The Madrid Climate Summit will host thousands of attendees and represents one of the most important global forums on climate and sustainability.
Railroad and climate change: natural ally
Renfe Operadora has a Master Plan for the Fight against Climate Change, prepared jointly with Adif, whose strategic lines are energy management, energy efficiency, decarbonization and a culture of awareness among different interest groups inside and outside the organizations.
Transport is the sector from which 26% of GHG emissions in Spain come. The railway is by far the least emitting mode, hence the modal shift towards trains is one of the general objectives of the Plan, based on the European Union's White Paper on Transport.
The objectives of modal transfer to the railroad, both of goods and of travelers, indicate a gradual reduction of emissions in the next decade until reaching a reduction of 2% in 2030 for the transport sector in Spain. Since Adif and Renfe contribute to 1% of the sector's emissions, this transfer would reduce almost twice what is issued.
Energy efficiency and the progressive decarbonization of the system and the railway operation are the other two main objectives of the Plan. The measures included in this matter are aimed at achieving a cumulative reduction in energy consumption of about 5,300 GW / h until 2030.
The reduction of GHG emissions accumulated by these three factors that define the Master Plan (modal change, efficiency and decarbonization) could exceed 9.9 million tons of CO2 in 2030, that is, an emission reduction of more than 30% of those generated by the railroad in Spain. For its part, in terms of economic savings, the estimate exceeds 250 million euros.