According to a recent听study, coastal shipping produces a fifth of the carbon emissions (well-to-wheel) of road freight. Rail also performed well, with about a quarter of trucking emissions.
Despite this, trucking accounts for nearly 80% of New Zealand鈥檚 heavy goods transport, and a 94.5% share of the total emissions from heavy freight transport.
The dominance of trucking follows the expansion of the road network, which enables trucks to move relatively fast, travel to hard-to-reach locations and adjust routes to meet the flexibility required for just-in-time deliveries.
But despite its advantages, trucking is associated with external costs, including higher carbon emissions than other modes of transportation.
Before we evaluate decarbonisation pathways, we need to have a solid understanding of the freight system. To this end, we have created a听听to visualise the carbon footprint of freight movements within New Zealand.
With decarbonisation commitments firmly locked into听, we have hard deadlines to cut emissions. Failure to do so will represent a risk to New Zealand鈥檚 economy and likely require taxpayer money to buy expensive international听.
We need to reconsider how we operate
A shift to less energy-intensive freight transport modes like coastal shipping and rail represents a possible pathway to reducing fossil-fuel dependency.
But despite the benefits of sea and rail transport, it remains unclear how to achieve the shift to new infrastructure and technologies. A key requirement is access to an efficient multi-modal network that integrates ports, inland terminals, distribution hubs, roads and railways.
We can achieve听听by transporting larger volumes of goods, which would lead to cheaper costs per unit. As the European Commission听:
The challenge is to ensure structural change to enable rail to compete effectively and take a significantly greater proportion of medium and long-distance freight.
Our research was focused on creating a detailed understanding of New Zealand鈥檚 current heavy-freight system. Emissions reporting extended beyond the direct combustion of fuels and accounted for vehicle-embedded emissions. We also consolidated data from multiple sources, which helped with calculating energy demand and direct and indirect emissions for every freight mode.
For example, we found the majority of a truck鈥檚 lifetime emissions (almost 80%) come from the fuel it consumes. This is why it鈥檚 important to prioritise operational aspects and switch to non-fossil propulsion technologies.
Where to from here
It will take considerable investment to expand or upgrade transport networks and听听in terms of energy use and emissions. Beyond our research, we鈥檒l need complementary work to investigate the technical and economic feasibility of non-fossil propulsion technologies.
We鈥檒l have to take a听听to map feasibility hurdles (technical challenges, material needs, system architecture and integration) that must be overcome.
The ultimate goal is to decrease fossil fuel demand and emissions while ensuring long-term economic and trading resilience.
Equally crucial is the participation and support from stakeholders. Freight transport is a complex system characterised by听听(policy makers, shippers, freight forwarders, port and rail representatives) with sometimes conflicting views. Strategic planning also needs to acknowledge consumer preferences and their impacts on听.
The latest听听by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change () elaborates on this:
Drawing on diverse knowledges and cultural values, meaningful participation and inclusive engagement processes鈥攊ncluding Indigenous knowledge, local knowledge, and scientific knowledge鈥攆acilitates climate resilient development, builds capacity and allows locally appropriate and socially acceptable solutions.
Beyond the focus on emissions cuts, we need to engineer freight systems with a high听, so they can sustain trade and wellbeing while operating at much lower energy levels. The notion of adaptation also has to extend further than the current focus on physical protection against extreme weather events.
The tools and technologies to decarbonise freight transportation in New 茄子视频app官网are available now. The problem lies in their integration and the understanding of the trade-offs at stake. Freight transport emissions can be reduced through cost-effective investments in multi-modal infrastructure and alternative propulsion technologies.
However, it is essential for future initiatives to operate within the biophysical limits of our planet, as emphasised in the IPCC鈥檚 report:
Technological innovation can have trade-offs such as new and greater environmental impacts, social inequalities, overdependence on foreign knowledge and providers, distributional impacts and rebound effects, requiring appropriate governance and policies to enhance potential and reduce trade-offs.
This听article was originally published on听
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