Decarbonising Australia’s transport sector: Diverse solutions for a credible emissions reduction plan
Transport is currently Australia’s third-largest and fastest-growing source of emissions.
In the face of growing transport emissions and modest electric vehicle sales figures, Australia can bolster transport decarbonisation by expanding its approach to include a suite of solutions across freight and passenger transport.
Governments across Australia can apply an integrated approach to decarbonising transport that adds efficiency and transport choice, while also reducing emissions.
The federal government’s transport and infrastructure sector plan provides an ideal opportunity to incorporate this approach to develop a credible plan.
Climateworks Centre defines a ‘credible’ plan as one that: supports the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius; achieves better outcomes for the transport system as a whole; and uses all available transport decarbonisation solutions, as per the globally recognised Avoid, Shift and Improve framework.
These solutions include:
- Avoiding the need for some travel and making car and truck trips shorter and more efficient.
- Shifting to lower-emissions modes of transport, also referred to as ‘mode shift’, such as travelling by train instead of plane, using more active and public transport, and shifting freight by rail.
- Improving vehicle and fuel efficiency, for example, getting more zero-emissions vehicles – like battery electric vehicles or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles – on the road and using lower carbon liquid fuels.
Climateworks’ new modelling can underpin a credible decarbonisation plan for Australia’s transport sector
For the first time, Climateworks’ modelled decarbonisation scenarios for Australia’s transport sector include more than technology changes (i.e. ‘Improve’) to explore broader decarbonisation solutions (i.e. ‘Avoid’ and ‘Shift’) and their impact on emissions.
Our scenarios explore how the mix of transport decarbonisation solutions and pace of zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) uptake – for light vehicles and trucks – can combine to keep transport emissions on track to align Australia to 1.5ºC.
A plan that incorporates diverse transport decarbonisation solutions is more resilient to the challenges ahead.
The pace and scale of emissions reductions needed to limit warming to 1.5ºC presents challenges for all sectors of the economy, including transport.
Our report shows that taking a ‘Diverse solutions’ approach helps Australia adapt to potential delays in ZEV uptake.
Rather than relying on technology change alone, Australia can incorporate a diverse suite of solutions to create more ways to successfully keep emissions reductions on track, while continuing to push for ZEV uptake to be as rapid as possible.
Now is the time to expand Australia’s approach to transport decarbonisation
As Australia prepares its national transport decarbonisation plan, it has the opportunity to go beyond electric vehicles and create a credible decarbonisation plan that includes all solutions and gives the country more chances to successfully decarbonise.
Based on Climateworks’ modelling set out in the report, we recommend the following be applied in developing a credible transport decarbonisation plan:
- Implement a portfolio of solutions so there is no single point of failure.
- Take every opportunity to increase ZEV uptake from current levels.
- Consider additional benefits beyond emissions reduction when assessing different approaches to decarbonise transport.
ISBN: 978-0-9941725-7-0
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