CO2 Emission Level in Urban Transport of Mekelle City, Ethiopia

Abstract

Transport plays a crucial role in accelerating development and improving quality of life by allowing ease transfer of people, goods and services. It is also one of the important preconditions for achieving developmental goals. In contrary, transport has negative effects such as CO₂ emissions. Transport sector has emitted more than 7200 billion tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. This study therefore intends to assess the level of CO₂ emissions in urban transport of Mekelle city. It employs a descriptive research with qualitative and quantitative research approaches and survey research strategy.  Data for the study were collected from primary and secondary data sources. Questionnaire, interview, and observation were used to gather primary data, whereas, archives were used to gather secondary data. These data were analyzed through qualitative (narrative analysis) and quantitative (descriptive and statistical analysis) methods. Tables, charts, graphs and plates are used to present the data. This study finds that Atoz and Yaris car models; and Hyundai and Daihatsu motors emit lesser amount of carbon dioxide, while Land cruiser and WllB car models; and Mercedes Benz and Suzuki motors emit more. The average emission level of private automobiles in Mekelle city is found to be 209.93grams of CO₂/km with an average fuel efficiency of 12.115km/liter. This study has also found that, the sampled private automobiles in the city emit an average of 21,768.09kg of carbon dioxide monthly and 264,845.1kg of carbon dioxide annually.

Keywords: climate change, urban transport, CO_2­, vehicular emissions