ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION OF MEANS OF TRANSPORT

Abstract

A wide variety of methods for the environmental evaluation of means of transport are currently in use. Many of them focus on direct environmental effects related to the use of a means of transport. Some of them use idealized conditions. Others evaluate the real-life effects. The former may be useful for environmental categorization of means of transport, the latter have an obvious advantage in the determination of real-life impacts. For this purpose both direct measurements and model-based approaches are available. There are also evaluations that take into account the life cycle of means of transport, starting with the extraction of raw materials and ending with disposal. As yet no full Life Cycle Assessment has been published for a complete means of transport. However several Life Cycle Assessments, concentrating on major environmental impacts and/or the most important parts of the automobile have been done. In view of the limited availability of reliable data it is argued that such approaches are not a bad choice.

Keywords

• Environmental evaluation
• Life cycle analysis