Evrobul

AlpInnoCT: the European project using intermodal transport to protect the Alps

Evrobul — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 11:44:44 +0000

The Alps have a sensitive ecosystem through which more than two million trucks pass each year. This road freight traffic causes congestion, noise, and environmental pollution. To counter this, a European project called AlpInnoCT (Alpine Innovations for Combined Transport) aims to increase the efficiency of combined transport, a system where at least two modes of transport, such as rail, inland waterways, or sea, are used in succession. The road is used as little as possible.

Switch to trains

However, 95% of trailers are not designed to transfer from truck to train. In recent years, a solution to this problem was found in the Nikrasa platforms, which are the basis of this project. Nikrasa platforms operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Albert Bastius is COO at TX Logistik AG, a partner in the AlpInnoCT project. He says their goal when developing NIKRASA was to create “a platform that covers most types of trailers.” According to him, about 94% of the trailers currently on the road can be loaded with it. TX Logistik uses 100 of them.

Alpine project

Four members of the European Union participate in AlpInnoCT: Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland. The total budget is just over three million euros, 2.5 million of which are financed by the European Cohesion Policy. Some of the main objectives of the project are the reduction of storage time and the construction of new terminals and maneuvering areas.

Better for the environment

AlpInnoCT’s 15 partners share project recommendations and guidelines. Karl Fischer, managing director of Logistik-Kompetenz-Zentrums (LIZ) Prien is leading the project and says the challenges of intermodal transport are both economic and environmental. “In the Alpine region, we can put 30 trailers on one train. Therefore, we can save 29 truck drivers with one locomotive. This is an important contribution to the economy. We are out of truck drivers. So we have odds of 1 to 29! And we can reduce CO2 by 80%,” he explains. However, from a road transport perspective, managers such as Thomas Eberl of Eberl Internationale Spedition GmbH & Co KG, another partner of the AlpInnoCT project, point out that international transport is subject to strict regulations that vary from country to country. He argues that flexibility is the most important thing the market demands. “Our benchmark is the road, and if we want the railways to follow suit, they must be flexible. Logistics and transport companies also need to be flexible,” he adds.

The European Union’s goal is to shift 30% of road freight transport to rail or water transport by 2030 and 50% by 2050.

ADR (Dangerous Goods)

Evrobul — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 11:43:33 +0000

ADR is the name of the European Agreement for Dangerous Goods. The contract contains movement provisions regarding the packaging, securing of cargo and labeling of dangerous goods.

The deadline

ADR is an abbreviation of “Accord européen relatif au transport international des marchandises dangereuses par route”, which translates as “European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road”. The international term ADR is so widely used in the transport industry that almost everyone in the industry understands what is meant, regardless of country of origin.

History

The treaty was signed in Geneva in 1957 but did not enter into force until the end of January 1968. Every two years it is adjusted to conform to the latest technical and legal findings. All EU member states are parties to the treaty, ADR is legally valid thanks to an EU directive. In addition, all other European countries joined the treaty, along with Morocco, Tunisia and some of the Central Asian countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. In total, the ADR treaty has 48 member states (as of 6/2017).

The regulations

A dangerous goods license is required for any HGV driver who transports dangerous goods. The official name of this license is the ADR Training Certificate. It is valid for five years and automatically expires if not extended before the expiry date. To extend the license, every driver must pass a refresher course.

Any company that regularly transports dangerous goods requires at least one dangerous goods safety advisor. They are responsible for ensuring that the company complies with regulations and obligations relating to dangerous goods. Any truck that carries dangerous goods requires special equipment. This includes hinged orange hazard signs, a helmet and goggles and two fire extinguishers.

CEMT Permit

Evrobul — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 11:39:28 +0000

The CEMT permit (CEMT = Conférence Européenne des Ministres des Transports / European Conference of Ministers of Transport) allows companies to transport cargo across national borders between CEMT countries (in addition to the OECD, this also includes many countries in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe). The CEMT permit does not authorize internal traffic or transport between a CEMT member state and a non-member state.

Permits are issued by the competent Ministry of Transport or Trade. Their use is subject to strict regulations that also cover vehicle categories (EURO 1 – 4). There is no legal claim to issue permits. The permit must be carried on every journey – with or without cargo – and completed before departure. The permit is valid for one calendar year.

Why plant-based biofuels are not the silver bullet for Europe’s carbon problem

Evrobul — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 10:33:55 +0000

Humanity is having a hard time breaking free from its addiction to fossil fuels. Over the past two decades, efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions have often looked more like baby steps and meager compromises than the radical solutions many scientists have been calling for. One of those compromises in Europe was to continue driving our cars, trucks and motorcycles as we always have. But instead of running on fossil fuels alone, we introduced a climate-friendly substitute: plant-based biofuels. Blended with diesel and gasoline, fuels made from plants such as canola, cereals, wheat, corn and oil palm have helped us reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce CO2 emissions. Or so we thought…

Transport accounts for almost a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, with road transport specifically responsible for 70 percent of all emissions from the sector. Unlike other sectors in Europe, emissions from transport have increased over the last 30 years. In part, the researchers say, this may be because biofuels aren’t exactly the climate allies we’ve been led to believe they are.

What’s wrong with biofuels?

Biofuels are “false solutions” to the pressing problem of reducing carbon emissions, concludes a new study commissioned by Environmental Action Germany (DUH). Analyzing the production and consumption of biofuels in Germany, researchers found that vast areas of land around the world are being “wasted” to grow these fuels at a huge cost to the environment. To satisfy Germany’s huge appetite for these natural biofuels, more than 1.2 million hectares of land – almost five times the size of Luxembourg – is used to grow these crops. Although the study was limited to Germany, the researchers say their findings apply across Europe.

Converting land used to grow biofuel crops into nature restoration projects would help us reduce emissions.

Why is using so much land bad for the environment?

Think what we could do with the land if we didn’t use it to grow biofuel crops, say German researchers. If these same 1.2 million hectares of land were dedicated to re-vegetation, this land could retain an average of 16.4 million tons of CO2 per year.
The number of emissions saved by blending biofuels with fossil fuels, on the other hand, is just 9.2 million tonnes of CO2 in 2020, according to official figures. But there is more. According to the researchers behind the study, the intensive agriculture behind biofuel production is harming ecosystems and biodiversity, causing a dramatic loss of habitats and species. In Germany, almost 70 percent of habitats are labeled as having inadequate or poor conservation status, according to the latest State of Nature Report of the German Environment Ministry.

Should we stop using biofuels?

The short answer is yes.

The EU has recently recognized the damage caused by monocultures for biofuels and introduced regulations to limit the further expansion of agricultural land for this purpose, but German researchers believe this is not enough. What is urgently needed, they say, is a phase-out of biofuels. Land now used for growing crops should instead be dedicated to restoring nature, which will see these same areas become natural carbon sinks over time. Fertile agricultural lands, on the other hand, should be used for food production. What should and can be done immediately, according to the researchers, is also to update the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED), which currently promotes the use of biofuels as a means of achieving renewable energy targets in the European transport sector. Above all, researchers, like many environmental activists, want real solutions: not compromises, not half-truths. According to them, no new cars with internal combustion engines should be registered in the EU from 2030 at the latest. Internal combustion engines will never be climate-friendly, no matter what you put inside them.
Walking, cycling and public transport is the way forward

This would mean revolutionizing the way we are used to moving around our cities and countries. Private vehicles should be phased out in favor of walking, cycling and the use of public transport, while the vehicles still on our roads should be powered solely by renewable energy, e.g. solar and electric. Producing solar electricity for electric vehicles requires 97 percent less land for biofuel for the same mileage.

The solution seems clear: goodbye agricultural biofuels, hello solar energy. But old habits are hard to break.