Personal transport
In the UK about 35% of our CO2 emissions are from transport, and about 60% of this is by individuals, the rest being freight and services (see Mayer Hillman’s book). Most importantly, transport energy is still rising steeply but will soon be unaffordable.
There are also lots of ways of blinding us with statistics, for example air travel is ‘more efficient’ than going by car. What this means is a full airplane takes 300 people a thousand miles for less fuel than 300 high fuel consumption cars. It ignores the fact that emissions from air travel are nearly three times as damaging, and air travel makes you go massive distances, like New York for a weekend. The UK population uses more air miles than the USA.
We found that you do need a different world view of what is important, and this takes time. With home energy it is relatively easy to stop wasting fuel. With transport we may be deeply attached to believing we are such busy and important people that we must rush all over the place. So, it’s a question of getting more carbon literate, and making an honest assessment of your footprint. You may find that transport is a small part, or you may find that with several flights a year then changing your ideas about travel will do far more than if you started living in a yurt and growing all your own food – although that would make a big difference too.
Here is a two page document Personal transport that summarises information that we have found essential.
Here are a two examples of changes that people in the group have made.