Carbon warning on 'green' tramline

Published on Wednesday 13 May 2009 09:56

DOUBTS have been raised over the green credentials of the capital's tram project after figures suggested it would produce the same level of greenhouse gas emissions in its first year as 8,000 flights from Edinburgh to London.

The Scottish Government said the Newhaven to airport route would create 88,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2011, while other transport priorities, including the new Forth road crossing and the Borders railway, would help reduce overall emissions.

Tram firm TIE today hit back and said the level of emissions – which are expected to rise to more than 160,000 tonnes of CO2 by 2031 – also accounted for those associated with development and other traffic along the route.

The Scottish Government said calculations had shown that the new Forth crossing would cut carbon emissions by 23,000 tonnes in 2017, the first full year of its operation, while the Borders railway would reduce CO2 levels by 74,000 tonnes by 2030.

Figures for tram line 1, which were drawn up by transport specialists Steer Davies Gleave on behalf of TIE, show the tram project will ultimately have a negative impact on attempts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The total is roughly the same as 8,000 flights from Edinburgh to London, based on a plane carrying 105 passengers.

Trams chiefs have long used the green argument for one of the reasons to back the scheme, but Professor Stephen Salter, an Edinburgh-based expert in renewable energy, said: "I don't think there's a clear advantage. It only works if you get the electricity from renewable sources.

"There might be less pollution if you put your face to the exhaust pipe, so to speak, but a few miles away it makes no difference."

One of the main suppliers of electricity for the trams will be the Longannet power station in Fife – Scotland's biggest single emitter of CO2. Only 6,700 tonnes of emissions, however, will come from the generation of electricity, with the rest coming from associated development.

Government agency Transport Scotland cautioned against drawing direct comparisons between different projects, adding that the emissions figure for the new Forth crossing dated from 2007, before the bridge was redesigned.

Green MSP Robin Harper went further, saying the figures were "meaningless, fabricated and fanciful".

He said: "Ministers are looking through the wrong end of the telescope if they think expanding road traffic and building an unnecessary fifth bridge across the Forth reduces emissions, and if they think getting people out of their cars and into public transport is bad for the environment."

TIE's new chief executive, Richard Jeffrey, said the figures raised "more questions than answers".

He said: "The tram project has been allocated emissions from the developments in Edinburgh that it will encourage and it is not clear if the other projects on the list are calculated in the same manner.

"We remain clear in our assertion that the tram scheme, integrated with the existing bus network, will lower emissions in Edinburgh."