Towards a Carbon Neutral Economy in Vietnam: Modal Shifting in Transportation Sector

DOI

10.2991/aebmr.k.211119.027How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Carbon neutral economy; transportation; TIMES; modal shifting

Abstract

Transportation is one of the largest energy users and carbon emitters. The carbon intensity differs between sub-sectors such as road, rail, and water. Therefore, modal shifting will have significant effect on carbon emission of the overall sector. In the study, the effect of modal shifting is considered as a factor for carbon dioxide emission reduction. Rail transportation emits less gas than road and air transportation. Therefore, shifting from road and air transport to rail transport will reduce carbon dioxide emission. Using linear optimization model TIMES, the authors will analyze the effects of modal shifting on final energy, primary energy, and carbon dioxide emission reduction. The result shows that the total carbon dioxide emission can be reduced by up to 14.5% in 2050 when applying modal shifting. Besides, modal shifting can cause a decline in final energy consumption and primary consumption as well. Energy intensity can be reduced by up to 50% in passenger transportation with modal shifting. The emission reduction in big emitter like transportation plays an important role in the roadmap to a carbon neutral economy in Vietnam

Research purpose:

Analyzing the effects of modal shifting in transportation on final energy, primary energy, and carbon dioxide emission reduction towards a carbon neutral economy in Vietnam.

Research motivation:

Transportation is one of the largest energy users and carbon emitters. The carbon intensity differs between sub-sectors such as road, rail, water. Therefore, modal shifting will have significant effect on carbon emission of the overall sector. In the study, the effect of modal shifting is considered as a factor for carbon dioxide emission reduction. Rail transportation emits less gas than road and air transportation. Therefore, shifting from road and air transport to rail transport will reduce carbon dioxide emission.

Research design, approach and method:

The study uses TIMES model developed for Vietnam case. The TIMES model represents the entire energy system including primary energy supply, energy conversion, and energy users which are transport, industry, agriculture, residential and commercial sectors. The scenarios developed in the research to test the effect of modal shifting to overall system include a baseline scenario (PD) and three alternative scenarios including modal shifting for passenger (TRN1), modal shifting for freight (TRN2), and modal shifting for both passenger and freight (TRN3).

Main findings:

The modal shift has a significant effect on carbon dioxide emission, leading to reduction of the transportation sector with the reduction by up to 14.5 % in carbon dioxide emission in TRN3 scenario. Furthermore, modal shifting leads to the decline of final energy consumption by transportation as well as energy intensity of freight transport by 36% and passenger transport by 50% in 2050. In terms of cost, modal shifting will help reduce the overall cost of the sector.

Practical/managerial implications:

The role of modal shifting is significant in the process of reducing carbon dioxide emission, setting the steps towards carbon neutrality for the whole economy. It is necessary to have mechanisms to enable investment sharing between private and governmental source to promote development of metro and high-speed rail in the future.

Copyright

© 2021 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press International B.V.

Open Access

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Nguyen Hoang LAN
AU  - Nguyen Thi Thu THUY
AU  - Nguyen Thi Nhu VAN
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/12/07
TI  - Towards a Carbon Neutral Economy in Vietnam: Modal Shifting in Transportation Sector
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Emerging Challenges: Business Transformation and Circular Economy (ICECH 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 278
EP  - 284
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/aebmr.k.211119.027
DO  - 10.2991/aebmr.k.211119.027
ID  - LAN2021
ER  -