TY - JOUR

T1 - Did COVID-19 really change our lifestyles? Evidence from transport energy consumption in Europe

AU - Patino-Artaza, Helena

AU - King, Lewis

AU - Savin, Ivan

N1 - This work contributes to the \u201CMar\u00EDa de Maeztu\u201D Programme for Units of Excellence of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CEX2019-000940-M). I.S. acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101056891. We are grateful to Jeroen van den Bergh and Jordi Honey-Ros\u00E9s for their useful comments.

PY - 2024/8/1

Y1 - 2024/8/1

N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic triggered substantial societal shifts and reductions in energy consumption, influenced both by the virus itself and the governmental policies implemented to curb its spread. With the end of the pandemic, it is crucial to assess whether enduring behavioural changes have occurred as they may play a vital role in achieving Paris Agreement targets. This paper examines energy consumption patterns in the European transport sector during and after the pandemic and evaluates the role of containment policies. Using quantile regression analysis, we quantify the effect of these policies on transport fuel consumption, with the Gradient Boosting Machines algorithm ranking their importance. Our results reveal significant reductions in motorised land transport and aviation use during the pandemic followed by distinct recovery patterns, with the former recovering faster than the latter. The COVID-19 policies that exerted the most influence on transport use were “school closures,” “cancelling of public events,” and “international travel controls.” Diverse recovery patterns were observed among countries. While many countries swiftly rebounded to normality, lasting behavioural changes were seen in Sweden, Czechia, and Denmark. These countries offer valuable policy lessons for transitioning to a sustainable transport sector.

AB - The COVID-19 pandemic triggered substantial societal shifts and reductions in energy consumption, influenced both by the virus itself and the governmental policies implemented to curb its spread. With the end of the pandemic, it is crucial to assess whether enduring behavioural changes have occurred as they may play a vital role in achieving Paris Agreement targets. This paper examines energy consumption patterns in the European transport sector during and after the pandemic and evaluates the role of containment policies. Using quantile regression analysis, we quantify the effect of these policies on transport fuel consumption, with the Gradient Boosting Machines algorithm ranking their importance. Our results reveal significant reductions in motorised land transport and aviation use during the pandemic followed by distinct recovery patterns, with the former recovering faster than the latter. The COVID-19 policies that exerted the most influence on transport use were “school closures,” “cancelling of public events,” and “international travel controls.” Diverse recovery patterns were observed among countries. While many countries swiftly rebounded to normality, lasting behavioural changes were seen in Sweden, Czechia, and Denmark. These countries offer valuable policy lessons for transitioning to a sustainable transport sector.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?partnerID=8YFLogxK&scp=85194383095

UR - https://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=tsmetrics&SrcApp=tsm_test&DestApp=WOS_CPL&DestLinkType=FullRecord&KeyUT=001250346500001

U2 - 10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114204

DO - 10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114204

M3 - Article

VL - 191

JO - Energy Policy

JF - Energy Policy

SN - 0301-4215

M1 - 114204

ER -