691 research outputs found

    Environmental Comparison of Different Transport Modes

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    The paper describes the energy consumption and GHG production comparison of three transport modes – road, rail and waterborne. The calculations are done according to the legislation in force – standard EN 16 258:2012 Methodology for calculation and declaration of energy consumption and GHG emissions of transport services (freight and passengers). The results have high informative value because they take into account energy consumption and emissions from primary and secondary consideration. The calculation is done by real fuel consumption values (road and waterborne) and by simulation of energy consumption (railway). The energy and emission coefficients from the standard EN were used for estimating the results according to the well-to-wheels and tank-to-wheels principles

    Climate change impacts and mitigation : reducing CO2 emissions from the freight transport sector : lessons for Mexico from the UK experience and future policy

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    The United Kingdom and Mexico have established goals to reduce CO2 emissions. With the publication of the Climate Change act in 2008 Britain acknowledges that is technologically ready to implement changes to bring important reductions of CO2 emissions. Mexico included Climate Change abatement in its 2007 development program. UK aims to achieve a reduction of 80% and Mexico a reduction of 50% in their CO2 emissions by the year 2050. To achieve these reductions both countries face the challenge of improving activities such as better use of fuels, for example natural gas for energy production or diesel used in road freight transport vehicles. Freight transport currently accounts 25% of global carbon emissions; with road freight as the fastest growing sector for both countries. The use of biofuels or clean energy powered vehicles is far from a 100% implementation in the fleet. Because of this improving the fuel efficiency in the current operation signifies an opportunity to reduce emissions. The United Kingdom is ahead in legislation through taxation, market incentives and research to encourage reductions from freight transport. Mexico is in its way to the creation of a Climate Change Law. This dissertation aims to determine which lessons Mexico can learn from the United Kingdom in its improvement of freight transport sector in two levels. The Macro level looks at legislation and private sector initiatives, and the Micro level simulating 11 scenarios using real data from operation of a food manufacturer provided by the StarFish Project. The scenarios simulate the implementation of a series of best practice recommendations to reduce emissions and improve operation. The results evidence that at a Macro level Mexico can implement legislation mechanisms to stimulate the reduction of CO2 emissions in the transport sector. At a Micro level the simulations show that even for developed countries like the United Kingdom there is a big potential to reduce carbon emissions from the freight transport sector. The outcome of the dissertation is that learn from experiences from other countries applies not only for Mexico and other developing countries but for every country aiming to improve the reduction of CO2 emissions

    Environmental Impacts of Introducing LNG as Alternative Fuel for Urban Buses – Case Study in Slovakia

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    The aim of the paper is to assess the possibility of decreasing the chosen environmental indicators like energy consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) production and other exhaust pollutants in the selected region in Slovakia by introducing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) buses into bus transport. The assessment is carried out by comparing the consumption and emissions of current buses (EURO 2) in real operation, with potential buses (EURO 6) and with pilot LNG buses testing on the same lines. Comparison took place under the same conditions over the same period. The study measures the energy consumption and GHG production per bus. The research paper also compares two methodologies of calculation. The first calculation is according to the European Standard EN 16258: 2012 which specifies the general methodology for evaluation and declaration of energy consumption and GHG emissions (all services - cargo, passengers or both). The second calculation is according to the Handbook of Emission Factors for Road Transport (HBEFA). The results of the calculation are compared by both methods, and the most suitable version of the bus in terms of GHG emissions is proposed

    Transportation Systems Analysis and Assessment

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    The transportation system is the backbone of any social and economic system, and is also a very complex system in which users, transport means, technologies, services, and infrastructures have to cooperate with each other to achieve common and unique goals.The aim of this book is to present a general overview on some of the main challenges that transportation planners and decision makers are faced with. The book addresses different topics that range from user's behavior to travel demand simulation, from supply chain to the railway infrastructure capacity, from traffic safety issues to Life Cycle Assessment, and to strategies to make the transportation system more sustainable

    An evaluation of energy consumption and emissions from intermodal freight operations on the eastern seaboard: A GIS network analysis approach

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    As global trade continues to increase, the energy and environmental impacts of freight movement in the US have become more of a concern. As such, the freight transport system needs to consider opportunities to meet customer objectives, while also meeting social goals. In the US there has been legislation enacted to address the growing impact that freight movement has on the environment, but there are limited tools to assist in the implementation of those polices. This research sets forth a process for creating a geospatial intermodal freight transportation (GIFT) model within ArcGIS that can be used to analyze freight movement under different economic and environmental scenarios. The GIFT model uses an intermodal network that connects various modes (rail, truck, and ship) via intermodal terminals. ArcGIS Network Analyst is used to create the intermodal network and conduct optimal route analysis for various network attributes. Routes along the network are characterized not only by temporal and distance attributes, but also by cost, energy, and emissions attributes. Decision makers can use the model to explore tradeoffs among alternative route selection across different modal combinations, and to identify optimal routes for objectives that feature energy and environmental parameters (e.g., least carbon dioxide intensive route). The research illustrates the use of this network using a case study that analyzes freight traffic along the US Eastern Seaboard

    The limits of transport decarbonization under the current growth paradigm

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    Producción CientíficaAchieving ambitious reductions in greenhouse gases (GHG) is particularly challenging for transportation due to the technical limitations of replacing oil-based fuels. We apply the integrated assessment model MEDEAS-World to study four global transportation decarbonization strategies for 2050. The results show that a massive replacement of oil-fueled individual vehicles to electric ones alone cannot deliver GHG reductions consistent with climate stabilization and could result in the scarcity of some key minerals, such as lithium and magnesium. In addition, energy-economy feedbacks within an economic growth system create a rebound effect that counters the benefits of substitution. The only strategy that can achieve the objectives globally follows the Degrowth paradigm, combining a quick and radical shift to lighter electric vehicles and non-motorized modes with a drastic reduction in total transportation demand.European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no 691287 and 821105, respectively.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project ECO2017-85110-R)Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project FJCI-2016-28833

    Feasibility study on hydrogen storage, distribution and utilization for power generation and transportation in Sugarcane Industry in Queensland

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    Based on sugarcane bagasse production of 220,000 tonnes/year, the Mackay Sugar Limited’s Racecourse mill could potentially produce 2570 tonnes of hydrogen per year by using pyrolysis and pressure swing adsorption. Power generation at the mill was simulated with RETEscreen, using the syngas produced by pyrolysis process where the syngas is fed in to a 38MW gas turbine or a reciprocating engine. The most profitable power generation option was found to be operating a gas turbine which gives an internal rate of return of 12.9%. Rest of the syngas goes through the pressure swing adsorption process to separate hydrogen from other gases such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Production cost of low-pressure hydrogen was calculated as 2.78/kg,liquidhydrogen2.78/kg, liquid hydrogen 3.80/kg and hydrogen at 350bar $ 3.87/kg. Liquid hydrogen storage vessel size was simulated using HOMER Pro software and a minimum 100 tonnes of storage was found to be required. Hydrogen at 350bar pressure is used to fuel cane trains and haul trucks to analyse the economic feasibility and the results shows positive internal rate of returns but below the Makcay Sugar Limited anticipated percentage of 12%. A life cycle analysis of the production process was conducted using GaBi software with system boundaries of sugarcane harvesting to 350bar hydrogen production. Results indicate the global warming potential of producing 1kg of hydrogen to be 4.51kgCO2-eq. The overall life cycle analysis proves the hydrogen production process is helping to reduce ecological footprints which are lot higher in fossil fuel production processes

    The Application of the Verified Gross Mass of Intermodal Loading Units in the Conditions of the Slovak Republic

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    This paper focuses on the methods of obtaining Verified Gross Mass of packed containers or other Intermodal Loading Units in Slovakia taking into consideration requirements of section 4 to 6, Regulation 2, Part A, chapter VI SOLAS and article 10f of the EU directive 2015/719/EU. The methods which used in Slovakia are described where the comparative analysis of selected weighing methods is performed on selected examples from loading organisations. The paper also recommends the use of certain weighing methods for the selected loading organisations as appropriate procedures to obtain Verified Gross Mass of packed containers or other Intermodal Loading Units

    Sustainable Freight Transport

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    This Special Issue of Sustainability reports on recent research aiming to make the freight transport sector more sustainable. The sector faces significant challenges in different domains of sustainability, including the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the management of health and safety impacts. In particular, the intention to decarbonise the sector’s activities has led to a strong increase in research efforts—this is also the main focus of the Special Issue. Sustainable freight transport operations represent a significant challenge with multiple technical, operational, and political aspects. The design, testing, and implementation of interventions require multi-disciplinary, multi-country research. Promising interventions are not limited to introducing new transport technologies, but also include changes in framework conditions for transport, in terms of production and logistics processes. Due to the uncertainty of impacts, the number of stakeholders, and the difficulty of optimizing across actors, understanding the impacts of these measures is not a trivial problem. Therefore, research is not only needed on the design and evaluation of individual interventions, but also on the approach of their joint deployment through a concerted public/private programme. This Special Issue addresses both dimensions, in two distinct groups of papers—the programming of interventions and the individual sustainability measures themselves
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