Is there such a thing as sustainable travel?

Every year, increasing numbers of us are jetting off on city breaks that take us to opposite sides of the UK, weekend trips to Europe and far-flung and exotic backpacking destinations around the world. Technological and vehicular progress has meant that moving between cities or countries has become easier than ever, and as more low-cost airlines come into being, more people are becoming able to travel — but the planet is paying the price for humanity’s love of exploration.

Project Drawdown (drawdown.org) estimates that there are more than 20,000 aeroplanes in use worldwide, serving 3.7 billion passengers annually. By 2040, they report that there will be over 50,000 planes in service, which are expected to be bigger, carry more people, and fly more often. As a result, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts that the number of passengers will rise to 7.2 billion by 2035. Like the numbers of planes and passengers, the damage to the planet will also rise.

What are the damages?

When jet fuel is burned, carbon in the fuel is released and bonds with oxygen in the air, creating carbon dioxide. Burning jet fuel also releases water vapour, sulphate, nitrous oxides, soot, and contrails (the plumes of exhaust seen in the sky behind planes, formed when water vapour from fuel condenses at high altitudes).

Most aircraft emissions are produced at cruising altitudes high in the atmosphere. Studies show that these emissions have a more harmful climate impact than those on the ground, setting off a series of chemical reactions and atmospheric effects that have a net warming effect.

Reports warn that the aviation industry’s contribution to climate change is set to rapidly rise — especially in the UK. It is predicted that if the country’s aviation industry is left to grow, unchecked, by 2030 it will account for 31 per cent of all the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions (estimations are currently at 13-15 per cent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions). The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research (tyndall.ac.uk) say that the UK must curb its aviation growth, otherwise all other sectors of the economy will be forced to become carbon neutral, to reach the government’s 2050 target of a 60 per cent reduction of all CO2 emissions. By the same year, globally, the aviation sector could consume as much as 27 per cent of the world’s carbon budget, and air travel could account for 25 per cent of global warming (triplepundit.com).