Having looked at how transport is currently managed in Wales, this piece looks at transport use and transport’s social and environmental impact.
According to Natural Resources Wales, transport is Wales’ third biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions9.
Road transport is a leading cause of localised air pollution through exhaust emissions as well as tiny pieces of matter/particulates generated by abrasion (tyre wear, brakes, wear and tear of the road surface itself).
There are the other indirect and direct environmental impacts of transport too: emissions caused by vehicle or fuel production; the environmental impact of building new infrastructure; sourcing and recycling of materials; wildlife being killed in collisions with vehicles.
Total emission-free transport doesn’t exist (even walking, which is close to zero but not quite), but some forms of transport are clearly better for the environment and air quality than others. In practical terms, it looks like this:
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It’s a global problem and not confined to Wales, but it’s worth asking: “What’s happening at a Welsh level?”
According to a committee inquiry during the Fifth Senedd, the Welsh Government’s target is to cut emissions from transport – relative to what they were in 1990 – by 43% by 203010. There wasn’t any consensus on whether the target lacks ambition or not.
I’ll be going into this in more detail much later on in this series, but decarbonisation presents unique challenges. Those challenges include, and aren’t limited to:
- Lack of appropriate infrastructure or grid capacity to support a switch to electric vehicles or greater electrification of the railways.
- Very slow progress in encouraging people to move from cars to public transport or active travel.
- Cost pressures on bus and taxi operators to buy or lease low-emission vehicles.
- High cost of low-emission vehicles as they’re relatively new on the market.
- No viable low or zero-emission passenger aircraft (commercial hydrogen planes are still at least a decade away).
- Difficulties in de-carbonising the freight/logistics sector more generally.
9. Natural Resources Wales, “SoNaRR2020: Transforming the transport system”. Available at: https://naturalresources.wales/evidence-and-data/research-and-reports/state-of-natural-resources-report-sonarr-for-wales-2020/sonarr2020-bridges-to-the-future/transforming-the-transport-system/?lang=en
10. Senedd Cymru, Economy & Infrastructure Committee (July 2020). “Decarbonisation of transport”. Available at: https://senedd.wales/laid%20documents/cr-ld13333/cr-ld13333-e.pdf
