Airplanes Greener than Trains?
Jun 08, 2009 10:14 Filed in: Environment
Strange as it may seem, when everything that it takes to deliver a passenger by train from one place to another is taken into account, including the cost of cars, engines, tracks, stations, and other railroad infrastructure, CO2 emissions per passenger-mile of trains is actually greater than the total emissions of CO2 per passenger-mile of commercial aircraft.
That is the conclusion of researchers Mikhail Chester and Arpad Horvath of the University of California, Berkeley, as reported in NewScientist online via the newsletter from Scientists & Engineers for America:
Train can be worse for climate than plane
The article points out, however, that the concentration of passengers is critical. A city bus with only 5 passengers is one of the worst offenders, whereas a full city bus is relatively efficient. The same goes for autos and planes.
The lessons: 1. no matter how certain we are, things are not always what they seem; and 2. looking at the big picture frequently invalidates the lessons we learned from looking only at the small picture.
That is the conclusion of researchers Mikhail Chester and Arpad Horvath of the University of California, Berkeley, as reported in NewScientist online via the newsletter from Scientists & Engineers for America:
Train can be worse for climate than plane
The article points out, however, that the concentration of passengers is critical. A city bus with only 5 passengers is one of the worst offenders, whereas a full city bus is relatively efficient. The same goes for autos and planes.
The lessons: 1. no matter how certain we are, things are not always what they seem; and 2. looking at the big picture frequently invalidates the lessons we learned from looking only at the small picture.
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