March 2007 | On Our Radar
Fly the (Green) Friendly Skies
It’s common knowledge that flying is one of the most environmentally irresponsible choices the average American can make. The most obvious problem—that planes require thousands of gallons of fossil fuels for each flight—has recently been addressed somewhat by Bellevue-based online travel agent Expedia. Consumers who buy a flight on Expedia are given the option to offset the carbon expenditures of their flight at a cost ranging anywhere from five to thirty dollars. Though this is certainly a relief to conscientious travelers, offsetting feels, at best, a stopgap measure; aviation is still a tremendously wasteful industry, and until recently that waste seemed to be a necessary evil.
Airline industry giant Boeing is starting to address the ecological issues of flying by creating the most environmentally responsible midsize airliner ever, the 787 Dreamliner, which will begin general-use flying in 2008. Three sizes of the 787 will provide space for 210 to 330 passengers and, Boeing Chief Executive Harry Stonecipher announced, will be “built right here in Puget Sound.” The Dreamliner will use 20 percent less fuel than similar-sized airliners, which on an average flight equals 31 years of daily automobile commuting per passenger. Part of this staggering fuel economy is due to more efficient engines and a completely overhauled electrical system that uses sixty miles less copper wiring per plane. This efficiency is also due to the fact that each Dreamliner is thirty to forty thousand pounds lighter than comparable planes.
The Dreamliner is built from composite materials. “This literally means the combination of two materials to create a superior material,” explains Jeff Hawk, Boeing Director for Certification, Government Relations and Environment. “In the case of the (Dreamliner) we are combining carbon fibers with a resin that is hardened to make a very durable and lightweight material that is not subject to corrosion or fatigue.” The composite construction allows for both a lighter flying weight and a fuselage manufactured from one piece, eliminating tens of thousands of minor parts from the jet’s construction.
The end result is a plane that puts out 30 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than the current aviation requirements demand of today’s smaller 767s. In fact, the Dreamliner exceeds all future regulations set to date by the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection.
Stonecipher calls the Dreamliner “a true game-changer for the industry and for the traveling public.” It’s true, these innovations are good business for Boeing. Lower fuel costs, larger capacity for cargo and the ability to fly farther than most other planes in Dreamliner’s flight class would be economic and environmental coups for any aviation company. In another green-minded innovation, Boeing preplanned the complete life cycle of the Dreamliner: The company devised a strategy to recycle the plane when it’s retired in thirty or forty years. This cradle-to-grave thinking is representative of a new kind of forward-thinking corporate philosophy—proof positive that profitable, efficient and environmentally sound don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
—Paul Constant
Get Active
If the long dark nights of winter have you dreaming of a spring break-style getaway, “voluntourism” — combining vacation with volunteer service — offers a meaningful alternative to boozing it up in Cabo or joining the throngs of Hawaiian tourists now or any time of year. Here are a few sample itineraries:
Thailand’s Andaman coast is still reeling from the 2004 tsunami that leveled its villages and devastated its fragile economy. Join Go Differently on one of its many planned ‘07 excursions where you may clear debris, plant seedlings, teach children or even help tsunami widows craft handmade soaps. www.godifferently.com
Globe Aware offers one-week, tax-deductible service vacations in a number of exotic locales. Help construct a community center in a small Brazilian village, teach Peruvian children first aid, English and computer skills or refurbish dilapidated schools in Vietnam. www.globeaware.com
If an overseas voyage is too far or too expensive, stay stateside and lend a hand down in the Big Easy. Relief Spark needs able bodies to gut homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and salvage personal belongings. www.reliefspark.org
Prefer to stay closer to home? Seattle is famous for its urban forests. Help keep the Emerald City green and join the Green Seattle Partnership. This group has goals to restore 2,500 acres of forested parkland in the city of Seattle. To become one of Green Seattle’s “STARS” (Stream, Trails And Reforestation Stewards) visit gwww.reenseattle.org
Turning Up the Heat
2006: Warmest Year on Record in U.S. History
With New Yorkers soaking up a sunny, 72-degree day the same week Southern California’s oranges froze right on the branch, this winter had even global-warming naysayers fretting over the effects of climate change. The warmest year on record in U.S. history, 2006 saw an average annual temperature of 55 degrees F; 2.2 degrees higher than the twentieth century mean, according to the National Climatic Data Center. Even Colorado, with its triple-threat of mid-winter blizzards, recorded temperatures about 1degrees C above normal in December.
While nationwide rising temps are indeed likely linked to increases in greenhouse gases, global warming isn’t solely responsible for last season’s wacky weather. “There are three main causes: natural variability, El Niño and global warming,” says Jeffrey Masters, Ph.D., Director of Meteorology for Weather Underground, weather provider for the Associated Press. Natural variability is the number-one factor at work, according to Masters, with a moderate El Niño episode triggering some upward movement on the thermometer.
Still, it’s global warming that may end up delivering more and more warm winters—and summers—in the years to come. And that warming trend won’t be U.S.–specific, Masters predicts. “Usually when one part of the world has an exceptionally warm season, it’s exceptionally cold in an adjacent region,” he says. “But this year, we had record warm temperatures over almost all the land areas of the northern hemisphere.”
Besides the increased opportunity for midwinter sunbathing, the warmer weather may offer some initial benefit. “In general, this may have a positive impact in the short-term,” explains Masters. “Heating costs are lower, and the Western half of the country should have a longer growing season.” But at the same time, higher temps will probably yield more intense droughts and more frequent flooding, he adds.
Masters’s greatest concern, though, is the melting of sea ice in the Arctic, a worsening problem that may further raise air temperatures. In fact, the Arctic may reach completely ice-free conditions during the summer by 2040, according to a recent report by the Journal of Geophysical Research. “We’ve already lost about 20 percent of the ice coverage in the summertime in the Arctic Ocean,” says Masters. “And there’s no denying that, as the Earth keeps on warming, that trend is going to continue.”
—Elizabeth Barker
Carbon-Offsetting: A Guilt-Free Pass?
The next time you book an airline ticket you may find yourself facing an environmental dilemma: Should you pay for a “pass” to offset the carbon emissions your plane releases into the atmosphere?
Carbon-offsetting programs, including brand names TerraPass, Carbonfund.org and e-BlueHorizons, have flourished recently as consumers concerned about global warming try to repair their personal damage to the earth’s atmosphere.
The programs work by calculating the “carbon footprint” associated with certain types of human activity, such as air and car travel. Then, when consumers purchase their credits, they promise to offset the corresponding carbon emissions released by those activities.
For instance, the TerraPass program sells a “fly green” pass through travel website Expedia.com. Prices range from $5.99, for offsetting the carbon emissions for one passenger on “short-haul” flights, to $29.99 for international trips. TerraPass offsets these emissions by investing in renewable energy sources, promoting industrial efficiencies, and by purchasing and retiring emissions credits from the Chicago Climate Exchange. Other offset programs invest in reforestation projects as well.
But, do they really work?
“It remains to be seen how effective they’re going to be,” reports Liz Martin-Perera, a Climate Policy Specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“Our first answer would be to reduce your energy consumption and use of fossil fuels as much as you can. That’s going to save you money and do the best for the planet. And, it’s in your control right up front.”
After you’ve reduced your carbon footprint, Martin-Perera says you can offset your remaining “pieces of emissions” through these programs. “That’s the philosophy, so it’s not a guilty conscience thing, like buying a Hummer and then buying the offsets.”
Gordon Hard, senior editor at Consumer Reports, researched carbon-offset programs and concludes in the January issue that buying credits is “one way to cut CO2 emissions.”
“At this point, because it’s so early in the game, it’s sort of a feel good thing, but it is real,” he states. Hard is especially enthusiastic about programs that use cap-and-trade financial instruments, which he says have a proven record of success in reducing emissions.
Hard and Martin-Perera both note the significance of several emerging offset verification programs, such as Green-e from the Center for Resource Solutions. They identify these “gold-standard” certifications as a meaningful step toward ensuring that the offsets sold by consumer programs are correctly executed, not duplicated and yield the offsetting results that they promise.
Hard emphasizes that carbon-offset programs are not going to change the world overnight. He believes consumers still contribute a very small amount of money to what is a very large problem.
“It’s kind of like going to a state forest,” he asserts. “You pack out what you pack in. You’re not necessarily cleaning up the entire forest, but you’re not making it worse either. And, perhaps you pick up someone else’s garbage while you’re there, too. That’s the theme, and we think it’s a pretty reasonable idea.”
—Jennifer Roche
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