Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
203,234 studies31 sourcesUpdated 5 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BYEnvironmental science & technology

Decomposing Vehicle Production and Consumption Impacts in Japan under Mobility and Production Network Interventions.

  • Jacob Fry1
  • Ziyan He1
  • Hiroyuki Ishikawa2
  • Takamichi Iwata2
  • Minami Kito3
  • Kenichi Nakajima1
  • Keisuke Nansai1
  1. 1National Institute for Environmental Studies , Tsukuba, Ibaraki305-8506, Japan.
  2. 2Toyota Central R&D Laboratories. Inc., Nagakute, Aichi480-1192, Japan.
  3. 3Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Wajiro-Higashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka811-0295, Japan.
Read full textPDFDOICite

Abstract

Passenger vehicles contribute approximately 8% to global energy-related emissions and drive other environmental impacts through the extraction of raw materials. In this study, a hybrid LCA approach is used to investigate emissions and material life-cycle impacts arising from vehicle production and consumption in Japan. By embedding a physical vehicle production model within a global MRIO, we find that 53% of emissions occur in Japan, while almost all material extraction impacts occur internationally. Vehicle size, PHEV utility factor, and battery capacity all strongly influence life-cycle impacts. Demand-side scenarios of increased occupancy, downsizing, and lifetime extension have the collective potential to reduce emissions by approximately 33% at the cohort level, while providing comparable mobility services. Lifetime extension requires additional material inputs with associated impacts; however, these impacts are repaid over time, resulting in an overall average emissions intensity (gCO2e/km) reduction of 7%. Vehicle electrification alone is unlikely to be sufficient to meet climate targets; therefore, demand-side measures should be implemented concurrently to decarbonize passenger transport while maintaining access to mobility services. While some opportunity exists to substitute upstream suppliers for lower-impact providers, the existence of low-pollution production havens is limited, further underscoring the importance of demand-side measures.

Related

  1. Erosion-induced momentum production and system acceleration govern landslide mobility
    Shiva P. Pudasaini
    EarthArXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textEnvironmental science & pollutionGeology & geochemistryEarthArXiv
  2. Isotopic evidence of dissolved organic nitrogen production and consumption in ocean surface waters
    Yeongjun Ryu, Dario Marconi, Zhou Liang +8
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of AmericaPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textEnvironmental science & pollutionPMC
  3. Decomposing drivers of global temperature change after net zero
    Annika Högner, Zebedee Nicholls, Gaurav Ganti
    Environmental Research LettersPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textEnvironmental science & pollutionCrossref
  4. Adsorptive removal of benzo(ghi)perylene from vehicle-wash wastewater using eucalyptus wood waste-derived biochar
    Mohd Abul Hasan
    Scientific ReportsPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textHydrology & soilsCrossref
  5. High-resolution 3D turbulence measurements with different quadcopter uncrewed aerial systems: verification and validation for single- and multi-vehicle measurements
    Johannes Kistner, Thomas Messmer, Joachim Peinke +1
    EGUspherePreprintCC BY 4.0General earth scienceEGUsphere

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{fry2026decomposing,
  title = {{Decomposing Vehicle Production and Consumption Impacts in Japan under Mobility and Production Network Interventions.}},
  author = {Jacob Fry and Ziyan He and Hiroyuki Ishikawa and Takamichi Iwata and Minami Kito and Kenichi Nakajima and Keisuke Nansai},
  journal = {Environmental science \& technology},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1021/acs.est.6c06919},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42916277},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Decomposing Vehicle Production and Consumption Impacts in Japan under Mobility and Production Network Interventions.
AU  - Jacob Fry
AU  - Ziyan He
AU  - Hiroyuki Ishikawa
AU  - Takamichi Iwata
AU  - Minami Kito
AU  - Kenichi Nakajima
AU  - Keisuke Nansai
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/01
JO  - Environmental science & technology
DO  - 10.1021/acs.est.6c06919
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42916277
AB  - Passenger vehicles contribute approximately 8% to global energy-related emissions and drive other environmental impacts through the extraction of raw materials. In this study, a hybrid LCA approach is used to investigate emissions and material life-cycle impacts arising from vehicle production and consumption in Japan. By embedding a physical vehicle production model within a global MRIO, we find that 53% of emissions occur in Japan, while almost all material extraction impacts occur internationally. Vehicle size, PHEV utility factor, and battery capacity all strongly influence life-cycle impacts. Demand-side scenarios of increased occupancy, downsizing, and lifetime extension have the collective potential to reduce emissions by approximately 33% at the cohort level, while providing comparable mobility services. Lifetime extension requires additional material inputs with associated impacts; however, these impacts are repaid over time, resulting in an overall average emissions intensity (gCO2e/km) reduction of 7%. Vehicle electrification alone is unlikely to be sufficient to meet climate targets; therefore, demand-side measures should be implemented concurrently to decarbonize passenger transport while maintaining access to mobility services. While some opportunity exists to substitute upstream suppliers for lower-impact providers, the existence of low-pollution production havens is limited, further underscoring the importance of demand-side measures.
SN  - 0013-936X
SN  - 1520-5851
ER  -