Context: Belgium (Genk), 2011
Challenge: To assess the climate impact of the various transport alternatives of goods from the German Rurhgebied to both the harbor of Antwerp and the harbor of Zeebrugge.
Partnership: Genk Harbor is an important hub for freight transport between the industrial Ruhrgebied and the North Sea and plays an important role in the EU’s ambitions to green freight traffic. CO2logic was asked to assess the climate impact of both river transport to Antwerp and railroad transport to Zeebrugge, and to formulate recommendations for multimodal freight corridors.
Results: CO2logic’s research showed that both train and canal transport can reduce emissions with more than half. Still, the load factor proved to be decisive when it comes to emission reduction: When considering a maximum load factor, the railroad trajectory Genk-Zeebrugge emitted up to 55% less CO₂ than road transport, while the canal trajectory only emitted 19% less CO₂.
