Wednesday, May 31, 2006
A final piece about air travel - excerpts from Jeff Greenwald, the Ethical Traveler
I get that airplane emissions are burning up the sky, but I don't understand the details of how that happens. Can planting trees really off-set the problems? Is this simply a guilt-free band-aid solution? I searched and searched and googled and googled until I found Jeff Greenwald, Executive Director of Ethical Travel, and a travel writer. Please check out his whole article published in "One Earth" (by the Natural Resources Defense Council). Here are just a few highlights. I will invite Jeff to respond too, since he may have some updated information.
How to Fly the Guilt-Free Skies
http://www.nrdc.org/onearth/05win/livgreen.asp
by Jeff Greenwald
Aircraft pollution affects climate in several ways. Nitrogen oxides in engine exhaust contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer. Jet fumes also contain other greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide....[And] jet contrails, clouds produced when jet engines pump extra moisture into the air ...[that] trap the earth's heat in regions where air traffic is heavy.
Carbon dioxide and water vapor make up the bulk of airplane emissions. According to the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management... an average commercial flight in the United States releases nearly 1,800 pounds of greenhouse gas, per passenger, into the atmosphere. This seems like an impossibly large number, since a commercial airplane carries only some 10,000 pounds of fuel. But when those exhaust molecules mix with oxygen, the impact soars.
[Okay, I'm starting to understand, what can I do? - Deborah]
Hydrogen is often touted as the only clean and potentially viable alternative fuel for aircraft, but don't expect to ride on a hydrogen-powered airplane anytime soon. The technology isn't there yet, and... won't be possible for at least 30 to 40 years. In the interim, Boeing is developing a fuel cell that will convert hydrogen into electricity and may replace backup power supplies in traditional aircraft, but ... isn't likely to be on the market before 2015.
The biggest thing you can do as a consumer," says Rich Kassel, an NRDC senior attorney who served as project coordinator for its 1996 report Flying Off Course, "the only thing you can do, is to buy carbon offsets."
At least three Web-friendly organizations offer ways to help balance the greenhouse emissions of air travel. [T]he nonprofit group American Forests will plant 10 tree seedlings in a damaged forest on public land. An average tree... can absorb some 26 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
Future Forests, a for-profit company based in Great Britain, has a similar strategy for making air travel "carbon neutral." Its online calculator tells me exactly how much carbon dioxide my flight from San Francisco to Shanghai will produce: 2.2 tons. I can offset those emissions by paying Future Forests to plant three trees, or to supply three energy-saving lightbulbs to a community in a developing country...
The most ambitious of the lot is probably the Better World Club, which... aims to compete with the car-happy American Automobile Association. Like AAA, the Better World Club offers travel and car insurance (so far, only in California and Massachusetts). Better World balances emissions by retrofitting oil-burning boilers and water heaters in public schools. For club members who book tickets through Better World agents, the organization will offset two flights a year for free.
SO FRIENDS, It seems like buying carbon offsets is something we can do now as travelers. Please note the other resources listed yesterday. If anyone else has links or comments, please send them in!
Thanks,
Deborah
How to Fly the Guilt-Free Skies
http://www.nrdc.org/onearth/05win/livgreen.asp
by Jeff Greenwald
Aircraft pollution affects climate in several ways. Nitrogen oxides in engine exhaust contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer. Jet fumes also contain other greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide....[And] jet contrails, clouds produced when jet engines pump extra moisture into the air ...[that] trap the earth's heat in regions where air traffic is heavy.
Carbon dioxide and water vapor make up the bulk of airplane emissions. According to the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management... an average commercial flight in the United States releases nearly 1,800 pounds of greenhouse gas, per passenger, into the atmosphere. This seems like an impossibly large number, since a commercial airplane carries only some 10,000 pounds of fuel. But when those exhaust molecules mix with oxygen, the impact soars.
[Okay, I'm starting to understand, what can I do? - Deborah]
Hydrogen is often touted as the only clean and potentially viable alternative fuel for aircraft, but don't expect to ride on a hydrogen-powered airplane anytime soon. The technology isn't there yet, and... won't be possible for at least 30 to 40 years. In the interim, Boeing is developing a fuel cell that will convert hydrogen into electricity and may replace backup power supplies in traditional aircraft, but ... isn't likely to be on the market before 2015.
The biggest thing you can do as a consumer," says Rich Kassel, an NRDC senior attorney who served as project coordinator for its 1996 report Flying Off Course, "the only thing you can do, is to buy carbon offsets."
At least three Web-friendly organizations offer ways to help balance the greenhouse emissions of air travel. [T]he nonprofit group American Forests will plant 10 tree seedlings in a damaged forest on public land. An average tree... can absorb some 26 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
Future Forests, a for-profit company based in Great Britain, has a similar strategy for making air travel "carbon neutral." Its online calculator tells me exactly how much carbon dioxide my flight from San Francisco to Shanghai will produce: 2.2 tons. I can offset those emissions by paying Future Forests to plant three trees, or to supply three energy-saving lightbulbs to a community in a developing country...
The most ambitious of the lot is probably the Better World Club, which... aims to compete with the car-happy American Automobile Association. Like AAA, the Better World Club offers travel and car insurance (so far, only in California and Massachusetts). Better World balances emissions by retrofitting oil-burning boilers and water heaters in public schools. For club members who book tickets through Better World agents, the organization will offset two flights a year for free.
SO FRIENDS, It seems like buying carbon offsets is something we can do now as travelers. Please note the other resources listed yesterday. If anyone else has links or comments, please send them in!
Thanks,
Deborah
