This blog contains information about Sustainable Ways to Reduce Transportation Pollution. It also discusses the concept of Transportation, Transportation Pollution and Transportation Emissions in detail. This blog is a complete guide to explain Sustainable Strategies to reduce Transportation Pollution.
What is Transportation?
Transportation or transport is the intentional movement of people, animals and goods from one place to another. This process is used for the Industrial, Economic and Developmental Purposes in the world. Before the concept of transportation, the transfer of Machinery, Food, Natural Resources, Goods and Products were impossible to be transferred to other regions of the world. And it may take years to transfer them within the same region of the world. After the Transportation Facility, we are able to transport different goods, products and resources from one end of the world to another within hours or days.
Transportation has become a very important part of our routine because everyone has to travel to a distance to get to their Workplace, Educational Institute or any place to work. But unfortunately the Transportation and Transport System have many negative effects on the Environment and these effects are damaging the Environment with every passing day. This blog is all about Sustainable Ways to Reduce Transport Pollution.
What is Transportation Pollution?
All the emissions of Greenhouse Gases and other Toxic Air Pollutants from the Transport Systems and vehicles, are considered as Transportation Pollution. Every pollutant or pollution caused by Transportation is Transportation Pollution.
Transportation Pollution is a serious Environmental Issue for the present era. It is because everyone wants to have their own personal vehicle by which their can travel. By the exponential increase in population, the use and operation of Transportation is also increasing with passing years. And eventually the harming factors related to Transportation are also increasing with time. The pollution caused by the operation of Transportation or Transport systems is known as Transportation Pollution. We can fight with Transportation Pollution with some of the Sustainable Ways that are discussed in this blog.
How are Transportation Emissions Dangerous?
As we know that, Transportation use Fossil Fuels for its operation. Transportation emissions are the emissions that adds into the atmosphere by transport systems or vehicles. Transportation emissions are the Biggest reason behind Air Pollution and Global Warming. Following are some of the harmful Air Pollutants that adds into the Environment in the form of Transportation Emissions:
Carbon Dioxide:
CO2 is the major pollutant that emits in bulk concentrations from Fuel-based Vehicles. Carbon Dioxide is a Greenhouse Gas and is the biggest reason behind Global Warming on Earth. Most of the Fossil Fuels contain Carbon content so while burning they emit CO2 and sometimes CO in the atmosphere.
Nitrogen Oxides:
NOx emits because of the Nitrogen containing Fuels that are used in the vehicles. Nitrogen oxides are also warming gases and also a great cause of Air Pollution. These gases are very harmful for Biodiversity and disturbs the Atmospheric Chemistry. One of the major sources of these gases is Transportation.
Sulfur Oxides:
SOX are also one of the Major Air Pollutants. It is very toxic even in small concentrations into the atmosphere. Transportation is one of the major source of SOX emissions because the burning of Sulfur containing fuels emits Sulfur oxides. These gases are the major cause of Extreme weather events such as Smog.
Ozone:
Ozone is a life savior that is present in Stratospheric region that saves us from harmful radiations of the Sun. But the Ozone that emits at the Ground-level is a very toxic Air Pollutants of the Earth’s atmosphere. This gas emits from the vehicles and Transportation means. This contributes in many of the Environmental Problems on Earth.
These are some of the Major Transportation Emissions that contributes in Air Pollution. All of these are added with the Industrial Pollution or Emissions and are extremely harmful for the Environment and Biodiversity on Earth. With every passing year, the extent of Air Pollution is increasing at a great level. This blog is all about Sustainable Ways to Reduce Transportation Pollution.
What are the Sustainable Ways to Reduce Transportation Pollution?
It is very important to work on the reduction of Transportation Pollution in the Environment. The best way to treat this problems is to implement Sustainable Alternatives and Ways in order to prevent or reduce Transportation Pollution. Following is the List of some Sustainable Ways to Reduce Transportation Pollution:
- Shift to Hybrid or Electric Vehicles
- Prefer a Bicycle or walking for short distances
- Prefer Public Transport over personal vehicles
- Utilize better alternatives as Fuel
- Planning efficient infrastructure to reduce Congestion and Emissions
- Use Rail for the transportation of Goods
- Vehicle Idling Reduction
- Home Delivery Optimization
These are some of the Sustainable Strategies to fight with Transportation Pollution. And the main thing to clear is that, Transportation cannot be completely stopped. It is because it is a major component of every sector such as Economic Development, Industrial Activities and Transport of Goods and People. Using efficient Lawn equipment and Garden equipment also help in reducing Transportation Pollution. The only possible way is to reduce its impacts on the Environment by Sustainable means.
I. How Hybrid and Electric Vehicles can help us to reduce Transportation Pollution?
A Sustainable Solution to reduce Transportation Pollution is to shift on Hybrid Vehicles or Electric Vehicles. There are few important reasons behind it that can help us to fight against Transportation Emissions and Environmental Pollution by Transportation. Following are the details about Hybrid and Electric Vehicles:
Hybrid Vehicles:
Hybrid vehicles are the vehicles that contains a combination of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) with an Electric Motor to drive a vehicle. They are designed for Fuel Efficiency as they can drive on Fuel as well as on the charged Electric motor. This mechanism reduces Vehicle emissions at a great extent because it does not always burns fuel but the Electric Motor shares the energy with the fuel. And the time when Electric Motor is used, the Vehicle Emissions are negligible. This reduces Transportation Pollution.
Electric Vehicles:
Electric Vehicles are those vehicles that completely relies on Electrical Energy to operate and travel through distances. These electric vehicles have Zero emissions and there is no Air Pollution emitted by the Electric Vehicles. The only damage it cause to the Environment is during their manufacture. It contributes in one time addition to the Pollution in the Environment and these vehicles are harmless to the Environment while operating. These vehicles will help us Transport from one place to another but with adding no Air Pollutants into the Environment.
Both of these types of vehicles are a sustainable solution for reducing Transportation Pollution. Carpooling and ride-sharing can also help in reducing Transportation Pollution. This is a good answer against the challenges of Transportation Pollution. This blog contains Sustainable Ways to reduce Transportation Pollution.
II. How preferring Bicycle or Walking can help in reducing Transportation Pollution?
Bicycle is a transportation machine that has two wheels and it drives by Human pedaling. This machine helps you to travel over short-distances easily and also offer the exercise while travelling. Bicycle is a Sustainable Solution to reduce Transportation Pollution over short distances. This machine is a cheap transport for poor people and it is a Sustainable transport machine for the public that helps in reducing Transportation emissions and also is a healthy transportation machine for the public’s health. It also help in reducing Traffic congestion on the road.
Walking does not harm the Environment in any way. And it is also good for the Human’s Physical health. We should avoid using fuel-based Transportations for travelling short distances and we should prefer walking in place of using any kind of vehicles in our everyday life. This will make you healthy and also it is Sustainable Practices in order to reduce Air Pollution and Transportation Pollution. We should also work on Traffic Management Strategies. This blog contains Sustainable Ways to reduce Transportation Pollution.
III. How preferring Public Transportation helps us to reduce Transportation Pollution?
Public Transport is the Transportation facilities that are provided by the Government of the country. These may be in the form of Buses, Trains, Taxis, Autos and many other such huge and small vehicles that are designed for Public use. Public Transport is a Sustainable Solution for Mass Transportation. With the Public Transport System, we can help thousands of people to travel towards their workplaces, Educational Institutions and to other areas of the city.
Public Transportation is better than travelling from personal vehicles because the emissions from One bus is much better than the emissions from 100 personal cars or other vehicles. This will help people travel and also help in reducing Transportation Pollution. So, we should prefer Public Transport over personal vehicles in order to reduce Transportation Pollution. Traffic Management Strategies is also a crucial step towards reducing Transportation Pollution. This blog contains Sustainable Ways to Reduce Transportation Pollution.
IV. How Utilizing better Alternatives of Fuels can help us to reduce Transportation Pollution?
Utilizing better Alternatives of Fuels means using Fuels that are harmless or less harmful than Conventional Fuels that are commonly used. As we know that Fossil Fuels emits a huge amount of GHGs and other Air Pollutants into the Atmosphere. So, if we use better alternatives of fuels, we can reduce the harmful Environmental Impacts of Fuel Burning into the Environment. Following are Better Alternatives of Fuels:
- CNG (Compressed Natural Gas)
- Solar Energy
- Hydrogen
- LNG (Liquified Natural Gas)
- Biofuels
These better alternatives of fuels provides us many advantages. Every fuel alternative in the list has least Environmental Impact and they can be used against Conventional Fuels in the Transportation Activities. The use of Sustainable or Renewable Fuels will reduce the Air Pollution caused by the Transportation Emissions or pollution. Traffic Management should also be considered as important in order to reduce Transportation Pollution. This blog contains Sustainable Ways to reduce Transportation Pollution.
V. How Efficient Infrastructure can help us to reduce Transportation Emissions?
Most of the time, the congested areas are prone to Extreme Air Pollution events. This happen because of the accumulation of harmful Air pollutants into narrow roads and streets. While the areas that have broader and wide infrastructure and proper Urban Planning, have less extreme Impacts of Air Pollution. This fact shows that properly planned Roads, Transport Systems and Congestion free infrastructure facilitates us to reduce Air Pollution and to reduce Emissions emitted from Transportation.
Efficient Infrastructure has the capacity to manage Air Pollution before getting worst. The cities like Lahore and Multan were considered as the most Polluted Cities of the year because of Smog. The main reason behind it is Congested Infrastructure and Congested old streets and roads. By planning proper infrastructure by considering Transportation Pollution, we can get rid of Extreme Air Pollution Events in the Environment. We should also implement Air Quality Monitoring to know about Air Quality of an area. This blog contains Sustainable Ways to reduce Transportation Pollution.
VI. How using Rails for Good Transportation can help to reduce Transportation Pollution?
Rails are the cleanest Transportation service for the Transport of Goods from one place to another. The reasons behind it includes the following:
- Rails are Fuel efficient
- They can take goods in bulk in one go.
- It reduces 75% emissions as compared to Road Transport.
- Rail is a much secure Transport system than other systems.
- The Rail Transport saves money in the long run.
- They are much faster than other types of Transport.
- A single Train can replace 52 Trucks.
These are the important points that help us to understand why Rails are better for the Transportation of Goods. This Transport System provide much more benefits than other ways of Transporting goods in the World. Using Rail Transport for the Transportation of Goods is a Sustainable way to reduce Transportation Pollution by replacing thousands of Trucks, Planes and other Transportation services for Good Transport.
VII. How Vehicle Idling Reduction helps to reduce Transportation Pollution?
When a vehicle’s engine is working but the vehicle is not moving or on motion. This condition is referred to as Vehicle Idling. Vehicle Idling is very dangerous for the Environment as it emits excessive emissions in the Air. This phenomenon leads to Air Pollution in the Urban Areas and deteriorate the Air Quality of the Area. Following are some of the ways to reduce Vehicle Idling to reduce Transportation Pollution:
- Turn off the Engine when you stop from more than one minute.
- Do not do vehicle idling near Schools or where children are vulnerable to Air Pollution.
- Use your vehicle’s auto Idle stop system if present.
These things should be known to the vehicle owners to avoid excessive Transportation emissions or Transportation Pollution.
VIII. How Home Delivery Optimization can help to reduce Transportation Pollution?
Home deliveries are becoming so common in all the regions of the world. Most of the people prefer online ordering food, groceries and goods that are delivered on their door step. The Transportation of food, goods and products is also an integral part of Transportation Pollution. These goods and products needs to travel worldwide and most of them are transported through Air Transport. This contributes a lot in the Transportation Pollution. Home Delivery Optimization is improving the efficiency of route to deliver items to consumer’s house and improvement in the Home Delivery services that are eco-friendly and does not harm the Environment in any way. Following are some of the Sustainable Strategies for Home Delivery Optimization:
- Optimize Delivery Routes
- Use of Data Analytics in delivery services
- Profitable Deliveries
- Use UAVs (Unnamed Air Vehicles) for home deliveries
- Promote the use of Electric vehicles to transport goods
- Real time tracking and Visibility. etc.
By Optimizing Home Delivery Services, we can control the Transportation emissions by delivery services. This will help us to reduce Environmental Impact of this sector and reduce Transportation Pollution.
What are the Challenges of Reducing Transportation Pollution?
Following are few challenges of reducing Transportation Pollution:
- High Cost of the development of Green Infrastructure.
- Resistance from the industries and Traditional Fossil Fuels.
- Overcoming pollution barriers.
- Lack of Awareness and Education about Sustainable Living. etc.
Conclusion:
Transportation Pollution has become a Global Concern in last decade. The growing Transportation pollution is the biggest contributor of Greenhouse Gases emissions and emissions of Major Air Pollutants into the Environment. The Transportation Emissions includes CO2, O3, SOX, NOx etc. All of these are warming gases and are extremely harmful for the Environment and Atmospheric Chemistry. Some of the Sustainable ways to reduce Transportation Pollution includes; Shift to Hybrid or Electric Vehicles, Prefer a Bicycle or walking for short distances, Prefer Public Transport over personal vehicles etc. The time to act is now, and every effort counts toward a greener planet.
To learn about more topics, Click the links below:
Comments