| Contact | Help | Shop | Search | Photo Gallery |

You are in: Editor's Blogs

Previous Editor's Blogs

15/12/2006 - A Consequence of Cheap Airfares 

The lure of cheap airfares and discount hotel rooms has, in recent years, encouraged more and more of us to hop overseas with greater frequency. Indeed, in Europe at least, it's all too tempting to check out easyJet or Ryanair's latest ticket promotions as a means to explore new city break destinations.

Of course, the downside is that, with each flight we take, we're only adding to the problem of carbon dioxide emissions. With aviation alone, the amount of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere doubled during the 1990s, while emissions from the rest of the UK economy fell. And, with aircraft producing about 5.5% of the UK's overall CO2 emissions, it falls upon government, industry and, to a lesser degree, the public themselves to tackle the problem head on.

Virgin Atlantic's announcement that it will conduct trials both at Gatwick and US locations to tow its Boeing 747-400 aircraft to take-off areas (which it's said could save up to two tonnes of fuel per flight) has been greeted with a fair amount of cynicism by the press. Yet, this step, which to an airline is akin to turning off the tap whilst brushing your teeth could, over the course of a year, reduce carbon emissions by 120,000 tonnes if extended across its fleet. And that's just for a single airline.

Of course, this shouldn't detract from the fact that, long-term, urgent steps have to be taken by both airlines and aircraft manufacturers to address this issue. And whilst doubters will argue that it's as much to do with lowering Mr Branson's fuel bill as it is saving the planet, there's no doubt that such initiatives can wring benefits, particularly if there's a financial incentive to do so.

Which begs the question. Should we be imposing a tax on jet fuel to help curb emissions? Well, as it happens, MEPs in Brussels recently voted in favour of the "immediate introduction" of a tax on jet fuel for flights within the 25 member states of the EU. What's more, they also accepted a recommendation to adopt a special emissions trading scheme for the aviation industry, which would see airlines buying permits to cover their output of carbon dioxide.

In real terms, air passengers will be charged up to £40 extra for a return ticket within Europe to pay for the environmental impact of their journeys. Unfair? Well, I for one think it's a price worth paying. Especially if it means aircraft of the future will be designed with green credentials firmly in mind. And let's not forget that, with aviation set to account for almost half of Britain's total CO2 emissions by 2050 (as opposed to 6 per cent today) it's a growing problem. And one that needs to be tackled now.
 

You are in: Editor's Blogs
 

| Contact | Help | Shop | Search | Photo Gallery |
© Talking Webs. All Rights Reserved.
 
| Privacy Statement | Copyright Information |
Content on this website may not be used without
prior permission from the website's owners.