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The great carbon debate (2017)

This paper was published in IRSE NEWS March 2017. The author is Inga Doak, Sustainability Manager, Siemens Rail Automation (UK).

A presentation on the same subject was given by Inga at the Stephenson Conference in London on 27th April 2017.

Carbon is big. Not necessarily in a physical sense, but in how it permeates – literally and metaphorically – many aspects of our lives. All living organisms contain carbon and the human body is comprised of around 18% carbon by weight. It is widely distributed and forms a vast number of compounds. One such compound is carbon dioxide (CO2). A colourless and odourless gas, CO2 is vital to life on Earth. Through a heat retention – or greenhouse – effect, naturally occurring levels of CO2 and a number of other gases in the atmosphere help maintain the earth’s climate at habitable levels. Observed increases in these gases however, particularly CO2, has also coincided with an observed increase in the global temperatures of our atmosphere and oceans (i.e. global warming). This in turn has been linked with mostly adverse variations in our temperature, weather patterns and other natural systems – in other words climate change. Suddenly, the very compound that is vital to sustaining life on earth appears to be causing us some problems.

But what has this got to do with the Rail Industry and signalling in particular? This article takes you on a journey, exploring why carbon management is important to the Rail industry and why ‘doing nothing’ is a bad idea. We start with some fundamentals around CO2, global warming, and climate change before considering carbon emissions in an organisational context. Using signalling as a point of reference, we look in more detail at the Rail industry and the different types of carbon emissions. We reflect on some interesting rail industry statistics followed by the perils of not responding to an ever changing business environment. Finally, we take a brief look at some of the opportunities for reducing carbon emissions (in signalling specifically), and introduce the Rail Carbon Tool – the first of its kind in the industry.

This article does not explore every possible aspect related to carbon (or climate change) management – as this would require considerably more time and space. Nor is it a dictum on how to manage carbon in your business. Rather, its purpose is to get you the reader thinking about this subject and reflecting on what you are, could and possibly should be doing in your organisation.

Author(s):Inga Doak, Sustainability Manager, Siemens Rail Automation, UK
Keywords:sustainability; global warming; greenhouse gases; energy; climate change; carbon; embedded carbon;
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(Click to copy the Topic URL to the clipboard) Page created: 01/03/2017
Last modified: 26/05/2019
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