Innovative Fuel Transport Brings Climate Gains

Safety and environmental considerations are strong arguments for transporting fuel by rail.

Safety and environmental considerations are strong arguments for transporting fuel by rail.

Until just a few years ago, all of the aviation fuel used at Stockholm Arlanda Airport was transported by ship to the Port of Stockholm, then trucked through city streets to a northbound highway and some 45 kilometers out to the airport. About sixty tanker trucks, operated by the storage and transportation company AFAB, were required each day to supply fuel to Arlanda.

This heavy truck traffic on Stockholm’s streets was undesirable both from a safety perspective and because of the negative environmental impact, so together with logistics experts at Green Cargo, AFAB set out to develop a new solution that would significantly reduce the problem.

That new solution has been in use since 2006, with tanker ships now delivering the fuel to the Port of Gävle, 175 kilometers north of Stockholm, where it is transferred to trains running into a tank depot just outside the airport grounds. The final leg of the journey takes place in underground pipelines.

There are several advantages to this new transportation solution. First, fuel shipments by truck through the center of Stockholm are eliminated, which improves safety and reduces traffic congestion and pollution. The transportation itself is simpler and more convenient, with faster loading times at the port and deliveries taking place at a few pre-determined times each day, rather than a steady stream of trucks arriving at the airport.

Emission cuts

There are also substantial gains in terms of reduced climate impact. Compared with the previous solution, by boat to Stockholm and truck transportation from there, the new system results in emission reductions of 2,400 tons of carbon dioxide per year—a clear example of how creative thinking and new transport routes can have a major impact on transportation emissions. Train transport, of course, generates significantly lower emissions compared to trucks, as most of the route is operated with electricity from renewable hydropower and nuclear.

Sweden’s airport authority, LFV, gave its 2009 Ecologistics Award to AFAB, Green Cargo and the Port of Gävle. And several European airports have expressed interest in the Arlanda model, which is relatively uncommon. Safety and environmental improvements make a strong case for rail as an alternative to truck transport.

Article published in June 2010

About AFAB

  • AFAB is a wholly owned subsidiary of SASOIL, Statoil, Swedish Shell, Chevron, Air BP and Kuwait Petroleum. The company handles loading, receiving, inventory management, quality control and distribution of aviation fuel from Gävle port by rail and pipeline to the fuel storage facility at Stockholm Arlanda Airport. AFAB is also responsible for quality control of the aviation fuel transported through Arlanda’s pipeline delivery system. AFAB works for its member companies.

About Green Cargo

  • Green Cargo offers transport tagged with the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation's “Good Environmental Choice” ecolabel. The company runs about 65 percent of the freight trains in Sweden, as well as offering trucking and intermodal door-to-door solutions. Together with its international partners, Green Cargo covers all of Europe. The companies third-party logistics service handles warehousing and processing of goods at large storage facilities in Stockholm, Norrköping, Göteborg and Helsingborg/Copenhagen.

  • Green Cargo is owned by the Swedish state. The Group has some 3000 employees and an annual turnover of approximately SEK 5.9 billion (USD 815 million). Subsidiaries include TGOJ Trafik AB, NTR AB and Green Cargo A/S (Denmark). Green Cargo owns 67 percent of Hallsbergs Terminal AB, 49 percent of DB Schenker Rail Scandinavia, and 45 percent of Norway’s CargoNet.

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