Environmental assessment of urban mobility: Combining life cycle assessment with land-use and transport interaction modelling—Application to Lyon (France)

Abstract

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

Assessing the economic and environmental impacts of urban food systems for public school canteens: case study of Great Lyon region

“…For evaluating the environmental performance of the system, only exhaust direct emissions from the use of vehicles were taken into account. François et al [62] identified nine environmental indicators for the urban transport sector. However, and as shown in [35,61,63], the different stakeholders involved in urban logistics consider mainly global warming and particulate matters.…”

Environmental Impacts of Future Urban Deployment of Electric Vehicles: Assessment Framework and Case Study of Copenhagen for 2016–2030

“…refs. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] ). However, these assessments are often limited in that they (i) have a limited impact coverage (typically centered on climate change and energy demand), [24][25][26][27] (ii) have a narrow technological scope that covers only a few EV technologies (often only hybrid and battery electric vehicles), 23,25,28 (iii) do not embrace an all-inclusive fleetbased perspective, thus leaving out parts of the system (e.g.…”

“…charging infrastructures), [29][30][31] or (iv) do not encompass a future-oriented perspective. 32 To the knowledge of the authors, no studies have addressed all 4 limitations and investigated a large panel of technologies in a complete, foresight fleet-based assessment with a large impact coverage. 16,17,33 In the context of urban transport planning, such limitations undermine the reliability and relevance of the assessment results and the subsequent support provided to decision-makers.…”

Estimación Espectral de Series de Tiempo de Absorbancia Uv-Vis para el Monitoreo de Calidad de Aguas

“…Además, la calidad del agua es consecuencia de fenómenos naturales y el actuar del ser humano, además es una función de uso del suelo en elárea de captación. Hoy en día se reconoce que la forma en que los seres humanos utilizan y ocupan la tierra tiene una implicación directa en la calidad del agua y, por lo tanto, se preconiza que el control de calidad del agua se asocia con una planificación global a nivel deárea de captación entera y no de forma individual para cada fuente que recibe un impacto directo [10], [11].…”