Social, technical-economic, environmental and political assessment for the evaluation of transport modes for petroleum products

Abstract

Article Info AbstractKeywords: petroleum products sustainable transport complete costs railway ductsDistribution becomes the main link in a supply chain when transport efficiency is concerned. Being a huge size country, transport related problems in Brazil should be treated through the application of new information technology and more efficient logistic tools. This paper evaluates ducts and railway modes by the complete cost methodology to find the best alternative for the transportation of petroleum derived products, in a Case Study. The method deals with technical, economic, environmental, social and political factors being equally important, following the concepts of sustainable development. In general, only aspects related to investment, construction, equipment acquisition and financial return have been considered, which is inadequate for the effective functioning of a project. If only construction financial costs were concerned, the best alternative for the transportation of petroleum products would be the railway. However, the Complete Cost analysis shows that ducts are more advantageous with the highest valuation factors (291, 54 points) versus the railway (257,83 points). Therefore, this study contributes to a more effective evaluation and discussion about the important aspects to be evaluated in making a choice for the most sustainable transport mode.