Introduction
According to the data from the International Energy Agency, the world’s largest economies are on track to miss their climate targets as outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement. To achieve the goals set out in the agreement, countries need to take far bolder action than they have so far.
On average, every year since 2000 has been warmer than the preceding one. The 20 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998, and 2016 was the warmest year on record. Global carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) reached a new record level in 2018, increasing by 1.7 percent after two years of remaining flat.
The impact of climate change is already being felt around the world. In some regions, we’re seeing increased extreme weather events and other disruptions that threaten our food security, health, infrastructure, and water supply.
Humanity faces a climate crisis, and our transport system is a significant contributor. Transportation accounts for about 27% of global CO2 emissions, with cars being the most significant culprit. The average car emits 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide every year – that’s more than 1,000 times its own weight in CO2!
Ridesharing is one solution that helps combat climate change by reducing the need for individual car ownership.
Ridesharing vehicles are a useful way to reduce the impact of climate change.
If you’re not familiar with ridesharing, it is the process of sharing transportation under a taxi-service-like system.
For example, you would use your smartphone to request a ride from a rideshare app, and then a car would take you to your desired destination. This is becoming an increasingly popular way of getting around as more people realize how much of an environmental impact traditional taxis have.
The most significant environmental impact of traditional taxis comes from fossil fuels. These fossil fuels release harmful gases into the atmosphere, which contribute to climate change by increasing the planet’s overall temperature.
This means that if we want to reduce our carbon footprint on the planet, we need to find ways of using fewer fossil fuels in our everyday lives – and one of these ways is through ridesharing services.
Another important aspect about ridesharing services is that they allow for more people per car on average than if everyone used their own vehicles. This means there will be less pollution from vehicles due to fewer vehicles being driven around town at any given time – which helps keep our planet cleaner!
Ridesharing is a vital part of the future of mobility. From lower emissions to less congestion and more affordable transportation options, ridesharing is helping make our cities better places to live in – and helping combat climate change.
Ridesharing – the practice of using an app to connect individuals with people who are commuting in the same direction, usually for carpooling – is viewed by researchers and policymakers as a critical part of cities’ efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve local air quality.
Ridesharing vehicles are a useful way to reduce the impact of climate change. While they all require large-scale changes in how city streets are designed and used, one of the easiest — and most enjoyable — options is to encourage more ridesharing.
According to a study by the Department of Transportation, the transportation sector accounts for 23% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the world. This figure is expected to increase to 37% by 2050, meaning Nigerians will make more trips and burn more fuel.
However, according to a new study, seats that would otherwise be empty in solo car trips could be filled with passengers. Then used cars would be taken off the road, resulting in fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
In fact, if just 10% of drivers chose rideshare services over solo driving, it would slash carbon dioxide emissions by a total of 661 million metric tons per year, or the equivalent of removing 159 million vehicles from Nigerian roads.
This means that today’s apps are capable of having a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions at a time when stricter regulations and incentives are required to combat climate change.
Ridesharing services have made it easier to take advantage of existing transportation options instead of driving alone in a car.
For example, suppose you’re heading to work in the morning and see several other people nearby travelling in the same direction. In that case, you can request to share a ride with them rather than driving your own car.
In this way, ridesharing services reduce individual ownership because it allows drivers to use their vehicles more efficiently.
This leads us back to why ridesharing helps combat climate change: fewer vehicles on the road means less pollution from exhaust fumes and reduced traffic congestion, which can cause accidents or delays when there aren’t enough lanes available for all those cars!
Ridesharing has so far reduced road congestion by more than 500,000 miles per day, an equivalent of taking nearly 50,000 cars off the road for an entire year.
The same study estimates that ridesharing services have cut greenhouse gas emissions by 10 million pounds since its launch five years ago. This is the equivalent of taking 830 cars off the road for an entire year.
Conclusion
Ridesharing can help combat climate change in several different ways. First, it reduces the number of vehicles on the road and decreases gas usage. It also reduces energy use on the car itself; recent studies have shown that electric vehicles are more efficient than their standard fuel counterparts.
Ridesharing also helps to reduce pollution created both as a result of vehicle operation and the production process for oil for fuel. Ridesharing allows people to carpool and make fewer trips to work, which means fewer emissions from commuting.
In short, companies that offer ridesharing have the potential to cause substantial reductions in CO2 emissions. However, there are still limits to the extent ridesharing can go in reducing pollution and mitigating the effects of climate change.
Because the practical climate benefits of ridesharing depend on voluntary participation from significant numbers of people and a high degree of coordination, there will always be a certain level of vulnerability should something disrupt either of these critical conditions.
Nevertheless, when viewed as one effort among many changes we collectively need to make as a society to combat climate change, ridesharing is both promising and necessary for the future of our planet.
BloXmove is a ridesharing company that helps to ensure a safer and more green ecosystem. BloXmove , through its decentralized approach and partnerships with other companies, intends to create a sustainable mobility ecosystem. The company is building a protocol that will allow many different players in the mobility and energy fields to create new transportation services that are powered by clean energy.