The strong, degradative impact of transport on the environment is the foundation of the sustainable transport development policy, the main directions of which were defined in the 2001 White Paper. Unfortunately, since then, few of the postulates presented therein have been successfully implemented.
The share of transport in energy consumption still exceeds 30%, and the share of this economic sector in CO2 emissions increased by 7% between 1990 and 2005. Rising congestion costs are estimated at several percent of GDP, and successes in increasing safety levels are not very satisfactory.
In this situation, the EU has taken more decisive actions aimed at reducing the degradative impact on the environment, among other things by stimulating the development of inland waterway transport, which, in diverse areas of application, including many new market niches, can relieve road transport, which degrades the environment the most and is unable to keep up with growing transport needs.
The impact of inland waterway transport on the environment
Inland waterway transport is one of the cheapest and at the same time most environmentally friendly branches. The differences in energy intensity, air pollution emissions, land consumption, safety risks, or external costs between inland waterway transport and road transport are several-fold, and in some cases even several dozen-fold. Studies of the degradative impact of various transport branches on the environment, carried out under different conditions (depending, among other things, on the size of the fleet and its technical solutions, type of cargo, transport distance), yield different results; nevertheless, they are always favorable for inland waterway transport. Only the scale of this advantage differs. For example, according to the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME), 1 liter of fuel allows a river vessel to move 127 tons of cargo over a distance of 1 km, while a car can move only 50 tons, and a train 97 tons. Dutch and German studies show that a 1350-ton barge consumes 4-7 times less fuel than a heavy truck (Figure 1).
As a result, even in countries where the role of shipping in meeting transport needs is significant, the share of this branch in energy consumption is disproportionately low in relation to the transport work performed. As shown in Figure 2, inland waterway transport accounts for only 1.5% of total energy consumption in transport in the 27 EU countries (a 5.2% share in transport work), and this level is almost 60 times lower than the energy intensity of road transport (82% of energy consumption with a 72% share in transport work). However, in countries where shipping is well-developed, the differences in energy intensity are greater; for example, in the Netherlands, this branch accounts for 3% of energy consumed in transport and 32% of land transport work.
Low energy intensity is the cause of further effects in the form of significantly lower air pollution emissions than in road transport. As shown in Figure 2, CO2 emissions in inland shipping are almost 5 times lower than in road transport and 1.5 times lower than in rail transport. Technical and technological progress means that changes beneficial to the environment are being implemented in all branches, however, inland waterway transport, whose goal is to eliminate air pollution emissions (the concept of ZEV – zero-emission vessels, using ecological energy sources), often shows an advantage in this respect over other transport branches. Already today, NOx and SO2 emissions in this branch of transport are assessed as minimal.
Despite a significant increase in the transport of dangerous goods, inland waterway transport remains one of the safest branches of transport. One of the reasons is the almost complete separation of freight transport from passenger transport, which is usually carried out in attractive tourist and recreational areas. Furthermore, the high degree of specialization of transport, which is manifested in the adaptation of transport means to the specifics of the cargo, regulations concerning especially the transport of dangerous goods, and requirements regarding the training of ship crews mean that the safety risk in this branch of transport is minimal. The small, degradative impact of inland waterway transport on the environment is reflected in the low external costs of this branch of transport. The external costs of the degradative impact of transport on the environment (accidents, noise, pollution, climate change) are significant and estimated by the European Environment Agency at 4% of GDP in the EU-15 to 14% of GDP in new EU countries, not counting the costs of land occupation and congestion costs. In individual transport branches, according to EU studies, external costs per 1,000 ton-kilometers are estimated in various studies as follows:
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from 24.1 to 37.8 euros in road transport
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from 7.1 to 19 euros in rail transport
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from 4.5 to 6.2 euros in inland waterway transport.
The presented advantages of inland waterway transport mean that in the face of energy problems and efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, in conditions of congestion and safety threats, as well as high competition in transport, it is difficult to ignore this branch. In many countries, alongside traditional areas of application and very dynamically developing container transport, market niches are being sought, thanks to which at least some of the problems of sustainable transport development could be solved.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 4/2009.