a b s t r a c t
Rapid growth of population and economy during the past two decades has resulted in continuing growth
of transport’s oil demand and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The objectives of this study are to examine
pattern and growth in energy demand as well as related GHG emissions from the transport sector and
to analyze potential pathways of energy demand and GHG emissions reduction from this sector of the
measures being set by the Thai Government. A set of econometric models has been developed to estimate
the historical trend of energy demand and GHG emissions in the transport sector during 1989–2007 and
to forecast future trends to 2030. Two mitigation option scenarios of fuel switching and energy efficiency
options have been designed to analyze pathways of energy consumption and GHG emissions reduction
potential in Thailand’s transport sector compared with the baseline business-as-usual (BAU) scenario,
which assumed to do nothing influences the long-term trends of transport energy demand. It has been
found that these two mitigation options can reduce the GHG emissions differently. The fuel-switching
option could significantly reduce the amount of GHG emissions in a relatively short time frame, albeit
it will be limited by its supply resources, whereas the energy efficiency option is more effective for
GHG emissions mitigation in the long term. Therefore, both measures should be implemented simultaneously
for both short and long term mitigation effects in order to more effectively achieve GHG emissions
reduction target.