A better world is possible - Global Commons Institute

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Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com Rainforest destruction is the largest single source of carbon emissions after energy, contributing up to 10 times as much as aviation. The Stern Report warned that rainforest destruction alone would, in the next four years, release more carbon into the atmosphere than every flight from the dawn of aviation until 2025. A huge amount of deforestation takes place to make way for crops to feed cattle, food crops and now bio-fuels for export to rich countries. Destruction of forests also leads to loss of species, damage to the lives of forest peoples, massive erosion and further poverty as in Haiti where good soil is flowing into the Caribbean Sea. Figures from the Oxford-based Global Canopy Programme (GCP) show that deforestation accounts for up to 25 per cent of global emissions of heat-trapping gases, while transport and industry account for 14 per cent each. Rainforests are nature’s capital. Trees are precious; they are carbon sinks that absorb our CO2. We are living off our capital. We need to live off the income; not destroy capital. Poor people in poor countries need incentives to protect forests and alternative ways of earning that do not force them to cut down trees in order to survive, including grants of land. Indigenous people are being shown how to make a far better living by protecting and using the forest sustainably, for example by taking the latex from trees instead of felling them. These areas should not be destroyed to grow crops or cattle to feed rich Westerners with their unhealthy diets, or for bio-fuels. We should leave rainforests in India and Latin America to indigenous peoples who understand how to manage them, if they and we are to survive. We must change our habits and lobby for take global action to stop this process. Transport The transport sector contributes 26% of UK carbon emissions. Looking at all modes of transport, a study by Oxford University's Centre for the Environment showed that rapidly increasing air travel accounted for 70 per cent of the sector’s climate change impact and 13 per cent of UK’s total impact, while cars were responsible for 25 per cent and public transport for 3.5 per cent. UK Transport Which is greenest? Grams of CO2 per passenger kilometre Ship ( transatlantic luxury cruise liner, full) 1,611 Domestic short haul flight (including effects at altitude) 300 International short-haul flight (including effects at altitude) 248 Average petrol car 210 International long-haul flight (including effects at altitude) 201 Average diesel car 199 Motorbikes 107 Bus 89 Rail 60 Coach 20 Sources: Ecologist, July/August 2008 Which is greenest? Monbiot, 2006, Heat - How to stop the planet burning; Passenger Transport Emissions Factors, IPPCC, 1999; IPCC report, “Aviation and the global atmosphere”, 8.3.3.4 Figures for hybrid, electric and hydrogen cell powered vehicles are not included. 44
Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com The most energy efficient modes of passenger transport David MacKay’s book, Sustainable Energy – without hot air, a major source of information in this Section, shows that the most energy effective modes of transport, as measured by average kWh per 100 passenger km, (A kWh is the amount of power consumed/generated over a period of one hour.) in order are: 10 or below: cycle, walk, electric train full 20 or below: electric high speed train full, electric scooter, underground train full, coach full, trolley bus, electric car 2 passengers, diesel HST full, tram, electric car full, underground system, car full 30 or below: sea bus 40 or below: bus is just above 30 Cycling or walking is the healthiest though not yet safest ways to travel. Little energy is embedded in cycles. Figures for trains depend on speed; very high speeds mean higher figures. The figure he gives for a Range Rover is about 114 kWh per 100 passenger km, well above a 747, and close to an Ocean Liner about 121 kWh per 100 passenger km. To put things into perspective, the amount of energy saved by switching off your phone charger, 0.01 kWh per day, is exactly the same as driving an average car for a second! Not to say that turning off such devices is not worth doing. It all adds up. Hydrogen fuel-cell cars David MacKay says considerable development is needed before this technology becomes viable. Their current energy consumption of nearly 70 kWh per 100 passenger km, is well above a Boeing 747, around 50 kWh per 100 passenger km. Currently converting energy to and from hydrogen is inefficient and requires 80% to 200% more energy than in a base –line diesel bus and 220% more than for an average car (MacKay, D, 2009). Freight transport Energy requirements for different forms of freight transport in energy used per kilometre - kilowatt-hour per ton-kilometre (kWh/t-km) of freight moved not including vehicle weight in least order: Rail and then ship: At or below 0.1 kWh/t-km Road: just below 1.1 Air: 1.6 (MacKay, D, 2009). Global shipping accounts for 1.12bn tonnes of CO2, or nearly 4.5% of all global emissions of the main greenhouse gas. The UN IPCC report suggests that shipping emissions - which are only now being taken into account by UK and European targets for cutting global warming - will become one of the largest single sources of man-made CO2 after cars, housing, agriculture and industry. Shipping’s damaging pollution Shipping, in the form of ferries, cruise liners, container ships and oil tankers pump out harmful chemicals because of the dirty fuel they use. They burn cheap, dirty, high-sulphur fuel. Shipping is responsible for 18-30% of global nitrogen oxide pollution and 9% of sulphur dioxide. Sixteen of the world’s largest ships can produce as much lung damaging pollution as all the cars in the world. It is estimated that there are 100,000 such ships and their number is growing rapidly as a result of European and North American nations’ global sourcing from Asia in particular. The chemicals they emit can cause cancer, heart disease and asthma. This could cause a million deaths worldwide over the coming decade. James Corbett, professor of marine policy at the University of Delaware, estimates a rising annual death toll of 64,000, 27,000 in Europe and 2,000 in Britain. Another source attributes 60,000 deaths annually in USA to this cause. The costs to health services run into billions – big business externalising costs again. The UN International Maritime Organisation has allowed this situation but pressure for action is mounting. USA has 45
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