Great wheels of green

In this carbon-conscious age, the environmental impact of any given product or service becomes a potential marketing point. So JR touts its hurtling, hi-tech Shinkansen behemoths as the green way to travel, citing very low direct CO2 emissions. Meanwhile, car companies are putting out glossy centrefolds of electric, hybrid or flex-fuel cars posing alluringly next to windpower turbines, and credulity has been strained to giggling point by the aviation industry, bête noire of the climate, which has been feeding studies to the mainstream press pointing the greenhouse finger at boats for generating lots of gases globally.

According to the Sierra Club: "Flying creates 13 per cent of transportation-generated carbon dioxide worldwide, accounting for 3.5 per cent of all global warming emissions. Other aviation gases include hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide, which contribute to acid rain [and there are other pollution implications of air travel]. When flights were banned following September 11, skies cleared significantly."

Aviation's PR people have to do some serious aerobatics to make 170g of pollution per passenger mile look competitive with the 100g from cars or less from other forms of transport.

To be fair, we are not likely to drive from Osaka to Bangkok in preference to taking the plane. We might, on the other hand, take the car for a spin to the convenience store around the corner in preference to using our legs on the ground or on pedals.

While the introduction of biofuels is going to reduce the problem of greenhouse gases created by our favourite get-about, they are not the whole answer to global warming. Most new fuels are a mix of petrol and ethanol, and where there is promise of CO2 reductions, there are still issues of a radical shift in land management practices world-wide so that we can keep moving without starving two thirds of the planet and leveling the remaining rain forest. Nor does ethanol save you from getting stuck in traffic jams.

The Shinkansen has a very low output of CO2 - per person about 16 per cent that of a car. The Shinkansen is a lot quicker, you can have a beer and a bento while on the move and the kids are less likely to throw up.

The estimates are that to replace the Shinkansen between Osaka and Tokyo with air travel would require three jumbo jets every five minutes, increasing domestic air travel by 50 per cent - or 17 forty-seat buses would have to run every ten seconds, or, if passengers switched to private cars, there would be 1,800 deaths and 10,000 serious injuries every year.

However, in order to power the Shinkansen we are still left with nuclear power stations up and down the country creating glow-in-the-dark problems for our kids and grand-kids to take care of in years to come.

There is a lot of environmental mileage in the naff old coach - just 31g of CO2 per passenger kilometre at 70 per cent occupancy. Sexy it is not, fast isn't in it, but it gets you there and the world breathes a little easier for it. Not the nicest solution for the leggy among us, but a lot less uncomfortable than climatic meltdown.

The carbon crisis has spawned some interesting new technologies - some of more obvious potential than others. One to look out for is the dog-powered scooter. This device from the US requires one medium-to-large dog - a family pet is ideal - which is strapped into a harness attached to the scooter. The human rider has brakes and steers with handle bars. The dog gets the exercise, you get the human-canine bonding and an effort free, eco-friendly trip to the store. No data is available on emissions per passenger kilometre, but keep your poop scoop handy to eliminate them entirely. $US 250 from www.dogpoweredscooter.com.

Text: Chris Page • Images: KS