Is Flying Worse for the Environment Than Driving?

Over the years there has been a lot of talk about how big a role automobile and truck emissions have played in climate change. People have accepted the fact that our dependence on fossil fuels to power our vehicles is damaging our environment.

It is only in recent years that any attention has been given to the role that air travel is playing in this whole problem. While air traffic suffered a setback after the 9-11 tragedy, the industry is recovering and the popularity of air travel has increased. When you look at fuel consumption for a trip across the country, a car with a single occupant uses as much fuel and produces as much carbon dioxide as jet full of passengers. However, with jets there are added negative environmental factors.

1. More and more communities surrounding major airports are seeing an increase in cancer due to the toxic fumes from jet fuel.

2. Noise pollution is increasing around airports due to the increase in air traffic miles.

3. Biodiversity is affected, as wildlife is being displaced by the building and expanding of airports.

4. Toxic chemicals such as deicing fluids are being dumped on the ground.

5. Airplanes are known to emit many toxic gasses in addition to carbon dioxide.

6. Air travel takes place in the upper atmosphere where the negative effects of polluting gasses is even higher than they would be at ground level.

What is the airline industry doing?

In the past, the airline industry was not overly concerned about the environmental impacts their industry generated, but that is changing. More and more airlines are becoming pro active in their approach to cleaning up the environment. Some are even publishing annual environmental reports to let the public be aware of their efforts. Airplane and engine manufacturers are also taking steps to make their products more fuel efficient.

With an estimated 20 billion gallons of jet fuel being used annually (as of 2007) alternative fuels are being considered. Chicken fat, pond scum and algae are being considered as alternative fuels. With 40% of the cost of an airline ticket going towards fuel costs, finding a cheaper fuel will help this industry tremendously. We just have to be careful. Lower fuel costs should lead to lower ticket prices and make it more economical for people to travel by air thus increasing air miles. Until non-polluting sources of powering these airplanes can be found, they will continue to damage the environment.

So what can be done now?

Airline travelers who are concerned about the impact that their travel is making on the environment are turning to carbon offsetting. Carbon calculators from websites such as http://terrapass.com are available to allow travelers to determine how much carbon dioxide their trip is creating and allow them to purchase an offset for that amount. Companies are springing up that allow you to purchase these offsets, and even some airports have kiosks that sell carbon offsets. While this is a good idea, the ethics of carbon offsetting that allows polluters should be allowed to buy their way out of the damage they do remains a debatable topic.

Conclusion

Airline travel for long distances makes sense, but for short distances, it is still better to use a fuel efficient automobile. As more and more awareness about the negative effect that fossil fuels is having on this planet, the airline industry is falling in line with the automobile manufacturers to produce fuel efficient airplanes and to develop cleaner fuels. It looks as though the world, and especially the United States is coming to realize that they can’t keep polluting this earth and are finally taking steps to reduce pollution. This is a good thing!