2023-09-20 15:04:03
Quebec must review its approach to carbon neutrality and make the trucking industry pay for the kilometers traveled, supports the Advisory Committee on Climate Change in an opinion published Wednesday.
Heavy road freight transport is among the sectors of intervention in the fight against climate change in Quebec which have experienced the strongest growth in their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the last 30 years.
While Quebec’s total GHG emissions decreased by 8.1% from 1990 to 2021, GHG emissions from heavy road vehicles jumped by 61% during the same period.
In this context, the Advisory Committee on Climate Change – an independent body whose mission is to advise the Minister of the Environment on effective governance of the fight against climate change and on the electrification of transport – believes that the system Current mobility of goods is not oriented towards energy efficiency, or even less towards achieving carbon neutrality.
In an opinion made public this Wednesday, the Committee asks Quebec to make the transport of goods consistent with government decarbonization objectives and to follow a true carbon neutrality trajectory.
The chairman of the Committee, Professor Alain Webster, is of the opinion that a modal transfer must be made towards train and boat, while improving vehicle fleets to decarbonize them, in particular through electrification.
A real paradigm shift must take place to redirect energies and budgetary choices and finally promote the substitution of road transport by rail and maritime transport, more efficient modes of transport that are essential to achieving environmental and economic objectives.
To do this, the Committee recommends introducing, as soon as possible, a kilometer contribution in road freight transport in order to replace the tax on fuel, which should also generate less and less revenue due to the decarbonization of transport.
This measure would, according to the Committee, reduce the financial attractiveness of road transport and make it assume the external costs associated with it, such as road degradation. With the rail and maritime industries assuming most of their infrastructure, these staggering costs will no longer be borne by taxpayers.
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Each employee on a ship helps transport approximately 35 times more tons of goods than by truck. (Archive photo)
Photo: The Canadian Press / RYAN REMIORZ
What impact do heavy vehicles have?
The Committee emphasizes that sustained investments in road infrastructure in recent decades have strengthened the comparative advantage of trucking over other modes of freight transportation such as train or boat.
Heavy road vehicles alone contributed 8.7% of Quebec’s total emissions in 2021.
The Committee also highlights that in Europe, it is estimated that transport by truck generates 3.2 times more costs of all kinds for the community than the train and 2.2 times more than the boat, according to CE Delft.
In addition to having a negative impact on air and noise pollution as well as being the cause of health problems, truck transport also increases the risk of road accidents. In addition, in large centers, a heavy truck can have up to seven times more impact on traffic flow than a passenger vehicle.
Still according to the Committee, a worker contributes to transporting approximately 100 times more tonnes of goods by train than by truck, and 35 times more by boat than by truck. For the transport of the same quantity of goods, fuel demands are also affected: 92% less fuel is required by train than by truck and 86% by boat compared to trucks.
The Committee believes that consumers and businesses’ expectations of ultra-fast delivery also increase the appeal of road transport. The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility also estimated, in 2007, that around 37% of trucks were traveling empty or less and less loaded. However, before improving the energy efficiency of freight transport, we must first reduce transport needs, believes the Committee.
Reduce, transfer, improve
It is therefore necessary, in the Committee’s opinion, to reduce truck travel through eco-fiscal and circular economy measures.
The latter emphasizes in his opinion that reducing overall transport needs requires a review of consumption choices which have a direct impact on GHG emissions. This essentially translates into material frugality, the consumption of local goods and services (which generates less transport) as well as the development of a true circular economy.
The Committee also promotes the prioritization of short and medium distance transport (less than 200 kilometers) and the adoption of a roadmap on the development of the circular economy in order to contribute to the reduction of transport demand.
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