State of the Environment

2006

Indicator: HS-34 Energy use in transport

Data

Energy consumption (a) (PJ) – Transport sector
1990-91 1995-96 2000-01 2001-02
Road transport 796.6 904.3 971.5 1004.6
Railway transport 30.5 28.7 33.7 28.9
Water transport 48.4 63.7 51.1 46.1
Air transport 121.9 175.5 204.2 174.2
Other 5.5 9.4 18.4 19.3
Total 1003.0 1181.5 1275.8 1265.6

(a) – net energy consumption (defined as total fuel input less energy produced)

Source: Donaldson, K. 2004, Energy Statistics - Australian Energy 2004, ABARE.

Source: Akmal, M. et al 2004, Australian Energy: National and State Projections to 2019-20, ABARE, Canberra, viewed 28 Nov 2005, http://abareonlineshop.com/product.asp?prodid=12814, p. 46.

Total Fuel Consumption (million litres) by Vehicle Type
Australia – 1999-2003
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Passenger vehicles 15 434 16 838 16 436 16 401 17 282
Motor cycles 59* 70 83 100 83
Light commercial vehicles 3 404 3 723 4 186 4 145 4 275
Rigid Trucks 1 809 1 796 1 855 2 041 2 185
Articulated trucks 2 761 2 904 2 824 2 922 3 164
Non-freight carrying trucks 75* 57* 67 58 52
Buses 496 466 498 497 523
Total 24 038 25 853 25 948 26 164 27 564

* - estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2004, Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, viewed 28 Nov 2005, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/
b06660592430724fca2568b5007b8619/00b05a9cee83a73dca2568a90013941c!OpenDocument, p. 11

Urban Passenger Transport Task

Urban Passenger Transport Task

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005, Yearbook Australia 2005, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra.

Total Domestic Freight Task
Australia - Trend values 1971-2000
  Road Rail Sea Air Total
Domestic Freight task (btkm)
1971 26.6 39.0 72.0 0.1 137.7
1980 48.1 63.2 105.1 0.1 216.6
1990 92.6 87.9 94.2 0.1 274.8
2000 135.5 126.7 112.9 0.2 375.3
Modal share (%)
1971 19.34 28.31 52.27 0.07 100.0
1980 22.23 29.18 48.53 0.06 100.0
1990 33.69 32.00 34.28 0.03 100.0
2000 36.09 33.76 30.09 0.06 100.0
Average annual growth rate (%)
1971-80 6.8 5.5 4.3 2.3 5.2
1980-90 6.8 3.4 -1.1 -3.1 2.4
1990-2000 3.9 3.7 1.8 9.3 3.2

Source: Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics 2003, An Overview of the Australian Road Freight Transport Industry, Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics, viewed 28 Nov 2005, http://www.btre.gov.au/docs/workingpapers/wp60/wp60.pdf, p.16

Total Road Freight Task by Urban and Non-Urban (Trend values 1971-2000)
Urban Non-urban Total
Total road freight task (btkm)
1971 8.9 17.7 26.6
1980 16.4 31.8 48.1
1990 31.1 61.5 92.6
2000 40.1 95.4 135.5
Urban and Non-urban shares (%)
1971 33.5 66.5 100.0
1980 34.0 66.0 100.0
1990 33.6 66.4 100.0
2000 29.6 70.4 100.0
Average annual growth rate (%)
1971-80 7.0 6.7 6.8
1980-90 6.6 6.8 6.8
1990-2000 2.6 4.5 3.9

Source: Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics 2003, An Overview of the Australian Road Freight Transport Industry, Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics, viewed 28 Nov 2005, http://www.btre.gov.au/docs/workingpapers/wp60/wp60.pdf, p.17.

Total tonne-kilometres
(for 12 month period ending 31 October 2003)
Capital city Other urban areas Other areas Total intrastate Interstate Australia
Light commercial vehicles 3,215 1,001 2,332 6,548 163 6,710
Rigid trucks 13,380 3,753 11,215 28,349 2,062 30,411
Articulated trucks 15,870 6,270 55,797 77,938 37,718 115,656
Total freight vehicles 32,465 11,025 69,345 112,835 39,943 152,777

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003, Survey of Motor Vehicle Use - data cube, Table 16.

What the data mean

The amount of energy consumed by the transport sector has continued to increase from 1990/91 to 2001/02. The largest amount (nearly 80%) of energy consumed in 2001/02 within the transport sector was used for road transport. This was followed by consumption in the air (14%) water (3%) and rail (2%) transport sub-sectors.

Within the road transport sub-sector, passenger vehicles consumed nearly two-thirds of the total amount of fuel.

Total passenger travel in the urban areas has grown almost nine-fold over the past 50 years, to nearly 180 billion passenger km in 2000. Almost all that growth came from cars and 'other' road vehicles (mostly light commercial vehicles used for private travel, and motorcycles).

Domestic freight task is a surrogate for the energy used in transporting freight. The modal share of road freight task almost doubled (from19% to 36%) between 1971 and 2000. Freight transport by rail increased from 28% to 34% in the same period while sea freight decreased from 52% to 30%.

The road freight task relating to urban areas increased more than 3 fold between 1971 and 2000 while the non-urban task increased more than 4 fold. There was little change in the share of urban versus non-urban freight tasks.

Nearly three-fourths of the domestic freight task is carried out within the State/Territory and about 28% of this is within the capital cities.

Issues for which this is an indicator and why

Human Settlements — Pressures created by human settlements on the environment - Energy use 

The transport sector is the second largest sector in terms of energy consumption in Australia. This indicator tracks changes in energy use by this sector.

Other indicators for this issue:

Further Information

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