Assessing the fitness-for-purpose of strategic transport research in support of European transport policy

The transport policy environment is changing, because of increasing mobility of people and goods, world wide use of ICT, a rising importance of the knowledge economy, etc. Future meth-ods for transport policy assessments will have to integrate these emerging trends, but above all, the new research knowledge produced needs to be taken better into use within the policy proc-esses. To tackle the problem, the paper presents a generic fitness-for-purpose (FFP) Assessment method for research projects in support of transport policy. Based on the results of a case study, the paper argues that by linking a systematic FFP Analysis of transport research projects with researcher-civil servant network building, a method for accepting, elaborating and applying the produced European transport research knowledge can be provided. By doing this, the paper con-tributes to a more systematic and integrative assessment of transport research in policy support, and hopefully enhances the integration of transport research and policy making while at the same time, initiating a better based policy process. We see that FFP Assessments could offer an essential element for the policy relevant transport research knowledge production in the future

GHG emissions of supply chains from different retail systems in Europe

An approach has been developed to collect data and measure energy use and GHG emissions from logistics activities for product supply chains. This approach has been used to assess the GHG efficiency of several supply chains of the same product marketed through different types of retail systems in Europe. The retail types considered are hyper and supermarkets, corner shops, open-air markets, producer's basket direct sale, farm shops and e-commerce; Their GHG efficiencies are quantified and compared for food products, considering whole supply chains from the farm gate where they are grown to the consumer's home. This supply chain efficiency approach highlights the importance of the various operations carried out within the supply chains, such as transport, warehousing, the shop itself, and even consumer behaviour for the last mile. While supermarkets in towns, shops included in a delivery system, or open air markets in town centre appears to be very efficient, rural area and independent shops with lower turnover are less favourable. Indeed, the outcomes of an online consumer survey show large differences amongst the GHG efficiency values for all these retail systems. Therefore, potential logistics choices for improving the supply chain performance could be identified

Decarbonising Urban Freight Transport: Experimentations in European Research Projects

One of the objectives of European research programs is to decarbonize freight transport while maintaining its competitiveness and economic strength, reduce negative externalities such as pollutant emissions, congestion and accidents, and foster innovation. Multiple initiatives have started in Europe to reach these objectives and this paper reviews some of these schemes in the field of urban freight transport. It is based mainly on 3 EC-funded projects (BESTFACT (2016), SOLUTION (2015) and SMARTFUSION (2016)). These 3 projects are either testing (Smartfusion) or examining and disseminating European ‘new solutions’ or ‘best practices’ in freight transport. The paper mainly focuses on the most decarbonizing solutions

Energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions of different supply chains: a comparison of French, UK and Belgian cases

Freight transportation system is critical to economic activity but it carries significant environmental costs, notably GHG emissions and climate change : energy use and corresponding CO2 emissions is increasing faster in freight transport than in other sectors and this increase is primarily the result of increased trade. This paper compares the transport activities, associated energy consumption and CO2 emissions of different supply chains for a range of products in three countries: Belgium, France and United Kingdom. Among the products considered are furniture and ‘fruits & vegetables’. For each of these products, different supply chains, involving more or less transport activity and associated energy consumption are analysed in each country. The comparison highlights some of the main factors that influence GHG emissions for different supply chains and illustrates how they vary according to product and country of final distribution. In more detail, the paper addresses the main differences between the supply chains of these products namely, the origin of their sourcing, the logistical organisation between production and retail and different types of retail outlet. The origin of the sourcing impact is mainly related to distance. The impact of the logistical organisation between raw material and retail on GHG emissions is linked to the mode and vehicle choice and to the load factor. As for retail, the consumer trip emissions, between his home and the retail outlet, are also an important part of the whole supply chain emissions. It is worthwhile to notice that our goal in this project is to consider the whole supply chain, from production to consumption. Therefore a particular focus is put on the mobility behaviours of consumers purchasing the studied products during their shopping and dropping back home activities related to these products. Especially a web based survey has been conducted and the gathered results offer an opportunity for drawing a more detailed picture of the associated CO2 emissions. This paper uses the results of an ongoing research on supply chain energy efficiency, funded by ADEME (the French Energy Agency) through the French program on transport research (PREDIT). This research is based on a comprehensive review of the various approaches to quantifying the environmental impacts of supply chains together with data collection from a range of organisations including manufacturers, retailers and transport companies. We will first present the developed methodologies, then the results corresponding to each studied product will be described. A discussion of the potential application of the research approach to the wider debate about the environmental impact of freight transport and the scope for GHG emissions reduction targets to be achieved will be included

Importance of the loading factor in transport CO2 emissions

This paper is focusing on the influence of the loading factor on CO2 emissions, from freight and passengers. A common approach in economics to relate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to economic activity is the ASIF model (Unander & Schipper 2000). However, this model has been elaborated for all economic sectors, and it doesn’t take into account the vehicle load factor for the calculation of transport emissions. The objective of this paper is to include the loading factor into the ASIF approach. First, we will include this loading factor into the ASIF equation, aggregating step by step from trip level to macro level; loading will appear as a result of empty running, vehicle capacity and occupancy rate (section 2). Then section 3 will analyse the relationship between loading factor and energy consumption, per type of vehicle. Section 4 will focus on issues concerning freight, as well as section 5 for passengers. The examples will be mainly taken from road transport, which causes most of transport CO2 emissions. Then our conclusion will draw attention on data needs and policy implications

Internal report cluster 1: Urban freight innovations and solutions for sustainable deliveries (4/4)

Technical report about sustainable urban freight solutions, part 4 of

Choix logistiques des entreprises et consommation d'énergie

Pour analyser l'influence de l'organisation logistique sur l'énergie consommée dans le transport de fret, on utilise les données de deux enquêtes auprès des chargeurs et opérateurs de transport. Ces enquêtes décrivent les caractéristiques des envois, en particulier les différents trajets de la chaîne de transport et les principales caractéristiques logistiques des chargeurs qui émettent ces expéditions. Pour un peu plus de 1200 envois provenant de 400 chargeurs, l'énergie consommée a été calculée par véhicule sur le trajet puis affectée à l'expédition observée, proportionnellement au poids de cette expédition dans l'ensemble du chargement. Cette énergie consommée pour un envoi est ensuite sommée sur les différents trajets de la chaîne de transport puis rapportée au tonnage kilométrique de l'envoi pour obtenir une consommation unitaire, en "gramme d'équivalent pétrole par tonne x kilomètre" (gep/tkm). Ces données ainsi enrichies permettent tout d'abord de calculer des consommations unitaires pour les principaux types de chaînes de transport (chaînes entièrement routières, ferroutage, chaînes maritimes ou aériennes avec parcours terminaux routiers). D'autre part, différentes hypothèses, liant l'énergie consommée aux choix logistiques ont put être testées en croisant les consommations unitaires avec les variables caractéristiques des comportements logistiques. Enfin, cette recherche permet une meilleure adaptation de ce type d'enquêtes à la connaissance de l'énergie consommée en transport de marchandises. Les améliorations proposées visent en priorité la nouvelle enquête lancée en France à la fin de 2002BANQUE DE DONNEES;FLUX DE MARCHANDISE;LOGISTIQUE;DEPLACEMENT (TRAJET);ORGANISME;ENQUETE;ENERGIE

Modélisation du choix modal air-mer à partir de l'enquête chargeur

Le modèle développé vise à expliquer le choix entre transports maritimes et aériens pour les envois intercontinentaux. Il a été calibré à partir des données très riches de l'enquête auprès des chargeurs (MYSTIC) de 1999 ; ces données permettent en particulier d'estimer le poids de l'envoi pour une offre de transport alternative mais le nombre d'observations disponibles est très faible. La comparaison entre différentes formes de modèle montre que lorsqu'on simule le poids de l'envoi en même temps que le choix du mode de transport on améliore significativement la qualité du modèle.FLUX DE MARCHANDISE;TRANSPORT MARITIME;INTERNATIONAL;MODE DE TRANSPORT;ENQUETE

BESTFACT Best Practice Handbook 3

The Best Practice Handbook (BPH) gives an overview about current concepts, strategies and actions in freight transport all over Europe. It is disseminating information on successful projects and practices to increase awareness and share experiences. It is enabling knowledge transfer and supporting transferability for best practices. The third and last Best Practice Handbook focuses on the work done over the entire project, with 157 inventory cases and 60 in-depth analyses. After four years of case collection a wide field of solutions is available. The main findings of the BESTFACT cases are cross-checked and summarised for each of the cluster topics. The consistent form of collection and information provision broadens the structural understanding of best practice cases. The synthesis of cases per topic shows that under consideration of barriers and framework conditions replicable impacts are achievable. Main editors are Martin Ruesch & Simon Bohne (Rapptrans) and Jacques Leonardi (UoW). Project leader is Marcel Huschebeck (PTV)