What is the Greenest Form of Travel?

For most people, summer means traveling whether it’s going home to visit family or exploring new places, travel means using some form of fossil fuel-dependent transportation. But the problem experience as browse through the various train, plane and bus tickets have been finding out which is the greenest option. It is important to at least try and figure out some environmental guidelines for deciding which transport option is best for, especially when considering that. In 2014 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change narrated that the transportation sector reports for 23% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. So, a simple question: when traveling, which form of transportation requires the minimum emissions? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not so smooth. The carbon footprint of planes, cars, and trains depends on several dependent environmental factors like infrastructure, the build of the vehicle (like electric or diesel), distance, and location. So instead of trying to decide on the best form of green transportation, we are going to look at how various factor's effects, including distance and number of passengers in the vehicle, change the emission footprint of various transport modes. So, let’s start with a relatively shorter distance: a quick business trip within the city looked at the various transportation options, and according to their number-crunching, the plane wins the award for shortest distance traveled at, 350 miles or 570 km, with cars and buses taking second place at 472 miles or 759 km, and trains chugging along in the last place with a 544 mile or 875 km transit. So, planes have extremely little distance to travel, but that doesn’t necessarily balance with fewer emissions. Instead, if we look at the number of passengers transported per tour combined with the gasoline fuel equivalent of the mode of transportation, we get some unexpected numbers. The electric car is by far the most efficient fuel-wise, but taking the bus also requires fairly fewer emissions.

It gets quite interesting when we switch our attention to planes, traditional cars, and trains. The total CO2 per passenger for a plane trip at 75.3kg and a train requires 84.3 kg. But these numbers vary a little bit depending on how it is calculated. Part of the reason why a train can be so emissions exhausted is that many trains still run on diesel. In this case, the train that reaches almost all the way from one city to another, which uses a dual-mode engine, that runs primarily on diesel, but switches to electric when it reaches some other stations. So, in short, the best way to travel within the city is by bus if you don’t own an electric vehicle, and the worst is via a flight or train. But what about longer distances? Do things change? Especially when you consider that a lot of a plane’s emissions come from take-off, landing, and taxing it seems like the longer the distance traveled the more efficient the flight becomes. According to a peer audit report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, the emissions associated with a 1,000 mile or 1609 km solo trip reveal some interesting results. Taking the bus is still by far the best option due to its ability to transport a large number of passengers on a comparably small amount of gas. surprisingly, however, flying in an economy seat has approximately the same carbon emissions associated with it when compared to a typical train. As flights get longer, and if the flight is non-stop, the carbon emission becomes smaller per mile, but if you are flying out of a crowded airport with constant delays, that footprint can balloon in size. Essentially, the more time the plane spends in the air going from point one to another, and the less time it spends circling the airport waiting for runway clearance, the more efficient it will be. Ultimately, the “greenest” of travel is massively dependent on context. There is no hard and fast answer to the form of travel that is best for the environment. But, if you are in desperate need of a rule of thumb here’s a conditional green transport lineup for a solo traveler: In general, a bus is better than a train is better a plane which advantages the average car. But that order can vary depending on the distance traveled and the number of passengers within that car. Ideally, an application like google maps could estimate the various emissions associated with your particular route and transportation choices. That way you would be able to quickly understand the environmental consequences of your journey. Right now, however, we have to rely on a carbon footprint calculator, for emission estimation. At the end of the day, we can only do so much to cut down our carbon footprint when traveling. Calculators are great, but innovations for infrastructure and technology are necessary to quickly detach emissions from transportation. Rapid electrification of cars, buses, and trains and the creation of reliable clean grid energy will make the uncertain process of green transportation much more certain. One of the keystones of any clean energy grid is solar power. And to understand how to best harness the yield from the Sun, we need to understand the physics behind this clean and green renewable resource.