Authors :
Vijaya Gopal Chavhan; Apurva Arun Wankhede; Achal Shriram Nannaware; Pallavi Pradip Pal; Mrunali Makode
Volume/Issue :
Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 2 - February
Google Scholar :
https://tinyurl.com/p7a5hvsk
Scribd :
https://tinyurl.com/peutbh58
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26feb1456
Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.
Abstract :
The transport industry is still among the most expanding contributors of greenhouse gases in the world with about
23 percent of the total anthropogenic carbon dioxide being emitted by the transport sector with close to 8Gt of CO 2 being
emitted each year. The paper will give an extensive discussion of carbon emissions due to transport, modal contribution, and
methodology of estimating the emission as well as mitigation methods. As it can be seen, road transport is the leading source
of emission, and heavy-duty vehicles make the greatest contribution, despite comprising a small share of the world fleet.
More recent innovations in methodology, such as machine learning applications and spatial econometric models have
increased the accuracy of emissions estimation and made it possible to implement more specific policy interventions. The
paper compares strategies of technological improvement and structural avoid and shift and concludes that the existing
complex decarbonisation efforts need to entail vehicle electrification, mode shifting, and demand management as sequential
efforts. Results suggest that although electrification has a high potential in emissions reductions, to reach the net-zero
transport systems by the middle of the century, combined methods involving technological development and systemic
organisational shifts are required.
Keywords :
Transport Emissions, Carbon Intensity, Modal Shift, Decarbonization, Sustainable Freight.
References :
- Ranjan, S. & Saragur Madanayak, S.N. (2026). Whether or not a Neural Analytical Process Carbon Emission Intensity Modelling of Freight Operations Under eXplainable AI in Practice. ACS Omega.
- SDES (2025). Specialization: electricity, transport, and LULUCF. Climate change observations- 2025 edition.
- IDDRI (2025). Freight transport: Avoid and Shift strategies: 4 major themes of international cooperation. IDDRI Blog.
- Xue, F., Zhou, L., Wu, L., Luo, Y. & Zhang, S. (2025). Sustainable freight transport: unpacking the effect of freight structure on the intensity of carbon emission using empirical evidence of the Chinese panel data. Environmental Research letters, 20, 054017.
- Ehrenberger, S. et al. (2025). The ELK international transport sectors emission inventory. Earth System Science Data Discussions.
- CLECAT (2025). EC research determines important actions to assist in decarbonisation of road freight. CLECAT News.
- Yang, S., Zhang, W., Wu, S. & Hu, X. (2025). Carbon emissions in express logistics: Origin destination transportation flow estimation and spatial analysis. Transport Policy, 171, 970-985.
- Transition Pathway Initiative (2025). The transport cluster has the latest Carbon Performance data. TPI Publications.
- Niu, T. (2025). Towards a Greener Global Freight Transportation System. ICCT Staff Blog.
- Hoehne, C. et al. (2025). Transportation of the Net-Zero Emissions Futures: lessons of the EMF-37 Intercomparison Model Study. Energy and Climate Change, 6.
The transport industry is still among the most expanding contributors of greenhouse gases in the world with about
23 percent of the total anthropogenic carbon dioxide being emitted by the transport sector with close to 8Gt of CO 2 being
emitted each year. The paper will give an extensive discussion of carbon emissions due to transport, modal contribution, and
methodology of estimating the emission as well as mitigation methods. As it can be seen, road transport is the leading source
of emission, and heavy-duty vehicles make the greatest contribution, despite comprising a small share of the world fleet.
More recent innovations in methodology, such as machine learning applications and spatial econometric models have
increased the accuracy of emissions estimation and made it possible to implement more specific policy interventions. The
paper compares strategies of technological improvement and structural avoid and shift and concludes that the existing
complex decarbonisation efforts need to entail vehicle electrification, mode shifting, and demand management as sequential
efforts. Results suggest that although electrification has a high potential in emissions reductions, to reach the net-zero
transport systems by the middle of the century, combined methods involving technological development and systemic
organisational shifts are required.
Keywords :
Transport Emissions, Carbon Intensity, Modal Shift, Decarbonization, Sustainable Freight.