Road emissions by vehicle type

Road emissions by vehicle type

Cars

Car emissions were 5.8 MtCO2e in 2018, a decrease of 1.3% from 2017, and 0.5% above the 1990 baseline. Between 2017 and 2018 car kilometres increased by 0.6%. Cars accounted for 39.3% of all transport emissions, the largest contribution of any transport mode, and 57.9% of road transport emissions. This year marks the first decrease in car emissions in Scotland since 2013.

Heavy goods vehicles

HGV emissions were 1.9 MtCO2e in 2018, a decrease of 1% from 2017, and 4.3% above the 1990 baseline, accounting for 12.6% of all transport emissions. Between 2017 and 2018 HGV kilometres increased by 0.1% or 2 million vehicle kilometres.

Light good vehicles

In 2018, LGV emissions were 1.85 MtCO2e, a decrease of 1.25%. LGVs have seen one of the largest increases in emissions since the 1990 baseline, reflecting the increase in demand for online shopping and home delivery. Since the 1990 baseline LGV emissions have seen an increase of 93.7%, which equates to 0.9 MtCO2e. However, 2018 marks the first year since 2009 that LGV emissions have decreased. Conversely, the e-commerce market grew by 18%, the largest annual growth since records began in 2014.[3] LGV vehicle kilometres increased from 3.8 million in 1995 to 8 million in 2018, an increase 109%[2].

Buses and coaches

Emissions from buses and coaches have shown a substantive reduction since the 1990 baseline. In 2018, emissions from the bus and coach network have fallen from to 0.4 MtCO2e, a 30.6% decrease. In 2018, bus emissions fell by 0.1 MtCO2e compared to 2017, a decrease of 14.1%. Bus vehicle kilometres followed a similar trend, with a decrease of 12.5% since 2017.

Motorcycles

Motorcycle emissions have remained relatively constant and small in comparison to the other modes of transport discussed in this publication. Motorcycles accounted for 0.2% of Scotland’s transport emissions in 2018. Motorcycle emissions for 2018 were 0.03 MtCO2e, a decrease of 1% from 2017, and 9.9% below the 1990 baseline. Motorcycle vehicle kilometres increased by 0.7% since 2017, and by 29.2% since 1998.[2]

Figure 4: Share of road transport emissions, 1990 and 2018 (Source: NAEI).

Figure 4: Share of road transport emissions, 1990 and 2018 (Source: NAEI).