Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Research #1...

Planes vs Trains vs Automobiles - What is Greener

here is a research from "green price blog" on the comparison of a plain vs. train vs. bus vs. automobile ride, their costs, travel time and carbon emission.

-------------------------------> <--------------------------------------------
On a trip from my home of Washington, DC to Boston, MA and back, the financial, environmental and time costs associated with each mode of transportation are:

Automobile:
I based this calculation on the average gas mileage of an American automobile, which is 21 MPG . According to Google Maps, the distance between Boston and DC is 441 miles (so 882 total miles). The average cost of a gallon of gasoline is $3.13, according to Energy Information Administration.--- For a round-trip drive to Boston from DC and back, the carbon emissions are 0.368 Tons of CO2. For gas alone, the trip would cost about $131.46 and would take about 8 hours each way.

Train:
I looked at the price of an Amtrak ticket, leaving on a Friday (March 7th at noon) and coming back on a Sunday (March 9th at 3:00 PM).--- For a round-trip train ride to Boston from DC and back, the carbon emissions are 0.085 Tons of CO2. The train ticket would cost about $200 and would take about 8 hours each way.

Plane:
Using Hotwire.com and the dates of March 7-9 (Fri-Sun), from BWI Airport to Logan Airport.---- For a round-trip airplane ride to Boston from DC and back, the carbon emissions are .242 Tons of CO2. The plane ticket would cost about $220 and would take about 3 hours each way.

Bus:
Using Greyhound.com and the dates of March 7-9 (Fri-Sun)--- For a round-trip bus ride to Boston from DC and back, the carbon emissions are .126 Tons of CO2. The bust ticket would cost about $100 and would take about 9 hours each way.


So the rankings for carbon emissions, cost and time (from best to worst) are as follows:

Emissions: Train, , Bus, Plane, Automobile
Cost: Bus, Car, Train, Plane
Time: Plane, Train, Car, Bus

read more

No comments: