Carbon footprint of rail vehicles

The article presents the essence of carbon footprint, defined as the sum of greenhouse gas emission, caused directly or indirectly by a person, organisation, product or event.Transport accounts for about 20% of global CO 2 emission, ranking third after the energy sector (40%) and industry (25%).Therefore, in the era of railway development, especially high-speed rail, the issue of CO 2 emission is of particular importance.High-speed vehicles require new, more durable materials, including composites, which generate a carbon footprint more than twice as large as that of steel.The carbon footprint of a rail vehicle is measured by the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted throughout its life cycle, generated by the product (i.e. a rail vehicle) from the extraction of raw materials to the end-of-life stage of that product.The system boundaries used in the analysis of the carbon footprint of a product may vary, as was demonstrated in this article using the example of train carriages.The most comprehensive scope is 'cradleto-cradle', as this model of product design encompasses all aspects of a product life.The study showed that the use of this model in the manufacture of new carriages decreases the carbon footprint four-fold.The paper presents the collected and processed data regarding CO 2 emission according to events, which indicates that the largest CO 2 emissions occur within Scope 3 -other indirect emissions that concern activity throughout the entire value chain, e.g.transport products and processes, material production or even business travel, which account for 75-85% of total emissions.CO 2 emissions are presented for different life-cycle stages of a vehicle and types of vehicles, as well as for construction materials used in the production of rail vehicles, including tram and metro carriages.