How can Santa be more environmentally friendly?

Every December, a small team of volunteers and six full-time staff run the Epping Ongar Railway Santa Special train. With six carriages carrying 250 people, the steam train runs on a line that Transport for London closed 30 years ago. It’s part of a very particular British tradition.

This link between Christmas and steam trains is brought to life each year at many similar heritage railways around the UK. Each train plays host to its own Santa throughout late November and December – and burns tonnes of coal on its travels. Should Santa switch full-time to the hay-and-carrot-fuelled, reindeer-powered sleigh with which he travels the globe later in the season? From an emissions standpoint, what’s naughty and what’s nice?

Powering a polar express

At Epping Ongar, Bruce Harvey feeds coal into the engine. “The optimal coal size is a fist,” says David Hall, one of Santa’s trainees whose job is to sweep the engines. The light from the red-hot fire reflects onto the blackened, coal-covered floor. It’s hot, despite the opening in the cab’s roof.

Coal is what gets the steam train moving. It generates heat and boils water that is held in the engine, turning it into steam. The steam is then contained in a confined space, creating pressure that moves the pistons in the engine. As the pistons move, the wheels of the cab rotate, pulling along the rest of the carriages. The pressure that the steam creates in the engine is known as power, or work.

John Smith, the driver, says that the engine uses one tonne of coal each day. That’s enough coal to drive the engine six miles six times a day. According to Harvey, who is currently stoking the fire, the coal comes to the railway by lorry. Is it sustainable? “Santa can probably get more miles out of a reindeer than we can get out of this engine,” says Smith.

Assistant Professor Dana Rowangould of the Transport Research Center at the University of Vermont studies how to decarbonise rural transportation systems. She suggests that Santa should focus on greenhouse gas emissions and travelling more economically to be more sustainable. 

The specifics of Santa’s operations and the vehicles he uses – whether he makes one trip around the world or has his elves make similar trips – makes a difference to his carbon footprint. Adding freight like sacks of toys doesn’t help, since the weight of toys adds to energy consumption and emissions. Rowengould suggests that if we’re concerned about sustainability, we should think about asking for digital products to make his travels more efficient. (I doubt my five-year-old would like this idea.)

Using a modern electric-powered locomotive over a steam engine would be an improvement for Santa, but Rowangould mentions that it might not be economically sustainable. Her research on electric vehicles in northern mountainous climates suggests that Santa would need a very large battery, a hybrid engine or lots of charging infrastructure. “Investing in charging infrastructure for one night is probably not economically sustainable, not to mention the regulatory red tape that Santa would face,” she points out. Perhaps reindeer would be better after all. 

Reindeer games

Ecologist and research professor Raija Laiho, at the Natural Resources Institute in Finland, studies peatlands, where reindeer graze, and explains that Santa’s reindeer do not contribute much to greenhouse gas emissions in the way of methane. Using the national greenhouse gas inventory of Finland, she calculates that each of Santa’s reindeer, which she assumes to be female (as she notes that only female reindeer have antlers in the winter), emits about 18.7 kg of methane per year. In comparison, a cow produces three times more methane, at 70 to 120 kg per year. 

“If Santa wishes to reduce emissions, he should consider what he feeds his reindeer,” she explains. Natural feed is better than processed feed, while seaweed has been shown to reduce methane emissions in cows. “Sending the helpers to collect seaweed might be a good option, if the reindeer could adjust to such an exotic dish.”

With a herd of nine reindeer, Santa could capture the methane they produce and convert it to electricity to use in his shop. Assistant Professor Matthew Scarborough of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Vermont works on anaerobic bioprocessing of waste and methane degradation on dairy farms. He suggests that Santa uses an anaerobic digestor. 

“I imagine that Santa could feed, not just reindeer manure, but food scraps from the elves and any cookie leftovers that children might give him into an anaerobic digestor.” Anaerobic digestors use bacteria to break down organic materials in conditions where there is no oxygen. The process creates a biogas, which is composed of a mixture of gases including methane. 

“They can take the biogas and use it for heat and power generation. The electricity can be used to run Santa’s shop, and they can generate heat to keep their shop warm in the North Pole. Santa could contribute to a circular economy,” says Scarborough. 

Naughty or nice?

With such strong evidence that his reindeer are more sustainable, should Santa ditch his steam train? “A lot of children have never seen a steam train, and it’s all part of their education,” says Jeff Mesnard, operations manager of the Epping Ongar Railway. It appears that the tradition of Santa on the steam train will remain as long as people are interested. With some innovation, Santa could also power his trains with captured biogas.

Even so, the argument that Santa’s reindeer are more sustainable than his steam train may be too simple. When it comes down to it, Rowangould notes that Santa’s delivery of a toy to each child is special and that there is an intrinsic value it. “What we don’t want to dismiss is to say his mode of transport should be more sustainable, and you need to decentralise Santa’s operations,” she says. “Though sustainability is important and there are trade-offs, Santa is also bringing a lot of value. We need to be thoughtful about how far we want to push Santa to be sustainable.” 

The next time we see Santa on a steam train or want to leave food for his reindeer this Christmas Eve, it’s probably best to give him a few extra carrots. If they don’t get eaten by his reindeer, at least they can go into an anaerobic digestor. 

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The author was a guest on the Epping Ongar Railway of Visit Essex