HL Deb 05 July 2004 vol 663 cc69-70WA
Lord Taylor of Warwick

asked Her Majesty' Government:

What assessment they have made of the fuel efficiency per passenger of:

  1. road transport;
  2. rail transport;
  3. air transport; and
  4. water transport. [HL3423]
Lord Davies of Oldham:

The fuel efficiency of alternative modes of transport is presented in tabular form below. The data come from the 2002 National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI). Two data types are provided for ease of comparison, CO2 per passenger kilometre and kilo joules (kJ) per passenger kilometre, and are expressed using assumed load factors, not per seat.

Transport mode Load factor passengers/vehicle CO2 grams of CO2/passenger km Energy consumption kJ/passenger km
Mopeds 1.08 75 1,133
Motorcycle 94 1,407
Petrol cars 1.56 110 1.653
Diesel cars 106 1,535
All cars average 109 1,634
Buses (national) 9 76 1,106
Passenger rail (diesel) 90 41 589
Passenger rail (electric) 56 465
Passenger rail (average UK electric and diesel) 49 524
Air long haul approx. 300 110 1,614
Air short haul approx. 100 180 2,640
grams CO2/ship km kJ/ship km
Marine—roll on roll off ferry See note 83,000 1,155,786

The road transport factors are based on National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) estimates of CO2 emissions by vehicle type in 2002 and combined with road passenger kilometres taken from the 2002 Transport Statistics for Great Britain.

Rail factors are also based on NAEI factors for diesel trains and power station emissions. These data were combined with Department of Trade and Industry data on electricity used for electric rail traction and the Department for Transport's statistics on rail passenger kilometres. AEA Technology provided estimates on the split between diesel and electric train kilometres.

Air factors are taken from DETR's Company GHG Reporting Manual 1999. Please note that long-haul journeys refer to average journeys of 6,500 km and short-haul refers to journeys of around 500 km.

There is no agreed methodology for allocating energy consumed between passengers and freight carried on water transport. The figures for water transport are for a roll-on-roll-off ferry expressed in grams CO2 and kJ per ship km, since many passenger ships carry both passengers and freight.

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