According to them, a comparable train journey would have emitted about 50 kg of CO2. More than 4x lower. That rougly corresponds with this graph. Interestingly, a ferry scores even lower. Combined with the shorter distance the ferry takes, my trip from Göteborg likely emitted less than 35kg of CO2. - ThreadSky

marcvanderlee.bsky.social • 159 days ago

According to them, a comparable train journey would have emitted about 50 kg of CO2. More than 4x lower. That rougly corresponds with this graph. Interestingly, a ferry scores even lower. Combined with the shorter distance the ferry takes, my trip from Göteborg likely emitted less than 35kg of CO2.

Comments

marcvanderlee.bsky.social•159 days ago

It shows how not flying can save a lot of emissions. Important to know is that flights have a very big challenges ahead in terms of cutting emissions, and it is not likely that they will be able to achieve a lot in the coming decades. Batteries are too heavy, and hydrogen isn't dense enough.

marcvanderlee.bsky.social•159 days ago

Trains and ferry's, on the other hand, are much more likely to cut their emissions even further. Trains are often electric and as the production of electricity becomes greener every year, so does the train. Ferry's have some things to solve, but the ferry I took, the Stena Germanica, took a big step

marcvanderlee.bsky.social•159 days ago

The ferry sails on recycled methanol, which cuts emissions by up to 25% in terms of CO2 and by up to 99% SOx and 60%NOx (thanks Wikipedia!). I don't expect the airline industry to take such a big step anytime soon, meaning the emisssion gap is likely to increase in the coming years.

marcvanderlee.bsky.social•159 days ago

But what makes a ferry so green? And why is a cruise ship so polluting, then? There are several reasons, but the most important one is because of what they carry.

A cruise ship carries mainly people it carries a lot of them, but also emits a lot. The emissions per passenger are still high.

marcvanderlee.bsky.social•159 days ago

What about a ferry? Funnily enough, the emissions per passenger aren't much lower on a ferry, sometimes even higher. But why does it score to well on a graph that wlI just showed? That is because a ferry often has a big focus on transporting vehicles and their load.

marcvanderlee.bsky.social•159 days ago

And so, focussing on the emssions per passenger is a bit unfair. The emissions per passenger on a mega container ship, that transports millions of kg of goods but only has a few crew members, are also extremely high. But does it make the container ship very polluting? Not neccessarily.

hypx.bsky.social•159 days ago

Saying "it's too hard" is just an excuse though. There are ways of making aviation green, and they should be pursued.

marcvanderlee.bsky.social•158 days ago

I'm not saying it cannot be achieved. But I do not see big changes coming anytime soon. The EU is working on their ETS trade system, reducing ETS rights every year. It also sets some rules about SAF. But the reality is that these measures mostly make flying less attractive compared to other modes

marcvanderlee.bsky.social•158 days ago

That's something I actually support, but the few % emission wins by adding some SAF will not make the difference. The only way to make flying truly green is by switching to electric planes or hydrogen. Both have potential, but also major challenges. It will take decades before we see that happening.

marcvanderlee.bsky.social•158 days ago

Think about it. Even if you start producing electric planes for more than a few people right now (which we don't yet), it would likely take 10/15 years before mass production can start. And that is assuming that airliners would want to make the switch. That only happens when kerosine becomes 💰💰💰

marcvanderlee.bsky.social•158 days ago

And a mean a lot more expensive. Whily I do see that happening at some point. I believe it will take years and years before it is the case. And if you want to go all in on SAF, you need to be able to produce it first. Which will take years as well.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply