A boat, a springboard and a footprint

It’s a wonderful feeling when you can deliver, for someone who has asked for practical help.

Last year Rachel Sedman from Fountainbridge Canalside Community Trust (FCCT) contacted us. Rachel wanted to know how much carbon could FCCT potentially save, by replacing their boat with an electric one…? And the Trust was hoping to be able to use this figure to persuade funders to help them get the money together to place the order for a new, electric boat. The current barge, the Lochrin Belle, needs replacing anyway. So I therefore needed to make a direct comparison based on the running of the boat: what was the carbon footprint of the Lochrin Belle (the diesel barge)? And what would be the carbon footprint of the new electric barge?

The gauntlet had been well and truly thrown down! I did not have the skills myself, so I undertook the Climate Springboard course. The Climate Springboard training was truly excellent, very informative and enjoyable. I’ve written about that in an earlier blogpost - see The Climate Springboard trained me to calculate carbon footprints{.uri}. I was very lucky to get a place on the course, at just the right time for my project about the boat.

Over the next few months I gathered the data: What was the annual mileage covered by the boat? What was the average speed? The sources of energy… The barge needs energy to propel it through the water, the drive, but also uses a generator to run the lights and other systems on the boat. What quantity of carbon dioxide emissions was associated with each unit of energy? I corroborated the numbers. I produced an estimate. The Climate Springboard team gave me feedback…

A whopping 1.7 tonnes of carbon would be saved EVERY YEAR, by switching to an electric barge. A significant amount!!!

You can find my workings on our GitHub account: https://github.com/data4climateactionedinburgh/Data4ClimateActionEdinburgh_Code_etc/tree/main/data/FCCT_barge

: Numerical comparison between diesel and electric barge

: Second part of numerical comparison for electric barge

FCCT shared the number with their stakeholders, garnering very positive reactions. They have used the 1.7 tonne figure to help secure grant and loan funding with Foundation Scotland. Rachel said “They were really impressed, and I think it helped to show we are serious for this project and as an organisation about thinking and acting sustainably. We plan to also use the figure in our upcoming Crowdfunder appeal to make our ‘fleet all-electric!’ (We hope Waterwitch will be undergoing a retrofit project!) From this we should get feedback from the general public and our local community – hopefully their support 😊”.

I could not be happier with this result from the project. Another success story for D4CAE. I’m still working with FCCT, helping them on their carbon journey.

I was delighted to take a trip on the barge itself, the Lochrin Belle, in August. There was a carnival atmosphere, as it was the day of the raft race. On the barge, there were loads of families and it was very sweet, the way that, every time we went under a bridge the children called out “Echo! Echo! Echo!”. I really enjoyed meeting more of the wonderful FCCT volunteers, like Richard, legendary for his knowledge of the canal. Christine provides superb coffee and conversation aboard the barge.

If you’d like to take a boat trip on the Union Canal while supporting FCCT, you can book through Re-Union Canal Boats.

Afore ye go…

If you’re part of a climate or biodiversity voluntary group or charity in Edinburgh, and you’d like us to provide some data support, please email me on data4climateactionedinburgh\@gmail.com{.email} . We’d love to hear from you.

If you’d like to join the D4CAE mailing list, and/or volunteer to help, please drop me an email on data4climateactionedinburgh\@gmail.com{.email} You’ll be most welcome.

Pauline Ward
Founder, Data 4 Climate Action Edinburgh