Environmental impacts of COVID-19 responses on passenger vehicle transport scenarios: A life cycle approach

Abstract

COVID-19 has disrupted human life considerably since the beginning of 2020. The transport sector is one of the most affected sector due to restrictions imposed to curb COVID-19 pandemic. This paper evaluates the environmental impacts of COVID-19 response scenarios using life cycle assessment approach. Six regions selected for the study are Australia, China, European Union (EU), India, United Kingdom (UK), and United States of America (USA). Data for vehicle population, vehicle kilometers travelled, fleet type, and fuel efficiency were used for 2015-2020. The environmental impacts were calculated for five scenarios; Baseline-2019, Business As Usual (BAU) and COVID-19 Response Scenario (CRS) for 2020 and 2030 namely, 2020-BAU, 2020-CRS, 2030-BAU, and 2030-CRS. The results indicate that COVID-19 occurrence and related response measures did not contribute to significant environment benefits in terms of Global Warming Potential (GWP) and other pollutants in short term and long term. This implies that although immediate reductions in emissions were observed in many studies, the long term effects were minimal due to irregular policies and unmanaged demand. Further, to achieve environment benefits sustained measures should be implemented in long term with proper planning and supporting infrastructure. Although electric vehicle strategies will provide benefits; emphasis on vehicle production and fuel production technologies is also needed to achieve the emission reduction targets. The findings are relevant for policy makers while devising policies to achieve the targets.