Carbon Neutral Flights

Reducing the Environmental Impact of Air Travel

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1988) met about the problem of potential global climate change in January 2007, and emerged with the strongest warnings ever about global warming and the human contribution to it. Air travel has been noted as contributing to global climate change.

Even shorter flights involve hundreds of pounds of fuel per passenger. A roundtrip between New York and London can equal more than 2 months worth of gas for driving your car. And with the increased focus on climate change and global warming, the environmental impact of flights has had a lot more focus.

But what can you do as a consumer? There are literally hundreds of projects that focus on green energy. I've included a list of some of the companies and not-for profit organizations that have calculators that show how much your flight costs in terms of the price you will need to pay to neutralize its polluting effects. Short haul roundtrips are priced at under $5 roundtrip.

Also, several electric companies in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia are providing greener options. I fly a lot every year, and switched to a company that provides energy via wind power and low impact water power. It costs more, about a dollar a day, but it means knowing that nuclear/gas/fossil fuels are not what I am paying for. It is impossible to be completely green, especially when you fly a lot of both short and long haul flights.

Air Travel Climate Calculators and Offsetting Options

• Sustainable Travel International(STI)
  This not-for-profit organization, based in the U.S., is geared towards education and outreach services with a focus on the effects of travel and tourism. Supports several projects around the world.
• Silverjet
  The world's first airline to go carbon neutral - they levy the environmental cost for each passenger on their flights and include it in the ticket price. Silverjet began flying in January, 2007.
• Carbon Neutral
  Based in the UK, Carbon Neutral has several projects in different parts of the world.
• Uniglobe Travel Canada
  When you travel with Uniglobe Travel, you can purchase carbon offset certificates, with the money then invested in sustainable technology projects in Canada.
• Ben and Jerry
  The icecream makers support NativeEnergy, a tribal-owned company, which is constructing a wind farm in South Dakota.
• Climate Friendly
  This Australian company has projects that include wind energy in Australia and New Zealand.
• Terrapass
  Terrapass projects
  Based in California, Terrapass is involved in several projects as linked to above.
• Zero Footprint
  This not-for-profit organization for U.S. and Canadian residents gives you different packages of offset options.