IE Day 2024 - Scenario Modelling for Transport, the Vehicle Fleet, and Materials

The session was a part of the International Industrial Ecology Day 2024 (November 21) - the 4th IE Day organized by the International Society for Industrial Ecology (ISIE).
𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫: Huimei Li
𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: University of Freiburg
𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧/𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞: Freiburg (10 - 11am)
𝐀𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭:
The transportation sector enables the mobility of people and the trade of goods, which drives economic development. But it also accounts for a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions and almost 30% of all energy consumption globally. Besides, vehicles and infrastructure require substantial material inputs, some of which contribute to industrial GHG (e.g., steel and aluminum), and some face potential supply risks. Transport demand is expected to rise by 79% for passengers and roughly double for freight by 2050 due to population growth, rapid urbanization, and increasing economic activity. Decarbonizing transportation is an important and urgent task in the pursuit of the Paris Agreement target. Although the transition to electric vehicles and renewable energy is underway, carbon emissions will not fall fast enough in the coming years to reach the international climate objectives.
The challenge we are facing now is how to meet growing transport demand while reducing carbon dioxide emissions and resource consumption. Given regional heterogeneity, solutions will vary for transportation modes, economic levels, and geographical environments. Well-constructed scenario models can offer policymakers critical guidance for implementing low-carbon transport strategies, helping to address both climate change and resource scarcity.
In this session, we convene three experts in the field of transportation carbon emissions to share their recent research findings. After a 12-15 minutes input of each speaker, we open the floor for a discussion on decoupling transportation activities from carbon emissions and resource demands.
Since many of our colleagues are working on this topic, we will organize another online session on this topic in late January 2025 as part of the ISIE-SEM section perpetual online conference: is4ie.org/even...
𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬:
Speakers will include:
Ruichang MAO, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark. “Accumulation of Material Stocks and Dynamics in Traffic Flows: Insights from Transportation Infrastructure Planning and Development in China.”
Xin TONG and Tao WANG, Peking University, Beijing, PRC. “Bridging Global Visions and Local Actions: A Cross-level Analysis of Transportation Service Demand Using IAM and GIS Methods.”
Xin SUN, University of Groningen, Netherlands. “Establishing a big-data platform for better understanding the fundamental drivers of vehicle fleet dynamics.”