Life cycle assessment of rail freight transport in Belgium

Abstract

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.

Reduction of Power Consumption and CO2 Emissions as a Result of Putting into Service High-Speed Trains: Polish Case

“…The results presented in Table 6 are comparable to those presented in literature [24,26,32,42,57], which supports the validity of the presented results and makes another positive case for the ED250 project compared to conventional locomotive trains.…”

“…The topic of reducing adverse environmental impacts of transport has been considered for many years in the context of changes in the transport modal split [16,17], the role of high-speed rail in reducing CO 2 emissions [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] and the impact on biodiversity [29]. Some studies address technological solutions for replacing energy sources and changing the type of vehicle drives to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [30][31][32].…”

Energy Efficiency of Inland Waterways Transport for Agriculture: The Ukraine Case Study

“…To d mine the above, Formula (1) is used. Actual specific energy consumptions of Ukra transport systems exceed theoretical values (Figure 6) and similar indicators for Euro countries (Figure 7) [10,49]. Ukrainian railway has better specific energy consum compared to European Union countries.…”

ENERGY AND CO2 EMISSION INTENSITIES OF VARIOUS MODES OF PASSENGER TRANSPORT IN WARSAW

“…Energy and CO2 emission intensity indicators can be calculated in different ways. There are Life Cycle Analysis approaches, which take into consideration all kinds of factors that may affect a single trip [e.g., 3,5,13,18]. There are also approaches that measure only part of the picture, e.g., energy use during the transport process (vehicle operation), vehicle manufacturing or other factors.…”