Think Twice About That Headline
If you read beyond the dubious headlines today, "Think Twice About 'Green' Transport, Say Scientists" and "Train Can Be Worse for Climate than Plane," you'll find an interesting study that suggests policy makers go beyond tailpipe emissions when calculating the carbon impacts of planes, trains, buses, and cars. University of California-Berkeley researchers attempted to also account for greenhouse gases released when building the vehicles, generating fuel to run them and for building and maintaining the infrastructure they use.
Among the findings: including these additional sources of pollution in a life-cycle assessment (which is no simple task) more than doubles the greenhouse gas emissions of train travel, with its stations, miles of track, lit parking lots and escalators. Proportionally, they add less to the carbon footprint of cars and planes.
The study also found electric cars and trains have hidden emissions if the electricity they run on is generated by burning coal and other fossil fuels. And when it comes to mass transit, how many passengers are on board matters.
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