Azerbaijan is aiming to achieve 100% electrification on its railways, Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC (ADY) Rovshan Rustamov, said at an event on "Sustainable Transport for the Future," Report informs.
According to Rustamov, this figure is currently 63%: "Last year, 100% of 7.2 million passengers and 80% of 18.2 million tons of cargo were transported using electric power. Our goal is to increase this target even further."
Rustamov stated that railway transport emits much less carbon compared to other means of transport and is considered an environmentally friendly mode of transportation: "If we look at the numbers, we'll see that while a passenger train emits 14 grams of carbon per kilometer, other types of transport emit 10-20 times more carbon dioxide. In addition, the development of railway infrastructure helps reduce traffic congestion, which in turn leads to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Overall, only 1% of global carbon dioxide emissions come from railways. As for Azerbaijan, railway transport accounts for 0.12% of total energy consumption and less than 0.5% of greenhouse gas emissions. In general, ADY's responsible volume is less than 200,000 tons annually in Azerbaijan, which has a share of about 0.1% in global emissions."
The head of ADY noted that railways, as a mode of transport, are part of this big picture: "In general, railways play one of the key roles in creating a sustainable transport system, which is especially important in the context of the global climate crisis and increasing environmental demands. The decarbonization of the transport system, which causes 24% of global carbon dioxide emissions, requires a significant shift to rail transport along with the use of renewable energy sources and alternative fuels.
Thus, since 2023, ADY has managed to reduce energy consumption by 5%, natural gas consumption by 16%, water consumption by 23%, and carbon emissions by 9%."
Rustamov added that ADY's decarbonization initiatives cover a long-term period, and the organization cooperates with the Asian Development Bank in this area.