Transport, trade and climate change: Carbon footprints, fuel subsidies and market-based measures

Joachim Monkelbaan
International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development - BMZ
Working paper
November 2011

International transport, be it by ship, airplane, train or truck, is essential for international trade and to global economic development. However, transport is at the same time the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The objective of this paper is to examine the viability and potential effects of different actions that Germany and the European Union (EU) can take to curb the growth of GHG emissions from the international transport sector. It analyzes different options that policy makers have available to reduce transport induced emissions. In doing so, this paper takes the impacts on trade, especially for developing countries, into account. The overarching question that is reverberates throughout this paper is: what are the advantages and disadvantages of different measures that Germany and the EU can take to limit emissions from trade-related transport?

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Plus: Annex I: Carbon footprint of some chilean exports

Making transportation sustainable: Insights from Germany

Ralph Buehler, John Pucher, and Uwe Kunert
Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program
April 2009

Worsening traffic congestion and increasing reliance on foreign oil affect America’s economic competitiveness. Excessive driving contributes to high energy consumption, carbon emissions, and pollution. The costs of maintaining the current structure are untenable. The existing gas tax cannot finance the massive investments needed to fix our deteriorating transportation system.

Increasing transportation sustainability in the United States requires policies that foster changes in travel behavior. Germany’s case may provide a helpful example. Although car use has grown in both countries, Germany has been far more successful than the United States in creating a more balanced transportation system. Sustainability, for the purposes of this report, means encouraging shorter trips by modes of transportation that require less energy and generate less harmful environmental impacts. Moreover, a more sustainable transportation system should foster commerce, reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, increase safety, provide equal access to destinations for all groups of society, and enhance the quality of life.

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Nonwoven Geotextile Interlayers for Separating Cementitious Pavement Layers: German Practice and U.S. Field Trials

Robert Otto Rasmussen and Sabrina I. Garber
International Technology Scanning Program
Federal Highway Administration
May 2009

Pavement engineering is traditionally a conservative field, but successful pavement engineers will constantly seek out proven innovative concepts with potential to improve pavement performance while reducing costs. Many pavement structures in the United States consist of more than one cementitious layer that requires separation. This could be a new concrete pavement (jointed or continuously reinforced) atop a cementitious base or, becoming increasingly popular, an unbonded concrete overlay.

In both cases, an interlayer is often required for separation. While hot-mix asphalt is commonly used for this purpose, associated constructability, cost, and performance issues need to be recognized.

The German highway community has more than 25 years of experience using an alternative interlayer made of a nonwoven geotextile. With proper selection and placement, these interlayers have resulted in excellent performance in separating new concrete pavement layers from the cementitious bases commonplace on the German motorway system. While this application also exists in the United States, the possibility of using the nonwoven geotextile as a separation interlayer in an unbonded concrete overlay system has also generated significant interest because of the potential cost savings involved.

This report documents the German experience and gleans better practices for using nonwoven geotextile interlayers between cementitious layers in the United States. The report covers field trials in Missouri and Oklahoma along with other information so that pavement engineers can make an informed decision on the viability of this innovative but proven alternative.

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