The impact of freight transport on greenhouse gases emissions in Serbian cities - the case of Novi Sad

Abstract

Transport, especially the road transport, is one of the most important emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG). According to the Kyoto protocol, three main greenhouse gases emitted by transport are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). The amount of these three GHG emissions can be expressed as the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2e), showing the amount of CO2 that would have the same global warming potential (GWP) as a given mixture of greenhouse gases. The estimation of GHG emissions in urban areas is of great importance for urban transport planners. We used currently available data on urban traffic characteristics, as a starting point to estimate the role of freight transport GHG emissions within the total urban traffic emissions in the city of Novi Sad. It is used a top-down approach in GHG calculation, based on COPERT - Tier 1 methodology and Kyoto Protocol guidelines. According to the results, the impact of freight transport on air emissions is considerably higher than its impact on congestion. There is a need for a more comprehensive database on urban freight in cities in Serbia, but also in other countries in the region, as well as the importance of forcing the environmental issue in urban freight planning.