Assembling some empirical material for a paper, I get to linger on one of my favourite pastimes: reading newspaper articles. Though when they all are about carbon mitigation, the story gets old rather quickly. Some rather amusing pieces still shine through, particularly the attempts of the affluent working on climate issues to bring their private lives in line with their ambitions. The standard procedure is naturally to offset, but the Prince of Wales wouldn’t settle for such a platitude. From an article in The Times:

Travel by public transport rather than chartered jet or helicopter is the key, but such a reform is likely to be achieved only partially. One possibility being looked at is that the Prince should travel between Highgrove and Clarence House by catching an ordinary scheduled train at Kemble, his local station, which would take him into Paddington. But when one is a Prince security is an unavoidable issue, and if he caught the 10.46 to London a first-class compartment would have to be sealed off and guarded.

He is believed not yet to have caught the train.

Using the royal train would at first sight appear to be more eco-friendly than taking the BAe146 jet or getting into a chartered helicopter. However, given the size of the Prince’s entourage its coaches are never full, and some reckon that, per capita, it could be even less emission-efficient than air travel.

It ain’t easy being a prince! Luckily some inventive chap in his team later came up with a solution:

The Prince of Wales became the first member of the Royal Family to use their newly converted eco-friendly train. He arrived at Scarborough station on the Royal Train which now runs on fuel processed from waste vegetable oil and will cut CO2 emissions by 19 per cent. The Prince was visiting a hospice and a Georgian museum refurbishment in the seaside town. He also met one of the town’s most famous residents, Sir Jimmy Savile.