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There is an urgent need to reduce emissions from the aviation sector. Although awareness of climate change is growing, few are willing to alter their flight behaviour. Through a qualitative analysis of interview materials collected from Reykjavik Capital Region residents, this study explores how globally affluent, highly mobile young urbanites justify their international travel by plane, despite their climate change awareness, and if they are willing to change their behaviour. Six themes of justifications to continue air travel were identified; shifting responsibility, compensatory behaviours, lack of knowledge or awareness, lack of other options, benefits outweighing impacts, and carbon offsetting. Their use differed depending on respondents’ level of climate change awareness and willingness to reduce air travel, but willingness to reduce travel did not differ between awareness level scores. None were willing to quit flying regardless of their level of awareness. Compared with previous literature, we found a greater emphasis placed on the benefits of air travel. We suggest policy uptake for both individual and collective realms, such as kerosene tax and mandatory carbon offsetting, as shifting responsibility can delay action regardless of the way in which it is shifted, and reductions in these realms can only happen in concert. Other sources of well-being should be emphasized and the social norm around frequent travel actively challenged. Knowledge on the specific climate impacts of flights should be better communicated to the public and put into perspective with the global fair share of emissions and steep mitigation curves to keep warming below 1.5°.
Áróra Árnadóttir; Michał Czepkiewicz; Jukka Heinonen. Climate change concern and the desire to travel: How do I justify my flights? Travel Behaviour and Society 2021, 24, 282 -290.
AMA StyleÁróra Árnadóttir, Michał Czepkiewicz, Jukka Heinonen. Climate change concern and the desire to travel: How do I justify my flights? Travel Behaviour and Society. 2021; 24 ():282-290.
Chicago/Turabian StyleÁróra Árnadóttir; Michał Czepkiewicz; Jukka Heinonen. 2021. "Climate change concern and the desire to travel: How do I justify my flights?" Travel Behaviour and Society 24, no. : 282-290.
The authors would like to make the following corrections about the published paper
Kevin Dillman; Áróra Árnadóttir; Jukka Heinonen; Michał Czepkiewicz; Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir. Correction: Dillman et al. Review and Meta-Analysis of EVs: Embodied Emissions and Environmental Breakeven. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9390. Sustainability 2021, 13, 5195 .
AMA StyleKevin Dillman, Áróra Árnadóttir, Jukka Heinonen, Michał Czepkiewicz, Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir. Correction: Dillman et al. Review and Meta-Analysis of EVs: Embodied Emissions and Environmental Breakeven. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9390. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (9):5195.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKevin Dillman; Áróra Árnadóttir; Jukka Heinonen; Michał Czepkiewicz; Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir. 2021. "Correction: Dillman et al. Review and Meta-Analysis of EVs: Embodied Emissions and Environmental Breakeven. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9390." Sustainability 13, no. 9: 5195.
This paper presents a mixed-method analysis of car ownership in Reykjavik, Iceland, a location with a high motorization level and deeply rooted car culture. We utilize qualitative interviews to understand vehicle possession reasons and elaborate the study with statistical analysis using a softGIS survey dataset with characteristics of the respondents and their residential location. We focus on adults aged 25 to 40, who are suggested to be less car-oriented than older generations. We also describe the historic development of Reykjavik’s car culture to give a perspective for the findings. We show that even among the studied age group, car ownership is still seen as a social norm, with few even seeing it possible to live without a car, and the public transport system is seen as giving a poverty stigma. However, we still find an increasing share of car-free households towards the city center. Still, the built environment impact is limited to the city center, which has a higher proportion of small adult-only households residing in shared apartments than other areas. Moreover, there seems to be a three-fold connection between having a child, acquiring a car (if not already possessed), and choosing a suburban residential location. Some indications of residential self-selection related to car ownership were found, but pro-car attitudes and residential location independently influenced car ownership. This study helps to understand the reasons for high car dominance and supports designing policies to reduce car-dependency, not just in Reykjavik but also elsewhere.
Jukka Heinonen; Michał Czepkiewicz; Áróra Árnadóttir; Juudit Ottelin. Drivers of Car Ownership in a Car-Oriented City: A Mixed-Method Study. Sustainability 2021, 13, 619 .
AMA StyleJukka Heinonen, Michał Czepkiewicz, Áróra Árnadóttir, Juudit Ottelin. Drivers of Car Ownership in a Car-Oriented City: A Mixed-Method Study. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (2):619.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJukka Heinonen; Michał Czepkiewicz; Áróra Árnadóttir; Juudit Ottelin. 2021. "Drivers of Car Ownership in a Car-Oriented City: A Mixed-Method Study." Sustainability 13, no. 2: 619.
Transportation plays a defining role in daily life, and this transport activity acts as a major source of global (GHG) emissions. Cities are macro-level actors that can measure and govern the transportation sector and associated GHG emissions with their boundaries. This study thus performed a scenario analysis using the Reykjavik capital area as a case study, developing a business-as-usual case and five additional “What-If” scenarios using the story-and-simulation approach, modelling and decomposing the effects of axis-based technological and behavioural/urban form changes, estimating both direct and indirect emissions for each scenario. Reykjavik provides an interesting case study as a city in which the electrical grid is already highly decarbonized and has a dominant car culture. Studying Reykjavik provides insight regarding the GHG impacts of an e-transition counter-balanced by high levels of car ownership. The results showed that while e-mobility development would lead to less direct emissions, in terms of total GHG emissions, changes to travel behaviour and urban form would lead to less total GHG emissions. However, this research highlights that even with an already decarbonized electrical grid, an integrated approach of the two axes changes would be required within cities to achieve deep levels of decarbonization.
Kevin Dillman; Michał Czepkiewicz; Jukka Heinonen; Reza Fazeli; Áróra Árnadóttir; Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir; Ehsan Shafiei. Decarbonization scenarios for Reykjavik’s passenger transport: The combined effects of behavioural changes and technological developments. Sustainable Cities and Society 2020, 65, 102614 .
AMA StyleKevin Dillman, Michał Czepkiewicz, Jukka Heinonen, Reza Fazeli, Áróra Árnadóttir, Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir, Ehsan Shafiei. Decarbonization scenarios for Reykjavik’s passenger transport: The combined effects of behavioural changes and technological developments. Sustainable Cities and Society. 2020; 65 ():102614.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKevin Dillman; Michał Czepkiewicz; Jukka Heinonen; Reza Fazeli; Áróra Árnadóttir; Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir; Ehsan Shafiei. 2020. "Decarbonization scenarios for Reykjavik’s passenger transport: The combined effects of behavioural changes and technological developments." Sustainable Cities and Society 65, no. : 102614.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are often considered a potential solution to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions originating from personal transport vehicles, but this has also been questioned due to their high production emissions. In this study, we performed an extensive literature review of existing EV life-cycle assessments (LCAs) and a meta-analysis of the studies in the review, extracting life-cycle GHG emission data combined with a standardized methodology for estimating GHG electrical grid intensities across the European Economic Area (EEA), which were used to estimate a set of environmental breakeven points for each EEA country. A Monte Carlo simulation was performed to provide sensitivity analysis. The results of the review suggest a need for greater methodological and data transparency within EV LCA research. The meta-analysis found a subset of countries across the EEA where there is a potential that EVs could lead to greater life-cycle GHG emissions than a comparable diesel counterpart. A policy discussion highlights how EV policies in countries with contrasting GHG electric grid intensities may not reflect the current techno-environmental reality. This paper emphasizes the importance for researchers to accurately depict life-cycle vehicle emissions and the need for EEA countries to enact policies corresponding to their respective contextual conditions to avoid potentially enacting policies that could lead to greater GHG emissions.
Kevin Joseph Dillman; Áróra Árnadóttir; Jukka Heinonen; Michał Czepkiewicz; Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir. Review and Meta-Analysis of EVs: Embodied Emissions and Environmental Breakeven. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9390 .
AMA StyleKevin Joseph Dillman, Áróra Árnadóttir, Jukka Heinonen, Michał Czepkiewicz, Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir. Review and Meta-Analysis of EVs: Embodied Emissions and Environmental Breakeven. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (22):9390.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKevin Joseph Dillman; Áróra Árnadóttir; Jukka Heinonen; Michał Czepkiewicz; Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir. 2020. "Review and Meta-Analysis of EVs: Embodied Emissions and Environmental Breakeven." Sustainability 12, no. 22: 9390.
Transport is a key sector in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A consensus prevails on a causal relationship between distance to the city center and emissions from private transport, which has led to an emphasis on density in urban planning. However, several studies have reported a reverse association between the level of urbanity and emissions from long-distance leisure travel. Studies have also suggested that pro-environmental attitudes and climate change concerns are unrelated or positively related to emissions from long-distance travel. The goals of this case study were to find out the structure, levels, distribution, and predictors of GHG emissions from the local, domestic, and international travel of young adults of the Reykjavik Capital Region. A life cycle assessment (LCA) approach was utilized to calculate emissions, and the materials were collected with a map-based online survey. International leisure travel dominated the overall GHG emissions from personal travel regardless of residential location, modality style, or income level. A highly unequal distribution of emissions was found. A higher climate change awareness was found to predict higher GHG emissions from trips abroad. Emissions from leisure travel abroad were the highest in the city center, which was related to cosmopolitan attitudes among downtown dwellers.
Michał Czepkiewicz; Áróra Árnadóttir; Jukka Heinonen. Flights Dominate Travel Emissions of Young Urbanites. Sustainability 2019, 11, 6340 .
AMA StyleMichał Czepkiewicz, Áróra Árnadóttir, Jukka Heinonen. Flights Dominate Travel Emissions of Young Urbanites. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (22):6340.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMichał Czepkiewicz; Áróra Árnadóttir; Jukka Heinonen. 2019. "Flights Dominate Travel Emissions of Young Urbanites." Sustainability 11, no. 22: 6340.
A lot of emphasis has been put on the densification of urban form to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. However, many recent studies have found that central urban dwellers, even though their carbon footprints of daily transportation may be lower, might be responsible for higher total emissions than those that reside in suburban areas. Similarly, as with the urban form, higher environmental concern is often considered as an indicator of lower emissions, but several studies have found that pro-environmental attitude (PEA) does not always correlate with less energy intensive behavior. This study analyzes how urban zones, PEA, and several sociodemographic variables are associated with annual travel emissions and pro-environmental behaviors (PEB), using a dataset collected with a map-based online survey (softGIS) survey, contributed by 841 participants from the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA), Finland. Although PEA can affect PEBs related to household energy consumption (β = 0.282, p < 0.001), clothing (β = 0.447, p < 0.001) and produce purchases (β = 0.449, p < 0.0001), their relationship with emissions from local (β = −0.067), national (β = −0.019) and international (β = −0.016) travel was not significant. Clusters of low emissions from local travel and high international travel emissions were found in pedestrian-oriented urban zones and residents of car-oriented zones were more likely to conserve household energy (β = 0.102, p < 0.05). These results might help broaden the current perspective of city planners, as well as identify opportunities for more effective mitigation policies.
Áróra Árnadóttir; Michał Czepkiewicz; Jukka Heinonen. The Geographical Distribution and Correlates of Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors in an Urban Region. Energies 2019, 12, 1540 .
AMA StyleÁróra Árnadóttir, Michał Czepkiewicz, Jukka Heinonen. The Geographical Distribution and Correlates of Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors in an Urban Region. Energies. 2019; 12 (8):1540.
Chicago/Turabian StyleÁróra Árnadóttir; Michał Czepkiewicz; Jukka Heinonen. 2019. "The Geographical Distribution and Correlates of Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors in an Urban Region." Energies 12, no. 8: 1540.