Embodied Energy and $CO_2$ Emissions Evaluation for Freight Transport

This study aim at demonstrating the environmental performance of freight transport of the rail and road mode through an indicator of embodied energy and $CO_2$ emissions. Using the concept of LCA, the scope of evaluation includes energy production, supply chain activity and operation. The results of embodied energy and $CO_2$ emissions are normalized by means of traffic volume. The results shown that embodied $CO_2$ emissions road mode is 607.07 $gCO_2-eq./tkm$ and 284.67 $gCO_2-eq./tkm$ for road and rail mode, respectively. This number reveals that road mode is 2.1 times larger than rail mode. The results also indicate that the main contribution of $CO_2$ emission from road mode is in the operation stage, which accounts for 70%; however, it is the construction and supply chain stage that accounts for over 50% of the emission of rail mode.