Emissions Reporting in the Australian Road Freight Transport Sector: Is There a Better Method than the Default Option?

Abstract

As emissions from the global road freight transport sector continue to rise, an understanding of how emissions are produced, estimated and measured is increasingly important. This article identifies the key influences on greenhouse emissions from heavy-duty diesel trucking, and evaluates the reporting options currently available under the Australian National Greenhouse Emissions Reporting Scheme. The latter is done through a case study of emissions modelling, used to illustrate the trade-offs in different reporting options. The article concludes that routine reporting based on method 2 should deliver more accurate reportable emissions, as well opportunities to better understand emissions profiles and strategies for reducing emissions.

Keywords:

• Australia
• emissions
• heavy-duty diesel engines
• NGERS
• road freight
• trucking

Notes

¹For HDDEs exceeding 16 tonnes.

²BP uses the regions similar to the Australian cloud points, except that the Central and South Australian regions are combined.

*Based on average data from the BP Kwinana refinery. Data were identical for the first and second halves of both 2008 and 2009.

Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/ujst.