The Australian Low Carbon Transport Forum: identifying the greenhouse gas abatement potential of the Australian transport sector

The Australian Low Carbon Transport Forum (ALCTF) was initiated by a project secretariat comprising ARRB Group, BITRE and CSIRO. It was organised to bring together knowledge on the options for greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement in transport and to explore how deeply emissions could be cut in the sector. It is contended that abatement options in the transport sector have been limited and difficult to define due to the diversity of the sector and limited exploration of the barriers to be overcome. As a result, the ALCTF used an expert elicitation process to develop a set of realistic GHG reduction and carbon abatement options, and defined their potential. Through this collaboration, two reports have been developed. A report describing the main findings of the study has been published under the title Greenhouse gas abatement potential of the Australian transport sector: Summary report. A Technical Report, which is a companion document to the Summary Report, has also been developed which aims to detail the methodology and results of the ALCTF process. This work describes how the estimated levels of abatement were calculated for each of the 47 abatement options, considered in the ALCTF workshops, such as fuel and vehicle technologies, mode shift, vehicle efficiencies, telecommuting, and improvements to pavement materials and designs. It also assesses how the various abatement potentials were aggregated into an estimate for the maximal potential reduction by 2050. This paper discusses the main elements and outcomes of these reports, and highlights a consistent approach to identifying and calculating the potential size and limiting factors in GHG abatement for road, rail, maritime and aviation, by applying a common and transparent methodology.