Home/Posts Tagged ‘rail’
Posts Tagged ‘rail’
Climate Change, Pollution, Science & Technology, Feb 22nd, 2011,
More and more goods are being shipped from China to Europe in an unstoppable relationship based on cheap production and ever-increasing consumption. This means more energy and greenhouse gas emissions. But freight companies are also developing and implementing ways to become more energy efficient and lower their emissions. Danish shipping giant Maersk has ordered 10 new mega ships (with an option for 20 more) to be used between China and Europe. These floating blocks of skyscrapers can carry 20% more than the largest freighters currently at sea and are too big to be used at ports in the Americas. Ocean…
Tags: China, emissions, Europe, freight, Gottard, Maersk, ocean, rail, shipping, trains, trucks, tunnel
Green living, Politics, Sep 30th, 2010,
Stuttgart, Germany is a prosperous European industrial city, home to Daimler-Benz and Porsche, among others. It is also the center of a political conflict over the partial demolition of the city’s old railway system in favor of an underground rails and the construction of ‘carbon neutral’ neighborhoods. Sounds like something the Green Party would support, right? It isn’t, though Germany’s other principle political parties do back the project, as well as business groups. A large majority of Stuttgart’s population, however, does not. The project, dubbed Stuttgart 21, is not as environmentally friendly as it might sound. According to campaigners opposing…
Tags: German, Germany, Green, party, political, rail, Stuttgart, Stuttgart 21
Climate Change, Science & Technology, Sep 10th, 2010,
IPCC Climate scientists have already stated that air travel contributes to climate change though emitting CO2, water vapor, nitrous oxides, sulfate aerosols and soot. Each of these varieties of airplane emissions factor into global warming in different ways, including short and long-term warming effects. A new scientific paper from Norway compares the climate impact of different modes of both passenger and freight transport. The study puts ocean and rail as having the lowest impact in terms of freight, with light trucks and air having the highest across the board. In the case of passenger travel, ‘rail, coach or two- and…
Tags: aerosols, air, cars, Climate change, co2, freight, global warming, impact, long term, nitrous oxide, planes, rail, short term, transport, travel, vapor
Climate Change, Apr 29th, 2010,
An EU study has shown that despite efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions and pollution from transportation within Europe, both have actually increased over the ten year period of 1997-2007. The report, from the European Environment Agency (EEA), gauges pollution and emissions levels from the transport sector in 32 European countries. While high emitters like passenger air travel, road and air freight grew, the use of rail and inland waterways declined. Reuters reports: European passenger airlines are increasing their traffic by about 48 percent each decade. While passenger demand for rail remained steady in western Europe in the 10 years…
Tags: air, EEA, emissions, EU, Europe, European, greenhouse, Pollution, rail, road, transport, Transportation, UK
Green living, Science & Technology, Jan 19th, 2010,
The proliferation of steam-powered railroads, beginning in the 19th century, revolutionized much of the world in terms of trade, travel, infrastructure and communication. Traveling by rail was initially a luxury, but eventually became a common means of transport. The rise of the automobile however, saw train travel fall out of fashion in some places – particularly the United States. By contrast, in Europe and the more industrialized parts of Asia, freight and passenger rail has remained widespread and heavily used. Extensive development of high speed rail in China and the successful Eurostar line – connecting London to Paris and Brussels…
Tags: China, environmental, Europe, Green, high-speed, rail, train, travel
Green living, Nature, Dec 27th, 2009,
A lot of conservation seems to be about ‘spoiling nice views’ rather than more pragmatic ecological or environmental concerns. More specifically, grass roots political opposition to energy or transportation infrastructure projects that also have environmental aims often stems from such projects’ potential to spoil rich peoples’ nice views. For example, the opposition to wind turbines in wealthy, picturesque parts of American states like Cape Cod in Massachusetts, or in various country retreats in the U.K. is rarely related to practical environmental questions like pollution, sustainability and clean energy. It is rather all too often about a sense of entitlement that…
Tags: air travel, Chilterns, emissions, environmental, high-speed rail, infrastructure, Nature, rail, views
