Analysis of the Contribution of China’s Car-Sharing Service to Carbon Emission Reduction

Abstract

In light of carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, China has attached great importance to energy savings and carbon reduction. Carbon reduction in the transport sector is critical to achieving the two-carbon target, as it accounts for 9.41% of total carbon emissions. As the sharing economy grows, car sharing is considered to present excellent carbon reduction potential in the transportation sector. However, the current research is focused on car sharing usage, with a lack of research on the carbon reduction capability of car sharing in China. Hence, this study aims to investigate the carbon reduction capacity of car sharing, including usage rates of car-share services and changes in travel behavior, through an online questionnaire combined with carbon emission data from the transportation sector. The study aims to analyze the contribution of car-share services to carbon reduction in the transportation sector under the current model. The well-to-wheel (WTW) approach is employed, including the energy consumption of vehicles and carbon emissions in the production process. The research results indicate that the introduction of car-sharing services increases driving energy consumption; however, this increase is offset by the decrease in carbon emissions as a result of the production process. Therefore, the overall effect is a reduction in carbon emissions of 1.058971 million tons in 2021, accounting for 1.95 percent of total transport carbon emissions. In addition, the impact on different modes on carbon emission reduction is also explored in this study. The results demonstrate that the private car disposal rate shows the most significant influence on traffic carbon emissions; a 10% reduction in the number of private cars can lead to a 2.48% carbon reduction. The relevant conclusions of this study can provide support for the future development of car sharing in China and the reduction of carbon emissions in the transportation sector.

Keywords

• car sharing
• carbon emissions
• sustainability assessment
• sharing economy