National Express Launches Green Machine In conjunction with Energy Saving Week (22-28 October 2007), National Express is launching an online carbon calculator to help customers understand how to reduce their carbon footprint. The calculator on www.nationalexpress.com/carboncalculator will enable travellers to see how much carbon can be saved when travelling by coach instead of a car. For example, a customer taking the coach from Birmingham to London will produce 6kg of CO2 compared to 22kg of CO2 when travelling by car, representing a saving of 16kg of CO2 per passenger*. The easy to use calculator developed from data produced by the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management (ECCM) who undertake annual greenhouse gas assessment for National Express Group enables people to see what the carbon saving represents in terms of practical day to day activities such as boiling a kettle, watching television and powering a home. Paul Bunting, Chief Executive, National Express said, "Travellers can easily reduce their carbon footprint through choosing a low carbon transport option such as the coach. It is still not very well known that coach travel is the most environmentally friendly form of public transport, better than the car, plane or train and we want to make it simple for people to calculate the savings. Understanding what the carbon savings mean in real terms will hopefully encourage a change in travel habits." Nigel Underdown, Head of Transport Advice at the Energy Saving Trust added, "Travel by road in the UK continues to grow, creating more pressure on our efforts to tackle climate change. Individuals can make a real difference by using lower carbon alternatives to the car." In 2006, National Express customers saved an estimated 284,996 tonnes of CO2 from being emitting into the environment by choosing coach instead of car. The business is committed to improving this figure in 2007 and will continue to promote the crucial role that coach travel has to play in reducing greenhouse gases. National Express is also part of 'Together', the consumer engagement campaign which is independently approved by The Climate Group and is designed to help UK households reduce CO2 emissions by one tonne over three years. David Hall, Campaign Director of Together, said, "Together is a campaign that works with businesses like National Express to make it easier for their customers to do something positive about climate change. National Express is committed to taking the lead by delivering sustainable, value for money transport; the carbon calculator launch sees the next step towards an exciting Together programme to help people make the switch to coach travel". -ENDS- For more information, please contact (MEDIA ENQUIRIES ONLY):
National Express provides Britain's only national scheduled coach network and serves more than 1,000 destinations, providing approximately 19 million customer journeys each year. National Express is part of the leading transport provider, National Express Group, which delivers services in the UK, North America and Spain and employs over 400,000 people. The Group carries more than one billion passengers a year worldwide through its, bus, train, light rail and express coach operations. National Express is providing simple, value for money transport by offering fares that start from as little as £1 if booked online, discounts for young travellers and customers over 60. About 'Together' 'Together' (www.together.com) is a consumer engagement campaign designed to help UK households reduce CO2 emissions by one tonne over three years. The campaign is independently approved by The Climate Group, an independent, not-for-profit organisation that works internationally with government and business leaders to advance climate change solutions and accelerate a low carbon economy Some of the UK's favourite brands are united behind the campaign to provide millions of customers with a growing range of new products and ideas that make it easier or more affordable to reduce their CO2 emissions. Campaign partners include B&Q, Barclaycard, British Gas, BSkyB, Marks & Spencer, More Th>n, National Express, O2 and Tesco. The campaign is also supported by The Mayor of London, The Church of England, the Energy Saving Trust, Defra, the National Consumer Council, and Stop Climate Chaos. Initiatives are detailed on www.together.com where the collective reduction in emissions is calculated based on partner data. The campaign was launched in 2007 and has been endorsed by former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair and former US Vice President, Al Gore. Back to top Please use the browser 'close' button (top right) to close this window. |