Game changer inland waterway transport?
Modal shift potential of car transport in the EU
Introduction
90% reduction of transport-related emissions by 2050 is a major goal of the Green Deal, announced in 2019 by the European Commission. Inland waterway transport (IWT) represents an eco-friendly transport mode, besides railway, compared to air and road transport 2, 3 . This research continues the work of Borca, Putz and Schreiner (2021) 1 who identified 26 European automotive production plants which are located within 60 km reachability to a port with access to navigable IWTs as well as roll-on roll-off (RoRo)-vessel capacity. They identified a modal shift potential to the eco-friendly distribution of their cars by RoRo-vessels and estimated a potential reduction of CO2 emissions up to 60% compared to pure road transport. We hereby address the research question:
How high is the CO 2 e saving potential in the EU for the transport of fully assembled cars by a modal shift to inland waterway vessels in the main haulage?
IWW & RoRo
The following slides give an overview of the RoRo-capable inland waterways (IWW) in Europe and explains the equirements to transport fully assembled cars via IWW in Europe.
RoRo-capable IWW classes
Certain inland waterway classes are needed, that are able to host RoRo-vessels and RoRo terminals. to open Pop-ups and find out about the classes of IWW sections.
IWW are classified from I to VII reflecting their dimensions. Waterway classes which have been identified to be suitable for economically profitable RoRo transportation:
- Va, Vb
- VIa, VIb, VIc
- VII
The most important waterways for IWT in Europe are the (885 km navigable), the (2400 km navigable) and the , completed in 1992.
Side note: Further interactive map resources of IWW in Europe: TENtec (European Commission) and AGN Network (UNECE)
Explore all layers by clicking the following buttons:
RoRo vessels
RoRo ship: Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro-Ro) ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo. 3
The RoRo-capable IWWs can host vessels up to the following dimensions and capacities:
- length: max. 135 m,
- width: max. 22.8 m,
- depth: up to 4 m
RoRo vessel on the Danube
RoRo terminals
RoRo terminals in Europe are located along major IWW. In sum, 98 RoRo-capable ports in Europe have been identified within this study. However, not all of them are designed to handle a daily RoRo liner operation.
A count of 12 ports have been identified to be dispatch and are shown in the map in dark blue.
Passenger car production
The map on the right shows 92 identified production plants for passenger cars in Europe. Here are some facts:
- There exist 134 production plants for passenger cars in Europe according to ACEA 5
- The average weight of sold cars in Europe is 1.9 tons. 4
- A truck can carry 8 cars on average, which is about 60 times less than a RoRo vessel is able to carry at once, according to BLG . 6
- Germany manufactured 3 million cars in 2020, which makes this country the leader in Europe. 7
IWT for vehicle transport
Pre- and post-carriage by road needs to be short and main carriage by IWT has to be as long as possible to reach efficiency.
Hence, automotive production site(s) should be located approx. * to the next RoRo-terminal to have a short pre-carriage by truck.
*Why 60 km? Interviews with European experts were held and evaluated within a 2019 case study (Acknowledgements).
Modal shift scenario
RoRo capacities
Loading capacity of RoRo-vessels dependent of the IWW (assuming average car dimensions):
- Va, Vb: 200 cars
- VIa: 300 cars
- VIb, VIc, VII: 500 cars
On waterways of class Va and Vb RoRo-ships with a maximum of 200 cars are able to travel. This limitaion is found mainly on the Main, the Main-Danube-Canal and some connecting channels in the Rhine Delta.
Example route: Neckarsulm to Essen
An automotive production plant is located in (route origin) and a vehicle logistics provider is located in (route destination).
- Neckarsulm - Essen
- 387 km in total
- Neckarsulm - Mannheim - Neuss - Essen
- 67 km truck + 326 km RoRo + 47 km truck
- 440 km in total
CO2e calculation
We compare the route Neckarsulm to Essen by truck vs. RoRo+truck regarding their caused CO2e emissions according to GLEC (Global Logistics Emissions Council) framework. 3
Assumptions and preconditions:
- average car weight is 1.9245 tons 4
- calculation is based on the delivery of 500 cars from Neckarsulm to Essen
- trucks and vessel are fully loaded
- One truck carries 8 cars
- One vessel carries 500 cars (entire IWW is of class VIb or higher)
Underlying measures and calculations are shown in the following tables:
CO2e in g per tonne-kilometer per transport mode 3
Calculation of tonne-kilometer and CO2e in tons 3
Results & Summary
CO2e savings: Combined transport vs. truck only
The calculations result in 54% less CO2e when IWT and road transport is combined for the route from Neckarsulm to Essen!
Summary
This storymap shows an overview of existing IWT facilities focused on the transport of cars in Europe. IWW are classified from class <I to VII, whereas classes Va and higher are suitable for profitable RoRo vessel operations. Along the inland waterways RoRo terminals provide the infrastructure to load and unload RoRo vessels. RoRo transport is suitable for the transport of rolling goods and thus, is ideal for the shipping of vehicles or cars. Depending on the size of a RoRo vessel, a single RoRo vessel has the capacity to transport between 220 and 550 passenger cars.
We identified automotive production facilities that are located around 60 km next to RoRo terminals. Depending on the destination of the finished vehicles, combined transport with RoRo in the main-carriage and trucks for the pre- and post-carriage were evalauted to reduce the carbon footprint of the automotive industry and contribute to the European Green Deal goal of a 90% reduction of transport-related emissions by 2050.
We demonstrated a route example where combined transport with RoRo vessels and the truck would be feasible. The route starts at a production site of Audi in Neckarsulm and ends at a vehicle logistics provider in Essen. We calculated the CO2e for the two transport options:
- truck only
- combined transport with truck and vessel.
Using the combined transport, a 54% CO2e emission reduction can be achieved compared to road transport.
Following from this, IWT represents a one corner stone and a potential Game Changer for an eco-friendly logistics system in Europe, particular for the transport of vehicles. Further research should involve the calculation of further external costs categories according to the European Commission 8 including financial aspects. More comprehensive studies which include more transport data of the cargo type "vehicles" lead to a base for recommentations for a shift from road to sustainable inland waterway transport.
