Location: GLO - Global
This dataset represents the service of 1tkm freight transport in a lorry of the size class 16-32 metric tons gross vehicle weight (GVW) and Euro III emissions class. The transport datasets refer to the entire transport life cycle i.e. to the construction, operation, maintenance and end of life of vehicle and road infrastructures. Fuel consumption and emissions are for average European journeys and load factors and not representative of a specific transport scenario. The average load factors are taken from the Tremove model v2.7b (2009) and EcoTransIT (2011) report. These are as follows:
Lorry size class Average load factor GVW
3.5-7.5t 0.98t 4.98t
7.5-16t 3.29t 9.29t
16-32t 5.79t 15.79t
>32t 15.96t 29.96t
The lorry size and load factor determines the GVW and therefore also the fuel consumption and amount of both exhaust and non-exhaust emissions. Non-exhaust emissions are those resulting from tyre, brake and road wear.
Fuel consumption and exhaust emissions are taken from v3.1 of the HBEFA model, using the data for Germany and without applying model weighting. There are a higher number of size categories used in HBEFA than in ecoinvent and so the data are grouped in order to fit the lorry size classes used in ecoinvent. The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology is around 3 times more common than that of exhaust gas recovery (EGR) as an emissions reduction measure and so the emission factors given in the dataset are weighted to reflect this. The data for the HBEFA categories SCR* and VI* were disregarded. The exhaust emissions caused by the burning of fuel are either fuel dependent (fuel type and quantity) or Euro class dependent. The latter reflect the emission regulations to which the vehicle complies. Regulated emissions are CO, NOx, particulate matter (PM) and total hydrocarbons (HC). Data from the Emissions Inventory Guidebook (EMEP/EEA, 2013) were used for specific exhaust emissions not covered by the HBEFA model.
Non-exhaust emissions are accounted for as weight dependent by-products and exist as seperate datasets.
For road infrastructure the expenditures and environmental interventions due to construction of roads have been allocated based on the gross tonne kilometer performance. Expenditures due to operation of the road infrastructure, as well as land use have been allocated based on the yearly vehicle kilometer performance. The same assumption on vehicle lifetime performance has been transferred from the ecoinvent v2 datasets of 540 000 km/vehicle. The production, maintenance and disposal of the vehicle are as reported in the ecoinvent (2007) report on transport services.
Main data sources:
De Ceuster, G., et al. (2009) TREMOVE: Final Report. Model code v2.7b, 2009. European Commission, Brussels.
Keller, M. et al. (2010) Handbook emission factors for road transport v3.1, HBEFA. INFRAS, Berne, CH.
Knörr, W. et al. (2011) Ecological Transport Information Tool for Worldwide Transports (EcoTransIT): Methodology and data update. Berlin, Hannover, Heidelberg, DE.
Ntziachristos, L., et al. (2013) EMEP/EEA air pollutant emissions inventory guidebook 2009: Exhaust emissions from road transport. European Environment Agency, Copenhagen, DK.
Spielmann, M., et al. (2007) Transport Services. ecoinvent report No. 14., Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf, CH.
Undefined unit processes (UPRs) are the unlinked, multi-product activity datasets that form the basis for all of the system models available in the ecoinvent database. This is the way the datasets are obtained and entered into the database by the data providers. These activity datasets are useful for investigating the environmental impacts of a specific activity (gate-to-gate), without regard to its upstream or downstream impacts.