{"id":61631,"date":"2022-01-25T12:22:53","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T17:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=61631"},"modified":"2022-01-25T12:22:53","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T17:22:53","slug":"how-to-fix-our-inland-waterway-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=61631","title":{"rendered":"How to fix our inland waterway system"},"content":{"rendered":"

How to fix our inland waterway system<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Preface<\/strong>.\u00a0 As you can see in Table 1 below, water transport is far more energy efficient than land transport, especially once we\u2019re back to muscle power after fossil fuels are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Kilojoules of energy used to carry one ton of cargo one kilometer<\/td>\nTransportation mode<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
50<\/td>\nOil tankers and bulk cargo ships<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
100\u2013150<\/td>\nSmaller cargo ships<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
250\u2013600<\/td>\nTrains<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
360<\/td>\nBarge<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2000\u20134000<\/td>\nTrucks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
30,000<\/td>\nAir freight<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
55,000<\/td>\nHelicopter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Table 1 Energy efficiency of transportation in kilojoules\/ton\/kilometer. Source: Smil (2013), Ashby (2015).<\/p>\n

To prepare for energy descent, more canals should be created now, while we still have cheap plentiful energy. We\u2019ll also need to keep in mind the maintenance and dredging of canals after fossils as well (De Decker 2018).<\/p>\n

The National Academy of Science study (159 pages) found that the selection of waterways projects for authorization has a long history of being driven largely by political and local concerns. The approval and funding process is an irrational, byzantine mess.<\/p>\n

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NRC. 2015. TRB special report 315: funding and managing the U.S. inland waterways system: what policy makers need to know. National Resource Council Transportation research board, National Academy of Sciences.
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Inland waterway system stats:<\/strong><\/p>\n