Greener Vision TKH Page 6

Electrifying more of UK’s railway will help the Government hit its decarbonisation targets – this work cannot wait

Published on: 7th May 2021 by Lilian Greenwood MP Huw Merriman MP.

If we are going to hit our 2040 rail decarbonisation and 2050 net-zero targets, we need to get on with electrifying more of our railway now. As well as meeting its legally binding commitment to Net Zero by 2050, the Government plans to phase out all diesel-only trains by 2040. Most of our trains, over…

Decarbonising the way to rail recovery

Published on: 5th May 2021 by Phil Bulman.

With the target of achieving net zero by 2050, the rail industry has a lot of work to do. As TOCs prepare for the return of normal services, is there an opportunity to accelerate decarbonisation programmes at the same time? One year on since the publication of the Government’s policy paper on decarbonising UK transport,…

Re-charging Britain’s road policy

Published on: 28th April 2021 by Professor David Begg Claire Haigh.

We stand at a crossroads on UK roads policy. The more we incentivise the take up of electric vehicles the more it costs in government grants and the less revenue the Treasury collects in fuel duty. We are facing a black hole of around £40 billion in our public finances when the fleet is fully…

Rising to the Challenge

Published on: 31st March 2021 by Claire Haigh.

The climate crisis is already hitting worst case scenario levels that if left unchecked will lead to the collapse of entire ecosystems. Our thinking needs to change if we are to rise to the scale of the challenge. Transport is the fastest growing source of global greenhouse gas emissions and the UK’s biggest polluting sector.…

Transport decarbonisation – metal-heads, petrol-heads and the pandemic

Published on: 22nd March 2021 by Glenn Lyons.

I’m a metal-head. I understand it can be good to start an article like that – to connect with your base. Especially if my fellow metal-heads felt I might be looking to encroach on their/our beloved music (asking them to tone and turn it down, or worse still subjecting them to Radio 1). In fact,…

Floating toward zero carbon

Published on: 16th March 2021 by Steve Gooding.

I have only once in my professional life been described as an eternal optimist (by the then Transport Secretary Alistair Darling, as it happens, and I think a hint of sarcasm may have been in play), but in thinking about the prospects for the development of ultra-efficient, affordable, long-range, long-lived batteries for car and light…

Why Do Some Environmentalists Oppose Decarbonisation of Vehicles?

Published on: 26th February 2021 by Dr Steve Melia.

Options for removing carbon from the atmosphere are limited so, for most sectors of the economy, net zero means absolute zero. For surface transport, absolute zero means that all remaining vehicles must be zero-carbon in their use, their manufacture and their disposal. Those are not my opinions; they are statements of fact, but in stating…

Road Pricing and the role of the car as we head towards Net Zero Emissions

Published on: 23rd February 2021 by David Tucker.

In 2018 -19 road vehicles raised approximately £40bn in taxation (6.3% of total government revenue). This was made up of £28bn Fuel duty, £5.7bn VAT on fuel and £6.5bn VED (Vehicle Excise Duty). This is equivalent to £1000 per licensed vehicle per year or 12p per mile. With government’s decision to end the sale of…

To reach net zero in transport, Partnership is more important than ever

Published on: 18th February 2021 by Andy Eastlake.

Now ‘low’ is no longer enough, so today LowCVP becomes Zemo Partnership to accelerate the transition in transport to zero emissions. Twenty years ago, with the Kyoto Protocol ink still wet, the UK Government took early initiatives to lead the way on climate change. With road transport then just 22% of the nation’s overall greenhouse…

Glasgow is turning green

Published on: 17th February 2021 by Sarah Baillie.

In November 2021 the world’s eyes will be on the city as it hosts the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26; and decision-makers are trying to make long-standing changes to its transport systems to help support net zero ambitions. In 2019 Glasgow City Council (GCC) set up a Climate Emergency Working Group, subsequently declaring…

Incorporating the “No Travel Option” in Mobility Planning

Published on: 16th February 2021 by Giles K Bailey.

2020 resulted in many global changes due to the impact of the Covid19 crisis. The impact on transport was particularly severe. The need for social isolation and lockdowns has accelerated the earlier gradual trends to flexible working and, for many, working from home. Thus, we have been faced with a suppression of movement and a…

Road pricing is essential: we must face down the ghosts of past failure

Published on: 11th February 2021 by Thomas Ableman.

“Never let a good crisis go to waste”, as Winston Churchill may once have said. Covid has been a disaster for public transport but it also made the unthinkable, thinkable. And when the health crisis ends, the debt crisis begins. Covid caused an increase in public sector debt equivalent to the total debt when I…