Serious air pollution is a common problem in stations around Australia and the world. But solutions already exist, and some can be applied immediately to protect station staff and commuters.
Australian vehicle emissions are even worse than official figures show and are likely to fall even further behind the rest of the world unless much more ambitious policies are adopted.
Battery electric trucks offer larger and more certain emission cuts than trucks powered by hydrogen in the quest to reduce Australia’s stubbornly high transport emissions.
Hussein Dia, Swinburne University of Technology; Hadi Ghaderi, Swinburne University of Technology, and Tariq Munir, Swinburne University of Technology
Support for road-user charging strengthens when people are assured that revenue goes into reducing traffic congestion, maintaining transport infrastructure, improving public transport.
Policies and funds to decarbonise high-emitting industries and electrify transport are already delivering emissions cuts. But they are at risk of being disestablished or weakened.
Early in the pandemic, when there was much less traffic on the roads, people took to their bikes. But since then, fewer people are cycling, with rates now lower than in 2011.
Air travel emissions are proving difficult and costly to cut, but travellers can make a surprisingly big difference simply by changing how they travel to and from the airport.
Growing ship numbers and reductions in the industry’s total emissions add up to big emission cuts per ship – as much as 60% by 2030 and 91% by 2040. The days of fossil-fuelled ships are now numbered.
A new study estimates a reduction in emissions of only 35-45% of pre-COVID levels by 2050. Lighter vehicles and faster uptake of electric vehicles can dramatically improve progress towards net zero.
Rising sea levels threaten the low-lying island nation with the world’s third-largest shipping register. That’s why it’s leading efforts to cut shipping emissions in an equitable way.
The tools and technologies to decarbonise freight transport in New Zealand are available now. The problem lies in their integration and the understanding of potential trade-offs.
Australia’s transition to electric vehicles has been much slower than in many other developed nations. But the country is actually well placed to catch up fast.
A growing source of global emissions is the ships that carry most of the goods we consume. A 21st-century generation of cargo ships propelled by the wind can reverse this unsustainable trend.
As part of its target to cut emissions, New Zealand aims for a 20% reduction in driving by 2035, mainly through better urban planning and travel options. Why doesn’t the plan mention intercity rail?
The rest of the nation should follow the ACT’s lead. Incentives to boost the transition to electric vehicles are one of the best ways to tackle Australia’s fastest-growing source of emissions.
Known as parallel importing, importing goods directly from overseas suppliers lowers costs and increases supply, which is what Australia’s electric vehicle market needs to catch up with the world.
Converting to electric cars is going to take time. With transport being Australia’s fastest-growing source of emissions, action on all fronts – road, rail, sea and aviation – is needed.
Major new policies are still needed to accelerate the road transport transition. There’s good news, however: Australian motorists have been promised more choice soon.