Until recently, I didn't give my carbon footprint much thought. I recycle wine bottles and buy LED light bulbs, but these things are a drop in the ocean compared to the impact of being a frequent flyer. For the first time in my life, I feel rather ashamed by the amount I travel. It turns out that my business class seat on a flight from
Some are calling for 2020 to be a "no-fly" year, but frankly that's not feasible for me. I have, however, turned down several unnecessary trips (thank heavens for video conferencing), and I'll continue to be more discerning about the way I travel. Where possible, I try to take the Eurostar and onward trains across
But I'd like to do more. There's carbon offsetting, for a start. Some airlines are adopting this approach - planting trees to counteract the levels of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere - with
The worry is that although global aviation only produces two per cent of human induced carbon dioxide emissions (according to the
So what else can be done? Efforts are underway to develop biofuels, which are made from things like algae and salicornia plants, thus lowering the overall carbon footprint of flying as crops like this feed on carbon dioxide, but much of the world will continue to use fossil fuels. What's more, burning biofuels still releases CO2 so it's still only solving part of the problem.
You can try to fly on newer planes, such as the B878 Dreamliner, the A350 XWB or the A320NEO, which burn 20-25 per cent less fuel than older aircraft of a similar size. Booking economy class is another way of lowering your carbon footprint: the more seats you can squeeze on a plane, the less CO2 per passenger. The atmosphere still receives the same amount of pollution though, so it's really about easing your conscience.
More hopeful is the promise of zero-emission, battery-powered planes. Next year, Rolls Royce will test the world's fastest (300mph) all-electric plane, ACCEL. But it can only accommodate one person.
Perhaps the best advice comes from KLM: the Dutch airline's CEO recently issued a statement asking people to "fly responsibly". I might have to ask my editor to rename this column "Infrequent Flyer" £
(c) 2019 City A.M., source