Comparison of the CO2 emissions of short distance flights and alternative modes
21042
From 2021 to 2022
This study compared the climate impact of plane, train, and long-distance bus for 25 popular destinations from Belgium, including both tailpipe emissions and source-to-tank emissions in the analysis. TML carried out the calculations with specific emission factors per mode of transport and a literature review for the climate impact of other substances.
In this study, we compared the climate impact of plane, train, and long-haul bus for 25 popular flight destinations from Belgium. In our analysis, we considered both the exhaust emissions during the flight or trip and the emissions associated with the production, transmission, and distribution of the fuels and electricity. The latter emissions are the so-called source-to-tank emissions. For flights longer than 450 km, we also give an indication of the additional climate damage due to non-CO2 emissions, with upper and lower limits in addition to a central value.
For our calculations of the climate impact of CO2, we used the specific emission factors per mode of transport. For the climate impact due to other substances, we relied on a literature review.
The climate impact of aircraft is clearly higher than that of the other two modes of transport. In addition, the final impact of a shift from plane to train and/or bus depends on additional factors:
- The train has lower emissions per passenger than the plane. If there are fewer flights between countries covered by the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and more people take the train, this will result in a net reduction in CO2 emissions from these trips. The emission allowances released as a result will be available to other players under the EU ETS, while respecting the annual falling emissions cap.
- If the additional train traffic means that additional rail infrastructure has to be provided, then we have to take into account any additional CO2 emissions for the construction of the infrastructure. These depend heavily on the route, in particular whether many tunnels, bridges, etc. have to be provided. They also depend on the extent to which the CO2-intensive materials for railway construction (e.g., cement or steel) are provided by sectors under the EU ETS emissions cap. For sectors under the EU ETS, the additional emissions should be offset by a decrease in emissions from other players under the ETS.
- For congested airports, the freed-up capacity can be expected to be filled by other flights, insofar as no additional policies are envisaged that aim to reduce the number of aircraft movements. Depending on the distance of the additional flights, this leads to additional climate effects due to substances other than CO2. If the additional flights are not covered by the EU ETS, this also leads to additional CO2 emissions.
The report was published by the client in April 2022 and provides information for the policy work of BBL Flanders.
