ABSTRACT
Air transport challenges the world's net-zero carbon ambitions. The sector has consistently grown and causes warming as a result of both CO2 and other, short-lived emissions. Two principal solutions have been proposed to reduce the contribution of aviation to climate change: innovations of technology and the development of interventions to trigger behavioral change. Technological innovations include new propulsion technologies and the use of sustainable aviation fuels. Behavioral change includes flight avoidance, substitution with other means of transport, the choice of efficient flight options, and carbon offsetting. This article focuses on behavior;it offers an overview of factors that lead to consumers traveling by air and discusses demand distribution complexities. The importance of price for air travel decisions is assessed, and evidence of travel "wants” are contrasted with "needs,” the latter investigated in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The review of relevant scholarly work culminates in an action list enabling air travelers, policy makers, the aviation industry, researchers and society to meaningfully advance low-carbon air transport trajectories. This article is categorized under: Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Behavior Change and Responses The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation > Policies, Instruments, Lifestyles, Behavior. © 2022 The Authors. WIREs Climate Change published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
ABSTRACT
There is a general consensus that private car ownership is a significant barrier to transport system change, specifically in regard to injuries, space, air pollutants, or greenhouse gas emissions. Observed changes in automobile characteristics also suggest that the system is becoming less sustainable, given trends towards larger cars with greater mass and horsepower. It is thus relevant to understand how the automobile system progresses. National statistics provide data on the technical side of car ownership, such as changes in vehicle specifics or national fleet size. This paper complements this view with a socio-psychological perspective on aspirational car owner-ship, i.e. the type of car people preferred to drive if given a free choice. Data is derived from an online panel (n = 1,211) representative of the German population, and also contains information on current car ownership, use, driving style, traffic behavior, attitudes towards traffic risks and safety measures, as well as political orientation. This allows for a discussion of driver segments in relation to the characteristics of cars, and hence to better understand the socio-psychological drivers of the development of the automobile system.
ABSTRACT
Air transport challenges the world's net-zero carbon ambitions. The sector has consistently grown and causes warming as a result of both CO2 and other, short-lived emissions. Two principal solutions have been proposed to reduce the contribution of aviation to climate change: innovations of technology and the development of interventions to trigger behavioral change. Technological innovations include new propulsion technologies and the use of sustainable aviation fuels. Behavioral change includes flight avoidance, substitution with other means of transport, the choice of efficient flight options, and carbon offsetting. This article focuses on behavior;it offers an overview of factors that lead to consumers traveling by air and discusses demand distribution complexities. The importance of price for air travel decisions is assessed, and evidence of travel "wants" are contrasted with "needs," the latter investigated in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The review of relevant scholarly work culminates in an action list enabling air travelers, policy makers, the aviation industry, researchers and society to meaningfully advance low-carbon air transport trajectories. This article is categorized under: Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Behavior Change and Responses The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation > Policies, Instruments, Lifestyles, Behavior
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented decline in global air transport and associated reduction in CO2 emissions. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) reacted by weakening its own CO2-offsetting rules. Here we investigate whether the pandemic can be an opportunity to bring the sector on a reliable low-carbon trajectory, with a starting point in the observed reduction in air transport demand. We model a COVID-19 recovery based on a feed-in quota for non-biogenic synthetic fuels that will decarbonize fuels by 2050, as well as a carbon price to account for negative externalities and as an incentive to increase fuel efficiency. Results suggest that until 2050, air transport demand will continue to grow, albeit slower than in ICAO's recovery scenarios, exceeding 2018 demand by 3.7-10.3 trillion RPK. Results show that synthetic fuels, produced by 14-20 EJ of photovoltaic energy, would make it possible to completely phase out fossil fuels and to avoid emissions of up to 26.5 Gt CO2 over the period 2022-2050.