Freight Facts and Figures 2009

Table 5-17. U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Domestic Freight Transportation: 1990-2007

Since 1990, the rate of growth of GHG emissions from freight sources has been more than twice as fast as that for passenger travel (57 percent vs. 24 percent). Trucking accounts for the lion’s share of freight emissions followed by freight rail, a distant second.

Table in Excel format

	1990	1995	2000	2005	2006	2007	Percent change, 1990 to 2007
Trucking	228.8	272.7	344.2	395.1	404.5	410.8	80.0
Freight Rail	34.1	39.6	44.9	50.4	52.8	51.6	51.0
Ships and Other Boats1	32.8	40.1	50.6	33.2	36.8	39.1	19.0
Pipelines2	36.2	38.5	35.2	32.4	32.4	34.6	-5.0
Commercial Aircraft	23.7	24.8	29.0	25.5	24.5	22.6	-5.0
Freight Total	355.7	415.6	504.0	536.6	551.2	558.7	57.0
Passenger Total	1,144.3	1,237.2	1,386.1	1,438.8	1,421.6	1,415.1	24.0
Transportation Total3	1,546.7	1,688.3	1,923.2	2,003.6	1,999.0	2,000.1	29.0
Freight as % of Transportation Total	23.0	24.6	26.2	26.8	27.6	27.9	19.0

Key: CO₂ = carbon dioxide.

¹Fluctuations in emissions estimates reflect data collection problems.

²Includes only CO₂ emissions from natural gas used to power pipelines.

³Includes greenhouse gas emissions from military aircraft (16.0 millions of metric tonnes), "other" transportation, primarily lubricants (10.2 millions of metric tonnes), and electricity-related emissions. Emissions from international bunker fuels are not included.

Notes:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) used U.S. Department of Energy fuel consumption data to allocate freight and passenger rail emissions. EPA used U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics data on freight shipped by commercial aircraft and the total number of passengers enplaned to split commercial aircraft emissions. Each passenger was estimated to weigh an average of 150 pounds and luggage was estimated to weigh 50 pounds. Previous Inventories included commercial aircraft emissions under passenger travel. CO₂ equivalent is computed by multiplying the weight of the gas being measured by its estimated Global Warming Potential (GWP). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change developed the GWP concept to compare the ability of one GHG to trap heat in the atmosphere to another gas. Carbon comprises 12/44 of CO₂ by weight. Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Source:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2007, EPA 430-R-09-004 (Washington, DC: 2009), Annex 3, table A-101 and A-100, available at www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usinventoryreport.html as of July 13, 2009.

 

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