IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i22p9871-d1519379.html

Potential Reduction in Carbon Emissions in the Transport of Aggregates by Switching from Road-Only Transport to an Intermodal Rail/Road System

Author

Listed:
  • Francisco Javier López-Acevedo

    (Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Calle José Antonio Nováis, 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain)

  • María Josefa Herrero

    (Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Calle José Antonio Nováis, 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain)

  • José Ignacio Escavy Fernández

    (ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Calle Profesor Aranguren s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain)

  • José González Bravo

    (SODIRA, Calle Doctor Esquerdo, 136, 28007 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

Aggregates are the second-most consumed product in the world after water. This geological resource is used as building and construction material, and its production in quarries and delivery to customers generates several environmental problems. Their transport from quarries to consumption points, almost entirely done by truck, also generates impacts such as an increase in traffic and noise and the emission of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Transportation and storage of goods account for 15% of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe and will increase significantly by 2050. To mitigate this, the European Union suggested shifting 30% of long-distance road freight to cleaner alternatives, such as rail or waterborne transport. This approach neglects the enormous volume of short-distance freight movement and its impact on achieving the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, the hypothesis to test is whether the use of an intermodal rail/road transport mode, instead of just roads, for the transport of some products can help reduce global CO 2 emissions even for short distances. To test this, this study investigates the carbon emissions (and transport cost reduction) generated by rail/road intermodal aggregate transport for short distances in the Madrid region (Spain), rather than the currently used direct truck transport. An analysis of variables, such as aggregate supply, demand locations and amounts, and road and rail networks, using a geographical information system provides the associated carbon emissions of the different transport alternatives. To obtain a reduction in CO 2 emissions, this study proposes the establishment of intermodal transfer facilities near consumption centers, where materials are primarily transported by rail, with road transport limited to the final delivery to consumption areas. The results anticipate a notable decrease in carbon emissions in aggregate transport and allow the establishment of more efficient and environmentally friendly rail/road intermodal transport that would help to meet the goals of reducing climate change while making the use of aggregates more environmentally friendly.

Suggested Citation

  • Francisco Javier López-Acevedo & María Josefa Herrero & José Ignacio Escavy Fernández & José González Bravo, 2024. "Potential Reduction in Carbon Emissions in the Transport of Aggregates by Switching from Road-Only Transport to an Intermodal Rail/Road System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-20, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:22:p:9871-:d:1519379
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9871/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9871/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rui Jiang & Peng Wu & Chengke Wu, 2022. "Driving Factors behind Energy-Related Carbon Emissions in the U.S. Road Transport Sector: A Decomposition Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Dobruszkes, Frédéric & Mattioli, Giulio & Mathieu, Laurette, 2022. "Banning super short-haul flights: Environmental evidence or political turbulence?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    3. Frédéric Dobruszkes & Giulio Mattioli & Laurette Mathieu, 2022. "Banning super short-haul flights: Environmental evidence or political turbulence?," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/351156, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    4. Gandhi, Nevil & Kant, Ravi & Thakkar, Jitesh J., 2024. "Evaluation of benefits due to adoption of enablers of unimodal road to intermodal railroad freight transportation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 295-311.
    5. Francisco J. López-Acevedo & María J. Herrero & José I. Escavy & Miguel A. Peláez Fernández, 2024. "Identification of Aggregates Quarries via Computer Vision Analysis as a Tool for Sustainable Aggregates Management and Land Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-15, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vitória Silva Martins de Oliveira & José Anselmo da Silva Neto & Gustavo Lira do Nascimento & Marcos Alyssandro Soares dos Anjos & Ricardo Peixoto Suassuna Dutra & Cinthia Maia Pederneiras, 2025. "Evaluating Porcelain Polishing Waste as a Pyro-Expansive Agent in Clay Formulations for Sustainable Lightweight Aggregates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-27, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yoo, Sihyun & Beumer, Ruben & van Wee, Bert & Mouter, Niek & Molin, Eric, 2025. "Perceived accessibility by air transportation: A focus group study of potential air travelers in The Netherlands," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    2. Nerja, Adrián & Sánchez, Mariola, 2025. "The dynamics of HSR preference in the context of short-haul flight bans," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    3. Emami Javanmard, Majid & Tang, Yili & Martínez-Hernández, J. Adrián, 2024. "Forecasting air transportation demand and its impacts on energy consumption and emission," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 364(C).
    4. Cantos-Sanchez, Pedro & Moner-Colonques, Rafael & Ruiz-Buforn, Alba & Sempere-Monerris, Jose J., 2024. "Should short-haul flights be banned? A simple transportation network analysis," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    5. Bordeaux, Gabriel & Couto, António, 2026. "Rethinking Europe's airport ecosystem in the age of short-haul flight bans: Winners and losers across airport tiers," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    6. Avogadro, Nicolò & Redondi, Renato, 2024. "Pathways toward sustainable aviation: Analyzing emissions from air operations in Europe to support policy initiatives," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    7. Bruno, Francesco & Maghrour Zefreh, Mohammad & Fröidh, Oskar & Cats, Oded, 2025. "Replacing short-haul flights with train travel: Exploring impacts, capacity requirements and policy implications," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 326-343.
    8. Txapartegi, Andoni & Cazcarro, Ignacio & Galarraga, Ibon, 2024. "Short-haul flights ban in France: Relevant potential but yet modest effects of GHG emissions reduction," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    9. Dlzar Al Kez & Christopher Lowans & Aoife Foley, 2024. "Sustainable Development in Third Level Programs: Distilling a Pathway to a True Net-Zero Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-33, February.
    10. Abate, Megersa Abera & Barattieri, Alessandro & Brugnoli, Alberto & Porta, Flavio, 2025. "Decarbonizing Air Transport : Insights from a Quasi-Experiment," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11183, The World Bank.
    11. Bonilla, Xavier & Ivaldi, Marc, 2023. "Banning short-haul domestic flights: A preliminary assessment for France," TSE Working Papers 23-1482, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    12. Michael Stiebe, 2023. "Stakeholder Perceptions on Sustainability Challenges and Innovations in General Aviation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-29, December.
    13. Dožić, Slavica & Kuljanin, Jovana & Babić, Danica & Kalić, Milica & Pons-Prats, Jordi, 2026. "Electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft selection for ultra-short-haul routes: fuzzy AHP approach," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    14. Sismanidou, Athina & Tarradellas, Joan & Suau-Sanchez, Pere & O'Connor, Kevin, 2024. "Breaking barriers: An assessment of the feasibility of long-haul electric flights," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    15. Dobruszkes, Frédéric & Mattioli, Giulio & Gozzoli, Enzo, 2024. "The elephant in the room: Long-haul air services and climate change," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    16. Ridwan Lanre Ibrahim & Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo & Abraham Ayobamiji Awosusi & Kazeem Bello Ajide & Adeolu O. Adewuyi & Fatimah Ololade Bolarinwa, 2024. "Investigating the asymmetric effects of renewable energy-carbon neutrality nexus: Can technological innovation, trade openness, and transport services deliver the target for Germany?," Energy & Environment, , vol. 35(1), pages 185-206, February.
    17. Maksymilian Mądziel, 2023. "Liquified Petroleum Gas-Fuelled Vehicle CO 2 Emission Modelling Based on Portable Emission Measurement System, On-Board Diagnostics Data, and Gradient-Boosting Machine Learning," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-15, March.
    18. Alexander Chupin & Abdelaal Ahmed Mostafa Ahmed Ragas & Marina Bolsunovskaya & Alexander Leksashov & Svetlana Shirokova, 2025. "Multi-Objective Optimization for Intermodal Freight Transportation Planning: A Sustainable Service Network Design Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-22, June.
    19. Xiaochun Zhao & Huixin Xu & Qun Sun, 2022. "Research on China’s Carbon Emission Efficiency and Its Regional Differences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-14, August.
    20. Elsenberger, Sebastian, 2023. "Energy Efficiency in the Passenger Transport Sectors of Germany and the Netherlands," MPRA Paper 122147, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:22:p:9871-:d:1519379. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.