Dr Lee Chapman University of Birmingham Climate Change & Transport Please note that due to copyright...
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Transcript of Dr Lee Chapman University of Birmingham Climate Change & Transport Please note that due to copyright...
Dr Lee Chapman
University of Birmingham
Climate Change & Transport
Please note that due to copyright restrictions that apply to publishing this presentation on the Climate Change portal, some of the original images have been changed or removed.
Source: Fred Pearce, 'Climate Change: Menace or Myth?’, New Scientist magazine, issue 2486, 12 February 2005, page 38
C02 emissions per Passenger KilometreSource: Strategic Rail Authority
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Aviation Car Bus Rail Walking &Cycling
CO
2 (g
ram
s)
Motor Cars
• Developed world is obsessed with the motor car
• Affordability has increased worldwide and therefore so have the number of cars
• In the UK, 89% of motorists agreed with the statement “I would find it very difficult to adjust my lifestyle to being without a car” (Source: RAC, 2003)
Motor Cars: What can we do?• Change attitudes: Modal Shift
– Use Public Transport– Walking & Cycling (a quarter of all
car trips are under 2 miles long!)– Home working / Local shopping
• Change Policy– Congestion charging, road pricing,
increase fuel taxes, car-sharing– Improved traffic management
• Use Technology– Diversification of fuel: LPG,
Biofuel, Hydrogen, Electric– Choose cars with high fuel
efficiency – not 4x4s!Images from www.bigfoto.com
Aviation• Five-fold increase in air
travel over the last 30yrs and will treble again in the UK by 2030 (DfT, 2003; 2005)
• Why?– Cheap & Frequent Flights– Holiday Homes / Business Trips– Air Freight
• A holidaymaker flying to Florida and back creates as much CO2 as the average British motorist does in a year (Friends of the Earth)
• Short haul flights are very inefficient
Image from www.bigfoto.com
Aviation• Overall effect on climate is 5X greater than
that of CO2 alone – mainly because of emissions directly into the upper levels of the atmosphere:– CO2 (‘well mixed’)– Ozone– Methane– Water Vapour– Contrails
Contrails image from www.nasa.gov
Aviation: What can we do?• Change Attitudes: Modal Shift
– Use Rail for short haul – 10 times less polluting– Shipping for freight
• Change Policy– Emissions charging / trading– Not included in the Kyoto Protocol– Optimise existing capacity– Fly at lower levels
• Use Technology– Improved aircraft design– Reduce fuel burn– Alternative fuels?
Other Modes• Rail
– Still polluting, but a cleaneralternative for freight andpassengers.
– Requires significant investment– Electric rail in place of Diesel?
• Shipping– Relatively environmentally friendly– Cleaner fuels are available– Slow mode of transport
• Buses– Often the only alternative to cars– Needs subsidies to be attractive– Priority routing / Park & Rides etc
Image: www.pics4learning.com
Image:mazhewit at www.flickr.com
‘Zero Carbon’ Modes• Walking & Cycling
– Needs to be a real alternative– a quarter of all car trips
are under 2 miles long!– Cycles lanes, pedestrian zones
improved storage facilities,walking buses, etc…
Summary• Behavioural Change
– Modal Shift– Zero Carbon Journeys– Prompted by Government
• Sustainable environments– Urban Sprawl
Image:malias at www.flickr.com
Image:ratherbebiking at www.Flickr.com