Greenhouse Gas Emissions Driven by the Transportation of Goods Associated with French Consumption

The transportation of goods plays a significant role in the overall greenhouse gas emissions from consumption. This study investigates the connections between French household consumption and production and transportation-related emissions throughout product supply chains. Here a two-region, environmentally extended input-output model is combined with a novel detailed, physical-unit transportation model to examine the connection between product, location of production, choice of transport mode, and greenhouse gas emissions. Total emissions associated with French household consumption are estimated to be 627 MtCO(2)e, or 11 tCO(2)e per capita. Of these, 3% are associated with the transportation of goods within France and 10% with transport of goods outside or into France. We find that most transport originating in northern Europe is by road, whereas most transport from other regions is conducted by sea and ocean transport Rail, inland water, and air transportation play only a minor role in terms of mass, tonne-kilometers, and greenhouse gas emissions. By product, transport of coal and coke and intermediate goods make the largest contribution to overall freight transport emissions associated with French household consumption. In terms of mass, most goods are transported by road while in terms of tonne-kilometers, sea and ocean transport plays the largest role. Road transport contributes the highest share to the transport of all goods with the exceptions of coal and coke and petroleum. We examine the potential for emissions reductions associated with shifting 10% of direct imports by air freight to sea and ocean or road transport and find that the potential reductions are less than 0.03% of total emissions associated with French consumption. We also consider shifting 10% of direct imports by road transport to rail or inland water and find potential reductions on the order of 0.4-0.5% of the total or 3-4% of the freight transport emissions associated with French consumption. The greatest reductions are achieved by shifting from road transport to rail or inland water for direct imports from northern European countries. This suggests a potential environmental benefit associated with improving rail and inland water infrastructures in Europe.