Ongoing emissions from
… demand growth
POST-COVID
• Air Canada profits soar amid booming demand for international travel — and ticket prices took off, too
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-canada-earnings-1.6933613
TOURISM
• Wish you weren’t here! How tourists are ruining the world’s greatest destinations
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/aug/17/wish-you-werent-here-how-tourists-are-ruining-the-worlds-greatest-destinations
• Destination FOMO: Understanding the Urge to Fly to Faraway Places
https://stay-grounded.org/destination-fomo-understanding-the-urge-to-fly-to-faraway-places/
• Rail bosses spend £10,000 a week on flights – because it’s cheaper than trains
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/network-rail-flights-train-boss-b2380693.html
… greenwashed fuels and engines
‘SUSTAINABLE’ AVIATION FUELS
The aviation industry uses marketing greenwash and accounting tricks to mislead you into thinking that actual flight emissions from ‘Sustainable’ Aviation Fuel (SAF) are a fraction of those from fossil jet fuel. A jet never burns pure SAF, so a common 50:50 blend with fossil jet fuel doubles claimed emissions. And actual flight CO2 emissions are additionally more than claimed, by the amount of CO2 drawn down in making the fuel. Furthermore SAF still creates non-CO2 emissions twice as warming as actual flight CO2 emissions.
• Lenovo offers carbon credits for air shipping
https://www.crn.com.au/news/lenovo-offers-carbon-credits-for-air-shipping-599786
BIOFUELS
• Farm waste could fuel most domestic flights by 2025
https://reneweconomy.com.au/farm-waste-could-fuel-most-domestic-flights-by-2025/
• US Airlines Unite With Farmers In Effort To Subsidize Sustainable Aviation Fuel Made From Corn
https://simpleflying.com/us-airlines-farmers-subsidize-sustainable-aviation-fuel-corn/
• NATSO, SIGMA urge IRS to adopt stringent ;lifecycle greenhouse gas modelling requirements for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/natso-sigma-urge-irs-to-adopt-stringent-lifecycle-greenhouse-gas-modeling-requirements-for-sustainable-aviation-fuel-saf-301896274.html
TECH-FIX DELUSION
• NASA Releases Newest Vision for Flight Research
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-releases-newest-vision-for-flight-research
• NASA and Boeing target 30% fuel reduction with ultrathin wing demonstrator
https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/nasa-and-boeing-target-30-fuel-reduction-with-ultrathin-wing-demonstrator
• Long-haul flight decarbonisation: When can cutting-edge energies & technologies make a difference?
https://www.eurocontrol.int/publication/eurocontrol-think-paper-21-long-haul-flight-decarbonisation-when-can-cutting-edge
… delusional reduction pathways
NET-ZERO 2050
• Transport and Infrastructure Net Zero Roadmap and Action Plan
https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure-transport-vehicles/transport-and-infrastructure-net-zero-roadmap-and-action-plan
• Sustainable Aviation Challenge Looks for ‘Ecopreneurs’ to Decarbonize Industry
https://www.environmentalleader.com/2023/08/sustainable-aviation-challenge-looks-for-ecopreneurs-to-decarbonize-industry/
• Declaration: International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/declaration-international-aviation-climate-ambition-coalition
… infrastructure expansion
AIRPORTS
• Is there a case for airport expansion?
https://travelweekly.co.uk/in-depth/special-reports/special-report-is-there-a-case-for-airport-expansion
• How The U.S. And EU Are Tackling Airline Emissions Differently
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-the-u.s.-and-eu-are-tackling-airline-emissions-differently
… frequent flyers
PRIVATE JETS
• Brazil’s Embraer says business jet demand stays at strong pandemic level
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/brazils-embraer-says-business-jet-195826657.html
• Private jets are awful for the climate. It’s time to tax the rich who fly in them
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/10/private-jets-are-awful-for-the-climate-its-time-to-tax-the-rich-who-fly-in-them
FREQUENT FLYER SCHEMES
• Should frequent flyer schemes still exist when the climate is in crisis?
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/sustainable-travel/frequent-flyer-schemes-carbon-footprint-climate-crisis-b2390963.html
… accounting tricks
OFFSETS
When all sectors need to reduce their emissions to zero, the aviation industry buys/offsets the reductions of others in order to grow its own emissions.
• The truth about carbon offsets
https://climateadproject.org/offsets/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQbYk1p2cn8
• Carbon credit speculators could lose billions as offsets deemed ‘worthless’
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/24/carbon-credit-speculators-could-lose-billions-as-offsets-deemed-worthless-aoe
• Action needed to make carbon offsets from forest conservation work for climate change mitigation
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade3535
EUROPOEAN UNION EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME
• What are the prospects for a more sustainable aviation industry?
https://www.academia.edu/16014764/The_inclusion_of_the_aviation_sector_within_the_European_Unions_Emissions_Trading_Scheme_What_are_the_prospects_for_a_more_sustainable_aviation_industry?
Stopping emissions by
… zero emissions flight
ELECTRIC/BATTERIES
• Taking Flight Towards Sustainability : Exploring the Zero-Emission Aircraft Market
https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/news/allied-analytics/taking-flight-towards-sustainability-exploring-the-zero-emission-aircraft-market
• Zero-Emission Aircraft Global Market Report 2023
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/08/04/2719091/0/en/Zero-Emission-Aircraft-Global-Market-Report-2023.html
• Sleek, Silent Aircraft Are Electrifying Aviation; It Will Never Be The Same
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2023/08/03/sleek-silent-aircraft-are-electrifying-aviation-it-will-never-be-the-same/
• Air Travel Is Destroying the Planet. An Israeli-developed Electric Plane Is One Solution
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-08-05/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/air-travel-is-destroying-the-planet-israeli-developed-electric-plane-is-one-solution/00000189-c11e-d821-afdd-db3e185f0000
• The Role of Electric Aircrafts in Decarbonizing the Aviation Industry
https://www.energyportal.eu/news/the-role-of-electric-aircrafts-in-decarbonizing-the-aviation-industry/40752/
• Environmentalists and airlines square off over standards for sustainable fuel
https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Environmentalists-and-airlines-square-off-over-SAF-standards
… demand degrowth
POST-COVID
• Business travel recovery stalls as companies seek to cut costs and emissions
https://www.ft.com/content/ea564d48-6dfd-4c7f-b28b-c2028bbc2fe8
EXPOSING GREENWASHING
• Delta Air Lines faces proposed U.S. class action over carbon neutral claims
https://www.reuters.com/legal/delta-air-lines-faces-proposed-us-class-action-over-carbon-neutral-claims-2023-05-30/
• Badvertising: Ministry for The Climate Emergency
https://www.badverts.org/ministry-for-the-climate-emergency
VOLUNTARY RESTRAINT
• Sebastian Vettel flying and drove himself to European races in final F1 season
https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/38207507/sebastian-vettel-ditched-jet-drove-european-races-final-f1-season
PUBLIC AWARENESS
• Aviation workers oppose UK Government’s fossil fuel plans
https://safe-landing.org/fossil-fuel-statement/
TICKET PRICING
• France to increase tax on plane tickets to fund railways
https://www.thelocal.com/20230807/france-to-increase-tax-on-plane-tickets-to-fund-railways/
• Top Brazilian airlines say passengers not willing to pay to offset emissions
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/top-brazilian-airlines-say-passengers-not-willing-pay-offset-emissions-2023-08-08/
• Bumpy flying: Air New Zealand faces up to the real cost of going green
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/bumpy-flying-air-new-zealand-faces-up-to-the-real-cost-of-going-green/ZCZN37JQXZAYJDMIIVDXIMNKNQ/
• France calls for an end to cheap flights in Europe
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/31/france-eu-cheap-air-tickets-flights-environment-emissions/
… alternative travel modes
RAIL
• An aviation researcher’s ode to the train
https://theicct.org/an-aviation-researchers-ode-to-the-train-aug23/
• How air travellers can cut their door-to-door emissions right now – by as much as 13% on the Sydney-Melbourne route
https://theconversation.com/how-air-travellers-can-cut-their-door-to-door-emissions-right-now-by-as-much-as-13-on-the-sydney-melbourne-route-211099
… measuring them
FLIGHT FOOTPRINTS
• Pegasus Airlines Launches Climate Tool To Help Passengers Estimate Their Carbon Impact
https://simpleflying.com/pegasus-airlines-estimate-carbon-impact/
https://flypgs.chooose.today/#scrollTo=xg78xfkvkbsfs7bdvx4ke3
• How can businesses account for the full climate impact of their corporate air travel?
https://travelsmartcampaign.org/library/how-can-businesses-account-for-the-full-climate-effect-of-their-corporate-air-travel/
• Blue skies, green air travel: ESG in the aviation industry
https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/blue-skies-green-air-travel-esg-aviation-industry-2023-08-28/
Climate emergency
• Carbon reduction must increase by eight times to curb climate change
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-15/chief-scientist-cathy-foley-carbon-reduction-climate-change-qa/102729476
• I’ve spent 40 years in Antarctic research. Right now it’s facing a climate emergency so we must not put vital science on ice
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/22/ive-spent-40-years-in-antarctic-research-right-now-its-facing-a-climate-emergency-so-we-must-not-put-vital-science-on-ice
• Cap and Adapt: Failsafe Policy for the Climate Emergency
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344333610_Cap_and_Adapt_Failsafe_Policy_for_the_Climate_Emergency
• TUI: Heatwaves likely to affect where and when we holiday
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66449744
• Are we failing to see the wood for the trees on climate risks?
https://johnmenadue.com/are-we-failing-to-see-the-wood-for-the-trees-on-climate-risks/
• Fatal mistake: Intergenerational report misleads on climate risks
https://johnmenadue.com/fatal-mistake-intergenerational-report-misleads-on-climate-risks/
• Are Australia’s climate–security risks too hot to handle?
https://johnmenadue.com/are-australias-climate-security-risks-too-hot-to-handle/
