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Green Up Your Air Travel this Holiday Season
US air travel accounts for about 4% of carbon emissions, and global air travel accounts for about 3% of total carbon emissions. This doesn't seems like much in the scheme of things, but to put it in perspective, the average US flight releases one TON of carbon emissions per person flying. Reducing air travel is certainly a factor when deciding vacation and travel plans, but many Westerners are simply not willing to make the sacrifice of not flying at all. So what is a conscious consumer to do?
One thing that has received a lot of press in the US is carbon offsetting. Carbon offset programs allow the ticket purchaser to pay a surcharge on the ticket, which often goes to fund renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, or tree planting. The Carbon Neutral Company allows passengers to offset their emissions with a community project that saves exactly that amount of carbon dioxide. According to their website calculations, a flight from Boston to San Fransisco would cover 4342km and emit .5 tons of CO2 per person. The website allows the consumer to choose which type of offset project to fund, including farmland restoration, forestry planting, renewable energy development, methane capture, or energy-efficient technology projects.
In 2006, the nonprofit Clean Air-Cool Planet released "A Consumer's Guide to Retail Carbon Offset Providers." The US companies that ranked among the top in their independent ratings categories included Climate Trust, NativeEnergy, and Sustainable Travel/My Climate. The helpful guide includes questions for consumers to ask themselves about reducing their carbon footprint, and questions for consumers to ask the companies that sell carbon offset programs.
Another factor in air travel is the weight and capacity of the airplane. According to the recently launched website www.enviro.aero, "The Airbus A380 and Boeing B787 will have the lowest fuel consumption of any commercial jet-airliners ever built, requiring less than 3 liters per 100 passenger/km (or 67 passenger-miles per US gallon). This makes these new-generation aircraft even more fuel-efficient than the most recent hybrid cars." It is not yet possible to book your flight based on the type of aircraft used, but it may be in the future.
"Up to 18% of aviation fuel is wasted as a result of inefficient infrastructure and operations, according to The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This represents more than 100 million tons of CO2 per year." The airline industry has been working to reduce weight loads of aircraft and to shorten routes from point A to B to help reduce some of these inefficiencies. According to the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), "in 2006, the aviation industry worked with governments and regulators to shorten some 350 routes which resulted in 6 million tons of CO2 being saved." So fly direct, pack light, travel at peak times to ensure a full aircraft, and check out one of the top performing carbon offset companies to mitigate the impacts of your air travel: Climate Trust, NativeEnergy, and Sustainable Travel/My Climate.