Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Can we reduce our aviation carbon footprint

With people getting more and more mobile and air connectivity getting better and in many cases,cheaper, we are all jumping onto aircrafts more than ever before.
Consider the following facts:

  • Global air passenger traffic will double by 2025.

  • Over the next 20 years, more than 27,000 new aircrafts will be delivered to various airlines globally.

  • Airplane emissions are extremely harmful to the environment due to the altitude at which they are released. In additon to carbon dioxide, aircraft engines also spit out nitrogen oxide which creates ozone high in the atmosphere.

  • Aviation industry’s share of global CO2 production is forecast to rise from 2-3% now to 5-6%.


  • Air travel is a big way of leaving our carbon footprint on our earth.Even if we cannot reduce our air travels, we can try to lighten the environmental load that air travelling causes.

    Here are few ways to go about it:
  • Check to see if the airline you are travelling in is flying the latest models of jets.Newer aircrafts are more energy efficient than the older ones. Today's jets guzzle 70% less fuel than their older, fuel-guzzling predecessors.This is due to better aerodynamic designs which reduce drag and the energy efficiency of the engines themselves. The latest models of Boeing,the 787 Dreamliners burn 27 per cent less fuel than the Airbus A340s.


  • Where possible, try to fly non stop to a destination. Arrival and departure of aircrafts guzzle up lot of fuel.


  • It is better to stick by airlines which have a discipline for timed travel and are not constantly running late. This reduces their wait time,if any, in arrival and take off queues on runways and circling in air due to lack of permit to land.


  • Check whether the airlines offers carbon offsets. By volunteering to donate to the carbon neutral schemes you can mitigate the climatic impacts of the flights though ofcourse this is not a decidedly perfect solution to the problem.

  • 2 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    wow ...did not know aircrafts do so much damage ...thks ...will only travel by sea :(

    James

    Eternalsoul said...

    Very smart of you :))