Life cycle comparison of passenger air and rail transportation

Abstract

Air transportation has an undisputed speed advantage among all other modes. On the other hand, it is known that the environmental metrics of aviation is quite unsatisfactory compared to other transportation types due to its fuel characteristics and the amount of consumed fuel. However, it would be a wrong choice to rely solely on operational processes to make a true comparison. For this reason, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) model should be generated by taking into account processes such as production except the operation process and the calculations should be performed with a comprehensive and holistic perspective. In this study, the environmental impacts of air and rail transport types are compared from the life cycle perspective. For this purpose, first, the emissions in the case of one passenger per one km (pkm) transportation by air and rail were calculated. Then, taking into account the production and disposal processes of the aircraft and passenger trains, the LCA cycle was completed and total emissions were calculated. SimaPro version 9.0.0.49 package program and 1.09 version of ReCiPe 2008 method were used for LCA calculations. With the help of the program, emissions generated during both production and one pkm transportation processes of an aircraft, high-speed and normal train were estimated. Accordingly, the greenhouse gas produced one pkm in air transport was 126.8 g in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO_2eq), while CO_2eq was 0.3 and 0.31 g for high-speed trains and regular trains, respectively. Considering the production processes, 2072.1, 28.72 and 19.07 t of greenhouse gases are produced, respectively for these three transportation modes.

Keywords

• Air transportation
• rail transportation
• life cycle assessment
• social costs

References

1. [1] Koornneef J, Van Keulen T, Faaij A, Turkenburg W. Life cycle assessment of a pulverized coal power plant with post-combustion capture, transport and storage of CO2. Int. J. Greenh. Gas Control 2008; 448–467.
2. [2] Jackson RB, Le Quéré C, Andrew R M, Canadell J G, Peters G P, Roy J, Wu L Warning signs for stabilizing global CO2 emissions. Environ. Res. Lett. 2017;12, 110202.
3. [3] DaMatta F M, Rahn E, Läderach P, Ghini R, Ramalho JC . Why could the coffee crop endure climate change and global warming to a greater extent than previously estimated?. Climatic Change, 2019; 152(1), 167-178.
4. [4] Hari V, Rakovec, O., Markonis, Y., Hanel, M., & Kumar, R. Increased future occurrences of the exceptional 2018–2019 Central European drought under global warming. Scientific reports, 2020;10(1), 1-10.
5. [5] Van Fan Y, Perry S, Klemeš J J, Lee CT. A review on air emissions assessment: Transportation. Journal of cleaner production, 2018;194, 673-684.
6. [6] Nneji V C, Stimpson A, Cummings M, Goodrich K H Exploring concepts of operations for on-demand passenger air transportation. In 17th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference 2017; (p. 3085).
7. [7] Cox B. Jemiolo W. Mutel C. Life cycle assessment of air transportation and the Swiss commercial air transport fleet. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 2018;58, 1-13.
8. [8] Kaewunruen S, Sresakoolchai J. Peng J. Life Cycle Cost, Energy and carbon assessments of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway. Sustainability, 2020;12(1), 206.

9. [9] Çetinkaya A.Y. Life cycle assessment of environmental effects and nitrate removal for membrane capacitive deionization technology. Environ. Monit. Assess. 2020;192, 543.
10. [10] Nwodo M. N. Anumba CJ review of life cycle assessment of buildings using a systematic approach. Building and Environment, 2019;162, 106290.
11. [11] Bilgili L, Kuzu S L, Çetinkaya A Y, Kumar P Evaluation of railway versus highway emissions using LCA approach between the two cities of Middle Anatolia. Sustain. Cities Soc.2019 ;49, 101635.
12. [12] Lee, C., Lee, J.-Y., Jung, W.-S., Hwang, Y.-W. (2014). A Study on the Characteristics of Environmental Impact in Construction Sector of High-Speed Railway using LCA. J. Korean Soc. Railw. 2014;17, 178–185.
13. [13] Saxe S, Kasraian D. Rethinking environmental LCA life stages for transport infrastructure to facilitate holistic assessment. J. Ind. Ecol.2020 jiec.13010.
14. [14] Vespermann J, Wald A. Much Ado about Nothing? – An analysis of economic impacts and ecologic effects of the EU-emission trading scheme in the aviation industry. Transp. Res. Part A Policy Pract. 2011;45, 1066–1076.
15. [15] Kuzu S.L. Estimation and dispersion modeling of landing and take-off (LTO) cycle emissions from Atatürk International Airport. Air Qual. Atmos. Heal. 2018;11, 153–161.
16. [16] ICAO, International Civil Aviation Organization Environmental Report 2013.
17. [17] Andreoni V, Miola A, Perujo A, Cost Effectiveness Analysis of the Emission Abatement in the Shipping Sector Emissions, JRC Scientific and Technical Reports. 2008; https://doi.org/10.2788/77899
18. [18] Cecchel S, Chindamo D, Collotta M, Cornacchia G, Panvini A, Tomasoni G, Gadola M. Lightweighting in light commercial vehicles: cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment of a safety-relevant component. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment,2018; 23(10), 2043-2054.
19. [19] Çetinkaya, A.Y., Bilgili, L., Levent Kuzu, S. (2018) Life cycle assessment and greenhouse gas emission evaluation from aksaray solid waste disposal facility. Air Qual. Atmos. Heal.2018 ;11, 549–558.
20. [20] D’Alfonso T., Jiang C., Bracaglia V. Air transport and high-speed rail competition: Environmental implications and mitigation strategies. Transp. Res. Part A Policy Pract. 2016;92, 261–276.
21. [21] De Bruyn S, Bijleveld M., de Graaff L, Schep E, Schroten A, Vergeer R, Ahdour S. (2018). Environmental Prices Handbook EU28 Version - Methods and numbers for valuation of environmental impacts, CE Delf
22. [22] Hauschild, M.Z., Rosenbaum, R.K., Olsen, S.I. (Eds.), (2018). Life Cycle Assessment: Theory and Practice, 1st ed. Springer, Cham, Switzerland.
23. [23] Head M, Bernier P, Levasseur A, Beauregard R, Margni M. Forestry carbon budget models to improve biogenic carbon accounting in life cycle assessment. J. Clean. Prod. 2019;213, 289–299.
24. [24] Kollamthodi S, Brannigan C, Harfoo M, Skinne I, Whall C, Lavric L. Noden R, Lee D, Buhaug Ø., Martinussen, K., Skejic, R., Valberg, I., Brembo, J.C., Eyring, V. and, Faber, J. Greenhouse gas emissions from shipping: Trends, projections and abatement potential: Final report to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), ;2008AEATechnology.
25. [25] Miola, A., Ciuffo, B., Marra, M., Giovine, E. (2010). Analytical framework to regulate air emissions from maritime transport, European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute for Environment and Sustainability.
26. [26] Robertson S. The potential mitigation of CO2 emissions via modal substitution of high-speed rail for short-haul air travel from a life cycle perspective - An Australian case study. Transp. Res. Part D Transp. Environ. 2016;46, 365–380.
27. [27] Schreier M, Mannstein H, Eyring V, Bovensmann H. Global ship track distribution and radiative forcing from 1 year of AATSR data. Geophys. Res. Lett.2007 ; 34.
28. [28] Smith, T.W.P., Jalkanen, J.P., Anderson, B.A., Corbett, J.J., Faber, J., Hanayama, S.., O’Keeffe, E.., Parker, S.., Johansson, L.., Aldous, L.., Raucci, C.., Traut, M.., Ettinger, S.., Nelissen, D.., Lee, D.S.., Ng, S.., Agrawal, A.., Winebrake, J., J.; Hoen, M.., Chesworth, S., Pandey, A. (2014). Third IMO GHG Study 2014; International Maritime Organization (IMO).
29. [29] Zevenhoven R, Beyene A. The relative contribution of waste heat from power plants to global warming. Energy 2011;36, 3754–3762.