International audienceIn France, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transport have grown steadily since 1950 and transport is now the main source of emissions. Despite technological improvements, urban sprawl increases the environmental stress due to car use. This study evaluates urban mobility through assessments of the transport system and travel habits, by applying life cycle assessment methods to the results of mobility simulations that were produced by a Land Use and Transport Interactions (LUTI) model. The environmental impacts of four life cycle phases of urban mobility in the Lyon area (exhausts, fuel processing, infrastructure and vehicle life cycle) were estimated through nine indicators (global warming potential, particulate matter emissions, photochemical oxidant emissions, terrestrial acidification, fossil resource depletion, metal depletion, non-renewable energy use, renewable energy use and land occupancy). GHG emissions were estimated to be 3.02 kg CO2-eq inhabitant−1 day−1, strongly linked to car use, and indirect impacts represented 21% of GHG emissions, which is consistent with previous studies. Combining life cycle assessment (LCA) with a LUTI model allows changes in the vehicle mix and fuel sources combined with demographic shifts to be assessed, and provides environmental perspectives for transport policy makers and urban planners. It can also provide detailed analysis, by allowing levels of emissions that are generated by different categories of households to be differentiated, according to their revenue and location. Public policies can then focus more accurately on the emitters and be assessed from both an environmental and social point of view
PurposeThe environmental assessment of urban mobility, defined as the movement of people in an urban area, exceeds the scope of transportation Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with spatial, territorial and even social considerations. The objective of this study is to develop an original interdisciplinary method based on LCA coupled with a Land-Use and Transport Interaction (LUTI) model to better consider spatial and territorial dimensions in an environmental assessment of urban mobility. Methods Spatial and territorial issues emerge in all LCA stages for urban mobility and this study illustrates them with an application on the Lyon urban area. To consider most individual daily trips, the geographical boundary is related to the area of influence of the city and the functional boundary includes all transportation modes, with motorized, public and non-motorized transports. The Life Cycle Inventories (LCIs) combined EcoInvent 3.2 inventories with a specific LUTI model, named SIMBAD, local mobility surveys and an emissions and consumptions model (COPERT5). These refinements allow a spatial environmental impacts assessment of urban mobility, expressed per inhabitant per day, at different residential locations and open opportunities to develop precise assessment methods for local air pollutants with detailed description on both population and pollution concentrations. Results and discussionAt territorial scale, this study highlights the major contribution to environmental impacts from private cars (around 90%) and the relevance to consider fuel, vehicle and infrastructure life cycles in a mobility assessment. Spatial interpretations show important variability in function of residential locations and urban form characteristics related to different mobility behaviours, distance travelled and transport technologies used. Through the proposed assessment method for local air pollution impacts on human health, hotspots are revealed in the urban area, especially in the urban centre or along main road axes. In order to test our methodology and open discussions on mobility solutions, two contrasted scenarios are explored on compact city and vehicle electrification both presenting impact transfers between global indicators or with the air pollution exposure indicator. Conclusions Urban mobility and its related environmental burden are not only related to technological choices but are also related to spatial characteristics and territorial context. The combination of urban and spatial tools and data, such as LUTI model, with the LCA methodology improves the local representativeness of environmental assessment of mobility and enlarges the ranges of analysis and perspective. Nonetheless, improvements remain to be made in relation to ongoing developments on Spatialized and Territorial LCA.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.