Airlines can differentiate themselves, and consumers can select airlines, based on a number of ethical issues. For example, consumers might express their displeasure for a country by boycotting its national airline. This article confines itself to the issue of climate change. Potential air travellers might respond to the issue of climate change by travelling less and/or by using other modes of transport which are perceived as being more efficient (such as rail). This article further confines itself to the steps being taken by some airlines to offer services that are more ‘climate friendly’ and the response of consumers to those services.
Three approaches to climate change
Air travel is suspected of contributing significantly to climate change through a number of mechanisms (not just greenhouse gas emissions). Individual airlines and air travellers are currently utilizing/exploring three approaches to reduce their impact on climate:
- Carbon offsetting: Paying others to achieve a counterbalancing effect on climate through activities outside the air transport sector. Note that the effectiveness of carbon offsetting is criticised.
- Reducing air travel’s consumption of fossil fuels (air travel’s contribution to well-mixed greenhouse gases is completely dominated by the emission of carbon dioxide from burning fossil-derived aviation fuels[1],[2]). Two ways in which this can be done are:
- Improve fuel efficiency.
- Use a biofuel: This has some effect only if the biofuel has lower full-life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions.
Carbon offsetting — independent of airline
References
- ↑ M.V.Chester, Life-cycle Environmental Inventory of Passenger Transportation in the United States (UCB-ITS-DS-2008-1, Fall 2008).
- ↑ AMR Corporation, Environmental Responsibility Report (3MB) 2007.
- ↑ Anja Kollmuss & Jessica Lane, Carbon Offsetting & Air Travel Part 1: CO2-Emissions Calculations (Stockholm Environment Institute, May 2008)