Tuesday 21 October 2008

Stats

A quick run through this summer's posts reveals that I haven't recorded the diesel use as much as I'd thought, but a rough calculation is around 220l total, responsible for 0.6T of CO2, roughly equivalent to, say, a return flight to Newcastle (all depends where you look for equivalents).

A quick bash at the marvellous CanalPlan site suggests my trip this year was 629 miles (and 458 locks). This very roughly therefore suggests that CO2 emmissions for the boat have been more or less per mile the same as flying (ignoring idling at locks, but we could cover that by talking about average CO2 per mile travelled). Also equivalent to around 3,500 miles in a small car, for comparison, but since I don't have one, I wouldn't know. The flying comparison is startling, although of course the timescale if completely different - we're comparing an hour or two's flight with a couple of month's travelling, being very much in the place (like cycling) rather than passing through - over - it.

Kind of what I expected, but interesting. I haven't calculated my total CO2 annual emmissions for a year or two, but I expect them to be around 2T. So total still pretty low compared to most, but not some - and still higher than what it needs to be for a liveable future for the human race. Hey ho.

I doubt I'll get a chance to do such a heavy itinery in the next few years, and in some ways I'd change it anyway, spend more time in places that deserve it - more looking, reading, hanging out. People, even.

(Meanwhile, goes to look at prices of Lynch motors and solar panels...)

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