LCA of freight transport in Belgium
LCA of an intermodal transport route
Conclusions and perspectives
Life Cycle Assessment of intermodal
freight transport in Belgium
A. L. Merchan, S. Belboom, S. Groslambert and A. Léonard
University of Liège, Chemical Engineering – PEPs, Belgium
http://chemeng.ulg.ac.be – a.merchan@ulg.ac.be
Figure 1. Inland freight transport system boundaries
1. Intermodal freight transport represents an opportunity to attain a more environmentally
and health friendly, energy-efficient and competitive transport system. 2. Study of how the possible increase of rail freight transport in the modal split affects theenvironmental impact of inland freight transport in Belgium.
Introduction
Intermodal freight transport consists in the shifting of road freight transport in
long distances to others modes of transport with improved environmental
performance such as rail freight transport and inland waterways transport. At the
intermodal terminal, the goods are transferred between modes of transport.
Firstly, we have carried out the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of rail freight
transport, inland waterways transport and road transport independently. Then,
we have studied the environmental impacts related to intermodal freight
transport.
Rail transport operation (Tank-To-Wheel) Maintenance Manufacturing Raw materials Energy Consumption Distribution End-of-life Production Refining Pr oductio n of electrici ty (Well -To -Ta nk) Distribution Power plant Raw materials Products Products Maintenance Construction Rail infrastructure
disposal Rail equipment disposal
Rail infrastructure Rail equipment
Pr oductio n of diesel (Well -To -Ta nk ) Raw materials Inland Waterways transport operation Road transport operation Barge IW Infrastructure
Canal Port facilities
Manufacturing Maintenance Diesel Road Lorry Raw materials Production Production End-of-life End-of-life Raw materials Gas-oil Manufacturing Maintenance
Year
2012
17.5% 24.2% 58.3% Direct emissions Directemissions emissionsDirect
Indirect emissions Modal split of freight transport in Belgium Euro I-VI Rigid <7.5 t Rigid 28 - 32 t Rigid 7.5 - 12 t Rigid >32 t Rigid 12 - 14 t Art. 14 - 20 t Rigid 14 - 20 t Art. 20 - 28 t Rigid 20 - 26 t Art. 28 - 34 t Rigid 26 - 28 t Art. 34 - 40 t
References [1] Messagie, M., van Lier, T., Rangajaru, S., van Meirlo, J. (2014) “Energie-intensiteit van personen- en goederenvervoer”, VUB, [2] Janic, M. (2008) “An assessment of the performance of the European long intermodal freight trains (LIFTS)”, Transportation Research Part A 42, pp 1326-1339
Figure 2. Intermodal route “Port of Antwerp – Terminal Container Athus (Belgium)”
Main haulage
by rail or road Post-haulage by road Port of
Antwerp Intermodal terminal Container AthusTerminal
• In collaboration with Terminal Container Athus (Belgium), we have collected data in both the intermodal route “Port of Antwerp - Terminal Container Athus” and the handling of containers in the intermodal terminal.
• We have considered a consumption of 16 560 kJ/TEU [1] for the transhipment in Port of Antwerp, a gross weight of 14.3 t/TEU [2] and a capacity of 70.3 TEU/train and 2 TEU/lorry.
Road transport is the shortest possible route, but is it worth from an environmental point of view?
• Diesel trains reach the maximum impact in 4 indicators mainly as a result of the exhaust emissions. Electric trains show the maximum impact in 3 indicators, being 2 of them related with the radiation due to the use of nuclear power in the electricity production.
• The art. lorry of 34-40 t Euro VI presents the maximum impact in 6 indicators. For the indicators photochemical ozone formation, acidification and terrestrial eutrophication, it has a lower impact than diesel trains due to the lower exhaust emissions on NMVOC and NOx of the Euro VI engine technology.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
LCIA of the intermodal route “Port of Antwerp – Terminal Container Athus”
SimaPro 8.0.5 ILCD 2011 Midpoint+ (v1.06 / EU27 2010)
-Diesel train Electric train Freight train (Belgian traction mix: 86.3% electric - 13.7% diesel) Lorry art. 34 - 40 t Euro VI
Main characteristics of the intermodal route “Port of Antwerp – Terminal Container Athus ”
Main haulage by train
Main haulage by road 1. Transhipment in the Port of Antwerp (kJ) 1 164 030
2. Main haulage Load factor [2] 75% 85% Tonnage (t) 754 854 Distance (km) 307 245 Transport performance (tkm) 231 441 209 327 3. Transhipment in Terminal Container Athus Electricity (kJ) 365 831 Diesel (MJ) 3 188 4. Post-haulage Load factor [2] 60% Tonnage (t) 603 Distance (km) [2] 50 Transport performance (tkm) 30 155
