Keith Heller, EWS Chief Executive
Lowering CO2 emissions is central to all businesses these days. Within the rail freight industry, every day we are being asked to provide customers with ways to reduce emissions generated by their transport choices.
With rail freight emitting five times less CO2 per tonne kilometre moved than road haulage, the moment is now for the railway across Europe to win over additional volumes to rail.
Rail freight customers need reliable, secure and cost effective haulage, but increasingly also need a low CO2 option. Everybody claims that they offer a good CO2 reduction option, but in the freight sector a new report by Professor Alan McKinnon of the Logistics Research Centre at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh (for the Climate Change Working Group of the Commission for Integrated Transport) has revealed who in domestic freight has low CO2 emissions.
The report stated that in 2004, the best year for analytical results, all modes of domestic freight transport emitted a combined total of 33.7 millions tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
HGVs accounted for 78.5 per cent of these emissions, while vans contributed 13.3 per cent. This is compared with waterway emissions which accounted for 6.8 per cent and rail freight which contributed just 1.1 per cent. Pipelines accounted for 0.3 per cent and air, as a minor player in this market but with high emission levels, accounted for 0.1 per cent.
The report also stated that freight transport is responsible for just over 21 per cent of all CO2 emissions in the transport sector and roughly 6 per cent of the total CO2 emissions in the UK.
Given these facts, it is clear why rail freight forms part of the Government’s thinking towards lowering CO2. The £200 million funding for the strategic rail freight network announced in the recent White Paper, and the announcement of a further £132 million for specific rail freight infrastructure, puts government funding for rail freight at a level not seen for decades. This investment in rail freight will not only result in volume growth but, importantly, will reduce CO2 levels and the 21 per cent share freight has for all transport emissions.
In examining opportunities to cut CO2 emissions, the report shows that average CO2 emissions per tonne-km are substantially lower for rail and waterborne transport than road and air. Professor McKinnon writes that “shifting freight to these more environmentally-friendly modes can therefore cut CO2 emissions.”
EWS believes that this report by Professor McKinnon should be read by every company with a haulage requirement that is committed to reducing CO2 emissions. For the first time in one report the true scale of the domestic freight transport market’s carbon emissions can be studied and used as a blueprint to reduce pollution.
EWS is already addressing the key themes in the report to help the British economy increase its use of rail freight and, in doing so, lower CO2 emissions. We recognise that we must lead in order to seek this reduction.
The recent summer months have seen an increase in EWS involvement in the fast-moving consumer goods sector, with flows of fresh produce being moved for supermarkets. We have also conducted the first major trial using 100 per cent bio fuel on the Royal Train and are working on detailed plans to lower our carbon emissions significantly over the coming years.
Taking a more international view, Eurotunnel’s revised pricing arrangements for rail freight operators is tremendous news. The new charges will provide greater clarity on costs and stimulate the movement of intermodal traffic on longer trains, thereby playing a major part in the reduction of transport’s carbon footprint and enabling EWS to relaunch its Channel Tunnel operations.
We look forward to operating more freight trains through the Channel Tunnel from January 2008, not only to see the traffic grow but to see a shift from road to rail right across Europe.
The Government policy for rail freight has been reinforced by funding for the infrastructure improvements required; a significant milestone in the creation of an enhanced freight railway network. The DfT’s vision of a 30 per cent growth in rail freight by 2014 and a reduction in CO2 levels is to be applauded.
While governmental support for rail freight growth is good news, the challenge is to increase the volume carried on the existing network. Ever increasing demand will create problems in the future unless we identify small enhancement projects that can deliver big results for the country. For that reason, EWS, with the rest of the rail freight industry, has identified railway enhancement schemes that provide simple improvements but with a big impact.
Covering England, Wales and Scotland, they might not be the headline grabbing multi-million pound projects, but they do provide a more flexible network for modest investment.
By investing in these schemes, we not only ensure we provide low-cost capacity for rail freight expansion, we lower the nation’s level of CO2 emissions.
Views expressed in our 'guest opinion' column are those of the author and not necessarily shared by Railnews.