Best Foot Forward

Tube Lines is working on behalf of London Underground to implement a ‘Low Carbon Station’ initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the operation of its underground stations. BFF was commissioned, in partnership with Green2020 and Decarbonize, by Tube Lines to perform an assessment including total carbon savings and carbon payback of seventeen proposed low carbon technology solutions. These include improvements in energy efficiency, demand management and the installation of renewable energy technologies. Working closely with Tube Lines’ engineers, potential savings compared to existing operations were calculated for selected underground stations and our study is now being used to inform operators about preferential actions to reduce emissions across the network.

National Express wanted to compare the carbon footprint of travelling between London and Edinburgh by different modes. The model BFF developed accounted for distances, emissions factors and occupancy rates of travel by plane, car and train. The results were used to underpin the national advertising campaign from National Express to guarantee their claims were transparent and justifiable.

The Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion has test emissions of 99g/CO₂ per km. BFF calculated the emission savings from driving the Polo Bluemotion over a year instead of the average car in its class, and compared the figure to savings from recycling paper, drinks cans and plastic bags. Advertising campaigns were run in print, online and on television.