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Beyond trucks: Toward a greener global freight transportation system
Ten trillion U.S. dollars of global merchandise trade happens every year, and it results in about 3.2 gigatonnes of direct carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from freight transportation. That’s around 30% of all transport CO2 emissions and 7% of global CO2 emissions. With global freight demand projected to roughly double by 2050, it’s important to identify and implement strategies to lower the associated CO2 emissions.
The ICCT has published a series of reports that highlight pathways toward a greener freight system. We’ve explored advanced global freight strategies and analyzed the emissions reduction potential of policies for the railway, inland waterway, maritime, and aviation sub-sectors.
Given that road freight is responsible for a disproportionate amount of the sector’s total CO2 emissions, policies that target trucks can go a long way toward decarbonizing the system. Among other strategies, strengthening emission limits for trucks, developing advanced internal combustion engine technology, and electrifying trucks could reduce the total CO2 emissions of the freight sector by 80%.
And yet, that’s not 100%. Holistic approaches that treat freight as an ecosystem—like modal shift, whereby freight transportation is shifted to more sustainable freight modes, and intermodal transportation, in which cargo is shipped via multiple modes to reduce freight costs and improve efficiency—are also needed. Indeed, such strategies are the missing pieces of the puzzle!
While road transport is flexible and cost-efficient for short-distance shipments, ICCT research on railway freight in China and the United States and inland waterway transport in the European Union and the United States has shown that rail and waterway freight both have an advantage over road freight in terms of shipping capacity. Furthermore, with 1 gallon of fuel, 1 ton of cargo can travel 576 miles by barge, 413 miles by rail, and 155 miles by truck. For each ton-kilometer of shipment over 1,000 km, a barge would only cost around $0.01, a rail car would cost $0.04, and a diesel truck would cost $0.12. So, not only does road freight comprise an outsized share of global freight’s CO2 emissions, it’s also not as cost-efficient as railway and waterway. A single freight train with 40 railcars can replace 100 trucks, reducing CO2 emissions and mitigating highway congestion.
Sources: International Transport Forum, WorldACD, the UK Government Office for Science, and PLANCO Consulting GmbH.
Still, in recent years, road freight has become increasingly popular. Road freight’s share of total freight ton-kilometers in China, the United States, and the European Union increased significantly from 2008 to 2022, by 110%, 16%, and 24%, respectively. While the share of road freight increased, the share of railway and inland waterway dropped.
Sources: China Statistical Yearbook 2024 (Table 16-9), https://www.bts.gov/content/us-ton-miles-freight, and Eurostat.
Governments are taking steps to support modal shift. China announced targets to increase the ton-kilometer share for railway and inland waterway in 2035 to 25% and 9%, respectively, up from 16% and 9% in 2022. The European Union—where railway and inland waterway only handle 5% and 2% of total freight by ton-kilometer—has adopted the Transport 2050 Strategy, which advises that 30% of road freight over 300 km should shift to other modes such as rail or waterborne transport by 2030, increasing to more than 50% by 2050. It’s estimated that this will save 290 million tons of CO2 by 2050. The United States, which has the highest road freight share of the three regions, has also embraced modal shift with the National Freight Strategic Plan. One study estimated that shifting 25% of long-haul truck freight to rail would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 13.1 million tons annually. Similar efforts in other regions include India’s National Rail Plan, Japan’s Eco Rail Mark Program, and Brazil’s National Logistics Plan 2035.
Intermodal transportation, meanwhile, involves two or more freight modes, with cargo shipped in intermodal units like containers, “piggyback” trailers, and swap bodies. Intermodal transportation can be either single- or multi-contract or can involve one or more carriers, depending on the market and regulatory context. Under policies like China’s intermodal strategies, for instance, intermodal transportation is required to be single contract and single carrier.
Intermodal road-rail or road-waterway routes cut CO2 emissions by 30%–60% compared with truck-only transport, and in certain cases intermodal transportation can save 20%–40% of the cost of road-only transport. One ICCT study mapped a typical single intermodal container journey from Shenzhen (China) to Mira Loma (United States) and showed the benefits in CO2 emissions, efficiency, and cost to use rail for inland stretches in the United States instead of trucks. The Port of Los Angeles’ on-dock intermodal rail-waterway network will cut diesel emissions by eliminating truck trips and using loading equipment and locomotives that run on electricity.
While these modal shift and intermodal transportation strategies are signs of progress, there’s still a way to go to fully decarbonize freight transportation. The ICCT is continuing efforts to highlight advanced freight statistics for intermodal development, modal shift benefits, and commodity-level intermodal analysis. Like the trends in vehicle electrification, other countries will likely establish targets and incentive policies to support greener freight modes.
Author
Tianlin Niu
Senior Researcher
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