Trains may not be "Green" after all!

[Euphod]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090608/sc_afp/climatewarmingtransportcarbonlifestyle

And so, not even light rail is safe from the doomsayers! Al Gore is coming for you! Boo!

 

[springtransit]

Eh, they're just trying to get us to drive cars on the highway! GM's attempting another conspiracy!

 

[paulzmay]

Well it makes sense that a full car will emit less than an empty train per passenger. It does read like a piece of car-lobby propaganda and mis-information though. It's absolute rubbish about it saying that it's greener to drive your SUV into the city rather than catch a train because the train is already going anyway. Car-pool lanes may be a good idea in principle, but does anyone really use them? Back seat passengers as well? I thought not. So using the full SUV argument is all smoke and mirrors.

It does mean that there may be cases when improving public transport is not the greenest thing to do (i.e. if it's never going to run anywhere near full), but how many schemes get approved on really low ridership predictions? The building emissions are only really relevant for those building new infrastructure. Most urban roads tend to be busy, so it's likely that additional road trips will add to the pressure for new road building, whereas many rail networks are not at the physical limit of track capacity (signalling and train capacity perhaps).

It's also the case that power stations and electric motors combined are MUCH more efficient that the internal combustion engine, so the argument about power station emissions is also doubtful.

There's an interesting chapter from David MacKay's book 'Sustainable Energy Withouth the Hot Air' online here: http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/c20/page_118.shtml which has some interesting comparisons...

Paul

 

[sparky15]

To recap that "report":

"We'll skew any data in this study to support whoever pays us the most".

Dave

 

[Euphod]

Are you guys trying to say that if the Dairy Farmers of America had a better lobby, they would have removed the remark about riding a cow to work?:hehe:

 

[sparky15]

Now you've done it! Go ahead and get PETA spun up!

If I remember, not to long ago, didn't they take a shot at live stock "emissions" as a leading factor in global warming? That made interesting reading in the papers. We're just one train load of live stock away from ending it all.

Dave..

 

[norfolksouthern37]

nothing is green, dont you know all that shiz is made up?

 

[sparky15]

Of course it's made up.

The only green involved in any of that babble is money.

Dave..

 

[fran1]

Now you've done it! Go ahead and get PETA spun up!

If I remember, not to long ago, didn't they take a shot at live stock "emissions" as a leading factor in global warming? That made interesting reading in the papers. We're just one train load of live stock away from ending it all.

Dave..

If the politicians and the associated think tanks, government agencies and the like stopped spouting garbage, global warming wouldn't be as much of an issue.
'Live stock emissions' , never heard so much rubbish. probably cost $100000 to come up with that load of old bull ____!

 

[backyard]

Al Gore is a fool...but that's beside the point...

In the 2000 elections, Al-gore not only failed to carry his home state(TN), he didn't even carry his home county...

Gore laughed at Ollie North about spending 60,000 dollars a year for home security against the Taliban, ignored North's warning about...get this...North even named Osama Ben Laden personally...who went on to organize the Tower Bombings(9-11-2001).

I'm not saying that things could be done a little cleaner, but Al Gore is a politician...not to be trusted...

The State of Tennessee is proposing to erect a statue in Nashville of Gore...a Nobel Prize was given...Gore has never worked outside Washington politics...

Now the GM move to drive everyone to personal cars is catching up with GM...suits me.

 

[sparky15]

Gore got raked over the coals for having over $30,000 utility bills for his personal residence. Right after winning his prize.

I installed an out door wood boiler system between mine and my parents house. We live on twenty acres between us. Basically this thing holds 380 gallons of water and circulates 180 degree water between our houses for heating. Averaged a $6 a month gas bill all winter. Guess what? Our state government wants to out law them. Why? Lack of tax revenue from the utility companies.

Remember when gas was heading for $4 a gallon? Had a big write up in the papers on how consumption dropped almost 5%. Right under that there was a proposal that state and federal wanted to raise taxes on gas to make up for the lost tax revenue.

A 60 mpg vehicle would break the bank for our government. Don't blame the auto industry or oil industry when governments make more per gallon than they do.

Dave..

 

[backyard]

Currently...

I'm working on a route following I-40 from Memphis IA to Bristol IA(TN).

I want to start with a MagLev, however it was originally planned with a high-speed rail line...

Light-rail is just too light for a cross-state route(about 460miles).

Heavy rail cost too much & is way over built, plus the infra-structure requires too much land.

Cost is not a factor, as the costs to install such a project are way beyond calculation.

I decided to simply make a video presentation...side-steps the need for authorization, of implementing a publicly usable Auran Trainz route as a payware download...

My "green" efforts have included servicing my self-propelled Troy-Built lawnmower...a new air filter, sharpening the blade cut fuel consumption by half & produced no noticeable smoke.

I Googled gore recently because of the mention of a statue in Nashville...he has more awards than Carter has pills...he is popular, but when the talk starts about eliminating road vehicles over a certain age, I hope we remember Gore...