BRAIN-TRAINS: Integrating the LCA methodology in and interdisciplinary project

BRAIN-TRAINS is a project supported by the Belgian Federal Government that deals with the possible development of rail freight intermodality in Belgium, approaching this transport issue from an interdisciplinary perspective. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is used to analyse the sustainability impact of rail freight intermodality. The rail freight system has been divided in three sub-systems: rail transport operation, rail infrastructure and rail transport equipment (locomotives and wagons).
First, a SWOT analysis of the intermodal rail freight transport has been performed to identify internal characteristics and possible external trends of the intermodal rail freight transport. The most important elements identified in the SWOT analysis have been selected through a Delphi-technique with the collaboration of a panel of expert. Thirdly, the selected elements have been translated into clear and measurable parameters, defining for every parameter an input value to quantify the scenarios. The parameters are measured in “tonne-kilometre”.
Finally, three divergent Belgian scenarios with a time horizon set in 2030 have been built for further analysis. These scenarios are directly linked to the third strategic goal of the European Commission’s White Paper on transport (2011), which aims to shift the 30% of road freight over 300 km to other modes such as rail transport by 2030. As a result, a best, worst and medium case scenarios have been developed, depending on whether the 30% shift has been successfully accomplished, the status quo has been maintained or the goal has not been completely reached by 2030, respectively.
The direct transport emissions and energy consumption during the rail transport activity have been determined using the LCA methodology. These LCA results have been used to improve the accuracy of existing commercial databases as Ecoinvent for the Belgian situation.