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Explora: Environment
and Resource WTW emissions of road and rail transport

• Collecting representative data on train operations, Acknowledgments
energy use, and emissions for Australian conditions,
when this becomes available, and update the analysis. None.
• Further evaluating model performance against real- Funding
world energy use and emissions, as well as against
other models, data, and approaches. None.
• Extending the analysis to include: Conflict of interest
a. The transport of passengers and freight by
maritime and air transport; The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
b. Within-mode transfers (e.g., a shift of travel from
cars to buses); Author contributions
c. Full lifecycle emissions (fuel cycle and vehicle Conceptualization: All authors
cycle). Methodology: All authors
In addition, it would be beneficial to consider a wider Writing–original draft: All authors
range of transport situations, scenarios and geographical Writing–review & editing: All authors
scales, as well as developments in technology and policy.
A more thorough treatment of transport planning and Ethics approval and consent to participate
operation would also be desirable. Such additional work Not applicable.
would help to highlight the practical significance of the
work to policymakers, industry stakeholders, and the Consent for publication
broader community. Not applicable.
It is acknowledged that the analysis did not consider the
mechanisms by which mode shift could be achieved, and Availability of data
the implications for emissions of the construction of new A transport mode shift tool (road, rail, sea, and air;
rail infrastructure, which are also possible directions for passenger; and freight transport) has been developed as
future research. part of this research study and is available on request for
non-commercial purposes, free of charge. The study is
5. Conclusion based on the following data sources:
The transfer of passengers and freight from road to rail, and • National Inventory Report – 2019 – Volume 1:
especially to electric rail, has the potential to significantly The Australian Government Submission to the
reduce WTW emissions from the transport sector in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Australia. For passenger transport, the emission intensity Change, Australian National Greenhouse Accounts.
of electric rail after 2030 was around 90% lower than that Australian Government Department of Industry,
of road transport, and for freight transport, it was around Science, Energy and Resources, Canberra, 2021
80 – 85% lower. Although the emission intensity for diesel (Figure 1)
rail freight was about 45% lower than that for road freight • AFM
in 2019 and 2030, by 2050 road transport was projected • n0vem, net zero emission model.
to become more competitive, with the emission intensity
of the latter being just about 10% lower. The uncertainty References
in the WTW emission intensity – characterized using a 1. DISER. National Inventory Report-2019. The Australian
probabilistic approach – was lower for diesel rail freight Government Submission to the United Nations Framework
than that for road freight, but not as low as that for electric Convention on Climate Change, Australian National
rail freight. Greenhouse Accounts. Vol. 1. Canberra: Australian
Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and
The study has generated valuable tools and quantitative Resources; 2021.
information to help researchers, policy-makers, transport ICAO. CORSIA Central Registry (CCR): Information and
planners, land use planners and network operators to 2. Data for Transparency-PART II: Total CO Emissions for 2019
2
quantify, and design and implement mode shift measures Aggregated for all Aeroplane Operators on each State Pair.
to reduce emissions. The case study shows that further International Civil Aviation Organization; 2022. Available
electrification of the Australian rail network should be from: https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/
considered, especially given the projected decarbonization corsia/documents/ccr%20info%20data%20transparency_
of electricity generation. partii_oct2022.pdf [Last accessed on 2024 Feb 16].

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2024) 15 doi: 10.36922/eer.3470