The bar and line charts demonstrate information on heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) in the USA, including their fuel consumption and carbon emissions, over a period of 20 years.
Overall, it can be clearly seen that HGVs had the highest numbers and carbon released among all transportation types over the period. Meanwhile, ships and trains emitted the least amount of carbon. In addition, the number of HGVs increased gradually, and fuel consumed also rose very rapidly year by year.
In 1990, heavy goods transportation vehicles released around 220 MMT of CO₂ into the atmosphere, while it gradually increased to a higher figure in 2010, reaching almost 400 MMT. It was clearly seen that airplanes remained the second highest carbon emitter in both years. In 1990, it emitted around 100 MMT CO₂, and in 2010 it was only slightly higher at 110 MMT. The ships and trains accounted for the least amount of emissions, with only 50 MMT in both years.
Additionally, in 1990, around 6 million cargo road trucks were available on US roads. Therefore, in 2000, this number crossed 8 million, and by 2010 it reached around 11 million trucks operating in the country. Moreover, high goods transportation vehicles also showed an increase in fuel consumption.
HGVs used approximately 13,000 TBtu of fuel in 1990, while the figure rose steadily to 17,000 TBtu by 2000. From 2005 to 2010, fuel usage remained stable at around 17,500 TBtu.