All companies are aware that going green is better for the planet. As everybody heads to towards a more sustainable way of living and travelling, the Heritage Railway sector is also taking strides to cut their own carbon footprints.
Although it’s difficult when steam engines run on coal, and diesel locomotives run on diesel, both of which are not good for the environment.
That aside, the amount of emissions produced by Heritage Railways during the running of heritage trains in the high peak seasons using steam or diesel traction is still extremely low compared to other major companies that operate continually throughout the year.
But each heritage railway is making efforts to go green and one in particular, the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway (L&B) in North Devon, has released its carbon emission figures showing how they are working to towards becoming a carbon neutral railway.
![Woodland Image - Lynton and Barnstaple railway](https://www.railadvent.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/woodland-image-Lynton-and-Barnstaple-Railway-750x500.jpg)
The L&B work to cut their carbon emissions by using a figure that they recorded in the last “normal” year before the pandemic.
2019 saw them produce 154 tonnes of CO2e and this number is used as a baseline to ensure that the railway does not exceed this number annually, while at the same they try to decrease that number year on year to ensure they don’t surpass the previous year’s overall emissions.
2023 was the second year of tracking the carbon emissions from the railway.
Compared to 2022, the carbon emissions for 2023 were just 3% above the overall 2022 total, this was due in part to an extra 9 operating days.
Though the overall emissions of 102.4 tonnes was still significantly below the 2019 total of 154 tonnes, which is a 28% drop in emissions.
![L&B 2023 carbon emissions figures and graph - Lynton and Barnstaple Railway](https://www.railadvent.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/LB-2023-carbon-emissions-figures-and-graph-Lynton-and-Barnstaple-Railway-750x798.jpg)
The petrol usage was up 100% on the baseline in emissions between 2022 and 2023, as petrol is the cleanest form of fuel compared to coal and diesel, it accounts for a small total of CO2e.
Like most steam railways, the Lynton and Barnstaple have stockpiled Welsh steam coal, but once that supply runs out, other fuels will have to be sourced for use on steam locos.
The railway has already been experimenting with such alternatives. While work on developing alternative fuels by commercial suppliers is being carried out in partnership with the Heritage Railway Association.
Responses
Disappointing to see such ignorant comments on this story. Too many people think they know better than 99.9% of the scientific experts when it comes to the causes and effects of climate change. Saying it’s “liberal green nonsense” or a “wef” conspiracy is utterly asinine and those responsible should be ashamed. As for the UK only emitting 1% of all CO2, this a) doesn’t account for historic emissions and b) doesn’t account for consumption baser emissions. China doesn’t make all that stuff for itself. Most of it comes to the West to support our unsustainable lifestyles.
Good for the L&B Railway.
Wow, fantastic news! Great to see so many organisations in the railway industry doing their bit to cut emissions and save our one and only Earth. Even better seeing the wholly positive reactions all round, hopefully more heritage lines will follow suit.
I’m sick to death of this green crap. My coal fire is lit and the windows are open.
Great…more liberal green baloney.
Has anyone looked into the feasibility of burning hydrogen instead of coal? One major problem is the very high pressure needed to contain enough mass into the volume available. By cooling the hydrogen to liquid nitrogen temperature about a quarter of the room temperature pressure is needed. Zero carbon dioxide, and the water exhaust gas might be diverted to the the boiler. Any thoughts?
I guess you could burn hydrogen in a steam loco, but either compressing it to 15,000psi or cooling it to liquid nitrogen temperatures absorbs a lot of energy, and then you’ve got to maintain these conditions to store it, or indeed carry it on the loco.
Also the only “green way” to make hydrogen is electrolysis of water and this is a very energy inefficient process, so wasting more of the energy input.
This energy input for the electrolysis has to come from electricity and the only “green” way to generate this is via wind or solar. But available wind and solar energy is currently unable to keep up with this Country’s current electricity demand.
So I can’t really see hydrogen being a viable option for powering heritage railways.
What’s more the planet doesn’t need “saving”. It’s perfectly capable of looking after itself, as it has done for millions of years. Yes, the climate may be warming a bit but humans can adapt to this. There is no imminent “climate crisis” or “climate catastrophe”, and the idea that humans can somehow control the climate by any action we can take is risible.
Is anyone stupid enough to think that these ‘tonnes of CO2’ are accurate measurements if indeed they are even measured
Climate scientists = snake oil salespeople = quacks
Fair play to the salespeople / conmen running the net zero industry making £billions
Of course they’re accurate. Coal is sold by the ton. The merchant knows how much he sold, and the user knows how much he’s paid for. The amount of CO2 produced by burning a ton of coal (or diesel, or petrol) is well documented – the user doesn’t need to measure that.
Close all the computer centers that consume gigabytes of power, ban all flights, cut out all tv and radio stations that only add to global warming (apart from Radio Caroline Flashback and one or two others) and start making products locally. That would help to drastically reduce the greenhouse effect. Consider stopping the used of mobile phones as the base stations consume megawatts of power
Net zero a con a wef imagined issued.problem.
UK total emissions co2 332
Tonnes falling down 39%
1% of total world emissions
China 65 billion tonnes rising sharply
Total percentage of co2 in atmosphere 0.04 %
We need c02 to live..
If the railway that keen to commit harikari do away with all its locos diesel steam embrace the green agenda ..Pointless virtue signalling ..
Remember hysterical COVID deniers get the jab .
Open your eyes do some critical thinking
Britain as a whole contributes less than 1% of global CO2 emissions. So even if we shut the country down completely and we all perished, it wouldn’t make the slightest difference to the World’s climate.
Given that context, the contribution of all heritage railways to CO2 emissions is absolutely trivial and nobody should be spending any energy or time obsessing over it.
That is a daft arguement. If we extrapolate that to individuals then with 8 Billion people each individual contributes a miniscule amount so why bother to try and save the planet. Conversely if everyone on the planet were to save 10% of their daily usage the effect would be massive. Hats off to L&B railway.
Taylor Swift alone produced 8300 tonnes of co2 in 2022.
Let that sink in.
Yes, but “everyone on the planet” won’t save 10% of their daily usage. China, India, and a whole lot of developing countries have no intention of reducing their carbon dioxide emissions – indeed China and India are still building many coal fired power stations.
They watch with some amusement as we bankrupt of our economies with our virtue signalling net zero measures, which will make no difference at all to the world’s climate. That’s whats “daft”, not my comment
Mostly because reducing CO2 emissions won’t save the planet. It will start destroying plant life instead, while also causing a huge energy crisis and widespread famine. For absolutely no gain at all. The science is in. CO2 has a very small impact over climate. Increasing CO2 over 3-400ppm has no impact. There is no reason to destroy the world’s economy.