Planes, trains and automobiles... which is greenest?

You may have seen our recent BBC South Today feature comparing the environmental performance of trains, planes and automobiles on the Southampton to Edinburgh route. We hope you find it interesting, if you missed it you can read it here, or see the video clip here. Here is the chart that compares total carbon dioxide emissions. for 1, 2 and 4 passengers (click picture to enlarge).

An important point that was not delved into was the issue of non-CO2 emissions from aircraft. This often leads to the application of an 'uplift' factor, where we multiply the CO2 emissions by a fctor of up to 3.7 to take into account other effects. These include Nitrogen Oxides, Methane, contrails and possible increases in cirrus cloud formation. The science related to this is difficult, and there is a good deal of uncertainty about what is the right uplift factor, or whether it is relevant in this context. Why?

Well, carbon dioxide lives in the atmosphere for about 100 years. Other emissions last a few years, months, weeks or even just a few hours, in the case of contrails. The physics of how this actually affects climate is complex, so boiling it down to a single number - usually radiative forcing - is simplistic, but convenient.

So for the analysis we did, we just look at carbon dioxide. CO2 'calculators' online, such as those used for carbon offsetting, add an 'uplift' factor. They claim that what they are telling you is the CO2 you will emit. This is not quite true, it is an 'equivalent CO2' amount. So be careful when you talk about 'carbon footprint' - that means CO2, if it includes non-CO2 effects then make sure that is included for everything you are talking about.

As there is some uncertainty about the climate science, we have chosen to focus just on CO2 here. Clearly, if we apply an uplift factor the numbers change, and this is important.

Another factor is that on this route the train is diesel-powered, not electric. In the UK around 50% of trains are diesel, which is very different to other countries such as France and Japan. Also, electric trains must get their power from somewhere, and again, the UK has a lot of coal, gas and oil-fired power stations. French trains are great, but their electricity is almost all from nuclear power stations - and that's a another environmental discussion altogether.

The message remains, cars emit a lot of CO2, so always share. Use a train if you can, it is still the best environmental option, especially if it is electric not diesel! Flying is an option that should not be excluded, particularly if travelling alone, as its CO2 emissions are not too bad - even when using 'equivalent CO2' with an uplift factor.

If you want to design your own airliner to see how environmentally-friendly it is, visit our website at http://www.futureflight.org/

For more information on aviation and the environment see http://www.greenerbydesign.co.uk/