10 April 2022 | Blockchain | Clean Tech | NFT
We are flying more than ever, and this trend continues: The International Air Transport Association reported that airline passenger numbers could almost double worldwide by 2037, to 8.2 billion annually.
But we cheer news for people who love to travel, on the contrary, this is bad news for the environment. Flights were responsible for 2.4 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions in 2018 — a figure expected to grow more than threefold by 2050.
A return flight from London to San Francisco emits around 5.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per person – more than twice the emissions produced by a family car in a year and about half of the average carbon footprint of someone living in Britain. Even a return flight from London to Berlin emits around 0.6 tonnes of CO2e – three times the emissions saved from a year of recycling.
In an interview with BBC, Dan Rutherford, shipping and aviation director at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), a US-based non-profit, estimates just 3% of the global population takes regular flights.
“Other substances, including most waters in the form of contrails, soot and nitrous oxides, all can trap additional heat at flight altitude,” says Stefan Gössling, a professor at Linnaeus and Lund universities in Sweden who specialises in sustainable tourism, said in an interview with BBC
Rutherford has developed a four-step process that he recommends cutting per flight emissions.
First, choose to fly with an airline that uses the newest aircraft possible for your route. These typically tend to be more efficient than older models and so produce less emissions.
It is also better to book an economy ticket rather than go by a business or first class. A first-class ticket on a long-haul flight emits, on average, four times as much as an economy seat on the same plane.
Reducing the amount of stuff you take away with you will also impact emissions. The more you pack, the heavier your bags will be, and this adds to the amount of fuel being burned. “Anything that reduces the payload on an aircraft will reduce the fuel burn,” says Rutherford.
Thirdly, says Rutherford, avoid flying on very small or very large planes. “Very small regional jets or very large aircrafts with four engines are less fuel-efficient than your typical single-aisle or small twin-aisle aircraft,” he says.
Fourthly, choose direct flights without layovers. “To go through hubs is adding a major chunk of emissions to your flight and if you can avoid that, that will help quite a bit in cutting down on your emissions,” says Gössling. Source BBC
The United Nations created the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). The initiative aims to help airlines cancel out the environmental impact of growth in international flights after 2020 by making airlines buy carbon emissions reduction offsets.
It is not just for airlines to make a difference. As an individual you want to be an eco-friendly traveller, carbon offsets are a top option for you.
1. What are carbon offsets, and how do they work?
Carbon offsets offer a way to balance out your pollution by investing in projects that reduce carbon dioxide emissions or other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. For example, if you’re taking a long-haul flight from New York City to Melbourn, you can purchase a carbon offset to account for that specific environmental impact.
Such offset projects can vary widely.
“It ranges from paying a rice farmer to adopting different practices that reduce the amount of methane coming out of their rice paddies, otherwise known as Sustainable Agriculture.
State Government Planting trees to improve forest management and increase the amount of carbon sequestered in the forest.
Offsets are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. You can determine how much carbon dioxide equivalent you’re on the hook for using online calculators, either from an independent source or a project’s website. Next, you would find a carbon offset project to support cancel out your pollution essentially.
Some projects directly help the environment and humans simultaneously,
A project such as Small Scale Biogas Projects, located in various villages in Taluka: Uchchhal, Mahuva, Vyara, Umarpada, Navsari, Savarkundla, Nizar, Adajan, Songadh and Kadi, in State Gujarat, India. The Project generates in excess of 4000 tCO2eq/yr emission reductions certified by SQAC, UK; the CoU (Carbon offset Units) are managed by registries like UCR
As far as accounting for your carbon pollution goes, it doesn’t matter what the carbon offset project is as long as it matches your carbon output.
2. Why should travellers buy carbon offsets?
You don’t have to be travelling to be concerned about your carbon dioxide emissions — anyone can buy a carbon offset. But because travel is particularly toxic to the environment, travellers may feel more compelled to account for their participation in the pollution. Now I can buy
3. How do I buy carbon offsets?
Once you’ve decided that you would like to buy a carbon offset, Now buying carbon credit is easy; Blockchain technology makes it possible, and Carbon Credits are available in digital tokens, specifically NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) forms. I can offset my Flight Carbon footprint of 1.7mtCo2 for a return flight to Dubai from Hyderabad, India, through NFT tokens.
Linking with a digital token does not compromise the nature of or the ongoing activities of carbon reduction projects. According to Toucan, opening the carbon offsetting market to crypto trading can improve transparency by giving users access to price points that are publicly visible on crypto exchange websites.
NFTs are increasingly being leveraged for climate change, with initiatives ranging from raising awareness to fundraising; moreover, NFTs are used as an immutable record for impact and carbon credits. SavePlanetEarth is launching certified Carbon Credit Smart NFTs (Cointelegraph)
“The world’s rapidly scaling voluntary carbon markets need to be run on a transparent, digital and neutral system to maximise their impact,” James Farrell, CTO at Toucan Labs, told WSJ.
TRST01. is developing NFT-based carbon credits, enabling users to track, trade, and burn credits so that there is no double counting.
Reference
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