Carbon emissions have received increased attention in all
industries over the last decade. With talks of firms being
taxed on their carbon emissions, it will become critical for
all firms to measure their carbon emissions. The decision to
move some freight off rail and onto road would have had
a negative impact on the environment, as road transport is
accountable for higher carbon emissions than rail transport.
As mentioned previously, the activity-based approach was
used to estimate the carbon emissions resulting from the
choice of transport mode. The carbon emissions factor per
ton-km used were United Kingdom (UK) based, as South
African emission factors are not readily available.
The total transport carbon emissions for the period 2006–2011
were 37 143 663 kg; this was comprised of 23 643 359 kg and
13 500 304 kg for rail and road transport respectively.
If all the freight that was moved on road had been done
by rail, the carbon emissions picture would have looked
significantly different. Table 8 illustrates what the carbon
emissions would have looked like had all of the freight
moved by rail.
It is apparent when analysing Table 7 that the carbon
emissions increased substantially when the use of road
transport begun. If all its freight had been moved by rail, it
would have emitted 10 133 516 kg of carbon less than with its
road and rail transport mix.
If these carbon emissions were taxed over these years, it
would have added a significant cost to the firm and would
have had a negative impact on its bottom line.