#THE PLANE EFFECT PLATFORMS FULL#

One return flight from Montreal to London emits as much carbon emissions as heating a European home for an entire year.Some airlines that fly short distances, like B.C.’s Harbour Air, are switching to electric fleets. ( has a ranking of emissions by airline.) Many airlines offer offsets to consumers. Choose airlines that have an efficient fleet and fly their planes with few empty seats. Some airlines are taking voluntary steps to reduce carbon pollution.

That’s a problem since 80 per cent of flying is for flights longer than that. Because of battery weight, electrification fits for flights under 1,500 kilometres. Requirements around biofuels and electrification could help. Do new technologies make flying sustainable?

#THE PLANE EFFECT PLATFORMS FULL#

If left unchecked, they could consume a full quarter of the available carbon budget for limiting temperature rise to 1.5 C. It’s expected they will continue to grow rapidly until 2050. Carbon emissions from the airline industry grew by 75 per cent from 1990 to 2012. While many sectors are beginning to reduce their emissions, aviation’s have continued to grow. A quarter of all emissions could be from flying by 2050

Because aircraft emissions are released high in the atmosphere, they have a potent climate impact, triggering chemical reactions and atmospheric effects that heat the planet. Emissions from flights stay in the atmosphere and will warm it for several centuries. Consumers don’t see the true environmental costs of their air travel because low flight prices don’t reflect their environmental impact. Subsidies from fuel taxes give the airline industry an unfair advantage over other transportation modes. Flights are energy-intensive and depend on fossil fuels.

The plane effect platforms