and produces between one-quarter and one-third of all the CO2 emissions attributable to the country’s energy consumption. The report reviews policy options to bring about desired energy consumption and GHG emissions reductions from U.S. transportation over the next half century. It is not intended to model or quantify the impacts of each policy option over time but instead to examine the means by which each influences behavior and the demand for and supply of energy- and emissions-saving technology, particularly in the modes of transportation with the greatest effect on the sector’s consumption of petroleum and emissions of GHGs. In choosing among policies, elected officials must take into account many factors that could not be examined in this study, such as the full range of safety, economic, and environmental implications of their choices; therefore, the report does not recommend a specific suite of policies to pursue. Instead, the emphasis is on assessing each policy approach with regard to its applicability across transportation modes and its ability to affect the total amount of energy-intensive transportation activity, the efficiency of transportation vehicles, and GHG emissions characteristics of the sector’s energy supply. For each policy option, consideration is given to the challenges associated with implementation and with the production of large savings in energy and GHG emissions over a time span of decades.

English

162p

2011

Transportation Research Board Special Report

9780309167420

Web

Appendices (1) ; Figures; References; Tables

Carbon dioxide; Congestion pricing; Energy consumption; Exhaust gases; Fuel consumption; Greenhouse gases; Long range planning; Policy; Transportation modes

Energy security

Emissions reduction

United States

Energy; Environment; Policy; Transportation (General); I15: Environment

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Aug 17 2011 2:12PM