CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS VOL. 63, 2018 A publication of The Italian Association of Chemical Engineering Online at www.aidic.it/cet Guest Editors: Jeng Shiun Lim, Wai Shin Ho, Jiří J. Klemeš Copyright © 2018, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l. ISBN 978-88-95608-61-7; ISSN 2283-9216 CO2 Emission and Reduction of Tourist Transportation at Kok Mak Island, Thailand Phongthep Hanpattanakita,*, Luethaipat Pimonsreeb, Angsumalin Jamnongchoba, Anusorn Boonpokec aFaculty of Environmental Culture and Ecotourism, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, 10110. bSchool of Management and Information Sciences, University of PhaYao, Phayao, 56000. cSchool of Energy and Environment, University of PhaYao, Phayao, 56000. phongthep@g.swu.ac.th Koh Mak Island was promoted as the low carbon destination in Thailand. Transportation represents the main contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which is linked to climate change. These GHG emission from surface transport is quite complicated as data is scarce on the distances travelled for tourism purposes. The aim of this study is to estimate the amount of CO2 emission from energy consumption by tourist transportation in Koh Mak Island, Trat province, Thailand. The methodology of a bottom up approach was observed by using questionnaire surveys. Firstly, the questionnaire design ensured the validity of the questionnaire by calculating the Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) index which was found to be 0.96 which is acceptable. Secondly, CO2 emission from energy consumption by transportation was calculated by the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) criteria. The CO2 emission of local transportation was estimated by using the 465 copies of questionnaire that were distributed to the tourists. The tourism demographic information of male and female in Koh Mak Island were 42 % and 58 %. Most of the tourist age was 26-35 years old. The average local transport between beginning of the journey in Thailand and Koh Mak destination was 468 ± 139 km person-1. The total consumption of gasoline and diesel for road transportation of the 465 tourists were 7,954.01 and 15,199.80 L. Gasoline used in boat transportation was 1,357.80 L. The total CO2 emissions in transportation due to consumption of gasoline and diesel were 20,389.14 and 23,715.83 kg CO2-eq. The average CO2 emission was 23.83 kg CO2 person-1. The alternative to reduce CO2 emission in transportation by low carbon tourism is to ride bicycles on the island as the distance between landmarks are quite short and there is very good scenery between the roads. 1. Introduction Global warming and climate change are problems that are faced by all the life around the world. Daily human activities have caused severe environmental impacts which are associated to global warming. The rapid growth in tourism industry in Asia has caused an adverse effect to the environment, especially the transportation sector, which is one of the major causes for energy consumption. It represents the key contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, which are linked to global warming and climate change. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important greenhouse gas, accounting for 78 % of the global anthropogenic emission (32.3 Gt) in 2011 (WRI, 2012). Recent data reveals that global CO2 emissions were 150 times higher in 2011 (198 Mt CO2) than they were in 1850 (32,274 Mt CO2). Asia’s gross domestic product became the largest in the world in 1994. Asia became the largest emitter of CO2 due to rapid economic growth. In the past, the largest share of global emissions came from Europe and Northern America. By the end of 2011, Asia dominated, contributing more than half of global CO2 emissions, which are linked to global warming and climate change (WRI, 2012). The GHG emission intensity per capita in Thailand for 2011 was the third in Asia, emitting GHG as high as 103 t CO2-eq/USD 100,000 (WRI, 2012) .The second Thailand’s inventory in 2000 of the anthropogenic GHG emission was about 229.08 Tg CO2-eq. The energy sector is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, which is equivalent to 159.39 Tg CO2-eq, and share 69.6 % of the DOI: 10.3303/CET1863007 Please cite this article as: Phongthep Hanpattanakit, Luethaipat Pimonsree, Angsumalin Jamnongchob, Anusorn Boonpoke, 2018, Co2 emission and reduction of tourist transportation at koh mak island, thailand, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 63, 37-42 DOI:10.3303/CET1863007 37 total national emission. In 2000, the fuel burning from the transportation sector produced GHG emission of about 44.70 Tg CO2-eq or 28 % of the total GHG emission of energy sector in Thailand. Thailand continues to face the environmental impacts caused by the use of transportation fuels, especially GHG emissions and air pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC), nitrogen oxide (NOX), particulate matter (PM), sulphur dioxide (SO2). Such pollutants are proven to be directly harmful to human health and are considered as a major cause of the urban climate deterioration that is affecting people (Ratanavaraha and Jomnonkwao, 2015). Transportation related air pollution primarily causes the greenhouse phenomena resulting from CO2. The CO2 emission form tourism transports are more difficult to calculate because data on the number and length of trips are more scattered and only available for a limited number of countries. The types of vehicle are also important to calculate the CO2 emission from transportation, which should be calculated separately from fuel consumption. In this analysis, CO2 emission from domestic tourism transports were calculated for each surface of transports (road and boat transports) by multiplying an estimated average distance travelled per trip by the total number of trip and emission factor separate by vehicle and fuel types. The tourism industry is a significant source of these emissions with its contribution expected to grow considerably in the future as the sector expands. Currently, the tourism industry accounts for more than 30 % of global exports of services, 6 % of total exports and 9 % of global GDP (World Tourism Organization, 2014). Scientists found that it is a good practice to reduce the impact of tourism sector on the environment, especially from energy consumption in transportation. Tourism is an industry of central importance to Thailand and one which provides employment to a significant proportion of the workforce. The trends of tourism industries in Thailand were increasing with rapid growth in the past decade. The core value of low carbon tourism is to provide a high-quality tourism experience that ensures low carbon emissions and decrease in pollution from tourist activities, especially for the fuel consumption from transportation. GHG emission from surface transport is more complicated as only very scarce data are available on distances, number, and types of vehicle of travelled for tourism purposes. The purposes of this study are to propose a technique to predict the amount of CO2 emission by bottom-up technique and GHG mitigation options on the tourist transportation in Koh Mak Island, Thailand. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1 Questionnaire Design Questionnaire was used as the tools to collect data on the CO2 emission and reduction in tourist transportation in Koh Mak Island, Trat province Thailand. The validity of the questionnaire is ensured by calculating the Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) index, where the test was given to five experts to examine and rate each item so that the content met the objectives of the study. The IOC was calculated by assigning scores to three types of answers: congruent = 1, uncertain = 0, incongruent = -1. The result of IOC was 0.96 which was acceptable. The sample size of tourisms in Koh Mak Island was calculated based on Yamane’s formula (Yamane, 1967). n = N 1 + Ne2 (1) Where; n = the sample size, N = the size of population, e = the error of 5 percentage points. By using the Yamane’s formula of a sample size with an error 5 % and with a confidence coefficient of 95 %, the number size of tourists in Koh Mak Island in 2013 was 130,569 people and the increasing rate of the tourists was about 2 - 5 % per year (DASTA, 2014). The sample size was 400 questionnaires, calculated from the number of tourists in Koh Mak Island in 2013. To account for possible attrition, the number of subjects in this research was increased to 465. Because the increasing rate of tourists in the island had increased up 5 % per year from 2013 - 2016, the sample size was increased following the trend of travellers in the present. 465 samples were selected by accidental sampling from the visitors in Koh Mak Island, Thailand during high season on March - May 2017. Data were analysed using statistical computer program and interpreted as follow; Section 1: Personal information were analysed in terms of frequency and percentage. Section 2: The perceptions and feelings on tourism image were analysed in terms of percentage and mean. Section 3: CO2 emission of tourism transportation in Koh Mak Island, Thailand was separated by energy consumption follow by type of vehicle. 2.2 Calculation of CO2 Emission and Reduction in Transportation A calculation of air pollutant emissions involves the estimation of the amount of CO2 released from energy used in tourist transportation during the distance between home and Koh Mak Island. CO2 emission was 38 calculated from energy consumption multiply by the emission factors of fossil fuel types (IPCC, 2006). The formula was as follows: CO2 emission = Σ (EFFuel × FCFuel) (2) Where CO2 emission is the amount of CO2 released from energy consumption, emission factor of fuel (EFFuel) is the CO2 emission factor by fossil fuel types. The EFFuel of gasoline and diesel fuels for transportation were 2.1896 and 2.7446 kg CO2-eq L-1. Fuel consumption (FCFuel) was calculated by multiple by the distance and fuel consumption rate separated by the vehicle types (Table 1). Table 1: Fuel consumption rate separate by vehicle type Vehicle type Fuel type Fuel consumption rate (km/L) References 1. Small car (1,500 cm3) Gasoline 17.770 Pollution Control Department, 2012 2. Medium car type 1 (1,600 cm3) Gasoline 15.238 Pollution Control Department, 2012 3. Medium car type 2 (1,800 cm3) Gasoline 13.796 Pollution Control Department, 2012 4. Big car (≥ 2,000 cm3) Gasoline 12.248 Pollution Control Department, 2012 5. Average truck Diesel 6.369 API, 2016 6. Van Diesel 10.204 API, 2016 7. Bus Diesel 2.850 API, 2016 8. Motor bike Gasoline 36.625 Pollution Control Department, 2012 9. Big bike Gasoline 38.655 Pollution Control Department, 2012 3. Results and Discussions 3.1 Demographic Information The results of demographic information of tourist in Koh Mak Island show that the ratios of male and female were 41.5 % (193 person) and 58.5 % (272 person). Ratios of visitors in this Island between Thai and foreigner were 64.5 % and 38.5 %. European were the most found tourist in Koh Mak Island, especially from Germany and France. The age frequencies of the tourists were 16 – 25 and 26 - 35 years old, which were about 46 % and 26 %. The tourist age indicated that the people was of teenage and working age. The result found that 44 % of the tourists had working experience as government and non-government officer and 20 % were students. Most of the tourist graduated with bachelor’s degree (53 %). Table 2 shows the frequency and percentage of visitor’s personal information. Table 2: Frequency and percentage of visitors’ personal information Personal information of visitors Frequency N = 465 % Personal information of sample Frequency N = 465 % Gender: (Thai) Male 114 24.52 Occupation: Female 172 36.99 Public Sector/State Enterprise 49 10.54 (Foreigner) Male 79 16.99 Private Sector 40 8.60 Female 100 21.50 Merchant/Own Business 92 19.78 Age: Below 15 years 8 1.72 Agriculturist 22 4.73 16 - 25 years 215 46.24 Student 91 19.57 26 - 35 years 120 25.81 Others 152 32.69 36 - 45 years 70 15.05 N/A 19 4.09 46 - 55 years 19 4.09 More than 55 33 7.10 Education: Elementary school 11 2.37 High school 65 13.98 Certificated or similar 36 7.74 Bachelor’s degree 247 53.12 Higher Bachelor’s degree 103 22.15 Others 3 0.65 39 3.2 Perceptions and Feelings on Tourism Image The beautiful island of Koh Mak is situated in the eastern gulf of Thailand close to the Cambodian border. It is one of the 50 islands along the Gulf of Thailand and is the third largest in that area after Koh Chang and Koh Kood. The island is a small tropical paradise, covering an area of 16 km2 and a coastline of 27 km. Most of the island is still covered by coconut and rubber plantations which is the island’s main export products. Many of the locals also make handicrafts from coconut shells, batik fabrics and furniture. The oil extracted from coconuts can also be refined into medical oil. Koh Mak Island is privately owned by a small group of families who each strive to work together to ensure the island proceeds in a sustainable way by following the ideals of ecotourism. Many of the hoteliers and tourism business operators signed an agreement to treat Koh Mak as a low carbon tourist destination and to continue to limit beach facilities and restrict completely jet skis, banana boats, night clubs and similar disruptive activities. The island markets itself as a laid-back, peaceful location where it is possible to relax in the bosom of nature. The attractions image perceptions of Koh Mak Island visitors were as follows; 23 % of visitors were repeat visitors. About 92 % of the visitor purposes were mainly rest and relaxation. Koh Mak’s impressions were beautiful and wonderful place. It had good atmosphere, Landscape and scenery. Many visitors like this place because the calm beach is an appropriate relaxing place for holiday. The seafood is also very fresh, and the area has many nice foods. Tourism activities in Koh Mak Island from the visitors’ perceptions were shown in Table 3. Table 3: Tourism Activity in Koh Mak Island from visitors’ perception Tourism Activity Item Total (persons) Percentage (%) Did not participate Participated Unsatisfactory Participated Satisfactory Did not participate Participated Unsatisfactory Participated Satisfactory 1) Beach activities 83 36 347 17.81 7.73 74.46 2) Canoe/Kayak 195 54 217 41.85 11.59 46.57 3) Sightseeing 72 50 344 15.45 10.73 73.82 4) Camping 271 49 146 58.15 10.52 31.33 5) Ride bicycle 208 52 206 44.64 11.16 44.21 6) Swimming/Snorkelling 81 64 321 17.38 13.73 68.88 7) Boat trip around the island 186 57 223 39.91 12.23 47.85 8) Trekking 263 64 139 56.44 13.73 29.83 9) Eating local food, example, sea food 27 69 370 5.79 14.81 79.40 10) Local cooking class 274 57 135 58.80 12.23 28.97 11) Spa/Thai massage 244 60 162 52.36 12.88 34.76 12) Visit Luang Prom Pakdi's home 255 52 159 54.72 11.16 34.12 13) Visit Koh Mak museum 188 56 222 40.34 12.02 47.64 14) Visit Koh Mak temple 195 63 208 41.85 13.52 44.64 15) Visit The Kingdom of Somchai's Affection (Art and Sculpture) 272 67 127 58.37 14.38 27.25 16) Visit organic farm, for example, organic vegetables 243 62 161 52.15 13.30 34.55 17) Learning to manage area as a low carbon attraction 257 54 155 55.15 11.59 33.26 18) Souvenir shopping 203 66 197 43.56 14.16 42.27 The popular and please activities of visitor in Koh Mak Island were eating local food (79.40 %), beach activities (74.46 %), and sightseeing (73.82 %). Tourist did not play some activities in Koh Mak Island for example, camping mountain, Thai cooking class, and Visit Kingdom of Somchai's Affection (Art and Sculpture). The tourist does not know the way to go to there but it was the good choice for travelling in Koh Mak Island. The main objective of the traveller’s need is to relax by fresh nature such as sleep on the room or beach, read book and play smart mobile on the beach, and slow life. They do not prefer adventure tourism 40 activity in Koh Mak. According to the group of visitors were small groups or family units and to be visiting Koh Mak as part of multi-destination holiday (Apivantanaporn and Walsh, 2016). 3.3 CO2 emission and mitigation option in transport sector The average distances of tourists between home and Koh Mak Island location was 468.23 ± 139.38 km. Total energy consumption of gasoline and diesel in road transportation of 465 tourists were 7,954.01 and 15,199.80 L. Gasoline used in boat transportation was 1,357.80 L. Bus and van were the most popular vehicle for visiting this area because it was difficult to access to transportation between lands and island. It had speed boat for transferring the tourist and luggage. Total CO2 emissions in both transportations, based on the fuel consumption of either gasoline or diesel, were 20,389.14 kg CO2-eq and 23,715.83 kg CO2-eq, (Table 4). The average CO2 emission was 23.83 kg CO2 person-1. Jamnongchob et.al. (2017) estimated CO2 emission of tourist transportation in Suan Phueng Mountain, Thailand. They found that mean CO2 emissions of tourist transportation was 21.20 kg CO2 person-1. The CO2 emission per person of tourist transportation between both areas was quite similar but the average distance was differentiation. Distance of Suan Phueng was shorter than Koh Mak Island around 260 km but the CO2 emission was higher than the Suan Phueng Mountain because car was the most popular vehicle for visiting in the Suan Phueng, but bus and van was the most popular vehicle in Koh Mak (Table 2). The CO2 emission of tourist transportation was depending on type of vehicle, number of tourist and distance. Normally, the GHG emission in tourist activity was produced from transportation sector, according to previous research shown that GHG emission in transportation of Chinese tourism industry was the highest contributor about 48.25 % (Meng et al., 2016). The carbon emissions ratio of transportation was higher than the other activities in tourism. So, the policies should be made concerning this transportation activity, for example more stringent vehicle fuel standards should be developed; energy saving cars and electric vehicles should be encouraged, and at the same time, public transportation should be developed greatly (Meng et al., 2016). The mitigation options of tourist transportation in Koh Mak Island, Thailand were bicycling because the distance between each landmark were quite short and also had the scenic road. The tourism authority of Thailand and Koh Mak Island entrepreneur did the good biking trails around the island. The tourists should ride the bicycle during the sightseeing of this scenic area which will be reducing the CO2 emission from tourist transportation. Eco-friendly energy use should also be advocated. Biofuel is recognised as an environmentally friendly and renewable source. It is predicted that around 27 % of the transportation fuel would be replaced by biofuel by 2050 in South East Asia (IEA, 2013). Thai government has approved the exemption of excise tax imposed on ethanol, controlling the retail price of gasohol (a mixture of ethanol and gasoline at 10 % (E10) and 20% (E20) to be less than that octane 95 gasoline, within a range not exceeding THB 8 – 10 per litre (Exchange rate THB 33/USD). The policy promoting ethanol for transportation is being supported by its positive effects on energy security and climate change mitigation in the country. Raw material to make ethanol has a high potential in Thailand such as more crop residue in agriculture. Analysis of energy and greenhouse gas balances was done to evaluate fuel ethanol produced from cassava in Thailand (Nguyen et al., 2007). The results found a positive energy balance of 22.4 MJ/L and the net avoided GHG emission of 1.6 kg CO2-eq L-1 was found for cassava-based ethanol. The trends of energy use in transportation has a relatively fast growth and affected the increasing GHG emission. Low carbon tourism is the good alternative GHG mitigation of tourism industry in our country by reducing energy consumption, fuel burring, and GHG emission during travelling activities. Table 4 The energy consumption and CO2 emission from tourist transportation to Koh Mak Island Type of Transports Type of fuel Total energy consumption Average energy consumption Total CO2 emission Total CO2 emission (L) (L/person) (kg CO2-eq) (kg CO2-eq person-1) Road Gasoline 7,954.01 16.51 17,416.10 36.15 Diesel 15,199.80 9.7 23,715.83 28.96 Boat Gasoline 1,357.80 2.92 2,973.04 6.39 Total 24,502.61 9.71 44,104.97 23.83 41 4. Conclusions Total energy consumption for tourist transportation in Koh Mak Island, including gasoline and diesel in road transportation, were 7,954.01 L and 15,199.80 L. Gasoline used in boat transportation was 1,357.80 L. Total CO2 emissions in transportations by the fuel consumption, in terms of gasoline and diesel, were 20,389.14 kg CO2-eq and 23,715.83 kg CO2-eq. The average CO2 emission was 23.83 kg CO2 person-1. The CO2 emission of tourist transportation was dependent on the type of vehicle, number of tourist and distance. The mitigation options in Suan Phung Mountain transportation were suggested to include a change in behaviours, such as the use of bicycles, clean sources and the use of public transportation. Acknowledgments This research is supported by funding research works from Faculty of Environmental Culture and Ecotourism, Srinakharinwirot University (No. 078/2560). References API (American Petroleum Institute), 2016, PetroCalculator program accessed 01.06.2017. Apivantanaporn T., Walsh J., 2016, The low carbon tourism paradox: Evidence from Koh Mak, Quaestus, 9, 9- 20. DASTA (Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration), 2014, Low carbon destination in Koh Mak Island accessed 15.11.2017. IEA (International Energy Agency), 2013, Southeast Asia energy outlook 2013, International Energy Agency, Paris, France. IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), 2006, Guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Paris, France. Jamnongchob A., Duangphakdee O., Hanpattanakit P., 2017, CO2 emission of tourist transportation in Suan Phueng Mountain, Thailand, Energy Procedia, 136, 438-443. Meng W., Xu L., Hu B., Zhou J., Wang Z., 2016, Quantifying direct and indirect carbon dioxide emissions of the Chinese tourism industry, Journal of Cleaner Production, 126, 586-594. Nguyen T.L., Gheewala S.H., Garivait S., 2007, Energy balance and GHG-abatement cost of cassava utilization for fuel ethanol in Thailand, Energy Policy, 35, 4585-4596. Pollution Control Department, 2012, Performance report of the fiscal year vehicle pollution laboratory during 2008-2011 accessed 01.06.2017. Ratanavaraha V., Jomnonkwao S., 2015, Trends in Thailand CO2 emissions in the transportation sector and policy mitigation, Transport Policy, 41, 136-146. World Tourism Organization, 2014, UNWTO Annual Report 2014, UNWTO: Madrid, Spain. WRI (World Resources Institute), 2012, The top 10 emitting countries still make up 78 percent of global CO2 emissions accessed 25.02.2017. Yamane T., 1967, Statistics: An Introductory Analysis, Harper and Row, New York, United States of America. 42 http://www.wri.org/blog/2014/05/history-carbon-dioxide-emissions