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Title: Transportation network models for energy supply analysis. Volume 1. Executive summary. Final report. [USA]

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5452822

Future coal transportation costs and capacities are examined within a multicommodity framework by employing a national multimodal transportation network model. The model was used to forecast energy transportation costs and to determine the impact of technology and network structure on energy transport supply. The hierarchical structure of the network model includes detailed models of individual freight service operations to produce estimates of node and link delay, energy use, and cost for use in the larger network model. The model was used to route origin-destination flows through the network using a minimum path algorithm with additional features such as commodity-specific costs and an equilibrium flow algorithm. A separate railroad routing model was used which has a path selection algorithm that considers rail line ownership as a path choice determinant. The models were used to analyze future energy transportation costs and capacities under baseline conditions for the years 1980, 1990, and 2000, and to investigate network changes such as proposed coal slurry pipelines and railroad mergers. The analyses revealed that coal transportation costs, in real terms, will increase one or two percent per year over the next two decades, and that substantial investments in new transportation capacity will be needed to accommodate anticipated coal movements. The model runs reflected the most accurate information available at the time the input data was developed, and any future applications of these findings should be tempered by changes in relative prices, costs and transportation technology that have occurred since that time. Other volumes in this series include: Volume 2 - methodology and scenario; Volume 3 - transportation network model user's guide and documentation; Volume 4 - transportation network model support programs; Volume 5 - appendixes.

Research Organization:
Caci, Inc.-Federal, Arlington, VA (USA)
OSTI ID:
5452822
Report Number(s):
EPRI-EA-2324(Vol.1); ON: DE82903077
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Portions of document are illegible
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English