Transportation Energy Use in Ohio

Ohio

Transportation accounts for approximately 29% of the energy consumed in the United States each year. It accounts for more than the residential and commercial sectors, and only slightly less than the industrial sector.

In the United States, petroleum-based fuels account for more than 94% of the fuel used for transportation. Burning fossil fuels such as diesel and gasoline, releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to the warming of the planet. The transportation sector contributes the most to GHG emissions. Within the transportation sector, 57% of GHG emissions in 2022 came from light-duty vehicles (passenger cars and light-duty trucks), followed by medium- and heavy-duty trucks (freight and service trucks) at 23%. 

The consequences of fossil fuel use extend beyond global warming. Transportation emissions have damaging and far-reaching effects on our air, water, environment and ecosystem, contributing to acid rain, smog, contaminated drinking water, heavy metal poisoning, mass extinction events and declines in the quality and longevity of human life. Research on the impact of pollution on health reveals strong associations with adverse birth outcomes, asthma, cancer and other serious health consequences.

Fossil fuels used for transportation contribute to climate change, which affects everyone. However, some populations are disproportionately affected, including children, older adults, pregnant women, individuals with disabilities, poor communities and communities of color.

Achieving carbon-neutral industrial transportation is challenging, because no technologies no technologies other than petroleum-fueled internal combustion engines can currently power cargo ships or aircraft. However, steps can be taken to reduce fossil fuel use in transportation, such as:

• Developing technologies that reduce the fuel needed to operate vehicles. These technologies include advanced internal combustion engines and start-stop systems.
• Expanding the market for electric vehicles and other low-carbon technologies by creating automobile fuel economy standards, mandating the supply of renewable fuels, offering tax incentives to promote electric vehicles and renewable fuel use and funding public transportation. 
• Accelerating the development of technologies that could save fuel in freight-hauling trucks.
• Reducing or reforming fossil fuel subsidies. 
• Ensuring strict regulation of U.S. oil and gas production to reduce methane emissions and routine gas flaring (burning natural gas) during production. 

The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions lists actions individuals can take to reduce their transportation energy footprint.

The Alliance to Save Energy aims to cut transportation energy use in half by 2050.

Altman, Matthew C., Meyer Kattan, George T. O’Connor, Ryan C. Murphy, Elizabeth Whalen, Petra LeBeau, Agustin Calatroni, et al. “Associations between Outdoor Air Pollutants and Non-Viral Asthma Exacerbations and Airway Inflammatory Responses in Children and Adolescents Living in Urban Areas in the USA: A Retrospective Secondary Analysis.” The Lancet Planetary Health 7, no. 1 (January 2023): e33–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00302-3.

Bekkar, Bruce, Susan Pacheco, Rupa Basu, and Nathaniel DeNicola. “Association of Air Pollution and Heat Exposure With Preterm Birth, Low Birth Weight, and Stillbirth in the US: A Systematic Review.” JAMA Network Open 3, no. 6 (June 18, 2020): e208243. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.8243.

International Energy Agency. The Oil and Gas Industry in Energy Transitions. Paris, France: IEA Publications, January 2020. https://www.iea.org/reports/the-oil-and-gas-industry-in-energy-transitions.

Introcaso, David. “Climate Change Is The Greatest Threat To Human Health In History.” Health Affairs Forefront, December 19, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1377/forefront.20181218.278288.

National Research Council Committee for a Study of Potential Energy Savings and Greenhouse Gas Reductions from Transportation, ed. Policy Options for Reducing Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from U.S. Transportation. Transportation Research Board Special Report 307. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 2011. https://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/sr307.pdf.

Rodrigue, Jean-Paul. “The Environmental Relationships of Transportation Systems.” In The Geography of Transport Systems, 6th ed. London: Routledge, 2024. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003343196.

The Alliance 50x50 Commission on U.S. Transportation Sector Efficiency. Halving Transportation Energy Consumption By 2050. The Alliance to Save Energy, February 2018. https://www.ase.org/sites/ase.org/files/transportation-white-paper-feb2018.pdf.

U.S. Department of Energy. Natural Gas Flaring and Venting: State and Federal Regulatory Overview, Trends, and Impacts. U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Oil and Natural Gas, Office of Fossil Energy, June 2019. https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2019/08/f65/Natural%20Gas%20Flaring%20and%20Venting%20Report.pdf.