Essay Sample: Zero Net Emission from Public Transport

According to Shaheen and Lipman, the transport sectors contribute a significant proportion of approximately 13.8% of greenhouse gases emissions across the world. Particularly, it is noted that of the three standard modes of transport, road transport contributes to 9.9% of the global greenhouse emissions, air transport 3.3%, while the combination of rail, water, and other methods of transport contribute 2.3%. In this case, the area of innovation I focus will be using biodiesel in the rail networks instead of using fuel oils to reduce the level of greenhouse emissions.

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As a way to minimize the level of greenhouse gases emission from the transport network, the Australian Government, as well as other parts of the world, is adopting innovative measures in technology and management. One of the significant strategies evident is the introduction of train networks that aim at utilizing biofuels instead of fuel oil. In other cases, other parts of the world such as the United States have focused on upgrading the railway systems by introducing electric trains to reduce the consumption of fuel and energy.

Following the increased concern on the rate of change of climate changes due to a high level of greenhouse gases that transport system release to the environment, there is need to adopt a new and upgraded technology backed system that aim at addressing the problem. Unlike the use of fuel oil, using biofuels has remained a significant strategy that aids in reducing the level of greenhouse gases released to the environment. This is backed up by the various benefits accrued upon using biofuels in running trains as opposed to using fuel oil. It is worth noting that the new technology not only applies to the rail system but also in other transport systems including vehicles, aircraft, and water travel. Furthermore, using biodiesels not only helps in conserving the environment based on the fact that it is biodegradable but also helps in saving the economic position of the country since it reduces the dependence on imported oil from the Middle East countries.

By comparing the two forms of fuel, biodiesels are significantly cleaner as compared to fuel oils making biodiesels more sustainable especially in establishing a greener community. The level of sustainability is compared based on each of the fuel's combustion level especially in particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides.

The emission of particulates from fuel oil evident from the visible smoke released by vehicles, trains, and other heavy equipment that use these fuels stop run where these particulates tend to cause significant health problems to people. In this case, Nelldal and Andersson, further suggest that as countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom seek to adopt biodiesels, there is a substantive reduction in greenhouse gases to approximately 50%.

Additionally, fuel oil consists of a higher level of unburned hydrocarbons that lead to the emission of the high level of CO2 into the air. As a result, these unburned hydrocarbons create a significant impact on the ozone layer and pollution. On the other hand, using biodiesels can help to reduce the pollution level by 67% since they do not consist of the unburned hydrocarbons as it is in the case of petroleum fuels. Similarly, the transport systems that use petroleum oils release carbon monoxide that leads to pollution and the increased level of greenhouse gases evident across the world. This gas is considered to be highly poisonous such that even at very low concentration levels, it leads to serious health problems. Nevertheless, adopting a transport system that utilizes biodiesel technology to replace petroleum fuels helps to reduce the level of carbon monoxide by 48%.

Other than adopting biodiesel train systems, adopting the intelligent transport systems is also a significant innovative strategy that can help not only the Australian transport sector but also other parts of the world. Intelligent transport systems consist of the wireless, electronic, and automated technologies which have the potential to operate without causing any harm to the environment since they have minimal consumption of fuel and minimal or no greenhouse gases emissions. It is worth noting that while intelligent transport systems are oh its early development in most of the countries, it has shown its potential in reducing the level of greenhouse gases emission created by public transport systems.

Therefore upgrading the train network to biodiesel systems as opposed to the fuel oil system will help the city to achieve the goal of reducing the greenhouse emissions. Besides, it is believed that trains that when burned, biodiesel tends to produce as much carbon dioxide that crops require to absorb from the atmosphere as they grow. Therefore, it leaves no carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to contribute to harming the ozone layer. In an attempt to support this, Khanna, Crago and Black assert that the primary goal of the European Union is to minimize the level of the greenhouse gas emission from the transport systems with the aim of reducing the impact of global warming. However, while other modes of transport are significant in achieving this target, it is observed that focusing on train networks is the most effective strategy that the EU can adopt. In this case, shifting from fuel oils to biodiesel or a mixture of biodiesel and electric trains will help 30% of the greenhouse gases emissions.