Assessment of Carbon Footprint in Intercity Rail Transportation

At present, reducing greenhouse gas emissions is gaining significant attention. Therefore, this paper aims to assess the amount of carbon footprint emitted by diesel engines in terms of carbon dioxide from intercity rail transportation in Thailand. The specified train, powered by two 1,250-horsepower diesel engines, was selected for this analysis. Determining fuel consumption leads to a carbon footprint calculation in the form of carbon dioxide (CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>). Due to the operational principles of such trains, it is assumed that the engine equipped with a generator must operate at full power at all times to be on standby for power requirements. After extrapolating the fuel consumption rate to estimate greenhouse gas emissions, it was found that emissions amount to 2.6 kg of CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> per liter of fuel under ideal conditions. The proposed estimates highlight the potential carbon savings achievable by opting for alternative fuels. Additionally, it supports the government's zero carbon emission policy and is beneficial for the long-term planning of future intercity rail operators.