Inland freight transport; Life Cycle Assessment; Externalitties; External costs; Belgium
Abstract :
[en] This paper proposes a case study on Belgium in which externalities and external costs of inland freight transport modes in Belgium are compared for the year 2012. The well-known Life Cycle Assessment methodology is used to identify the updated specific Belgian externalities related to three categories of negative impacts: climate change, photochemical ozone formation and particulate matter formation. The obtained values of externalities are then compared to the related external cost values. The objective is to determine if these two tools can be used interchangeably. We find that road transport has the maximum impact for every environmental impact indicator, with rail freight transport presenting the minimum one. We identify that each category of negative impact on the environment does not represent the same percentage of global externalities and external costs. In the analysis of the environmental impact per mode, it is observed that, when external costs are considered instead of externalities, the impact of road transport is slightly increased compared to both impacts of rail and inland waterways. Using externalities and average external costs interchangeably for estimating the impact of specific transport categories on the environment may thus lead to different results and different related policies.
Research Center/Unit :
Chemical engineering - ULiège Centre for Quantitative Methods and Operations Management (QuantOM) Department of Architecture, Geology, Environment and Construction, LEMA Group,
Disciplines :
Special economic topics (health, labor, transportation...) Chemical engineering Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Merchan Arribas, Angel ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Department of Chemical Engineering > PEPs (Product, Environment, Processes)
Léonard, Angélique ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Department of Chemical Engineering > PEPs (Product, Environment, Processes)
AEA Technology Environment, Clean Air For Europe (CAFE) – Damages per Tonne Emission of PM 2.5 , NH 3 , SO 2 , NO X and VOCs from each EU25 Member State (excluding Cyprus) and surrounding seas. 2005, European Commission DG Environment, United Kingdom.
Agarwal, A., Kickhöfern, B., Nagel, K., The internalization of congestion and air pollution externalities: evaluating behavioral impacts. Paper Presented at the 14th International Conference on Travel Behavior Research, Windsor, 2015.
Austin, D., Pricing Freight Transport to Account for External Costs. (working paper), 2015, Congressional Budget Office, Washington DC.
Bagienski, Z., Traffic air quality index. Sci. Total Environ. 505 (2015), 606–614.
Banar, M., Özdemir, A., An evaluation of railway passenger transport in Turkey using life cycle assessment and life cycle cost methods. Transp. Res. Part D 41 (2015), 88–105.
Beuthe, M., Degrandsart, F., Geerts, J.F., Jourquin, B., External costs of the Belgian interurban freight traffic: a network analysis of their internalization. Transp. Res. Part D 7 (2002), 285–301.
Bickel, P., Friedrich, R., ExternE: Externalities of Energy – Methodlogy 2005 Update. 2005, IER University of Stuttgart, Germany.
Bickel, P., Friedrich, R., Burgess, A., Fagiani, P., Hunt, A., De Jong, G., Tavasszy, L., Developing Harmonised European Approaches for Transport Costing and Project Assessment (HEATCO), Deliverable 5 Proposal for Harmonised Guidelines. 2006, IER University of Stuttgart, Germany.
Bickel, P., Friedrich, R., Burgess, A., Fagiani, P., Hunt, A., De Jong, G., Tavasszy, L., Developing Harmonised European Approaches for Transport Costing and Project Assessment (HEATCO), Deliverable 6 Case Study Results. 2006, IER University of Stuttgart, Germany.
Bickel, P., Friedrich, R., Link, H., Stewart, L., Nash, C., Introducing environmental externalities into transport pricing: measurement and implications. Transp. Rev.: Transnat. Transdisciplin. J. 26:4 (2006), 389–415.
Caris, A., Limbourg, S., Macharis, C., Van Lier, T., Cools, M., Integration of inland waterway transport in the intermodal supply chain: a taxonomy of research challenges. J. Transp. Geogr. 41 (2014), 126–136.
Calthrop, E., Proost, S., Road transport externalities. Environ. Resource Econ., 11, 2008, 335.
CE Delft, External costs of Transport in Europe: Update study for 2008. 2011, CE Delft, The Netherlands.
Chester, M., Horvath, A., Environmental assessment of passenger transportation should include infrastructure and supply chains. Environ. Res. Lett., 4, 2009, 024008.
Chester, M., Horvath, A., Life-cycle assessment of high-speed rail: the case of California. Environ. Res. Lett., 5, 2010, 014003.
Cravioto, J., Yamasue, E., Okumura, H., Ishihara, K.N., Road transport externalities in Mexico: Estimates and international comparisons. Transp. Policy 30 (2013), 63–76.
De Langhe, K., The importance of external costs for assessing the potential of trams and trains for urban freight distribution. Res. Transport. Bus. Manage. 24 (2017), 114–122.
Dente, S.M.R., Tavasszy, L.A., Impacts of trade related sustainability strategies on freight transportation: modelling framework and application for France. Transp. Res. Part D 58 (2018), 308–319.
EcoTransIT, EcoTransIT: Ecological Transport Information Tool. Environmental, Methodology and Data. 2008, ifeu – Institut für Energieund Umweltforschung Heidelberg GmbH, Germany.
EcoTransIT, EcoTransIT: Ecological Transport Information Tool for Worldwide Transports. Methodology and Data. 2014, ifeu – Institut für Energieund Umweltforschung Heidelberg GmbH, Germany.
Commission, European, International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD). Handbook – GENERAL Guide for Life Cycle Assessment – Detailed Guidance. First edition March 2010, 2010, Joint Research Centre – Institute for Environment and Sustainability. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg (EUR 24708 EN).
European Commission, 2015. Commission Refers Belgium and Bulgaria to Court and gives Sweden a Final Warning Over Poor Air Quality. Retrieved from: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5197_en.htm (accessed July 2018).
European Commission, 2018. Internalisation of Transport External Costs. https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/sustainable/internalisation_en (accessed July 2018).
European Environment Agency, Air Pollution Fact Sheet 2014. 2014, European Environment Agency, Copenhagen, Belgium.
European Environment Agency, Air quality in Europe: 2018 report. 2018, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
Eurostat Statistics, 2017. URL: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat (accessed August 2017).
Eurostat Statistics, 2018a. Transport de marchandises par route. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=fr&pcode=ttr00005&plugin=1 (accessed July 2018).
Eurostat Statistics, 2018b. Transport de marchandises par voies navigables intérieures. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=fr&pcode=ttr00007&plugin=1 (accessed July 2018).
Eurostat Statistics, 2018c. Transport de marchandises par chemin de fer. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=fr&pcode=ttr00006&plugin=1 (accessed July 2018).
Facanha, C., Horvath, A., Environmental assessment of freight transportation in the US. Int. J. Life Cycle Assess. 11:4 (2006), 229–239.
Facanha, C., Horvath, A., Evaluation of Life-Cycle air emission factor of freight transportation. Environ. Sci. Technol. 41:20 (2007), 7138–7144.
Forkenbrock, D.J., External costs of intercity truck freight transport. Transp. Res. Part A 33 (1999), 505–526.
Forkenbrock, D.J., Comparison of external costs of rail and truck freight transport. Transp. Res. Part A 35 (2001), 321–337.
Fries, N., Hellweg, S., LCA of land-based freight transportation: facilitating practical application and including accidents in LCIA. Int. J. Life Cycle Assess. 19 (2014), 546–557.
Goedkoop, M.J., Heijungs, R., Huijbregts, M.A.J., De Schryver, A.M., Struijs, J., Van Zelm, R., 2013. ReCiPe 2008: A life cycle impact assessment method which comprises harmonised category indicators at the midpoint and the endpoint level, first ed. Report I: Characterisation. http://www.lcia-recipe.net.
Hauschild, M.Z., Huijbregts, M.A.J., Introducing life cycle impact assessment. Hauschild, M.Z., Huijbregts, M.A.J., (eds.) Life Cycle Impact Assessment, LCA Compendium – The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment, Series Editors: Walter Klöpffer and Mary Ann Curran, 2015, Springer (Chapter 1, ISBN 978-94-017-9743-6).
Hauschild, M.Z., Introduction to LCA methodology. Hauschild, M.Z., Rosenbaum, R.K., Olsen, S.I., (eds.) Life Cycle Assessment. Theory and Practice, 2018, Springer (Chapter 6, ISBN 978-3-319-56474-6).
Igos, E., Benetto, E., Meyer, R., Baustert, P., Othoniel, B., How to treat uncertainties in life cycle assessment studies?. Int. J. Life Cycle Assess., 2018, 10.1007/s11367-018-1477-1.
INFRAS/IWW, External Costs of Transport: Update study. 2004, University of Karlsruhe Zürich/Karlsruhe.
ISO, ISO 14040:2006 Management environnemental – Analyse du cycle de vie – Principes et cadre. 2006, International Standardization Organization.
ISO, ISO 14044:2006 Management environnemental – Analyse du cycle de vie – Exigences et lignes directrices. 2006, International Standardization Organization.
Janic, M., Modelling the full costs of an intermodal and road freight transport network. Transp. Res. Part D 12 (2007), 33–44.
Janic, M., An assessment of the performance of the European long intermodal freight trains (LIFTS). Transp. Res. Part A 42 (2008), 1326–1339.
Janic, M., Vleugel, J., Estimating potential reductions in externalities from rail–road substitution in Trans-European freight transport corridors. Transp. Res. Part D 17 (2012), 154–160.
Jones, H., Moura, F., Domingos, T., Life cycle assessment of high-speed rail: a case study in Portugal. Int. J. Life Cycle Assess. 22 (2017), 410–422.
Kägi, T., Dinkel, F., Frischknecht, R., Hulbert, S., Lindberg, J., De Mester, S., Ponsioen, T., Sala, S., Schenker, U.W., Session Midpoint, endpoint or single score for decision-making?—SETAC Europe 25th Annual Meeting, May 5th, 2015. Int. J. Life Cycle Assess. 21 (2016), 129–132.
Kuik, O., Brander, L., Tol, R.S., Marginal abatement costs of greenhouse gas emissions: a meta-analysis. Energy Policy 37:4 (2009), 1395–1403.
Macharis, C., Van Hoeck, E., Pekin, E., Van Lier, T., A decision analysis framework for intermodal transport: comparing fuel price increases and the internalization of external costs. Transp. Res. Part A 44 (2010), 550–561.
Maibach, M., Schreyer, C., Sutter, D., Van Essen, H.P., Boon, B.H., Smokers, R., Bak, M., Handbook on Estimation of External Costs in the Transport Sector – Produced within the Study Internalization Measures and Policies for All external Cost of Transport (IMPACT). 2008, CE Delft, The Netherlands.
Mayeres, I., Proost, S., Vandercruyssen, D., De Nocker, L., Int Panis, L., Wouters, G., De Borger, B., The External Costs of Transport – Final Report. 2001, Sustainable Mobility Programme, Federal Office for Scientific, Technical and Cultural Affairs, Belgium.
Maibach, M., Schreyer, C., Sutter, D., Van Essen, H.P., Boon, B.H., Smokers, R., Schroten, A., Doll, C., Pawlowska, B., Bak, M., Handbook on Estimation of External Costs in the Transport Sector. 2008, CE Delft, The Netherlands.
Merchan, A.L., Belboom, S., Léonard, A., Life Cycle Assessment of freight transport in Belgium. Proceedings of the BIVEC-GIBET Transport Research Days, Liège, Belgium, 2017.
Meyer, R., Benetto, E., Igos, E., Lavandier, C., Analysis of the different techniques to include noise damage in life cycle assessment A case study for car tires. Int. J. Life Cycle Assess. 22:5 (2017), 744–757.
Moliner, E., Vidal, R., Franco, V., A fair method for the calculation of the external costs of road traffic noise according to the Eurovignette Directive. Transp. Res. Part D 24 (2013), 52–61.
Mostert, M., Caris, A., Limbourg, S., Intermodal network design: a three-mode bi-objective model applied to the case of Belgium. Flexible Serv. Manuf. J., 2017, 10.1007/s10696-016-9275-1 (in press).
Mostert, M., Caris, A., Limbourg, S., Road and intermodal transport performance: the impact of operational costs and air pollution external costs. Res. Transport. Bus. Manage. 23 (2017), 75–85.
Mostert, M., Limbourg, S., External costs as competitiveness factors for freight transport: a state of the art. Transp. Rev. 36:6 (2016), 692–712.
Musso, A., Rothengatter, W., Internalization of external costs of transport–a target driven approach with a focus on climate change. Transp. Policy 29 (2013), 303–314.
Nocera, S., Tonin, S., Cavallaro, F., The economic impact of greenhouse gas abatement through a meta-analysis: valuation, consequences and implications in terms of transport policy. Transp. Policy 37 (2015), 31–43.
Nocera, S., Galati, O.I., Cavallaro, F., On the uncertainty in the economic valuation of carbon emissions from transport. J. Transp. Econ. Policy 52:1 (2018), 68–94.
Ntziachristos, L., Samaras, Z., 1.A.3.b.i, 1.A.3.b.ii, 1.A.3.b.iii, 1.A.3.b.iv Passenger Cars, Light Commercial Trucks, Heavy-duty Vehicles Including Buses and Motor Cycles. EMEP/EEA Air Pollutant Emission Inventory Guidebook 2013 – Technical Guidance to Prepare National Emission Inventories. 2014, European Environment Agency.
Pérez-Martínez, P.J., Vassallo-Magro, J.M., Changes in the external costs of freight surface transport in Spain. Res. Transp. Econ. 42 (2013), 61–76.
Pré, 2013. Introduction to LCA with SimaPro. www.pre-sustainability.com.
Preiss, P., Klotz, V., Description of updated and extended draft tools for the detailed site-dependent assessment of external costs. Technical Paper No. 7.4 – RS 1b of NEEDS Project, 2007, Universität Stuttgart, Germany.
Quinet, E., A meta-analysis of Western European external costs estimates. Transp. Res. Part D 9 (2004), 465–476.
Ricardo-AEA, Update of the Handbook on External Costs of Transport. 2014, Ricardo-AEA, United Kingdom.
Rosenbaum, R.K., Hauschild, Z., Boulay, A.M., Fantke, P., Laurent, A., Nuñez, M., Vieira, M., Life cycle impact assessment. Hauschild, M.Z., Rosenbaum, R.K., Olsen, S.I., (eds.) Life Cycle Assessment. Theory and Practice, 2018, Springer (Chapter 10, ISBN 978-3-319-56474-6).
Rosenbaum, R.K., Georgiadis, S., Fantke, P., Uncertainty management and sensitivity analysis. Hauschild, M.Z., Rosenbaum, R.K., Olsen, S.I., (eds.) Life Cycle Assessment. Theory and Practice, 2018, Springer (Chapter 11, ISBN 978-3-319-56474-6).
Salomon, J.A., Disability-Adjusted Life Years. Encyclopedia of Health Economics, 2014, 200–203.
Santos, B.F., Limbourg, S., Carreira, J.S., The impact of transport policies on railroad intermodal freight competitiveness – the case of Belgium. Transp. Res. Part D 34 (2015), 230–244.
Sansom, T., Nash, C.A., Mackie, P.J., Shires, J., Watkiss, P., Surface Transport Costs and Charges. Final Report, 2001, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, United Kingdom.
Schmid, S.A., Bickel, P., Friedrich, R., RECORDIT Real Cost Reduction of Door-to-door Intermodal Transport – Deliverable 4 External Cost Calculation for Selected Corridors. 2001, IER University of Stuttgart, Germany.
Spielmann, M., Scholz, R.W., Life cycle inventories of transport services. Background data for freight transport. Int. J. Life Cycle Assess. 10:1 (2005), 85–94.
Spielmann, M., Bauer, C., Dones, R., Tuchschmid, M., Transport Services, Ecoinvent Report No. 14. 2007, Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Tol, R.S.J., Targets for global climate policy: an overview. J. Econ. Dyn. Control 37 (2013), 911–928.
Troch, F., Vanelslander, T., Belboom, S., Léonard, A., Limbourg, S., Merchan, A., Mostert, M., Pauwels, T., Stevens, V., Sys, C., Tawfik, C., Verhoest, K., BRAIN TRAINS: Intermodal rail transport and hinterland connections. A SWOT analysis to scrutiny the Belgian rail practice. Proceedings of the BIVEC/GIBET Transport Research Days, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 2015.
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change, 2016. Paris Agreement – Status of Ratification. Retrieved from http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9444.php (accessed July 2018).
Van Essen, H.P., Boon, B.H., Maibach, M., Schreyer, C., Methodologies for external cost estimates and internalization scenarios. Discussion Paper for the Workshop on Internalization on March 15, 2007, CE Delft, The Netherlands.
Van Lier, T., Macharis, C., Assessing the environmental impact of inland waterway transport using a life-cycle assessment approach: the case of Flanders. Res. Transport. Bus. Manage. 12 (2014), 29–40.
Zhang, M., A Freight Transport Model for Integrated Network, Service and Policy Design – Zhang. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), 2013, Delft University, The Netherlands.
Zhang, M., Janic, M., Tavasszy, L., A freight transport optimization model for integrated network, service, and policy design. Transp. Res. Part E 77 (2015), 61–76.
