Impact of Road Transport Means on Climate Change and Human Health in Poland

Abstract

Operation of means of transport is one of major sources of environmental impact. The goal of this article was to analyse the greenhouse gas emissions and to assess the impact of operation of means of road transport in Poland on human health using the life cycle assessment technique based on an analysis of emission of dust and gas pollutants. Road transport was assessed by taking the following means of transport into account: passenger cars, other cars with weight of up to 3,500 kg, lorries, buses, motorcycles, mopeds and tractors. The analysis covered various dust and gas pollutants, including the emission of CO2, CO, N2O, CH4, NOx, NMVOC, PM and SO2. Using the IMPACT 2002+ life cycle impact assessment method, transport was assessed in a breakdown into the following impact categories: greenhouse gas emission and damage to human health, including damage caused by organic and inorganic compounds. It has been evidenced that the highest emissions of dust and gas pollutants are caused by passenger cars, which is mainly due to the number of vehicles of this type traversing Polish roads. The main cause of climate changes due to road transport is CO2 emission, while NOx emission is the main factor determining individual categories of damage to human health. The negative environmental impact is primarily related to the operation of combustion engine vehicles. Diesel oil and petrol are currently the main fuels used in Polish transport. In order to reduce their impact on the environment one should intensify the efforts aimed at increasing the share of alternative fuels in transport.

Mapping the Research Landscape for the Motorcycle Market Policies: Sustainability as a Trend—A Systematic Literature Review

“…Additionally, in this cluster, some environmental concerns regarding road transport have encouraged the development of some studies. For instance, motorcycles are one of the vehicles considered in the quantification of urban transport emissions [88,100]. They, along with buses and cars, are regarded as one of the most polluting modes of transport in cities [101].…”

“…Unlike in the mobility cluster, studies in the electric motorcycles cluster have been developed in territories such as Germany [85,107], Norway [27], Poland [88], the European Union [80,90,108], and Taiwan [86,106].…”

“…Likewise, the terms climate change and smart city are also new in the field (2019). The first one assesses the impacts of modes of transport on climate change and human health [88], and the second one proposes a method to predict congestion on roads using sensors [89].…”

Impact of Weather Conditions on Travel Demand – The Most Common Research Methods and Applied Models

“…The modal shift between walking and motorized transport, as well as between public transport and passenger cars has not been sufficiently explored. The research in this field is important for defining and developing traffic management strategies, as motorized modes of transport have a high share in the modal split with a significant negative impact on the environment [80]. Besides, the fact is that the number of studies modeling the weather impact on transport demand that are outlined in this paper.…”

Air Filter and Selected Vehicle Characteristics

“…Each litre of petrol consumed causes a production of at least 2.5 kg of CO 2 , while diesel oil is 2.7 kg of CO 2 [4]. Besides CO 2 , combustion engine vehicles are also producers of many other harmful emissions affecting the environment and human health [5]. The composition of exhaust gases varies depending on conditions of fuel consuming as well [6].…”