Resources

Why we should fly less

“How bad is air travel for the environment?”. Studies have shown that the ability of airplanes to deliver their emissions directly in the upper atmosphere speeds up their effects on the environment more than the same gases at a lower altitude. Bland (2012)
“Airplane cabin air contains toxins from engine lubricants”. “Cabin air, knowingly polluted by highly toxic, thermally degraded substances, is in direct violation of the WHO guidelines”. Gelblum (2018)
“Why i only take one holiday flight a year”. “There is no longer any doubt that we need to reduce the number of flights we take to help tackle climate change – and make any trip we do go on count”. Vidal (2019)
“How your flight emits as much CO2 as people do in a year: Even short-haul flights produce huge amounts of CO2, figures show”. Kommenda (2019)
“If seeing the world helps ruin it, should we stay home?”. With global warming on our doorstep, and the awareness of the role flying plays in it, yet we fly more and more. Newman (2019)
Climate Change: Views from the Humanities, a nearly carbon-neutral conference hosted by UCSB in 2016
How flying does not correlate to academic success. News article. Peer-reviewed article. “Reducing air travel does not impact academic productivity, claims study”. Wynes, Donner, Tannason, and Nabors (2019)
Calculating the Carbon Dioxide emission from flights. Peer-reviewed article. Impossible as it is to measure precisely carbon emissions, carbon calculators are handy when it comes to getting estimations. Jardine C. N.(2009)
On students carbon footprints. Peer-reviewed article. “While students cause less emissions through heating because of smaller living space per person, they cause significantly more emissions by aviation”. Sippel (2017)
Real cost of air travel: Flying, Jet-setting, & the Climate. Can one be green and still fly? Manda (2013)
To fly or not to fly? The environmental cost of air travel. Many studies estimate aviation’s share of global CO2 emission at slightly above 2%, but others argue that to be a portion of the real situation. Sullivan A. (2018)
“Excellent video” by Hugh Hunt on visualizing the carbon impact of flying
“Insight: Air travel and air pollution”. “Commercial jet aircraft generates more pollution than all human activity in Africa”. TRT World (2017)
“The ecological footprint of flying”. When comparing the ecological footprint of different means of transport, flying takes the lead by far in terms of resource consumption. Good Print (2016)
“No fly movement: can we stop flying?”. Should flying be banned or airlines start operating sustainably? Diversified opinions from experts on a roundtable discussion. TRT World – Roundtable (2019)
Simple spreadsheet to determine associated CO2 emissions for people who fly in smaller aircraft (thanks to Paul Grogan and Steve Matthews): CO2 emissions calculator for travel in small fixed-wing and helicopter aircraft
“Sorry, Flying Is Really, *Really* Bad For The Environment. Here’s What To Do If You Love Travel“. One round trip from Vancouver to Toronto creates the same amount of emissions as an average year of travelling by car. Rachel C. (2019)
“Aviation Q&A: the impact of flying on the environment“. Individual trips by air exhibit a large carbon footprint. Duncan C. (2010)
“Climate change: Should you fly, drive or take the train?“. The individual carbon footprint of travelling by car is greater than travelling by plane. However, carbon emissions straight into high altitude by planes are more alarming with regard to the environment. BBC-Science & Environment (2019)
“Is Flying Bad For the Planet?“. Aviation industry is the biggest source of carbon gases in the atmosphere, and more alarming is the tremendous expansion of this industry. Rinkesh (2019)
“Aviation emissions, Impacts, and Mitigation: A primer“. Aviation has contributed immensely to the world’s social-economic development, and it is evolving as the world population grows. The aviation expansion goes along with diversified effects on the planet, effects that need to be controlled. Office of Environment and Energy (2015)
“Environmental law and sustainability in international aviation“. Pollution generated from aircraft emissions their effects on the planet with regards to high altitude. Stephen D. (McGill University)
“Up in the air: How airplane carbon pollution jeopardizes global climate goals“. If unchecked, by 2050, aircraft emissions are expected to more than triple. Center for Biological Diversity (2015)
“Information on aviation’s environmental impact“. Mostly discussed environmental impacts of aviation are climate change and noise. However, aviation impacts other sectors as well, such as air quality and local environments. Civil Aviation Authority (2017)
“Civil aviation, air pollution, and human health“. Two aspects of aviation, aircraft emissions and aviation rapid growth, have raised a considerable concern with regards to human health due to exposure to pollutants. Roy H. et al (2015)
“European Aviation Environmental Report 2019“. Although aviation has improved the economy and connectivity within Europe, its increasing contribution to climate change, noise pollution, and poor air quality is worsening health and life quality of European citizens. European Environment Agency (2019)
“The environmental impacts of increased international air transport“. As aviation markets increase, the aviation damage to the environment will continue to grow. Eric P. (2008)
“Global, regional and local health impacts of civil aviation emissions“. Long term exposure to polluted air from aircraft emissions causes significant untimely deaths. Steve Y. (2015)
“KLM has some unusual advice for its customers: Fly less“. KLM encourages its customers, under some circumstances, not to purchase flights for the sake of the environment and a sustainable aviation. Chris B. (2019)
“The Impact of Aircraft Engine Emissions in the Upper Atmosphere“. Aviation gas emissions impacts are identifiable through noise pollution, global climate change, water quality, and air quality. Paul S. (McGill University)
“Long-term exposure to aircraft emissions causes premature death“. Not only does aviation contribute to global warming through greenhouse gases emissions, aircraft emissions have also a significant impact on air quality, and on human health in the same process. European Commission (2015)
“It is up in the air“. By 2030, aviation’s share of greenhouse gases is estimated to rise by 300 to 700% unless we do something about it. Burian I. (2018)
“Environmental Impacts of Airports and Aviation”. Discussion of the London Assembly with regards to the expansion of Heathrow Airport and the traffic increase at the London City Airport. London Assembly
“Environmental impact of aviation”. Greenhouse gas emissions increased by 87% in the European Union between 1990 and 2006. Wiz Science (2015)
“Airlines Were Supposed to Fix Their Pollution Problem. It’s Just Getting Worse”. While other sectors are seeing to that their carbon emission decreases, for the aviation sector it’s quite the opposite as more and more people are flying and there is no tangible plan on behalf of the aviation community on mitigation measures. Wilkes (2019)
“Cutting Aviation Pollution”. Aviation is among the top 10 carbon-polluters, and if no action is taken, greenhouse gas emissions from the latter might triple by 2050. World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
“Aviation faces challenge to reduce pollution”. Some of the proposed solutions to reduce carbon emission were proven not to be feasible, such as the adoption of biofuel which exhibits a high cost and accentuate the pressure around arable land. Phys.org

The reality we face (WeDontHaveTime, 2018)

How to reduce flying related pollution

“Climate change poll”: “Would you stop flying to lower your CO2 emissions?”. Kettley (2019)
Mitigation of carbon footprint of aviation. Master thesis. Public awareness and better technology dissemination, among others, as the best approach to mitigate aviation carbon footprint. Schare (2011)
How walking the talk increases the credibility of advocates. News article. Peer-reviewed article. There is a correlation between researchers’ carbon footprints and their credibility. Attari, Krantz, and Weber (2016)
Our influence spreads as we fly less. Masters thesis. Leading by example, as in putting a stop to flying sends a powerful and effective message to shift people’s behavior. Westlake (2017)
On the importance of role modeling emissions reductions. Peer-reviewed article. It was proved that leaders’ behavior is a key component in shaping followers’ attitudes and involvement. Gächter and Renner (2018)
“How to reduce your carbon footprint when you fly”. Technics and tricks to minimize one’s carbon footprint when flying. BBC News
Flying Less, a petition for academics with over 400 signatories
How academic and professional organizations can reduce air travel to conferences. Peach (2019)
Join the movement to induce change in individuals’ behaviour for a more sustainable world. Innerplanet
We are students who launched a European Citizens’ Initiative, a participatory democracy instrument. We propose the introduction of a kerosene tax for flights within the EU. More information and link to the petition on our website: http://www.endingaviationfueltaxexemption.eu/
Role of technological progress in cubbing down carbon emissions from flying in academia.
“Should climate scientists fly?”. “If climate scientists truly cared about bold climate action, why would they continue to fly and contradict their public advocacy?”. Myhre S. E. (2018)
“Could you give up flying?” Meet the no-plane pioneers. What we do as an individual matters, not only to us, but it also inspire people around us. Saner E. (2019)
“Flying is bad for the environment, here are some tips to make it less carbon-intensive“. Flying related pollution is obvious, but more important is the amount of carbon emission at take-off to push the plane in the air. Elisabeth W. (2018)
“Is Flying Bad For the Planet?“. The mitigation of air travel impacts on the environment can be undertaken through several approaches such as the invention of alternative sources of energy, carbon offsetting programs, among others. Rinkesh (2019)
“Flying Is Bad for the Planet. You Can Help Make It Better“. Flying adds a significant amount of warming gases in the atmosphere. Although there is no way around it, there are some ways to make air travel less harmful to the environment. Tatiana S. (2017)
“Reducing aviation’s climate impacts“. Some approaches such as the use of alternative fuels, stronger efficiency improvements,etc., can be undertaken to reduce aviation pollution. Environmental Defense Fund (2019)
“5 ways to make air travel greener“. Aviation industry is growing considerably over time, and its survival depends highly on reducing its impacts on the environment. Chung (2019)
“What can be done to tackle aviation emissions?“. Technics such as adopting new technologies, taxing aviation fuel, etc., are possible approaches to limit aviation emissions. Redmond S. (2019)
“What are the measures to reduce aviation emissions?“. Sustainable aviation fuel synthesized from sustainable feedstocks is the approach undertaken by Neste to control their gases emissions. Neste (2019)
“Could aviation be less polluting?“. Investing in Research and Development is key to improve efficiency in terms of fuel consumption. Russell H. (2019)
“With an eye toward lower emissions, clean air travel gets off the ground“. Could electric planes be the solution to aviation pollution? Ari S. (2019)
“A Win-Win solution to abate aviation CO2 emissions“. A benchmark CO2 intensity system can help regulate Carbon emissions in general, but also for the aviation industry especially when permits are tradable. Niven W. (2017)
“Aviation – Climate – Solutions“. The approach to tackle CO2 emission is executed with regard to three essential goals: fuel efficiency improvement, stabilize aviation CO2 emissions, and lastly reduce aviation CO2 emissions. Air Transport Action Group (2015)
“Aviation emissions policy statement and briefing note“. Carbon offsetting is proposed as the most suitable GMBM (Global Market-Based Measure) to reduce aviation carbon emissions. Global shippers forum (2016)
“Contribution of the global aviation sector to achieving Paris agreement climate objectives“. The solution to aviation carbon and other gases emissions lies in viable technology and accurate policies. CAN & ICSA (2017)
“ICAO agreement on CO2 emissions from aviation“. The key component of the agreement is to establish a global market based measure to regulate CO2 emissions from international aviation. European Parliamentary Research Service (2019)
“Climate change and International Civil Aviation negotiations“. Negotiations led to the development of a market based mechanism in the form of a carbon offset system. Veronica K. (2017)
“Managing the Carbon Footprint of Australian Aviation“. Australia managed to slow down the increase of CO2 emissions by emphasising on fuel efficiency improvement. Commonwealth of Australia (2017)
“How to get from Europe to Australia without flying“. The journey was time consuming and a little expensive compared to flying, but on the other hand it was a gratifying experience in terms of cultural exchanges and cutting down CO2 emissions. Ellie B. (2019)
“Reducing CO2 and air travel at ETH Zurich“. There is currently no evidence that improvements in aircraft technology will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we can only count on our behavior change capacity and fly less to reach the necessary reduction. Ulrich W. & Susann G. (2019)
“How scientists can reduce their carbon footprint“. The best way for the scientific community to cut down their share of greenhouse gas emissions is to minimize their long distance air travel. Jeremy N. & Peter S. (2016)
“ETH Zurich flight emissions: Reduction targets and corresponding measures“. Video conferencing has become a handful tool to limit travels and greenhouse gas emissions in the same way. Susann G. (2019)
“Swedes switch to trains due to global warming“. Thanks to the no-fly movement and climate change activist Greta Thunberg, most Swedes have turned to travelling by train to limit their greenhouse gas emissions. Nancy I. (2019)
“Please don’t fly in 2020: From Sweden to Berkeley, the ‘flight-shaming’ movement takes off“. Reducing flying impacts largely the environment than using solar power, driving electric cars, or recycling. Daphne W. (2019)
“Global Civil Aviation Emissions Standards – from Noise to Greener Fuels“. Are the established standards in terms aviation emissions enough to ensure a sustainable aviation industry? Ahmad T. (2016)
“Annex 16 to the convention on International Civil Aviation: Environmental protection“. International standards and practices were adopted to limit aviation emissions and their impacts on the environment. ICAO (2017)
“Airports, air pollution, and contemporaneous health“. The longer aircrafts stay on the tarmac waiting for takeoff, the higher the pollution emanated from them is, which increases levels of exposure to CO2 by airport occupants, leading to health issues. Wolfram & Reed (2015)
“Can Planes Ever Be Environmentally Friendly?” The role of research and development in the fight for environment. Seeker (2015)
“PLANE POLLUTION: Can flying go green?” controversial opinions, but long story short, with the actual technology we are still far from reaching a green aviation. Roundtable (2019)
“Sustainable aviation: Airlines doing more to cut carbon emissions“. Less fuel consuming engines and additional taxes on heavy luggages are some of the approaches airline compagnies have taken towards cutting down aviation carbon footprint. CNA (2019)
“The Environmental Cost of Flying | Travel + Sustainability“. Should Carbon offset be our first line of defence? Many argue we should first Avoid, Reduce, and Offset only as last resort. Sarah K. (2018)
“Climate change and aviation: Collective action to reduce our own air travel emissions?“. Individual, collective, global, and sub-global actions to be undertaken to mitigate aviation emissions. James H. (2018)
“International Aviation and Climate Change — global solutions for a global industry”. States and industries through ICAO have worked hand in hand towards specific global aviation goals such as fuel efficiency improvement, alternative fuels, among others. ICAO (2010)
“Helping aviation meet the environmental challenge”. Couple ways to mitigate aviation impact on the environment. EUROCONTROL (2016)
“Is the aviation industry free-riding on climate change efforts?”. Flying less alone might not be enough to counter aviation impacts on the environment, we might need to reduce the number of airports too. France24 (2018)
“KLM Fly Responsibly”. In all aviation history, an airline company has asked his clients to fly less. KLM (2019)
“These 7 simple airplane fixes could cut carbon emissions in half at little to no cost”. Some suggestions to aviation companies on how to mitigate their carbon footprint. Akpan (2015)
“How to reduce airline emissions”. We can’t expect salvation from technological progress for when it comes to aviation it is quite slow. Should we fly less? Transport & Environment
“5 Technologies That Could Help Curb Airplane Emissions”. According to NASA, switching to biofuel and altering the shape of airplanes, among other things, could bring a significant change to the mitigation of carbon emissions from the latter. Koch (2015)
“The Future of Flying – Is Sustainable Air Travel Possible?”. KLM’s efforts towards sustainable aviation. Chui (2020)
“H55 – Electric Aviation” Electric planes with zero Carbon emission happen to be functional, but there is still a long way to go before their commercial use. Solar Impulse (2019)
“Conference – Air pollution in airports”. GUENGL (2013)

Possible solutions (WeDontHaveTime, 2018)

Upcoming events

“Environmental Studies Association of Canada (ESAC) 2020 annual conference”. Theme: Confronting Colonialism and Anti-Black Racism”.
“ATAG 2020 Global Sustainable Aviation Summit”. Discussion on the ongoing efforts to make the aviation sector play its part in the long-term climate action. (September 29-20, 2020 Geneva, Switzerland)
“Biofuels 2020: 14th International Conference on Biofuels and Bioenergy”. The role of aviation biofuel in diminishing aviation carbon footprint and the environmental impacts of biofuels in the fight to mitigate climate change caused by fossil fuel. (June 22-23, 2020 Paris, France)
“Aerospace Europe Conference 2020”. Aerospace Europe Conference brings together the 3AF 3rd Greener Aviation, CEAS 7th Air & Space Conference and the 8th edition of Aircraft Noise and Emissions Reduction Symposium (ANERS). Theme: Greener Aerospace Innovative Technologies and Operations for a human friendly environment (February 25-28, 2020 Bordeaux, France)
“ICAAB 2020: 14. International Conference on Advances in Aviation Biofuels”. Discussion on recent discoveries, innovations, trends, challenges, and proposed solutions in the field of Aviation Biofuels. (May 18-19, 2020 Sydney, Australia)
“ICSBA 2020: 14. International Conference on Sustainable Biofuels for Aviation”. Discussion on recent discoveries, innovations, trends, challenges, and proposed solutions in the field of Sustainable Biofuels for Aviation. (February 27-28, 2020 Buenos Aires, Argentina)
“ICSA 2020: 14. International Conference on Sustainability of Aviation”. Discussion on recent discoveries, innovations, trends, challenges, and proposed solutions in the field of Sustainability Aviation. (July 23-24, 2020 Berlin, Germany)