Can flying ever be eco-friendly? - Part Two - Carbon Offsetting

Carbon offsetting is the system that allows an individual or a business to counteract their carbon footprint by investing in the planting of trees or, more recently supporting eco-friendly projects overseas. Simply by paying a company like Carbon Neutral or Climate Care a small fee - as little as 75p sterling for a flight to the UK -  you can rest assured that the carbon you are generating is made up for elsewhere. It's always seemed a bit good to be true to me so I thought I would look into it further.

The first thing I discovered is that offsetting carbon is not just about planting trees. In fact tree planting has fallen out of fashion. The problem seems to be that although a single tree can absorb 1/2 a tonne of CO2 in it's lifetime, it is only temporarily stored and when the tree dies and decays the carbon is released again for more see Sinks Watch. There have also been stories about heavily sprayed, large mono-culture plantations populated with fast growing tree species which suck nutrients out of the ground and don't deliver on their CO2 targets. That is not to say that planting trees is a waste of time. Last week I was speaking to Keith Shirley who is thinking about planting trees on his own land to offset his carbon emissions. Climate care also supports a rainforest restoration project which works with Ugandan rangers to replant deforested lands.

Carbon offsetting companies are now offering other alternatives. Some support wind farms in developing countries, others work with communities in the developing world on projects that include providing energy saving stoves, people powered foot pumps and energy saving bulbs. I have no problem with helping these communities but I do feel that by offsetting my carbon this way I am allowing myself to be decadent with my emissions whilst expecting people in other parts of the world to pick up the tab. All this aside, I feel that by offsetting my flights in future I will be giving something back.

A more effective alternative to offsetting is to simply cut back on the amount of flights that youtake. To really make a statement why not take the pledge at low fly zone to stop flying for 12 months. 

Can flying ever be eco-friendly? - Part One - Biofuel

On Sunday Richard Branson's company,Virgin airlines, launched it's first biofueled flight. The tank was filled with a combination of traditional airline fuel, coconut oil and babassu oil which comes from the babassu palm tree. Branson is apparently committed to a green agenda for his businesses, you can read his recent interview with Freinds Of The Earth here. But even if all Virgin flights ran on biofuel is it enough to really make a difference?

There are concerns, The British Independent quotes The World Development Movement

"...even if all flights in the country used biofuels, the reduction in British aviation's contribution to climate change would be cancelled out by one year's growth in flights."

Maybe this is true but it should be considered that if air traffic is going to continue to increase surely it would be better if they were all flying on biofuel.

Another concern is that the growing popularity of biofuel is displacing food crops in the developing world. The cost of this is spiralling food costs which could eventually lead to famine.

But Branson has thought about this too. The test flight may have been fueled by nut oil but the long term plan is to develop biofuel for the future created using algae from sewers.

Only time will tell if these developments can make a significant difference but for the time being I will continue to try and limit the number of flights I take. Remember it might be quicker and cheaper in the short term to fly from one end of the country to the other but the cost to our future could be devastating.

In part two I will look into carbon offsetting.