Ecological assessment of different types of transport

There is great demand for ecological comparisons of different types of transport in the environmental policy debate and these comparisons are used for a wide range of purposes. However, both the available input data and methodology for analysis are no longer sufficient for many current questions. The aim of this study is therefore to update and expand existing data for the ecological assessment of domestic passenger and freight transport. This update includes all life cycle stages (use phase as well as energy, vehicle and infrastructure supply) for key impact categories (GHG emissions, air pollution, cumulative energy demand, cumulative raw material demand, traffic areas). In addition to these classic impact indicators, noise pollution, traffic accidents and external costs are also included in the transport type comparison. The analysis of environmental impacts explores a number of different scenarios and includes status quo or average observations as well as dynamic effects of changes in transport with the resulting implications for the overall system. During the project, a methodology for ecological assessments at the various levels of interest is developed and applied for a number of different scenarios.

More information about the project

Status of project

End of project: 2019

Project manager

Thomas Bergmann

Project staff

Joß Bracker

Funded by

German Environment Agency (UBA)

Project partners

Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg GmbH (ifeu)
INFRAS AG