Travel and Transport: How can we reduce our Carbon Footprint?

Having spent my working life in the motor industry, firstly as an engineer and latterly as a lecturer and head of Automotive Studies in the FE sector I have seen many changes in  transport  technology.  Some of these changes are driven by government regulations, particularly in vehicle safety and emissions reduction. However, many more changes in car design have been driven by customer demands on manufacturers to produce bigger, faster, vehicles, many with all the gizmos that keep the occupants comfortable and entertained while travelling. In particular in recent years there has been an increase in the buying of top of the range SUVs, known in the automotive slang as “Chelsea Tractors”. I know some of our roads in rural areas are in a poor state of repair, but, as yet they are all still passable in a small family car.

What have these changes to road vehicles lead to? First, individuals who can afford such vehicles, tend to travel longer distances for work and leisure, the consequences are poorer air quality, road congestion, increase in the consumption of scarce mineral resources, road traffic accidents. Since the easing of lockdown, and consequent increase travel, there has been an increase in road fatalities.  Specifically, there was 7% increase in fatal road accidents in 2021 compared to 2020. However, fortunately still 11% lower than 2019. Government data shows a correlation between accidents and miles travelled. See here

In this country the consequences of ill-informed planning decisions in pursuit of economic growth, changes in businesses activities and their locations, along with centralisation of public infrastructure services (e.g. Healthcare, Education etc) has led to them often not being located where houses are built, and people live. The consequence of this is the continual need for individuals to travel longer distances.

A year ago, I began on my research for my first presentation on behalf of ERA for Milland Green Fair on the carbon footprint of transport (passenger miles travelled per g of CO2 generated), and the pros and cons of owning a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), see here .

I have researched the pros and cons of Hydrogen as an alternative fuel source for vehicles, see here  and Bus Service Improvement Plans created by Central and Local Government WSCC. see here

Having done this research, at times I feel that reducing travel to zero emissions is an overwhelming challenge. In the last year there have been significant technological developments in Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) technology, clean Hydrogen generation, Hydrogen fuel cells for vehicles, Hydrogen fueled Internal Combustion Engines. Most of these are either at the experimental or development stage in both technical and commercial evaluation.

While writing this article I have learned that Shell have closed three Hydrogen Fuel Stations because of lack of demand for Hydrogen fueled cars. As I stated in my previous article investment for the development of Hydrogen powered transport currently is focused on public transport (buses and trains) and commercial goods vehicles.

My concern is, will current technological developments of BEV’s, hydrogen generation and power systems come to fruition and meet travel and transport of individual and of the movement of goods and services in the future?

We all know world economies have been thrown into financial disruption as a result of the Covid pandemic, the supply and demand issues across the board resulting from it, the unstable world politics with the consequence of conflict between nations competing for resources, plus the movement of people fleeing from fires and flooding, as a result of climate change and changes to our environment, such changes also impact on our economy and our emotional wellbeing as reflected by the following young person’s perspective.

At one of our ERA meetings, I  had a conversation with a young man who had just left school. He talked about his and his peers concerns about the consequences of climate change, elaborating that they were concerned about the decrease in biodiversity, the floods and heatwaves, and people being permanently displaced by extreme weather events. He was fearful that there would be mass extinctions in his lifetime and felt helpless to change the situation. He was critical of our education system in which the climate change and its causes were not embedded in the secondary curriculum. He felt overwhelmed.

What can we do as individuals?

It is a gamble to think that technology will save our planet, do we wait to find that out, or do we change our behavior now ?

The behavior changes we individuals could be making right now include using our vote and our buying power to make a difference, as well as being more mindful of the journeys we ourselves make, use public transport, buy a smaller more environmentally friendly car if public transport does not meet our needs and engage in “Active Travel” such as walking and cycling.

We can campaign for change in government policy, we can use our vote and elect those with greener credentials, we can make sure that our elected representatives know our feelings on these issues such as by campaigning for investment in integrated transport systems, safer walking and cycling routes that incorporate improved mobility access for all.

We can buy local, from local producers, where they exist. This can significantly reduce an individual’s carbon footprint which, as mentioned above, includes not only the distance we travel but the distance the goods and services we buy travel by land, sea and air.

When we travel, some choices we make can depend on where we live. In urban and suburban areas there are more choices available to us, sadly fewer choices in rural areas where public transport options are not so readily available. see more

As I said previously there are many technological innovations that will in future reduce the carbon footprint of our travel and transportation of goods, but many of these developments are dependent on a finite amount of natural resources and they will not always be available to us due to political conflicts of interests, nor will they last forever.

As Individuals we can lobby local and central government for investment creating the opportunities for better planning decisions, including integrated infrastructure services relevant to the local context, not top-down planning targets dictated by central government

If our only option in our rural area is to use a car then consider car sharing with neighbours and friends, when practicable. Not only will you reduce your carbon footprint. you will save money on fuel and parking charges.

When we shop think about what we buy, where it has come from? Do I really need it, or do I just want it?  If you can afford to, shop once a month instead of weekly or daily to reduce you travel carbon footprint.

In these difficult times it is easy for us to focus on day-to-day survival and forget about the climate issues, as some politicians have recently done.  Changing our behavior, choosing greener travel and transport, greener purchasing and living a greener lifestyle it is still possible to save money.

The more of us that do so, the more affordable those greener choices will become, and we will be playing our part in saving the future for our children and our children’s children. So, travel less, buy less, use less, waste less and save the planet.