Greener Vision TKH Page 5

Transport decarbonisation and the role of land-use planning

Published on: 26th August 2021 by Victoria Hills MRTPI FICE.

The transport sector is the most significant contributor towards the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. However, while other sectors such as energy generation have drastically reduced their emissions over the last 30 years, the transport sector has made little progress towards decarbonisation. So what more needs to be done? Significant behavioural shift The RTPI believes that…

Are you sitting comfortably? The tale of the hedgehog, the fox, the owl and the ostrich.

Published on: 24th August 2021 by Jillian Anable.

BBC online has recently released a series of short video think pieces under the topic ‘How easy is it to predict the future?’ It asks some very pertinent questions such as: ‘Is trying to predict the future a waste of time?’ or ‘Are artists or scientists better at future predictions’ and, my particular favourite, ‘Are…

Is this Government serious about Decarbonising Transport?

Published on: 19th August 2021 by Dr Steve Melia.

Is this government serious about decarbonising transport, or is their Decarbonisation Plan just political hype? I was reflecting on that as I prepared to give evidence to the planning inquiry into North Somerset Council’s refusal to allow Bristol Airport to expand. Ironically, their attempts to fudge the issues around aviation may have inadvertently strengthened the…

Transport decarbonisation cannot be left to the transport sector

Published on: 17th August 2021 by Professor Peter Jones, OBE.

Pressure is rightly placed on the transport sector to eliminate the large volumes of carbon dioxide it emits annually, from vehicle emissions, carbon released during vehicle construction and that embedded in the supporting infrastructure. We recognise, on the supply side, that meeting this zero-carbon challenge requires close collaboration with a wide range of industrial partners…

Dancing with tears in my eyes

Published on: 12th August 2021 by Glenn Lyons.

This article is about the IPCC’s new report on climate change, the UK’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan and Ultravox. Anxiety and the state of science In the arms of my wife and with my six year-old son down the hallway, I eventually slipped into sleep on Sunday 8 August 2021 wrestling with climate anxiety as I…

Midlands Connect – Developing a regional strategy for transport decarbonisation

Published on: 5th August 2021 by Maria Machancoses.

When Coronavirus forced us all to stay in our homes and the world ground to a halt in March 2020, like so many of us, I watched with fascination as nature appeared to heal itself before our eyes. Cars stayed on their drives and train timetables were reduced down to the bare minimum, as offices…

Roads to the future: Using technology to implement road pricing

Published on: 3rd August 2021 by Paul Hirst and Jo-Ann Pattinson.

The growth of zero emission vehicles on our roads is going to lead to a £40 billion hole in tax revenues from lost fuel duty and vehicle excise duty. Replacing petrol and diesel vehicles with electric vehicles does not fully answer the emissions problem. The real (but difficult to confront) solution is: fewer trips by…

Reality check

Published on: 29th July 2021 by Glenn Lyons.

I saw a mention on Twitter that there are now two tribes when it comes to climate change: doomers and deniers. How can people’s views of reality be so different? Do the doomers need a reality check or the deniers, or both? A reality check, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is “an occasion that causes…

The Transport Decarbonisation Plan: The work starts here

Published on: 26th July 2021 by Greg Marsden.

At 220 pages in length the Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP from here!) is a reflection of the huge scale of the challenge facing the sector to decarbonise both quickly and completely. So why, when we have just seen the launch of such a critical plan, do we need a Greener Transport Council and why did…

Worth the wait?

Published on: 19th July 2021 by Paul Hirst.

We finally have a Transport Decarbonisation Plan! But is it worth the wait? The UK government’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan (the Plan) finally came out on 14 July. It’s been over a year in the making, delayed firstly by the COVID-19 pandemic impacting our travel patterns, then again at the last minute because the Transport Minister…

Planning for Zero

Published on: 12th July 2021 by Andy Eastlake.

It’s building up to be quite a moment for transport! If the rumblings are correct, we’re only days or even hours, away from learning what’s in the Government’s decarbonisation plan for the sector. It will need to be radical. It will have to enter areas of policy that haven’t been touched, or were deemed too…

Mission impossible?

Published on: 5th July 2021 by Claire Haigh.

The pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 78% by 2035 puts the UK at the forefront of international ambition. However, in its recent progress report the Committee on Climate Change highlights the gaping chasm between climate change rhetoric and policy. “This defining year for the UK’s climate credentials has been marred by uncertainty and…