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Behind the scenes of the Pooping Cars movie
Very good news - last week’s One Planet Summit in Paris included the announcement of a new international alliance aimed at decarbonizing transportation globally.
“The attention that transport received and the commitments for climate action in transport that were made during the One Planet Summit are unprecedented. After the One Planet Summit, the transport sector is better positioned in climate change mitigation and adaptation than ever before.”
In 1898, the world’s first international urban-planning conference was brought to a standstill because of a seemingly insurmountable crisis: studies were showing that New York City - like other major urban centers around the world - would be under 3 stories of horse manure within 30 years.
Horse manure clogging city streets in 19th century cities
The advent of the streetcar and the automobile, of course, quickly solved that problem. But the advent of the internal combustion engine clearly brought us a new, larger problem: atmospheric carbon dioxide pollution. What would that pollution look like if it was - like horse manure - visible? (Not to mention smellable?)
To answer this question, I got an atmospheric scientist to help me do a back-of the-envelope calculation. We assumed that streets take up 1/3 of San Francisco's 47 sq miles, and we used San Francisco's CO2 emissions only (12.5 tons per person per year – which is far less than the US average of 20 tons per person per year). We used a rough population estimate of 1 million. And here's what we found:
The streets of San Francisco will be 538 feet deep in CO2 poop within one year. That's two thirds of the way up the Transamerica Pyramid. By 2020, we'll have buried the Transamerica Pyramid almost four times. I'll let you calculate what 35 more years of this madness might look like - but I don't think you need to. The upshot is that humanity has never been in poop this deep.
After checking out the Delhi metro, we wanted to see what life was like above ground. The best way to get around, we were told, was by "Auto" - the ubiquitous green and yellow auto-rickshaws. (I was told NOT to call them 'tuk-tuks' - evidently only foreigners do that. I got the impression it was a colonial thing.)
Delhi's auto-rickshaws are everywhere.
The government required, many years ago, that the autos run on compressed natural gas - replacing the ultra-polluting two-stroke engines of the past. I was deeply grateful - Delhi's air is so bad (it now holds the dubious honor of most polluted city in the world), I can't even imagine what it would be like without the CNG 'autos'.
Elliot on board a New Delhi auto-rickshaw.
There are also auto-rickshaw-buses - basically three-wheeled CNG-powered collective taxis. We took this one on a day trip to Noida:
Auto-rickshaw-bus provides collective transport in Noida, Delhi.
Another cause for gratitude is the city's amazing greenery - utterly incongruent with the super dirty air. The greenery is actually lush and diverse enough (at least in the neighborhood we stayed in) to support whole troupes of monkeys.
Our walk from the YMCA Tourist Hotel to the New Delhi Convention Centre
A monkey scampers across the roof of our hotel in New Delhi.
The streets are also filled with bicycles - many of which appear to be working vehicles.
Delhi has its own 522 bus line! And lots of bicycle carts.
There is no bicycle infrastructure, however. Bikes just use whatever space they can find. (I even saw bikes on the freeways.)
Bicycles on the streets of New Delhi
Bicycle delivery on the streets of New Delhi
Parking is similarly haphazard. We noticed that many of the parked vehicles did double-duty as a bed for the driver.
Bicycle rickshaw driver napping in New Delhi
An Indian friend told me that John Kenneth Galbraith once described India as 'functioning anarchy' - and I'd have to agree.
Street in front of the Old Delhi train station
Intersection in front of the Old Delhi train station
Despite the chaos, safety doesn't seem to be much of an issue. We didn't see too many helmets. Some motorcycle riders wore helmets - but we never saw a bike helmet. And although maybe half of the motorcyle riders wore helmets, and plenty of them had children on board, we never saw a single child wearing a helmet. We began to wonder if children's helmets were even available in India. (Though it appears that they are available.)
Four riders, two helmets, one motorbike - in New Delhi, India.
In addition to cycle paths and canals, Amsterdam boasts an impressive public transit system. Elliot insisted that we try both the trams and the underground metro.
Elliot waits for a tram in Amsterdam
Elliot and his dad on the back of a tram in Amsterdam.
Elliot and his dad enjoy another tram ride in Amsterdam. Note the on-board ticket booth in the back. Trams have both a driver and a separate ticket vendor.
Elliot was thrilled to find out the city had an underground metro.
The train arrives to take us to Schiphol airport - and home.
Way back in the early 1980's, I spent a year living with a family in Rouen, France. They taught me French, and how to drink wine mixed with water, and a thousand other things for which I will always remain deeply grateful. On this trip we made a point to visit my host family, and I got to introduce them to Elliot.
Since the last time I was in Rouen, a few things have changed. For one - they cleaned the cathedral. (It use to be black.)
Rouen Cathedral - so spanky clean I hardly recognized it!
They also installed a metro, and a Bus Rapid Transit system called Le TEOR. We didn't get to ride the metro (Elliot was very disappointed), but we did get to ride the TEOR.
Waiting for le TEOR in Rouen with my host family
Raised platforms means fast level boarding, even for my host mom (in her 70s, with a bad knee).
On board Le TEOR in Rouen
Le TEOR was awesome. Elliot totally approved.
Elliot gives Rouen's TEOR Bus Rapid Transit the thumbs-up.
One thing I found interesting: the Rouen metropolitan area has a population density (940 people per square km) which is slightly lower than Palo Alto's.
Le TEOR in downtown Rouen
Paris is really not at its best in the summer. It's hot, the Parisians are either on vacation or wishing they were on vacation, and the lines for every tourist attraction are insane. Plus it was grittier than I'd remembered. Truth be told, Elliot wasn't a total fan - but there were a few things he really liked. First, the metro:
Elliot really loved the Paris Metro.
He particularly loved the double-decker RER trains.
We were also smitten with the ignognito but - once you figure out what to look for - totally ubiquitous "autolib" electric city cars. Located at curbside stations all over the city, every 100 meters or so. Silent, clean wheels when you want them. So cool.
Autolib - all-electric city carshare, all over Paris. Elliot approved.
There were also some random cool things to see:
Elliot spotted this Twingo, complete with wheelchair on the back
And one day, we borrowed some bikes and took off for La Villette.
Bike lanes! In Paris! It was awesome.
Bike paths the whole way - and the light was incredible.
At La Villette (the largest science museum in Europe) we visited a bunch of exhibits - including this one, about transportation. It was like instant animation for Worse Than Poop! - you walked up, took your photo, and a machine magically pasted your head onto a transportation device, which then floated by 30 seconds later on a series of screens. All they were missing was the CO2-poop.
Elliot watches as my head floats by on a double-decker London bus.
Arriving into London
Our family decided to take a holiday in Europe this summer - requiring a massive carbon splurge (30 tons' worth, in fact) which I double offset at Terrapass.com. The trip is also mitigated in part because Elliot and I are tagging along with his dad on his business trip, and we have limited our flights to the unavoidable transatlantic - all other travel will be by rail. We are visiting 5 countries and staying with friends and family all along the way.
We arrived in London on Friday, and we spent all weekend sightseeing in a frenzied attempt to get over our jetlag. Trains were our main mode of transport, and Elliot was delighted.
On our way to visit the British Museum (we've been listening to A History of the World in 100 Objects, and reading The Red Pyramid), we got off at the Russell Square underground station, where we decided to exit via the stairs instead of the elevator. We had no idea what we were in for! Up and up we climbed, on an endless spiral staircase with no exits which seemed to go on forever. We were much relieved to emerge at last - and it occurred to me that this might have been one of the many Tube stations used as air raid shelters during the blitz.
Our friends told us later that Russell Square Station is over 140 feet deep - meaning we had climbed the equivalent of 14 stories!
Finally! Emerging at last from the ultra-deep Russell Square underground station in London.
In general, we are loving London - though we have been surprised at not seeing more bicycles. And so far only one electric car!
Elliot on his first ride aboard a double-decker English bus.
Today, humans are creating more than 38 billion tons of carbon pollution every year - in fact, over 2 million pounds of it gets spewed into the air every second. This massive amount of pollution is now threatening the climate that all life depends on, and in the US, almost a third of that pollution comes from transportation. But the problem with CO2 is that you can’t see it, you can’t smell it, you can’t taste it - and that makes it hard for people to take it seriously. But what if you could see it? What if the 19 pounds of crap coming out of your car’s tailpipe was... crap?
Elliot Ingle, a bespectacled 8-year old wearing a necktie and lab coat, takes us on a short journey to imagine just such a reality. Using a combination of live action video and animation, “Worse than Poop” will illustrate basic scientific facts (why DOES a gallon of gas produce 19 pounds of CO2? How is that possible - and where does it go?). It will also work to undermine some outmoded cultural norms (what’s a better status symbol - a poo-spattered Lexus or a spiffy clean Tesla - or a fun shiny bike with a cool sidecar?). Featuring mom’s minivan (one pound of poo per mile!), the lumbering Suburban (19 pounds of poop in only 10 miles!), the Tesla S (faster than a speeding Captain Underpants!), the Nissan Leaf, the Mitsubishi i, and a flotilla of electric and people-powered bicycles and scooters, “Worse than Poop” will engage children ages 5-12 in the most important issue of our time: rejection of the fossil fuel lifestyle.
It’s bound to make a difference. I mean, what kid doesn’t love talking about poop?
Climate change facts, what is climate change, climate change definition.
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