Mobility and climate change
Mobility and climate change
After the group has agreed on a distance and told the workshop leader to stop, the volunteer with the plane sign walks backwards with the tape measure until it is completely unrolled. Participants can then see whether the group has estimated correctly. They stop at 1.96m. Many might think: “This isn’t actually that much worse than the car.” But a more detailed explanation is needed here: The greenhouse gases emitted by the plane have an even more harmful effect on the climate at a high altitude than they have on the ground. A plane also produces other harmful emissions, such as nitrogen oxides, soot particles and water vapour (the white stripes in the sky). These have to be factored into the carbon footprint of air travel. Their impact equates to at least twice the amount of pure greenhouse gas emissions. 3 So our passenger has to go back to 0.96m. The distance travelled per 0.5 grams is at least halved. The same procedure is repeated with the train and finally with the coach. If time runs out, the work - shop leader can leave out the coach and merely mention its carbon footprint. It becomes clear that travelling by coach or train is much more climate-friendly than travelling by plane or car.
Aim of the game The aim is to find out how far a person can travel by coach, train, plane or car if they are only allowed to produce half a gram of greenhouse gases (so-called carbon dioxide equivalents, CO 2 eq). Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is the main greenhouse gas, but not the only one. To cover all greenhouse gases, scientists speak of "carbon dioxide equivalents" (CO 2 eq). These include methane and nitrous oxide, for example, not just CO 2 . For the sake of simplicity, we will refer to them here as greenhouse gases. The participants take into account the average occupancy of the individual modes of transport, which plays a key role in determining how climate-friendly they are. When there are five people in a car, the mobility of each person is more climate-friendly than when a person travels alone in the car, as in this example. It is important that workshop leaders explain the following: The question is how far a single person can travel by train, plane, car or coach with their half a gram of greenhouse gases. All the other people travelling with them also have half a gram. How far does their train/car/coach/plane get before each passenger’s half a gram is used up? The average occupancy of each type of transport is factored into the calculation. For example, a coach is bigger and heavier, uses more fuel and therefore produces more greenhouse gases than a car. But, on average, more people sit in a coach than in a car. So if an average of 32 people are travelling in a coach, we want to know how far the coach can travel on 32 x 0.5 grams of greenhouse gases. All coach passengers travel further together with their half a gram than if, for example, they were travelling in pairs by car. To transport these 32 people from Paris to Berlin by car rather than coach, with an occupancy of 2 persons per car, would take 16 cars rather than one single coach. Of course, a coach produces more greenhouse gases than a car, but 16 cars produce much more than a coach! Process Four persons with the plane, car, train and coach signs are asked to stand in a line, and each is given the tape measure or cord for their respective mode of transport. The other four volunteers line up opposite and take the other end of the tape measure/cord. Later, they are asked to step backwards one after the other until their respective tape measure/cord is completely unrolled. We start with the car. → One person travels in a car. How far can a car go until it emits 0.5 grams of greenhouse gases? The tape measure is rolled out. It stops at 2.60m. The participants now have some idea about how far they can travel by car with a half a gram of green - house gases. This helps them guess how far they can get with the other three modes of transport. Before the other three tapes are rolled out, the participants are invited to guess how far they can get by coach, train and plane compared to the car. They start with the plane. The participants guess how far passengers on a short-haul flight can travel until each passenger has used up half a gram of greenhouse gases. They do so by sending the work - shop leader to the appropriate spot. They tell the leader to "keep going" until the majority eventually shouts "stop". Younger participants might need to be reminded of the following: → If the plane gets further than the car, it’s more climate-friendly than the car. If it’s more harmful for the climate, you should shout stop before it reaches the car.
i
Possible questions at the end of the exercise → Are you surprised by the result? → Why are driving and flying so harmful for the climate? → How can you yourself travel in a more climate-friendly way? → What should policy-makers do?
3 https://bevarjordforbindelsen.dk/non-co2-related-climate-effects-from-flight-cant-we-just-walk-quietly-through-the-doors/ [last accessed on 20 December 2022]
6
7
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs