Carbon Footprint Estimation of Urban Transportation Based on Energy Consumption Hierarchy Analysis

Under the influence of climate change and the energy crisis, low-carbon development has become a global goal for the sustainable development of human society. However, currently tracking and quantifying the carbon emissions of automobiles in the transportation sector is challenging and the path to carbon reduction is unclear. This lack of clarity hinders the implementation of carbon–neutral strategies. To address these issues, this article proposes an urban transportation carbon footprint model based on energy consumption hierarchy analysis. We develop a carbon footprint model by incorporating energy consumption and carbon emission parameters. This model categorizes urban transportation into multiple tiers based on varying energy consumption levels. The carbon emission is calculated by the bottom-up method of IPCC. To validate its effectiveness, the model is applied to a regional transportation case study. The results shows that the method can effectively calculate the carbon emissions on transportation roads.