Friday 27 April 2007

Branson plans trials of 'green' fuelled passenger plane


It seems like once again Richard Branson seems to be the only one concerned with the notion of aviation pollution. Over the recent years he has put forward the argument that it is not the just the typical forms of transport as cars, buses and boats that emit these harmful carbon emissions but also air planes too.

Aviation is responsible for 2.6% of carbon emissions in the EU, but the effect of these greenhouse gases on the climate is likely to be much greater, because they are produced high in the atmosphere.

Sir Richard, who has already announced that his Virgin Trains will be switching from diesel power to biodiesel by 2009, said Virgin Atlantic had teamed up with Boeing, the engine maker GE Aviation and his new venture, Virgin Fuels, to work on ways to reduce greenhouse emissions from flights.

A total of 15 new planes going by the name of the Dream Line 787 will be constructed over the battle for the future of air travel as it it is set to double over the next 20 years.

Although Sir Richard has argued that biofuels are a greener alternative to traditional jet fuels because they reduce the overall greenhouse emissions that cause climate change, many environmentalists claim production is energy intensive and that growing the necessary crops could lead to deforestation in some areas.

Even though this may occur, it is still a step to at least cutting the amount of CO2 emissions and controlling the effects of global warming.

Thursday 26 April 2007

Brown and Cameron battle over green air travel

In a bid to get the green vote the two opposition leaders engaged in a battle to over the topic of aviation pollution.
Labour challenged the Tories over their plans to take unilateral UK action on carbon emissions from aviation by introducing a system of personal air mile allowances for travellers.

The Tories said Mr Brown was simply recycling policies he had first announced in a speech in March 1995.”
They also cited a cabinet policy review paper published in January setting out the critical importance of cutting aviation emissions. The paper warned: "On current trends aviation would be equivalent to 26% to 44% of the UK's emission target by 2050. Growth in air travel is greatest amongst the better off - who fly more often," the paper states.

So if this is true, then why isn’t more being done about the situation? Should passengers pay a heavier duty for polluting our skies and contributing greatly to global warming?