Abstract
Today, options to reduce the climate impacts of high-speed passenger transport over hundreds of kilometres are limited to using low-carbon synthetic fuels in aviation and high-speed trains. In the future, alternatives like battery electric airplanes might be available. Further, vehicles operating in near-vacuum tubes, so-called “hyperloop systems”, could represent an alternative. Our first-of-its-kind environmental life cycle assessment (LCA), considering its construction, operation, and end-of-life, shows that such a hyperloop system is energy-efficient and can exhibit very low greenhouse gas emissions (<8 g CO2/pkm) if low-carbon sources provide electricity for its operation and relatively high occupation rates can be realised. The environmental performance of a hyperloop system can be regarded as very similar to that of a train offering the same transport service. Compared to air travel, environmental burdens can be substantially reduced (<5% impact on climate change compared to conventional aircraft). This fundamental finding holds despite uncertainties regarding technical properties and design choices, which reflect the current development status of the hyperloop.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have