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More planes, trains and roads can still bring cut in CO2, argues UK transport minister Kelly
John Vidal, Guardian
Britain’s road, rail and air networks can all be greatly expanded without undermining a commitment to reducing climate change emissions, a government report has said. The “pro-green, pro-growth” discussion paper launched by the transport secretary, Ruth Kelly, promotes a new high-speed rail link between London, Birmingham and Manchester, wider motorways, congestion charging in more cities, and bigger sea and air ports. It argues that forcing the pace of technological change is the best way to ensure that transport helps Britain meet its goal of a 60% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2050.
The discussion paper says that a new generation of cars, improved fuels, and renewable energy to drive electric vehicles could eventually almost completely “decarbonise” the road transport economy. “It is a possibility if substantial progress can be made in solving electric vehicle technology challenges … the power sector can be decarbonised and expanded to provide a large proportion of road transport demand,” it says.
More contentiously, it argues that airport expansions in south-east England should go ahead and that aircraft emissions could effectively be held at 2004-05 levels with the European emissions trading scheme. The paper says transport demand is still growing but less fast than in the 1990s. Bus use is increasing, as is cycling and walking.
“This paper will help us deliver a transport system that dispels the myth that … we face the false choice of being poor and green or rich and dirty,” said Ms Kelly.
(31 October 2007)
Changing climate haunting tourism
Elisabeth Rosenthal, International Herald Tribune
It is often said that farmers are on the front lines dealing with global warming, their livelihoods being extraordinarily dependent on the weather. But tour operators and resort owners are not far behind.
Imagine a ski resort whose chairlifts are in the lower reaches of mountains, without decent snow. Or a scuba club whose reefs succumbed to warmer and stormier seas. Or a golfing hotel in a district where water shortages made it impossible to keep fairways green. All are real possibilities, industry experts say, and in fact, early effects are already being felt.
And so, this month, the United Nations convened a conference, “Climate Change and Tourism,” for tour operators and officials from nearly 100 countries to discuss the impact of global warming on their livelihoods. “The tourism industry must adapt rapidly,” the final report concluded.
“The entire tourism product will be affected – every destination has a climate-related component,” Geoffrey Lipman, assistant secretary general of the UN World Tourism Organization, said by telephone from the meeting, held in Davos, Switzerland. If the climate is going to change, “which we know it will, we’d all better adapt,” he said.
(30 October 2007)
Supersonic, manta rays or slower planes? The future of air travel
Mairi Mackay, CNN
White contrails crisscrossing the sky over every major metropolis are a constant visual reminder of the fundamental role of airplanes in modern life.
A world without air travel is inconceivable, but what might it be like in the future? Is the jumbo’s jumbo, the Airbus A380, a taste of bigger craft to come? And with energy sources in question, will we even be flying?
Passenger travel is growing at a rate of three percent each year, with air-freight growing even faster. Current projections estimate the number of people traveling by air — both in the US and abroad — will double or even triple by 2030.
Meanwhile, fuel prices are hitting record highs, with analysts increasingly expecting oil to break the $100-a-barrel mark, while airplanes are branded as global warming enemy number one because of their habit of depositing CO2 emissions high in the atmosphere.
A legion of aeronautical researchers and designers around the world are seeking to keep up with future demand for air travel while reducing its environmental impact and increase its efficiency. But is it possible?
(31 October 2007)
Hello, I’m your personal travel adviser. Can I persuade you to get on your bike?
Ben Webster, UK Times
The doorbell will be ringing unexpectedly in millions of homes from next year as an army of government-funded “travel advisers” tries to persuade people to switch from driving to walking, cycling and public transport.
If you are out, they will keep coming back and will call up to ten times, even in the evenings or at weekends.
They will ask you about your travel habits and will offer advice tailored to your journeys, including maps for walking and bus timetables.
If you appear unconvinced, they will offer incentives such as discounts at local bike shops and outdoor stores and free pedometers to measure how far you are walking.
The initiative is part of the Government’s Sustainable Transport Strategy, announced yesterday. It rejects the idea that congestion can be eliminated by investing billions of pounds in building more roads and railways. Instead, it favours smaller schemes that aim to change behaviour and attitudes.
(31 October 2007)
