What does "environmentally friendly transport" mean?

  You can find the phrases environmentally friendly transport, green transport, sustainable transport (or sustainable transport system), sustainable transport.  They all mean the same thing - transport that has the least impact on the environment and climate change.  Ideally, such transport strengthens social justice and social ties (this is, for example, the advantage of convenient public transport over private transport) and uses energy from renewable sources (sooner or later than depleted oil).  Read more about parking here.

  Why is it important?

  We all talked about climate change, which will inevitably affect us, including changing our travels.  And transport systems account for 20-25% of world energy consumption and CO2 emissions, which contribute to climate change.  If we are talking about daily trips, not big trips, then you can add the polluted air in the cities, the sedentary lifestyle and all the time you spend looking at the phone screen on the way from one end of the city to the other.  other.

  What are the criteria for determining the "environmental friendliness" of the vehicle?

  You can compare how much energy is needed in a megajoule to transport one person per kilometer.  In this case, cycling is an energy-saving method - more effective than walking!  After cycling and walking, there are public transport (trams and buses), then trains, then private cars and planes.  You can study these data in detail in The Energy [R] evolution analytical material from Greenpeace (open page 301 and Table 12.14) and read about vehicle efficiency here.

  Another criterion is the source of transport energy.  It is almost always preferable to give preference to electric vehicles.  Ideally, this is energy from renewable sources.  Another important issue is the new models of cars.  The difference between an older model and an aircraft with a new engine can be huge: reducing CO2 emissions by up to 20%.  Emissions of different types of vehicles can be compared depending on the amount of fuel and work on this plate.

  There are several calculators (for example, here or here) to determine the amount of CO2 emissions, which can be used to calculate the impact of your trip on the environment, indicating the type of transport, distance and number of trips.  The program gives you the amount of CO2 produced and gives you the carbon replacement options you can transfer money to: most often it's programs for planting trees, reforesting, installing windmills or solar panels.

  Please note that carriers provide data on CO2 emissions and can make a compensation fee: often it is enough to mark another cell and pay a few euros when buying a ticket.  This money will be spent on environmental projects around the world.  This can be done, for example, through Flixbus, which presents itself as an environmentally friendly company (they also use modern buses and encourage not to print tickets).  Airlines also have emission compensation programs.  Although it is not possible to contribute, you can always bypass emissions through various resources (see link in the previous paragraph).

  Keep in mind that the process of transporting you and your suitcase from one point to another is only part of the cost.  Also, the cost of the vehicle, its service life and method of disposal are indirect costs that are difficult to calculate per trip.  Remember that manufacturers like to use words like "green" and "environmentally friendly" without special rights, just for attention.  So always check what specific actions and indicators are hidden behind it.