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One problem with both of these apporoaches is that making cars more full
efficient contributes less to overall energy consumption than might have been
thought because it does nothing to reduce consumption in indirect uses such as
vehicle-making and road building. Indeed, weight-saving materials could actually
consume more energy in production and assembly than tradisional ones. However,
the crucial drawback is that although the potential savings per kilometre seem
large, they are over-whelmed by the likely increase in the number of kilometres
travelled. In other words, such improvements on their own will not be sufficient to
reduce energy consumption in the systems as whole to the level where the outpout
og harmful emissions will be lowered.
Rather tahan burning less fuel, anothers way of reducing CO2, emissions is
develop alternative, low-carbon fuels to power road vehicles. Some are already is
use, such as methanol, liquefied petroleum gas and electricity (batteries), whereas
others such as compressed of liquefied hydrogen have yet to be fully exploited.
However, most steel face technical problems and performance limitions, especially
because of the large full storage volume or weight required on vehicle, which really
restricts applications to local delivery services such as the electric milk floats used
used in the UK. Moreover as far as the longer-term issue of greenhouse gas
emissions in concerned it does not appear that any of the alternative fuel sources
offer a clear advantage over petrol and diesel when the full fuel cycle is taken into
account. For example, the extent to which electric battery vehicles can become a
serious option depends on how far the CO2, emissions associated with electricity
production (much of which is in fossil-fuel-burning power stations) can be reduced.
Only when relatively clean electricity production can be achieved will electric-and
hydrogen-powered vehicles become a lower-pollution option.
10.5.1 Introduction
Noise is any disagreeable sound. Its effect will depend very much on the sensitivity
of individual, on the location, on the time of day and on existing noise levels. It
disrupts activities, disturbs sleep, slows the learning process at school, impedes
verbal communication and causes annoyance and stress. People at home are
particularly susceptible, having to close window even in summer and not being able
to make full use of gardens or balconies. Noisy neighbours are often major reasons
for complaint, but transport-related sources of noise constitute by far the major part
of the noise environment, with road traffic the chief offender.
It is estimated that some 135 milion people in OECD countries suffer transport noise
levels in excess of 65 dB (A), equivalent to the sound of a busy street through open
windows (Fig. 10.8). Noise is seen as a high-priority environmental concern by
communities, one that can cause property price falls and in the case of new
transport proposals is the driving force behind much community opposition. For
example, objectors to the building of a new road in Oxford voiced their opposition
by using the slogan that it word transform Oxford from being the city of dreaming
spires to the city of screaming tyres!
Vibration is part of noise spectrum, but is felt rathers than heard. It is extremely
localized close to road and railways and as a consequence bothers fewer people
than noise. The cost in term of demage to buildings is known, thoughtit is a problem
in heritage zone of old towns.
The sources of noise from road vehicles are many and varied, including brake
squeal, door slam, loose loads, horns, over-amplified music systems, anti-theft
alarms and sirens on emergency vehicles. The major sources though are propulsion
noises at low speeds-especially from trucks climbing
Fig. 10.8
Rail noise depends on the form of population, the nature of the load, the speed of
train and the type of track. In general term freight trains cause more nuisance than
passenger trains and diesel cause more disturbance than electric locomotives.
Increasing objections are being
Fig. 10.9
Noise levels recorded for different vehicles under differing speed conditions. Source:
Steven(nd)
raised to the extension of high-speed rail systems due to the noise and vibration
inflicted on line-side cummunities., well seen in the case of opposition of the
proposed route of the new London-Chanel Tunnel line in England. Noise from
Individual aircraft is now less disturbing than in the past since a new generation of
quieter aircraft has gone into service.
Nevertheless, the growth in air travel has meant more flights from more airports for
more hours in the day, resulting in some level of disturbance for more people. There
issues are discussed in Box 10.1
The noise pollution problems around airports are well known. For example,
Heathrow the largest international airport in the word, experiences severe
difficulties, with runways orientated east-west so that most of the 200000 landings
per year come in over the heart of the city, disturbing 500000 people day and night.
The airport has expanded from 5 million passengers a year to over 45 million from
1960-93 and the growth continues at around 4 per cent per year. Planning
applications have been submittedfor a fifth terminal which will bring the capacity up
to 80 million passengers a year, of whom 54 million will arriveby road, with all the
attendant side-effects.
However, a new manace is now emerging as the realization grows that pollution
from aircraft is much more significant than was previously thought. Thought only
about 13 per cent of transport fuel is consumed by aircraft, pollutants have different
lifetimes. Reactions, effects and distribution patterns when injected into the upper
atmosphere compared with the lower atmosphere. For example, NOx destroys high
level ozone, allowing so much increased UV radiation to reach the earth that the
growth of subsonic aircraft flying higher and faster, together with likely future
supersonic transport in the highly sensitive stratosphere seem likely to negate the
word-wide phase-out of ozone-destroying CFCs. Again, water vapour emission from
engines-not a problem at low levels is of great concern at altitude because it
freezers into clouds which both reflect heat back and forth to earth and react with
NOx to destroy ozone. Additionally, the contribution of aircraft NOx to global
warming may be as much as all the man-made surface emissions of NOx put
together.
These issues are becoming more serious as air transport demand continues to grow,
currently doubling every 10-15 years. Annual air passengers-km per person per year
range from about 1700 for North Amerika through 480 for Europe to 75 for Asia and
45 for Africa. Given future growth in word population and some equalization of
travel between regions, the potential growth in demand is almost limitless. Fig.
10.10 shows that in business as usual case (BAU) emissions will rise to more than
four times the present level, or more than 10 per cent of global emissions over the
next 40 years and that no one mitigation measure is enough on its own to stabilize
the position. More than 50 per cent of global emissions over the next 40 years and
that no one mitigation measure is enough on its own to stabilize the position. More
than 50 per cent of emissions are due to tourism which cannot continue to grow at
current rates without accelerating damage to the global atmosphere and other
environments.
Fig.10.10
The Effect of different control measures on global carbon dioxide emissions from
aircraft. The easiest operational improvement to achieve is an increase in the load
factor (how full an aircraft is). Other operational improvements may become
possible in the future. Demand management and technology can help limit
emissions too. No One control measure is enough on its own to stabilize carbon
dioxide emissions. Source: Barrett 1993
of green sustainable tourism. The cheap winter sun holiday in Florida or Majorca, so
characteristic of mass-consumption capitalism in the late twentieth century, may
one day be seen as a luxury that the earth cannot afford.
Noise may be abated by moderating it at its source, ameliorating it along the path
of movement, reducing the impact of its existing levels, moving its source
elsewhere, or reducing traffic. Each of these will be examined in turn.
1. Introducing technical measures such as the redesign of the engine for lower
engine speeds; encapsulation of the engine and gearbox in a noise
absorbing tunnel or box; and modification of road surfaces to reduce tyre
noise, though this may conflict with the aim of reducing skidding.
Associated with this is the need to maintain road surface smoothness in order
to minimize vibration.
2. Influencing driving habits to produce smoother flow and lower speeds and
thus lower noise peaks.
3. Managing traffic to keep it flowing smoothly, perhaps by linking traffic lights
to produce green waves of traffic and thus reduce stop-start progress.
4. Controlling motor cycles perhaps by preventing owner-modification, fitting
better exhaust silencers or even controlling top speed and acceleration. As
large motor cylcles are really itemsof sports equipment rather than essential
means of transport, there is no reason why they should be permitted to emit
as mush noise as fully laden commercial vehicles.
5. Lower rail noise can be achieved by shifting to electric traction, by better
track maintenance and by modification of the rail vehicles, particularly the
wheels and bogies. Vibration is reduced by much the same package. In the
case of Japanese Shinkansen lines, the use of iron girders has been
minimized, vibration-resistant track beds installed and rails polished to
reduce corrugations. Even so , noise barriers have had to be erected,
homeowners compensated or bought out and much of the line put in tunnel,
up to 56 per cent of it on the Okoyama-Hakata section.
Reducing traffic
One certain way of reducing the nuisance from noise and vibration would be
to reduce the amount of traffic in the first place, a strategy which would of
course mitigation transports other environmental impact too. Discussion of
broad goal of kind is postponed until the whole issue of sustainable transport
is examined in Chapter 12.