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You know planes are not great for the environment, and trains are better – but do you know why? Anna Turns delves into the stats behind travel and sustainability
This year, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg travelled across Europe by train before setting sail in a yacht from Plymouth to the US. Thunberg hasn’t flown since 2015 and her journeys have added momentum to the growing #flygskam (a Swedish word meaning flying shame) campaign and triggered a new hashtag #tagskryt (which translates as train brag) with more people following her lead to stay grounded and choose more carbon-conscious modes of transport. The number of Interrail tickets sold in Sweden surged by 45% in 2018 and the Dutch airline KLM has even called for its customers to fly responsibly and consider alternatives where possible.
Scheduled flights emitted more than 900m tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2018 (pdf) and the aviation sector currently accounts for more than 2% of global emissions – if it were a country, aviation would have been the sixth-largest emitter of CO2 last year, emitting more than Germany. Globally, aviation is the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gases, with soaring emissions increasing by about 5% more each year according to the World Health Organization. The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) estimates aviation CO2 emissions are on track to triple by 2050. Generally, ICCT finds that flying short distances is much more fuel-intensive than flying longer distances, so reducing the number of flights (rather than cutting out just long-haul flights) is one of the best things anyone can do to cut carbon. Shorter flights are less efficient – with up to 25% of jet fuel consumed during takeoff – but longer flights have a larger carbon footprint. Continue reading...