It's not an exact science, and I'm
certainly no expert, but there is a growing realisation that climate change is a
reality, not just a myth. Air travel is now the fastest-growing
contributor to global warming, and avoiding a flight when there are easy
alternatives is probably the biggest single thing that any individual can do to
cut their carbon footprint and limit their own impact on the environment.
Eurostar has done its homework and
commissioned independent research to assess the CO2 per passenger produced
by a London-Paris Eurostar journey versus that emitted by a passenger on a
London-Paris flight. The
research looked at actual Eurostar passenger loadings, actual Eurostar power
consumption, the way Eurostar's electricity is generated, actual aircraft
loadings, actual aircraft fuel consumption, and so on. The conclusion was
remarkable: Taking the train to Paris instead of flying cuts CO2 emissions
per passenger not
just by a measly 10% or 20% or even 50%, but by a staggering 90%...
And with airport security tightened,
check-ins up to 2 hours even for a 1-hour
flight, plus the time and cost involved in getting to and from remote airports
at each end, taking the train city centre to city centre could cut your stress
levels by a similar percentage...
Incidentally, the environmental
benefit of taking the train instead of a plane is probably much greater than 90%.
Airliners emit their CO2 directly into the upper atmosphere,
where it is likely to do over twice the damage of the same quantity of CO2
emitted at ground level (estimates vary between 2 & 3 times the damage, but
2.7 is the factor normally used). This factor isn't
included in the Eurostar findings.
Here are some estimated comparisons
(showing CO2 quantities alone, excluding the upper atmosphere effect):
CO2 emissions per passenger...
|
|
Journey: |
Out & back by plane... |
Out
& back by train... |
|
London to Paris
by Eurostar |
3.5
hours, 244 Kg/CO2 |
2.75
hours, 22 Kg/CO2 |
|
London to Edinburgh |
3.5
hours, 193 Kg/CO2 |
4.5
hours, 24 Kg/CO2 |
|
London to Nice |
4
hours, 250 Kg/CO2 |
8
hours by Eurostar+TGV, 36 Kg/CO2 |
|
London to Barcelona |
4.5
hours, 277 Kg/CO2 |
Eurostar then overnight sleeper, 40 Kg/CO2 |
|
London to Tangier |
5
hours, 435 Kg/CO2 |
48
hours by Eurostar, sleeper trains & ferry, 63 Kg/CO2 |
Source:
The Observer, 29 January 2006
&
www.eurostar.com.
Times are centre-to-centre, each way. Kg/CO2 is for a return journey.
Apart from producing over 90% less CO2 than an equivalent flight, Eurostar has
now pledged to reduce its own emissions by 25% by 2012, and to offset every
traveller's CO2 free of charge as from November 2007, making Eurostar journeys
carbon-neutral at no cost to travellers. Eurostar has also launched a 'tread lightly'
initiative, looking at recycling their own waste and that collected off the
trains. Full marks to Eurostar... For more information on these initiatives
and on Eurostar's emissions research, see
www.eurostar.com/environment.
Update early 2009: Eurostar have announced that they've already cut
their CO2 emissions per passenger by 31%, three years ahead of target.
They've now raised the target to 35%...
Accurate figures for other types of train are few and far between. High-speed TGVs across France are technically similar to Eurostar and use
electricity from the same sources, so are likely to make a similar environmental
saving as Eurostar when compared to flying. Sleeper trains across France
to Italy, Spain or the south of France may have fewer passengers per car than a
high-speed train such as Eurostar, but on the other hand they
travel at only 100mph or less and so use far less energy than a
power-hungry 186mph high-speed train. Put another way, a sleeper train carries
several hundred passengers with one conventional locomotive, whereas Eurostar
has two big power-cars plus two more powered bogies in the adjacent passenger
coaches as well. So sleeper trains are also likely to make a significant
saving on CO2 emissions when compared to flying.
For more information
on air travel emissions and reducing your carbon footprint, see
www.co2balance.co.uk
or
www.flightpledge.org.uk.
Alternatives to flying...
The
alternatives to flying are easier and more practical than you may think. For
step-by-step instructions on how to plan and book train travel from the UK to
almost any country in Europe on this website, just use the menu to the left.
"The Train to Copenhagen" 5
December 2009, to the UN Conference on Climate Change...
See
www.traintocopenhagen.org for
details of a
special train being run from Brussels to the United Nations Conference on
Climate change in Copenhagen on 5 December 2009. It's being organised by
the UIC (International Union of Railways) and partners.
Doing yourself a favour, as well as the
planet...
I
didn't start seat61.com to avoid flying, either for environmental reasons or
otherwise. I started it because overland travel by train can be so much
more enjoyable and fulfilling than today's commercialised air travel experience. In an
increasingly globalised world, where every flight is the same stressful
non-experience, trains and ships
show you more of the country you're visiting and its culture. On business,
train travel can be productive, with room to work and powerpoints for laptops on
many trains at first class seats. On leisure journeys, time together on
the train can actually be quality time with your loved ones. You might
just find a train journey a more interesting and rewarding experience that in
reality doesn't take that much longer than flying...
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