Environmental and climate protection is currently being talked a lot. But what does this mean for our travels? Vegetables buy Thailand book a flight, CO2-compensation numbers? That’s not enough, say experts – yet.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg from Sweden, never flies. Even for the United Nations climate summit in New York in September, they would like to cross the Atlantic ocean without having to get on a plane – instead, they will arrive probably by ship.
Greta continues with her behavior, while setting new standards for sustainable travel, but the General Trend is previously a other: air traffic is growing steadily. Around a third of global passenger traffic alone has increased between the years 2009 and 2014. More than 3 billion people, rose in this period, every year, on the plane. The largest growth was in Asia.
Choose the green and fly on holiday?
And the Trend is continuing: For Germany alone, the German air and space centre to 2030 predicts an increase to 175 million passengers per year – if all goes on as before. For comparison: in 2014, there were 105 million.
This is remarkable when you consider that one out of every five Germans voted in the European elections in may for the Green party, undlaut a recent study by the Federal environment Ministry, more than two-thirds of the Berfragten keep the environmental and climate protection is a very important challenge. The theme of travel, but the climate seems to be-not to mention Conscience.
“We fly only every two, three years”
In the morning at the airport in Cologne-Bonn. It’s quiet, has not yet started the main travel time. The 30-year-old Piet, and the 29-year-old Claudia fly for a week to Thessaloniki in Greece. No, a bad Conscience, he is not, says Piet. “We only fly every two to three years. Also this is our honeymoon.”
On into a new frontier? For the climate it is better not to!
On the arrival level, Sergei is waiting for his Cousin. “I fly four to five Times a year,” says a Student from the Czech Republic. Finally, he wanted to see as much as possible of the world and with the flyer it is stated, to many destinations. And the climate? “Oh, somehow, everything is bad for the climate,” says Sergei.
In Germany also this year want to use, according to an Emnid survey, about 20 percent of the plane for the trip to the summer holidays, 36 percent prefer to take the car on holiday, only 7 percent take the train.
CO2-balancing – helps’s really?
If you like, you can for flying and also for the car the own CO2 to compensate for emissions. Organizations, such as “myclimate or atmosfair” calculate how many pollutants a traveller blows on a line with the respective means of transport in the air and how much money is needed to the resulting climate damage elsewhere to compensate, such as through the promotion of renewable energies in developing countries.
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According to the German Federal environment Agency (UBA) the CO2 consumption of the German per capita at the highest a ton of in the year, to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. Piet and Claudia are with your flight to Thessaloniki and back together for the more than 1.4 tonnes of CO2-climate effect. The proposed prices of the Komen compensation calculator are around 34 euros for this route.
Sergei, a Student from the Czech Republic, has been paid to date, no CO2 compensation for flights. “Maybe later, if I earn more money,” he says.
The Federation for nature and environmental protection Germany (BUND) is located while voluntary compensation payments. Arne fur man, an expert in transport policy at the NGO, however, to bear in mind: “You launches first CO2 compensation is initially only on paper. And while the climate impact of flying immediately, must be climate-protection measures are correctly designed, and a long time to work.”
Don’t say: each project, for example, a wind Turbine is set up, is actually a climate-related project.
State subsidies for climate-damaging travel
Not only the FEDERAL government, the Federal environment Agency therefore requests that the existing tax concessions for flights to dismantle. In Germany, as in most other EU States, Airlines pay no tax on kerosene. How the AAP writes in its subsidy report in 2016, rejected the idea of Germany alone in the year 2012, this more than seven billion euros kerosene taxes. Currently, the total would be in the face of growing air traffic are even higher.
By a tax on aircraft fuel, kerosene alone could be in Europe every year is 16.4 million tonnes of CO2 saved, it says in a so far unpublished study by the EU-Commission has made of the environmental group Transport and Environment (T&E) in mid-may, public. A few weeks later, France explained to for the introduction of a Europe-wide aviation tax and strong.
Fuel from water, CO2 and electricity
Back at the airport Cologne-Bonn. Rambhaskar and Ashrekha fly today with her children to Venice. “After Paris, we drove with the Bus. But with small children, 18, 20 hours to be in Italy – I can’t,” says Rambhaskar, the father of the Indian family from Cologne. He hope that, at last, the airlines something, so that less climate flies would be harmful.
In fact, about the company Lufthansa is researching the climate of their flight routes. The prevention of climate-the heat of formation of clouds, the focus is mainly. Elsewhere is fiddled to a climate-friendly replacement for petroleum.
“Power to Liquid”, PtL, is the System behind it. This is obtained with the help of renewable electricity by electrolysis of water hydrogen. After that is produced by the addition of CO2 from the air, synthetic Oil. From this, in turn, can generate – such as from fossil-fuel oil – kerosene and other fuels.
One of the companies that manufacture equipment for this procedure is a Sunfire from Dresden. In a consortium with other companies, the company is building a pilot plant in Rotterdam. An even larger plant is scheduled to start next year in Norway the operation. There could be produced in the future, approximately ten million liters of synthetic oil per year, says spokesman Nico Ulbicht.
Rates for the “Bio-kerosene”
The Problem is that Even synthetic oil per Liter is about one to two euros more expensive than fossil oil. In the long term, but at least the forecast of Sunfire, should the price fall to below one Euro per Liter. The slopes but also the extent to which renewable energies are available, Ulbicht.
Power-to-Liquid plant on the Sunfire GmbH in Dresden
In spite of higher price of Bio-kerosene for Airlines to be interesting, says the company spokesman. “Airlines, the ‘green’ to fly, to benefit from a marketing effect.” With the Dutch low-cost airline Transavia, you have already won a first customer. In addition, it uses a Sunfire on possible new requirements of the policy. A conceivable scenario is that in the future, every aircraft has a minimum share of synthetically produced fuel in the Tank must have means Ulbicht.
False Hope Bio-Fuel?
While both the UBA and the FEDERAL see in synthetic kerosene a solution for the future of air transport, the international network for climate justice”Stay Grounded” (in English: On the ground remain) skeptical. Anne Kretschmar from “On the ground” in Germany, argues that there is still a lot of time will pass, until by the PtL method, sufficient fuel can be produced. “We don’t have but,” says the climate activist.
As these protesters in London, the climate movement “Stay Grounded calls for” airports continue to expand
“Stay Grounded” also calls for a structural mobility change now. “Bonus program for miles earned must be abolished. Even now, a few cause the majority of aircraft movements,” says Kretschmar. But to work only with price instruments such as a VAT and CO2 tax for flights is unjust. The climate organization proposes, instead, prices for airline tickets. “People who fly only once a year, then pay a lower price for your Ticket than the people who fly the same route for the tenth Time.”
In addition, the European railway network should be expanded and more night trains will be provided. In other areas, a change in awareness was necessary. As such, employers should recognise more travel time as hours of work, finally, the profession would take to travel longer, if a sustainable means of transport will be chosen.
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In Sweden, where the movement was founded, has established itself in the meantime, the word “flygskam” (English: the flight of shame) in the use of language.
According to information provided by the national train operator SJ, the number of business trips by train last Winter to 21 percent, while the number of domestic flights declined sharply. In the abroad flights, the Swedish “flygskam not” at least in the past year, however, by: Here are the passenger numbers have increased slightly.