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.
Cut your CO2 emissions by taking
the train, by up to 90%...
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 will probably cut your
stress levels by a similar percentage.
Incidentally, the environmental
benefit of taking the train instead of a plane may be 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 |
=
91% less |
|
London to Edinburgh |
3.5
hours, 193 Kg/CO2 |
4.5
hours, 24 Kg/CO2 |
=
87% less |
|
London to Nice |
4
hours, 250 Kg/CO2 |
8
hours by Eurostar+TGV, 36 Kg/CO2 |
=
85% less |
|
London to Barcelona |
4.5
hours, 277 Kg/CO2 |
Eurostar then overnight sleeper, 40 Kg/CO2 |
=
85% less |
|
London to
Amsterdam |
4
hours, 136 Kg/CO2 |
Overnight by Dutch Flyer train & ferry, 27.2 Kg/CO2 |
=
80%
less |
|
London to
Dublin |
4
hours, 174.8 Kg/CO2 |
8
hours by train & ferry, 46.8 Kg/CO2 |
=
73% less |
|
London to Tangier |
5
hours, 435 Kg/CO2 |
48
hours by Eurostar, sleeper trains & ferry, 63 Kg/CO2 |
=
85% less |
Times are centre-to-centre, each way. Kg/CO2 is per passenger for a return journey.
The source is
The Observer, 29/01/06,except
for London-Paris (taken from independent research commissioned by www.eurostar.com),
London-Dublin & London-Amsterdam. London-Amsterdam
& London-Dublin are calculated using the DECC/DEFRA
figure of 22.54g of CO2 per passenger kilometre x the ferry distance (201 km
Harwich-Hook & 105 km Holyhead-Dublin) plus train
connections calculated using
www.ecopassenger.org. The flights
are assumed to be from Luton-Schiphol & Luton-Dublin.
Eurostar's 'Tread Lightly'
programme...
In
addition to producing over 90% less CO2 than an equivalent flight to start with, Eurostar has 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: Eurostar managed cut
their CO2 emissions per passenger by 31% by early 2009, three years ahead
of target. They've now raised the target to 35%.
Where can I get accurate CO2
emission figures?
A good
source for European train/plane/car emissions comparisons is
www.ecopassenger.org.
It will compare emissions for journeys such as Birmingham to Paris or Paris to
Rome.
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.
Ferries used to be a problem for CO2 emission calculations because of the need
to allocate CO2 between the freight, motorists and foot passengers carried by
the ferry. However, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and
the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have now
allocated CO2 emissions from ferries on the basis of weight, giving a figure of
22.54 grams of CO2 per passenger for ferry foot passengers.
But can't you offset the CO2 from a
flight?
Having talked with several experts, the consensus is that 'offsetting' is not a
long term solution to climate change. Partly because your money doesn't
always get to where it should do (there have been some scandals, and in any case
much of your money disappears into 'admin costs'), and partly because there's a
limit to how many wind farms can be built or new forests planted. Most
importantly, 'offsetting' is an excuse for the travel industry to simply carry
on polluting without changing their business practices. The real answer to
CO2 emissions is not to try and offset them, but to stop producing as much CO2
in the first place.
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.
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...
Back to Seat61.com home page
