The objective of this paper is to determine the environmental impact of rail freight transport in Belgium using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The study includes the assessment of diesel trains, electric trains and rail freight transport considering the Belgian traction mix. Moreover, a comparison of the environmental impacts of electric trains using the electricity supply mix of different European countries has been performed. The rail freight transport system has been divided into three sub-systems: rail transport operation, rail equipment and rail infrastructure. The system approach of the LCA methodology involves studying both the direct processes connected with the transport activity (e.g. energy consumption or direct emissions), as well as other necessary elements for rail transport such as energy production, rolling stock and railway infrastructure. A comprehensive study of the Belgian railway network has been performed, collecting country-specific data on the construction, maintenance and disposal of infrastructure. Electric trains present a better environmental performance than diesel trains in Belgium. For example, the use of electric trains (using the Belgian electricity supply mix of 2012) rather than diesel trains represents a reduction of 26% of environmental impact on climate change. The electricity supply mix contributes significantly to the environmental performance of electric trains. As the use of electric trains increases in future, the energy split for the electricity generation will be more important in the environmental impacts of goods transport. The increased use of electric trains represents an opportunity to attain a more environmentally and energy-efficient rail freight transport system, especially when they are powered by sustainable electricity.
The starting point of this article is the weak usage of rail freight in Belgium and Europe, both as a sustainable mode of land transportation in itself as well as a part of the intermodal chain. The results are obtained by transversal research on rail freight transport in Belgium, taking into account the European context. This interdisciplinary research develops a road map for the creation of three integrated scenarios: a best case, medium case and worst case scenario for rail freight development, based on a detailed SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities, threats) analysis. It includes the most probable future developments for rail freight transport and hinterland connections. These developments are obtained from literature review and discussions with a heterogeneous panel of experts in the fields of (i) optimal corridor and hub development, (ii) macroeconomic impact, (iii) sustainability, (iv) effective market regulation and (v) governance and organization for a well-functioning intermodality. The Delphi approach is used in combination with a survey analysis. Frequency tables and the H-index allow defining a ranking and selection of SWOT elements. The obtained scenarios allow future research to quantify and measure the impact of future developments and decisions towards the Belgian rail freight market.
Abstract:The European Commission's White Paper on transport (European Commission, 2011) seeks to achieve an efficient and sustainable balance between the various transport modes. Environmental impact studies on intermodality transport show that rail freight transport is the land-based transport that has a higher environmental performance compared to intermodal road-rail and all-road transport (Fries and Hellweg, 2014), especially when electrified railway is used (Spielmann and Scholz, 2005 (Spielmann et al., 2007).
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