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

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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