Potentials for reducing carbon dioxide emissions and conversion of renewable energy for the regional transport market - a case study

The present study determines the energy consumption and the CO2 emissions in the transport sector in Northern Hesse for today and the future. Northern Hesse is a region in the middle of Germany with about one million inhabitants. Together with two studies on energy transition, which are both focused on the electricity and the thermal sector, results for all essential energy industries are now available. The developed model represents the main influencing factors of the transport sector on energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The developed model makes use of available data and can be used as a basis for forecasts. The model is able to consider changes in urban structure, demography, mobility behavior and technical developments of vehicle systems. In addition to the status quo, a trend scenario and a scenario, where the state of sustainable mobility is assumed. The results of the study demonstrate that the transport sector can make a significant contribution to energy transition in the region. To reduce transport-related energy consumption and transport-related CO2 emissions, it is crucial that both presented strategies (automotive engineering and behaviorial change) will be implemented. The study analyses shows that the electricity demand in the transport sector in 2030 can be covered by renewable energy from the region. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.