CBOA welcomes minister’s interest in using canals for transport
THE Commercial Boat Operators Association (CBOA) has welcomed remarks by Rebecca Pow MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, about ‘starting to get freight back on to the waterways’.
“With the move to net zero and to cleaner air, this is actually a huge asset, and we are starting to realise that canals can have a rebirth as transport links,” she said during a recent Adjournment Debate about canals and their restoration.
TheCBOAhaslongpointed out the environmental benefits of using water freight – and in reducing road congestion. The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change (Manchester University) reported that CO2 from barges can be 25% of that produced by lorries. Other emissions – such as nitrous oxide – are less.
Even if lorry engines improve and were to be wholly electric based, there would still be dangerous particulates from brake pads and tyre wear and road surface wear. None of these arise from using barges. Congestion on roads would not be reduced by electric lorries – using barges would.
David Lowe, CBOA’s chairman, said: “I am very pleased that a Defra minister is now realising that water freight can enable cleaner air and that the inland waterways are a huge asset in making this happen. We call on the minister to work with navigation authorities in improving relevant waterways to enable waterborne tonnages to increase.
“It is noteworthy that last month global figures from the Carbon Disclosure Project showed a 24% increase in business demanding that their suppliers publish environmental data about how their goods were transported.”
Barges have been/are being used on the Thames in London to remove spoil from the Elizabeth Line; the Northern Line extension and the Thames Tideway Tunnel. They were also used to bring in concrete tunnel segments.
A summary of those works shows a reduction of 7200 tonnes of carbon production compared to normal lorry movements; 158,000 lorry movements replaced by 3900 barge movements (all accident free); improved kerbside air quality; reduced congestion; barges arriving on time (whereas lorries get stuck in traffic), resulting in more efficient working on site.