International Industrial Ecology Day 2021

The transport sector is supported by the continuous provision of energy flows (e.g. diesel fuel), material flows (e.g. lubricants) and material stocks (e.g. cars). However, most resource efficiency assessments do not account for the role of material accumulation in the service provision of passenger mobility, nor its effects on resource consumption. One way to identify the interdependences between stocks, flows, and services is through the stock-flow service (SFS) nexus concept, which connects these three elements in the same way one can connect water, energy and land, for example. The authors will apply the SFS nexus, via efficiency indicators, to evaluate resource production and resource use, including the unit inputs of fuel, aluminium, steel and plastic required for vehicle fleet operation, maintenance and expansion. We will also evaluate unit output, particularly those flows associated with material stock degradation and carbon emissions. The scope of the latter encompasses both the carbon embodied in vehicle production and that produced upon vehicle operation. The SFS nexus is applied to a UK and a Colombian transport case study to assess the impact of different levels of socioeconomic development on resource consumption, accumulation, and service provision. The results will be presented in Sankey diagrams, in order to highlight transmaterialisation, the trade-offs between different resource upon delivery of one service unit. The authors will discuss the added value and challenges of using the SFS nexus and a service perspective as a way of evaluating sustainable transport transitions, particularly in terms of public policy and corporate goal setting and strategies.