Need for shift to low carbon fuels and rail: STCWA

By Ben Rose*

Nationally, trucks carry 35 per cent of the freight tonne kilometres and rail 40 per cent but the road haulage task uses 5.7 times more energy, all in the form of diesel.
In terms of energy and CO2 emissions the arguments for rail/line over road bulk haulage are clear-cut. For heavy bulk haulage over distances of 400-600 km and load factors of 0.5–0.6, diesel rail can be expected to use 60-80 per cent less energy and produce 60-80 per cent less CO2 than heavy diesel trucks. The embodied energy and CO2 emissions of a two lane highway suitable for freight are comparable with a double track rail line.
The majority of the WA freight task is iron ore, which is simply excavated, crushed and hauled by diesel locomotives several hundred kilometres to port. Queensland coal haulage is a similar task involving large quantities of unprocessed product and is mainly hauled by electric rail, but the coal fired generation would in most cases make it more emissions-intensive than diesel locomotives.
These are our two major export commodities and comprise the majority of rail freight; the long distances and massive bulk quantities involved make rail the only choice even with cheap fuel prices. The ultimate challenge here is to electrify the rail systems and use renewable power sources and gas to generate the electricity. In the interim, existing diesel rail locomotives can be easily be converted to run on 70 per cent CNG, or if steam locomotive technology is developed, renewable solid fuels such as wood chips or fuel pellets.
The low price of liquid petroleum fuels has been a major reason for the continuing ‘oil reliance’ of freight transport; diesel at around $1per litre after rebate of excise is still ‘dirt cheap’. This situation cannot be sustained for two reasons, the first of which relates to future price and availability of petroleum-based fuels. About half of the World’s oil resource has been used in 90 years and it is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to extract. Some experts believe ‘oil peak’ extraction has occurred in 2008 and even the conservative IEA recently stated that it will peak within 10 years. Australia will probably be importing 30 per cent of its supplies by 2020 (Australian Petroleum Production and Export Association), more than trebling the existing net liquid fuel import bill of $11 billion, with prices likely to double and increasing risk of shortages. The North West is particularly vulnerable as its diesel is imported from Singapore and Vietnam. The supply line is short and fragile; no large stockpiles of diesel are kept in North West. Fuel shortages to NW mines are a real risk even within the next five years.
Secondly the combustion of petroleum fuels emits 2.5-3 times their mass of CO2, which is the major cause of global warming. Sea levels are already rising and ice shelves melting in what is acknowledged by most scientists and governments to be the greatest threat ever faced by human kind. The solution to both problems is to decrease the use of fossil fuels. CO2 emission reduction targets that are being set by most OECD nations are 20 per cent by 2020; 80 per cent by 2050. If Australia is to meet this target with an increasing population and given that there will be a shift to gas, which emits only marginally less CO2, consumption of oil and coal needs to decrease by more than 30 per cent in 11 years. This is a big reduction in a short time – less than the life of roads, some mines and many road vehicles. Continuing with transport systems that are energy inefficient and oil-dependent is risky indeed.
There is great potential to extend rail spur lines to many mines, for example Olympic Dam uranium in SA, which already transports about 1 million tonnes (equivalent to 15-20 per cent of the entire WA grain haulage) to and from the site by road. This mine plans massive expansion of production, with a 16-fold increase in diesel consumption.
For many mining operations, where overburden must be moved and low grade ore extracted and concentrated, more energy is used to transport material on-site than is used in the mine-to port supply chains. The same road-rail energy efficiency comparisons can be made; ‘line conveyance’ modes such as conveyor belts, winched skips and slurry pipelines provide the same order of efficiencies over haul trucks on roads and declines. Line transport lends itself to electric propulsion and electricity can be generated using renewable sources or, in the interim CNG, of which Australia has several decades of reserves and which emits marginally less CO2 than diesel. Manufacture of line conveyor equipment could become a major industry for Australian cities, replacing imported motorized haulage machinery imports.
What is required for Australia to the make the transition to efficient, low emissions electricity and transport? STCWA believes that Governments will have to do more in addition to the proposed CPR (which would add only several cents to the price of diesel) and RET schemes.
• A ‘revenue neutral’ shift from employment taxes to fuel and CO2 taxes. Excise should apply to all diesel on-road, rail and off-road and the current diesel fuel rebate should be phased out.
• Electricity marketing regulation. CPRS and RETS scheme objectives must be integrated and given increased priority in the operation of the National Electricity Market (NEM) and NEMMCO.
• Pricing or taxing of 100 per cent of all CO2 emissions including for ‘trade exposed’ industries such as mining.
• A national system of ‘premium feed in tariffs’ for all electricity generated from renewable sources and fund it from the proceeds of a CPRS.
To improve the security and sustainability of mining operations, the WA State Government needs to:
• Upgrade and extend energy grids, including a North West grid, to facilitate dispersed electricity generation from renewable sources.
• With the involvement of the mining industry, plan to extend an integrated rail transport system connecting the NW and SW systems via Newman, Leonora and the proposed Oakajee port.
• Include energy efficiency, security and CO2 emissions criteria in approvals process for new mining operations
The primary aims should be to maximise energy efficiency and reduce use of petroleum based fuels and coal. The choice for mining is to bear some regulation and tax increases in the short term to switch to cleaner, secure home grown energy sources or face an insecure and possibly catastrophic future reliant on oil and coal.

* Ben Rose is Deputy Convenor of the Sustainable Transport Coalition of WA
Email: biroses@westnet.com.au

STCWA is a coalition of community, Local Government and industry groups. The Committee, a ‘think tank’ of transport and sustainability professionals, is a voice for coalition partners on sustainable transport issues in Western Australia. It provides a website, information materials, conducts seminars, informs the public through press releases and lobbies Governments and political parties.