To Örebro University

Introduction and purpose of GET Greener

While many initiatives and measures exist that hold the potential for greener transportsand logistics systems, studies show that the relative importance of environmentalefficiency for transport purchasing managers has been on the same level since the early2000s. There seem to exist a gap between identified measures and large-scale industryimplementation.

In an attempt at closing this gap, CLOSER took the initiative to this investigation into theexisting measures from the projects Swiftly Green (Sweden-Italy Freight Transport andLogistics Green Corridor) and GreCOR in the project reported here called GET Greener.

The investigation has been financed by the Swedish Transport Administration(Trafikverket, TrV)

This report accounts for the methodologies and results of GET Greener. The aim of theproject was to identify “low-hanging fruits” among the more than 130 measuresidentified in the project Swiftly Green. These measures are also referred to as the‘toolbox’.

The purpose of the project was to identify measures from the Swiftly Green collection ofmeasures that can be implemented within a near future in the Swedish section of theScanMed corridor and contribute to significant reductions in emissions of greenhousegases.

Overall results and recommendations

Implementing measures always entail costs. One issue to manage in these circumstancesis who will bear the cost for a given measure. This issue is generic and is emphasizedregardless of modality, measure or context.

At a general level, it is a question of how costs, benefits, responsibilities, ownership,maintenance and investments are distributed among a set of heterogeneous actors in acomplex socio-technical-economic matrix. In this case it has to do with transports andtransport systems and the initiatives, measures and attempts that exist to make thesemore sustainable. However, if these issues can be overcome, our results indicate someconsiderable potential.

Our results indicate that by systematically and persistently implementing two or threemeasures from the toolbox it is possible to reach the ambitious GHG-emissions targetsfrom transports set by the Swedish government already before 2030.

Combining HCT-road measures such as longer trucks to allow for 34m1 vehicles fuelledby HVO with long and heavy 730m-trains (LHT) on the core relation Malmö – Hallsbergof the ScanMed corridor alone creates reductions in GHG-emissions on a scale thatenables the transport sector to reach its emission targets.This leads us to conclude that there are no significant technical obstacles hinderingachieving the targets. Although considering the results of this report from an EU-wideperspective changes this somewhat. Especially the availability of biomass for biofuelssoon becomes a bottleneck if the entire EU choses to go in that direction (whichprobably is unlikely, but nevertheless, it must be considered). We need to find holisticsolutions, while letting some countries take a leading role in certain areas. This is anexample of where Sweden can lead the way in bio-based fuels such as HVO aiming atreducing the level of palm oil content etc. From a strictly Swedish national perspective,the obstacles that exist are more of legal, regulative, organisational and economiccharacter. To fully harness the potential identified in this report, issues such as EUregulationconcerning HCT-road, the development of open business models, neglectedinfrastructure maintenance and investments, and the harmonizing of railwayregulations and control across Europe must be dealt with.

• We recommend that TrV take a leading role in ensuring maintenance andinfrastructure investments to enable more HCT-road as well as LHT. Road andrail are not opposing parties in a zero-sum game in this, but complement eachother in moving towards a green transport system.

• We recommend business actors in the sector to work on developing more openbusiness models that enables cooperation and more systematic synchronizationand coordination of cargo flows.

• We recommend policy institutions and regulators to create long-termsystematic regulations that ensures that he rules of the game are coherent, stableand geared towards creating a fossil free transportation system in 2050 at latest.In addition, the following more specific recommendations are given.

Recommendations for TrV as the infrastructure owner:

• Secure competence and knowledge on what mechanisms that can be used todistribute benefits and responsibilities and use these strategically to green thetransport system• Prioritize investments in rail infrastructure to enable an acceleration of theutilization of LHT• Prioritize investments in rail infrastructure that enables a further and smoothershift from road to rail transports – for example by making Hallsberg shuntingyard a state-of-the-art node in Scandinavia and Sävenäs shunting yard inGothenburg an ocean gate, and Malmö shunting yard capable of managing LHTfrom the continent.• Use the methodology from this report to identify potential measures and assesstheir TRL and MRL.

Recommendations to shippers and service providers in the sector:

• Learn how to become an efficient network actor in the Swedish transportationsector• Learn how to open up your business model to other actors in the sector, withoutunacceptable increases of business risk• Ensure that your business model is aligned with the development towardsgreener transport systems• Ensure that you are an important actor for others – for example by enhancingyour business model or through strategic collaboration• Cooperate and collaborate with other actors in order to realize potentials andrevenues that are otherwise inaccessible• Become a wizard at understanding the mechanisms by which rewards andresponsibilities are distributed among actors in your particular network• Learn how to leverage the sustainability-aspects of your role in the transportsystem

Methods:

This project is based on a case-study methodology and comprises three cases each onewith its individual characteristics, issues and contexts, but with the commondenominator that they all relate to the cargo flows in the ScanMed corridor in Sweden.The three cases chosen are that of a road use case; a rail use case and an infrastructureuse case. For each use case some lead-users were identified. Lead-users are actors thatare on the forefront of developments in its respective field, and that can be consideredforerunners regarding technologies, organisation, volumes or responsibilities. They areactors that have a say in the sector in which they operate. These lead users and the usecases serve as contexts against which measures in the toolbox are assessed for ease ofimplementation. The table below summarizes the use cases and the lead users of thisproject.