Air Travel Greening Up
A recent article published by the Los Angeles Times about Air New Zealand’s new eco-conscious initiatives has gotten me really excited about the future state of air travel and its impact on the environment.
The carrier has developed new technology and procedures in tandem with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to save fuel and cut down on carbon emissions on each flight. They are experimenting with various alternative fuel sources and are planning to fly a Boeing 747 partially powered by jet fuel refined from the seed of the jatropha weed plant later this year. Air New Zealand is aiming to use these alternative “biofuels” including fuel refined from algae for approximately 10% of its needs by 2013.
While New Zealand may not be on top of your list as a vacation or business trip destination, the airline is raising the bar for other airlines in the battle to cut down on carbon emissions across the aviation industry. And by the way, Air New Zealand has a service route between Los Angeles and London - something to consider the next time you are booking a flight into Europe, whether you are flying to London or stopping over for a connecting flight.
In the mean time, for those of you that rely on air travel and are worried about your carbon footprint, there are several organizations that you can donate to that invest in “clean energy” projects to off-set carbon emissions:
CarbonFund.org - Calculate your carbon footprint for a particular trip and then donate the specified amount of money needed to offset that amount of carbon emissions.
e-BlueHorizons.com - They will donate 50 percent of the net proceeds from your transaction to The Conservation Fund.
TerraPass.com - In addition to flights, you can purchase carbon offsets for home energy and dorm rooms.
