... Posted to follow up to the discussion we had a couple weeks ago - on the energy costs and pollution emitted in flying to go on bicycle trips abroad. (Just for your information this time.)
Mike Neuman --------------------------------------------------------------- The real cost of those lower airline fares Irish Independent, 10 June 2005 - Everyone loves saving money on low-cost air travel. But most of us are oblivious to the possibility that cheap air fares could ultimately cost the earth. According to environmentalists, aviation is the fastest growing cause of carbon dioxide emissions and the biggest cause of climate change on the planet. Thanks to the boom in no-frills air travel, bigger aircraft crisscross skies that are busier than ever, making governmental pledges to reduce gas emissions virtually impossible to achieve. Flying from London to Florida and back produces the equivalent in CO2 of a year's average motoring. A flight to Paris releases 40 times more pollutants than Eurostar, while environmental experts say a train would have to travel from London to Madras and back before polluting the air as much as a 747's return flight from London to Prague. Ironically, the threat posed to the environment by civil aviation will probably result in the end of cheap air travel for consumers as pressure grows internationally for a charge on carbon emissions and the introduction of aviation fuel taxes and VAT, which would push up the average cost of a flight and price many people out of the air. Already this week air passengers were facing a new charge as many EU countries get set to introduce a new departure tax earmarked for development aid. Ireland has so far not approved the tax but travellers going to France, Germany, Belgium and elsewhere would pay another E10 on the return leg of their fights. But few of us stop to think about the environment as we book yet another flight to Alicante or Rome. Over the June Bank Holiday weekend alone, 300,000 people passed through Dublin Airport. Some 18 million passengers are expected to travel through the capital's airport this year and that figure is expected to grow to just under 30 million by 2014. Aircraft movements at Dublin Airport are expected to grow from 170,000 this year to 220,000 in 2014 and, as was announced recently, a second terminal will be built to ease current congestion and deal with projected growth. According to Friends of the Earth, planes pump out eight times more carbon dioxide per passenger mile than a train. A return flight to Australia will release as much CO2 as all the heating, light and cooking for a house in a year. Scientists say that aircraft emissions going straight into the stratosphere have nearly three times the global-warming effect of emissions from cars and power stations at ground level. "It was only when all planes were grounded in New York following 9/11 that people noticed how clear the skies suddenly were," says Robert Pocock of Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment. "Go to any area under a flight path at Heathrow and the smell of aviation fuel is dire. On a weekly basis, aeroplanes have to dump fuel at altitude. The environmental cost of cheap air travel is a huge issue fraught with problems." John Shanahan of Cultivate, the Centre for Sustainable Living in Dublin, says climate change is one of the most drastic effects of cheap air travel. "We all love flying cheaply but basically we're taking oil out of the ground and dispersing it in the atmosphere, the result of which is climate change," he says. "Tony Blair is making climate change a top G8 and European presidency issue but there's a clash of interests. While he's talking about climate change, the UK is planning more airport runways. There's a dishonest, schizophrenic governmental attitude to the issue." Extreme climate change events are already said to be more frequent. A 2003 European heatwave caused 26,000 deaths. Natural disasters caused by climate change kill an estimated 160,000 people around the world every year. Green Party TD Eamon Ryan says the environmental cost of air travel is something that "no one talks about much at the moment" but will soon become a hot political issue. "The findings of the Royal Commission's report on Environmental Pollution in Britain three years ago were quite dramatic," he says. "The effect of contrails from civil aviation are a serious cause of radiating heat back and there are increasing calls for regulation of the continuous increase in civil aviation." Currently, there is no tax or VAT on aviation fuel anywhere in the world. Critics say that international aviation policy allows for unchecked growth of air travel driven by market demand, which is in turn driven by falling ticket prices. "Pollution created at 35,000ft has a much more dramatic effect than pollution at ground level," says Eamon Ryan. "So what do you do about it? The French government has proposed a tax on aviation fuel but at a finance ministers' meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, our own Finance Minister Brian Cowen opposed such a tax, possibly in the interests of our two very successful airlines, Aer Lingus and Ryanair." But, says TD Ryan, this issue is not going to go away. "People haven't woken up yet to the very real changes that are coming in the not-too-distant future. We have to start counting the cost of carbon and it's only a matter of time before internationally, people start putting a price on carbon emissions. How can countries like the UK and Germany possibly meet their Kyoto commitments to cut gas emissions by 60% whilst simultaneously trebling aircraft numbers? "Ireland is already well over its gas emission limits under the Kyoto agreement yet the Government is now planning for a new runway at Dublin airport; it doesn't make any sense. The Government obviously thinks it can buy its way out of the problem through carbon trading but as the amount we need to cut gas emissions grows, that may not be a sustainable long-term option." Ryanair, the prince of low-cost air travel, insists that it is committed to reducing emissions, with a E7.75bn fleet-replacement programme featuring next-generation Boeing 737-800s, which the company says have a lower fuel-burn resulting in less carbon dioxide emissions. Ryanair also claims to reduce per-passenger emissions through higher load factors. It is opposed to carbon charges on the grounds that they would increase fares and discourage competition. The company insists it will not add on fuel surcharges. As far as the consumer is concerned, the impact on low fares could be two-tiered. If the introduction of environmental surcharges doesn't push up fares in the next five years, it is likely that increasing oil prices will. Last week Ryanair announced it had bought forward three-quarters of its winter fuel, indicating that it expects oil prices to increase again in the face of diminishing supply and increased demand. "Oil prices are the other big issue along with climate change," says Eamon Ryan. "Ryanair hedged supplies at around $ 47 a barrel, almost double what the price was previously. According to Goldman Sachs, oil could reach $ 105 a barrel. Airlines are only starting to feel the pinch of oil price increases and Michael O'Leary was right when he said there will be a crisis in the airline industry that many companies will not be able to weather. "George Bush stated a few weeks ago that we are facing a real crisis in terms of diminished oil supply. One of the most exposed industries is civil aviation because there is no alternative fuel for getting planes off the ground. The Government thinks we don't have to worry for another 25 years, but I believe it's a lot closer than that - within the next 10. "The peak of oil production is imminent and that will have a significant impact on air fares. They on't be as cheap. The days of E5 fares will be seen as a historical anachronism." Copyright 2005 Irish Independent Irish Independent http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=M TUzNTA _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
