Someone has finally done a investigation into transportation and the impact on GHG emissions. An article in a recent edition of the New Scientist (08 June 2009 by Catherine Brahic), quotes a paper by, Mikhail Chester and Arpad Horvath of the University of California, Berkeley They show real emissions per Passenger km travelled and they take into account all of the factors – preparing the fuel, manufacturing and maintaining the car, bus or airplane, and operating them. The paper is available at http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1748-9326/4/2/024008/erl9_2_024008.pdf?request-id=b46e4f3b-f7f8-474a-b2c4-885ddf8b617c

Interesting, and perhaps a surprise – the WORST form of transport for emissions per PKT is an “off peak diesel bus” – the type that we see on Sundays and late at night every night – travelling almost empty. This is surely an ironic twist. On the other hand, significantly the best system for emissions is the peak hour diesel bus. As expected, the common car is bad, the SUV is worse, pickup trucks are even worse and then the lightly loaded bus is as bad as it gets…
Also interesting is the fact that airplanes are not as bad as one might have thought. In fact, on a PKT basis, they are better than a car.

This clear thinking paper is one of the best examples of big picture analysis that I have seen – looking at the big picture for transportation. It appears to me that there are a few lessons to be learned from this particular study.
This brings to mind many examples where very well intended people have been misled with poor information… Some examples…

1. The use of Compact Fluorescent lights to “save energy” in homes that are in a cold climate – and electricity is generates with hydro or other renewable sources.. The result is a shift to fossil fuel to replace the heat that the old lights produced – and increased GHG emissions.

2. Composting waste – without real care, home composters go “anaerobic,” producing methane. At that point, they are an environmental liability.

3. Recycling Glass – Glass is made from sand, and it requires a lot of energy to melt. If glass bottles are reused in their current state, the process makes great sense, but not, the best use is generally to grind them up – to be used as sand. This is a huge waste of energy. The real question is why use glass containers at all?? It is energy intense, most often used only once, and is often as heavy or heavier than the product contained inside. Many people have complained about the cardboard “tetra paks” in the past, but if the big picture is considered, they are likely a lot better than glass.

This is a great step in a right direction. We need more big picture thinkers looking for REAL solutions...!!