Coach travel ‘kinder to environment than flying’
The carbon costs of coach services to Europe are up to six times lower than the same journey by aircraft, according to international operator Eurolines.
A journey to Paris by coach will produce 10.6 kilos of carbon per passenger journey, compared to 52 kilos by air. A trip to Vienna just 22 kilos by coach compared to 190.9 kilos when flying.
On average, research by the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management reveals the carbon footprint for coach travel is 5.58 times lower than the cost of flying.
Eurolines, part of the National Express, had six of its routes assessed using the actual fuel consumed and average numbers of passengers carried in 2006. The figures also accounted for the carbon costs of ferry crossings for each journey.
Managing director John Gilbert said: “This is confirmation that travel by coach is really low carbon travel to Europe. Not only are we consistently the lowest cost option for travel, but have a low environmental cost too.
“The implication of the independent analysis is that the more people travel by coach to Europe, the lower each passenger’s carbon footprint will be. Simply, carrying more passengers on each of our coaches will reduce the carbon footprint of every single passenger we carry.
“So for example, a full Eurolines Plus coach to Paris with 61 passengers onboard means each passenger has a carbon footprint 5.9 times lower than the equivalent cost of a journey by air. “
Gilbert added: This is a significant issue for our younger travellers in particular, who are the first generation who will live all their adult lives in a climate changed world.
“Destinations like the French Alps, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels are easily made by coach. We believe more people will start to take the carbon costs of such journeys into account when planning a trip, so it is important for us to have the information available for passengers.”
The company has a carbon calculator on its website www.eurolines.co.uk so passengers can see the savings they will make if they travel by coach rather than fly.
|
Journey |
Coach (& Ferry) |
Air |
|
Kg. CO² /passenger journey
|
Kg. CO² /passenger journey
|
|
|
London-Paris |
10.6 |
52 |
|
London-Amsterdam |
11.5 |
55.5 |
|
London-Chamonix |
28.4 |
114.8 |
|
London-Frankfurt |
14.7 |
97.6 |
|
London-Dublin |
12.3 |
67.3 |
|
London-Vienna |
22.6 |
190.9 |
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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