Season 1
- Episode 4
Care for the Environment
Get to know about environmental care that even the forest animals will appreciate.
ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE
Rail Baltica will reduce the environmental footprint of human mobility in the Baltic States. Railway is the only major transport mode that does not depend almost entirely on fossil fuels: its share of Europe’s transport energy consumption is currently less than 2% despite a market share of over 8.5%. Furthermore, by inducing a modal shift from road to rail — both for freight and passenger traffic — Rail Baltica will promote a significant reduction of the monetary effects of climate change thanks to economies of scale, as well as helping slash road maintenance costs and reduce noise pollution and congestion on roads.
BENEFITS TO THE ENVIRONMENT
Climate change
Economic benefits in this area can be calculated by applying the level of climate change impact per vehicle-km to the changes in road traffic caused by Rail Baltica. Thus, the positive impact results from a decrease in mileage travelled. Shifting to rail transport significantly reduces the monetary effects of climate change due to utilizing economies of scale. It is estimated that 30-40% of truck traffic will be shifted to rail.
Noise and air pollution
Rail Baltica, on average, will generate less noise than other transport modes such as bus, car, heavy truck, air travel, and existing rail networks. It is estimated that this will yield approximately 0.4 billion EUR in savings from reduced noise over the project’s lifetime. Also, Rail Baltica will produce no air pollution, in contrast to other transport modes. It is estimated that this will yield approximately 3.3 billion EUR in savings from reduced air pollution over the project’s lifetime.
Reduced CO2 emissions
Rail Baltica will also create emission cost savings since electric trains cause significantly less emissions compared to other means of transport. The entire 870 km route will be fully electrified, using only sustainable energy resources. Therefore, neither air pollution nor CO2 emissions will be created.
EUROPE'S GREEN DEAL
Investments in sustainable transport infrastructure will be more important than ever in relaunching the economy in the post Covid-19 era and in making Europe more resilient, in line with the European Green Deal. Projects such as Rail Baltica will contribute to all these dimensions.
