An assessment of the underlying relationship between land transportation and climate change: Case study Mauritius
,
Abstract
Introduction: Land transportation encompasses the movement of people and
goods and is therefore a major contributor of global greenhouses gases. The
main share of such emissions is mostly from the release of carbon dioxide into
the air as a result of burning transportation fuels obtained from petroleum, a
major driver of climate change. While today the defining issue is a changing
climate, the number of vehicles on roads keep on rising around the world.
Materials and methods: This study assessed the relationship between land
transportation and climate change using a system dynamics model based on a
3-layered taxonomy using Mauritius Island as case study. Over 100 papers were
analyzed and the variables that link land transportation and climate change in
the Mauritian context were selected and a taxonomy divided into sub-units was
built.
Results: This innovative taxonomy was divided into 3 sections related to the
land transportation sector including a vehicle layer, transport system layer
and society layer. Using these variables, three stock and flow diagrams were
constructed on Vensim, namely climate change impacts, transport related
carbon dioxide and socio-economic models.
Conclusion: While there is a complex relationship between land transportation
and climate change globally, Mauritius must find ways to become more climate
friendly in the land transportation sector.
1. Amey, A. Market Research [Internet]. US:
Market Research; 2018 June 11 [cited 2019
September 19]. Available from: https://blog.
marketresearch.com/5-top-trends-in-thetransportation-
industry-in-2018
2. Statistica Research Development. Worldwide
car sales 2010-2019. [Internet]. US: Statistica; 2019 September 10 [cited 2019 September
20]. Available from: https://www.statista.
com/statistics/200002/international-car-salessince-
1990/
3. Change IC. Impacts, adaptation and
vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group
II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
2007 Apr;976.
4. Student Energy. Transportation fuel. [Internet].
Canada: Student Energy; unknown data [cited
2019 September 20]. Available from: https://
www.studentenergy.org/topics/transport-fuels
5. Moretti L, Loprencipe G. Climate change
and transport infrastructures: State of the art.
Sustainability. 2018 Nov;10(11):4098.
6. Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities.
Public Utilities [Internet]. Mauritius: Ministry
of Energy and Public Utilities; unknown date
[cited 2019 December 11]. Available from: http://
publicutilities.govmu.org/English/Pages/default.
aspx
7. Aronson D, Angelakis D. Step-by-step stocks
and flows: Converting from Causal Loop
Diagrams. Systems Thinker. 2018;10.
8. Ventana Systems. Vensim software [Internet].
US: Ventana Systems; 2015 [cited September
20 2019]. Available from: https://vensim.com/
vensim-software/
9. Corno L, Cronbach LJ, Kupermintz H, Lohman
DF, Mandinach EB, Porteus AW, Talbert JE.
Remaking the concept of aptitude: Extending the
legacy of Richard E. Snow. Routledge; 2001 Sep
1.
10. Ministry of Environment, Sustainable
Development, and Disaster and Beach
Management. Third National Communication
Report for the Republic of Mauritius.
[Internet]. Mauritius: Ministry of Environment,
Sustainable Development, and Disaster and
Beach Management; 2016 October [cited
2020 November 19]. Available from: https://
unfccc.int/files/national_reports/non-annex_i_
natcom/application/pdf/nc3_republic_of_
mauritius_20jan17.pdf
11. Ewing BT, Thompson MA. Dynamic cyclical
comovements of oil prices with industrial
production, consumer prices, unemployment,
and stock prices. Energy Policy. 2007 Nov
1;35(11):5535-40.
12. Murphy E, King E. Environmental noise
pollution: Noise mapping, public health, and
policy. Newnes; 2014 Apr 21.
13. Brussel M, Zuidgeest M, Pfeffer K, van
Maarseveen M. Access or accessibility? A critique
of the urban transport SDG indicator. ISPRS Int.
J. Geoinf. 2019 Feb;8(2):67.
14. Rocha NP, Dias A, Santinha G, Rodrigues
M, Queirós A, Rodrigues C. Smart mobility: a
systematic literature review of mobility assistants
to support multi-modal transportation situations
in smart cities. In International Conference on
Integrated Science 2020 May 1 (pp. 303-312).
Springer, Cham.
15. Egilmez G, Tatari O. A dynamic modeling
approach to highway sustainability: Strategies to
reduce overall impact. Transp Res Part A Policy
Pract. 2012 Aug 1;46(7):1086-96.
16. Mallick RB, Radzicki MJ, Daniel JS, Jacobs
JM. Use of system dynamics to understand longterm
impact of climate change on pavement
performance and maintenance cost. Transportation
Research Record. 2014 Jan;2455(1):1-9.
17. Alirezaei M, Onat NC, Tatari O, Abdel-Aty M.
The climate change-road safety-economy nexus:
a system dynamics approach to understanding
complex interdependencies. Systems. 2017
Mar;5(1):6.
18. Macmillan A, Connor J, Witten K, Kearns
R, Rees D, Woodward A. The societal costs
and benefits of commuter bicycling: simulating
the effects of specific policies using system
dynamics modeling. Environ. Health Perspect.
2014 Apr;122(4):335-44.
19. Ministry of Social Security, National
Solidarity, and Environment and Sustainable
Development. National Greenhouse Gases
Inventory Report. [Internet]. Mauritius: Ministry
of Social Security, National Solidarity, and
Environment and Sustainable Development;
2017 [cited 2020 March 24]. Available from:
https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/
NIR%20%20NC3.pdf
20. Statistics Mauritius. Road transport and road
traffic accident statistics. [Internet]. Mauritius:
Statistics Mauritius; 2019 [cited 2020 September
22]. Available from: https://statsmauritius.
govmu.org/Documents/Statistics/ESI/2020/
EI1540/RT_RTA_Yr19.pdf
21. Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities.
Energy observatory Report. [Internet].
Mauritius: Ministry of Energy and Public
Utilities; 2017 [cited 2020 November 21].
Available from: https://publicutilities.govmu.
org/Documents/2020/Reports%26Publications/
Energy/energyobservatoryreport20171.pdf
22. Gutiérrez A, Miravet D, Saladié Ò, Anton
Clavé S. Transport mode choice by tourists
transferring from a peripheral high-speed rail
station to their destinations: Empirical evidence
from Costa Daurada. Sustainability. 2019
Jan;11(11):3200.
23. European Parliament. CO2 emissions from
cars: facts and figures. [Internet]. Europe:
European Parliament; 2019 March 22 [cited
2020 November 19]. Available from: https://
www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/
society/20190313STO31218/CO2-emissionsfrom-
cars-facts-and-figures-infographics
Market Research; 2018 June 11 [cited 2019
September 19]. Available from: https://blog.
marketresearch.com/5-top-trends-in-thetransportation-
industry-in-2018
2. Statistica Research Development. Worldwide
car sales 2010-2019. [Internet]. US: Statistica; 2019 September 10 [cited 2019 September
20]. Available from: https://www.statista.
com/statistics/200002/international-car-salessince-
1990/
3. Change IC. Impacts, adaptation and
vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group
II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
2007 Apr;976.
4. Student Energy. Transportation fuel. [Internet].
Canada: Student Energy; unknown data [cited
2019 September 20]. Available from: https://
www.studentenergy.org/topics/transport-fuels
5. Moretti L, Loprencipe G. Climate change
and transport infrastructures: State of the art.
Sustainability. 2018 Nov;10(11):4098.
6. Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities.
Public Utilities [Internet]. Mauritius: Ministry
of Energy and Public Utilities; unknown date
[cited 2019 December 11]. Available from: http://
publicutilities.govmu.org/English/Pages/default.
aspx
7. Aronson D, Angelakis D. Step-by-step stocks
and flows: Converting from Causal Loop
Diagrams. Systems Thinker. 2018;10.
8. Ventana Systems. Vensim software [Internet].
US: Ventana Systems; 2015 [cited September
20 2019]. Available from: https://vensim.com/
vensim-software/
9. Corno L, Cronbach LJ, Kupermintz H, Lohman
DF, Mandinach EB, Porteus AW, Talbert JE.
Remaking the concept of aptitude: Extending the
legacy of Richard E. Snow. Routledge; 2001 Sep
1.
10. Ministry of Environment, Sustainable
Development, and Disaster and Beach
Management. Third National Communication
Report for the Republic of Mauritius.
[Internet]. Mauritius: Ministry of Environment,
Sustainable Development, and Disaster and
Beach Management; 2016 October [cited
2020 November 19]. Available from: https://
unfccc.int/files/national_reports/non-annex_i_
natcom/application/pdf/nc3_republic_of_
mauritius_20jan17.pdf
11. Ewing BT, Thompson MA. Dynamic cyclical
comovements of oil prices with industrial
production, consumer prices, unemployment,
and stock prices. Energy Policy. 2007 Nov
1;35(11):5535-40.
12. Murphy E, King E. Environmental noise
pollution: Noise mapping, public health, and
policy. Newnes; 2014 Apr 21.
13. Brussel M, Zuidgeest M, Pfeffer K, van
Maarseveen M. Access or accessibility? A critique
of the urban transport SDG indicator. ISPRS Int.
J. Geoinf. 2019 Feb;8(2):67.
14. Rocha NP, Dias A, Santinha G, Rodrigues
M, Queirós A, Rodrigues C. Smart mobility: a
systematic literature review of mobility assistants
to support multi-modal transportation situations
in smart cities. In International Conference on
Integrated Science 2020 May 1 (pp. 303-312).
Springer, Cham.
15. Egilmez G, Tatari O. A dynamic modeling
approach to highway sustainability: Strategies to
reduce overall impact. Transp Res Part A Policy
Pract. 2012 Aug 1;46(7):1086-96.
16. Mallick RB, Radzicki MJ, Daniel JS, Jacobs
JM. Use of system dynamics to understand longterm
impact of climate change on pavement
performance and maintenance cost. Transportation
Research Record. 2014 Jan;2455(1):1-9.
17. Alirezaei M, Onat NC, Tatari O, Abdel-Aty M.
The climate change-road safety-economy nexus:
a system dynamics approach to understanding
complex interdependencies. Systems. 2017
Mar;5(1):6.
18. Macmillan A, Connor J, Witten K, Kearns
R, Rees D, Woodward A. The societal costs
and benefits of commuter bicycling: simulating
the effects of specific policies using system
dynamics modeling. Environ. Health Perspect.
2014 Apr;122(4):335-44.
19. Ministry of Social Security, National
Solidarity, and Environment and Sustainable
Development. National Greenhouse Gases
Inventory Report. [Internet]. Mauritius: Ministry
of Social Security, National Solidarity, and
Environment and Sustainable Development;
2017 [cited 2020 March 24]. Available from:
https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/
NIR%20%20NC3.pdf
20. Statistics Mauritius. Road transport and road
traffic accident statistics. [Internet]. Mauritius:
Statistics Mauritius; 2019 [cited 2020 September
22]. Available from: https://statsmauritius.
govmu.org/Documents/Statistics/ESI/2020/
EI1540/RT_RTA_Yr19.pdf
21. Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities.
Energy observatory Report. [Internet].
Mauritius: Ministry of Energy and Public
Utilities; 2017 [cited 2020 November 21].
Available from: https://publicutilities.govmu.
org/Documents/2020/Reports%26Publications/
Energy/energyobservatoryreport20171.pdf
22. Gutiérrez A, Miravet D, Saladié Ò, Anton
Clavé S. Transport mode choice by tourists
transferring from a peripheral high-speed rail
station to their destinations: Empirical evidence
from Costa Daurada. Sustainability. 2019
Jan;11(11):3200.
23. European Parliament. CO2 emissions from
cars: facts and figures. [Internet]. Europe:
European Parliament; 2019 March 22 [cited
2020 November 19]. Available from: https://
www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/
society/20190313STO31218/CO2-emissionsfrom-
cars-facts-and-figures-infographics
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 6 No 2 (2021): Spring 2021 | |
| Section | Original Research | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/japh.v6i2.7951 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Climate change; Air pollution; Mauritius; System dynamics | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
How to Cite
1.
Sunkur R, Naiko K, Agundhooa A, Jhugroo R, Bokhoree C. An assessment of the underlying relationship between land transportation and climate change: Case study Mauritius. JAPH. 2021;6(2):79-90.
