Statistics indicate that at a global level hydrocarbon-based fuels are used to provide around 96 % of all the energy required for mechanised transport. In fact, with the minor exceptions of trolleybuses and other electrically-powered road vehicles, air, sea and road transport modes are almost entirely dependent on the availability of various forms of hydrocarbons, especially petrol, diesel fuel and kerosene. It is only railways that do not suffer to such a great extent from this dependency at electrified lines. Anyway, in European union 23 % of electricity is generated from oil and gas and next 32 % from coal.
An oil refinery, oil tank wagons... and an electric locomotive. The big future question regarding the rail transport sector is whether the latter will seize advantage of the enormous potential offered by electric traction. Such a step would certainly lead to far more dynamic development than that taking place at present.
Photo: OMV