Thursday, August 09, 2012

Let’s just fly a lot lower

High speed railway systems have the potential to bring about rapid progress in the war against warming

By now, the fact that the Copenhagen meet added 46,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide, most of it from flights, has become a cliché that has overdone itself. But the illogic fails to resolve the paradox that avoiding air travel or going to such meetings is not only impossible, but can even put paid to various developmental measures. But then, what can reduce per capita contribution of carbon and limit its harmful impact on environment?

Many countries are readily investing in environment friendly mode of transport. In this long list of green transport initiatives, countries are going ga-ga over the latest high-speed railway system aka HSR. This craziness makes for good social sense; especially after analysing the recent Eurostar research. The study by Eurostar shows that the train to Paris from London, cuts CO2 emissions per passenger by a jaw dropping 90% when compared to flying on the same route. Going beyond numbers, the environmental benefit due to HSR is more than what any empirical research reveals. As airliners emit their CO2 directly into the upper atmosphere, the impact on environment is much severe.

While the Manchester City Council within UK was an early starter in the HSR revolution – precisely to tap on the increase in efficiency and its environment friendly attributes – most of the developed countries (mostly European) like France, Spain and Germany are already supporting the HSR concept. A few other European countries have also decided to join the HSR network, thus linking the UK and Europe with HSR network in near future.

Reducing the amount of CO2 is just one aspect of HSR as it also comes with added benefits. To a large extent, it solves traffic congestion and air pollution problems. Comprehending this fact, Japan has extended its bullet train network by 76%, thus linking almost all its cities.


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posted by Editorial at 5:49 PM