Which Nations Drive, Fly, Cycle, and Take the Train Most?

6 Comments on "Which Nations Drive, Fly, Cycle, and Take the Train Most?"

dolanbaker on Mon, 6th Jan 2014 9:31 pm 



The flights page is seriously flawed as Ryanair are based at Stansted airport which is in the UK, plus the fact that many Irish have emigrated due to the economic downturn that affected Ireland so badly.

rollin on Mon, 6th Jan 2014 10:02 pm 



The real point here is who is burning the most fossil fuel or better yet, causing the most CO2 to be produced (including externalities).

If the cars used solar/wind power to run and the planes used bio-fuels, would there be a point to these charts?
How about the trains, they use almost as much fuel running empty back to their origin point as they do with passengers?
It’s how much carbon is introduced to the atmosphere not the passenger-miles or miles/capita that needs to be examined.

kolla40 on Tue, 7th Jan 2014 11:51 am 



Rollin, there is a point. There is just no way that energy for all this driving around could be derived from solar/wind. And the idea of planes running on biofuels is just frightening. Try do the math how much land is needed to run a single 747.

Beery on Tue, 7th Jan 2014 12:30 pm 



I agree with Rollin. These charts are a pointless exercise in mental masturbation. They don’t even tell us anything we didn’t already know, and let’s face it, no nation on the face of the Earth is going to be cutting back on CO2 anytime soon if they can possibly avoid it.

The only thing it did tell me was that, on average, I ride my bike nearly twice as far per day as the average Dutch person, which was something I did not expect.

mike on Tue, 7th Jan 2014 2:44 pm 



on average, I ride my bike nearly twice as far per day as the average Dutch person, which was something I did not expect. – Beery

There is this image of those wonderful Dutch riding everwhere across their hill-free land on their bikes and being wonderfully environmentally friendly, while the rest of Europe hurtles around in cars and farts out carbon into the air like hippoes with belly ache. In fact the carbon emissions per person in the Netherlands are 10.2 metric tonnes per person while Ireland is 9.8 and the UK 8.5. Germany is 9.6. Maybe our Plattdeutsch friend can explain why the Netherlands has the highest carbon emissions in Europe.

Kenz300 on Wed, 8th Jan 2014 5:18 pm 



Walk, ride a bicycle or take mass transit more……

It will be good for you and good for the planet.