TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing carbon dioxide emissions of high-speed rail
T2 - The case of Beijing-Shanghai corridor
AU - Chen, Peihong
AU - Lu, Yuan
AU - Wan, Yulai
AU - Zhang, Anming
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper is supported by the research project of the National Social Science Fund of China, “Economic Evaluation System Restructuring for High-Speed Rail Projects” (Project number: 18BJY170).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - This paper provides an ex-post assessment of net carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail (HSR) by including both mode substitution and traffic generation effects with a life-cycle approach. We are among the first authors to examine the emissions effects of a long-haul HSR and to consider the effects of avoided infrastructure expansion and vehicle manufacturing due to traffic diversion. We find that avoided infrastructure expansion plays a limited role in offsetting CO2 emissions from the construction of an HSR infrastructure, but the reduced demand for passenger vehicles can offset a larger share of emissions from the manufacturing of HSR rolling stock. Initially, too much traffic was diverted from ordinary-speed rail (OSR) to HSR, increasing emissions at the operation stage. As traffic diverted from road and air increased, the net emissions at the operation stage turned negative, offsetting emissions from infrastructure construction and vehicle manufacturing.
AB - This paper provides an ex-post assessment of net carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail (HSR) by including both mode substitution and traffic generation effects with a life-cycle approach. We are among the first authors to examine the emissions effects of a long-haul HSR and to consider the effects of avoided infrastructure expansion and vehicle manufacturing due to traffic diversion. We find that avoided infrastructure expansion plays a limited role in offsetting CO2 emissions from the construction of an HSR infrastructure, but the reduced demand for passenger vehicles can offset a larger share of emissions from the manufacturing of HSR rolling stock. Initially, too much traffic was diverted from ordinary-speed rail (OSR) to HSR, increasing emissions at the operation stage. As traffic diverted from road and air increased, the net emissions at the operation stage turned negative, offsetting emissions from infrastructure construction and vehicle manufacturing.
KW - Carbon dioxide emissions
KW - High-speed rail
KW - Life-cycle assessment
KW - Mode substitution
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108981030&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.trd.2021.102949
DO - 10.1016/j.trd.2021.102949
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85108981030
SN - 1361-9209
VL - 97
JO - Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
JF - Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
M1 - 102949
ER -