Resumen de Influencia de la crisis energética sobre los medios de transporte y su incidencia socio-económica
Antonio [et al.] Carbonell Romero
This article tries to give a view about the influence of the energy crisis on the transportation sector. In first place, it analyses the situation of the energy sources with regard to the petroleum crisis raised in October’73, and it shows how an economic recession has been caused today, which has forced to many countries to take a series of urgent saving-measures, to search alternative energetic sources and to do some research work on technology.
Next, it studies the energetic structure of the transportation sector, analyzing its participation (and those of its means) in the consumption of energy. It analyses also the dependence on petroleum of the transportation sector and its means, and the relative consumption of this liquid combustible, emphasizing the slight consumption of railways on this score: 2,2% As for the energetic productivity of the transportation means, it emphasizes about the favorable position of railways as contrasted with that of road transportation (both passenger and freight transports). This energetic productivity of railways can be explained by means of some specific causes of this means of transportation (steel-steel rolling, regressive rate of specific consumption when transport grows, etc.) It points out, also, the diminution of the specific consumption of railways form 1975 (with 52’2 gep/UK) to 1978 (14’3 gep/UK), while road transportation increased greatly its consumption.
Energy preservation is a world-wide priority, and there are many attempts of diminishing the rate of external energetic dependence of all countries. This leads to the search of alternative energetic sources and to the rationalization of the consumption. At the transportation sector level, it proposes a series of measures to be adopted: setting up a transportation politics; coercive restrictions to some means of transportation; incentives; transportation research, etc.
Finally, it analyses the railway energetic policy, emphasizing the economy that railway electrifications bear (they reduce the dependence on petroleum, and they adjust to the productive energy structure). Energetic policy of railways must be based on a planification and organization of its services (less consumption without modifying the supply; traffic transferences to railways, etc.), and on the adoption of some technical measures on track and vehicles (readjust of the lay-out, signaling, automation, etc.).
