Green credentials re flying

michaels

silverwhistle said:

I haven't flown a fixed wing scheduled flight since a 2015 internal flight which was a third of the rail cost. I can cope with some extra cost but not to that extent.

No holiday at all since 2020 due to covid and family reasons but they've all involved driving to Italy which has allowed flexibility and load carrying particularly on the return (I hestitate to say what!). Next trip it will be in an electric car which may take marginally longer but will be a lot more comfortable let alone cleaner. Having someone to share the driving makes a big difference, especially when we trust each other enough to go to sleep as the passenger. I've done it on my own and nearly gone to sleep as the driver!

Ferries, particularly if you avoid Dover, are a lot better than flying and the holiday starts on the boat. Although I've no issue with the actual flying the airport experience can be a bit draining and long winded. Some of the ferry companies are cleaning up their act with LPG fuelled vessels and electric powered ones are on the way, starting with shorter routes.

I've been flown to the Isle of Wight about 4 times in the last few years but helicopters don't count, do they? /blush/ At least I drove to the airport in an electric car powered partly by my own panels..

Will be really interested to hear how your EV journey goes so please post if you remember, thanks.

Being doing some more detailed timings/costings:
Flying 5h 30 mins, leave home at 6.30am, reach destination at 12pm total cost about £580
EV 16 hours (min) leave home 4AM reach 8pm total cost about £750 (excludes wear an tear on the car, lost value from higher mileage etc)

So the cost is not as prohibitive as the time and antisocial hours penalty

qq44

michaels said:

So I am wondering if we planted a tree in our garden that would be a reasonable offset.  The flights seem to be somewhere between 100 and 170g of co2 per km (higher number is if you treat high altitude co2 as being more potent than ground level). So 4 pax x 1000km return = 800-1400kg

Does anyone know how much co2 a tree will absorb per year and over its lifetime?

The other option is just purchasing carbon offsets but does anyone know if these are genuine or just a scam?

A quick Google:

"A typical tree can absorb around 21 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, however this figure is only achieved when the tree is fully grown - saplings will absorb significantly less than this. Over a lifetime of 100 years, one tree could absorb around a tonne of CO2."

michaels

qq44 said:

michaels said:

So I am wondering if we planted a tree in our garden that would be a reasonable offset.  The flights seem to be somewhere between 100 and 170g of co2 per km (higher number is if you treat high altitude co2 as being more potent than ground level). So 4 pax x 1000km return = 800-1400kg

Does anyone know how much co2 a tree will absorb per year and over its lifetime?

The other option is just purchasing carbon offsets but does anyone know if these are genuine or just a scam?

A quick Google:

"A typical tree can absorb around 21 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, however this figure is only achieved when the tree is fully grown - saplings will absorb significantly less than this. Over a lifetime of 100 years, one tree could absorb around a tonne of CO2."

Thanks - so a tree is worth about 5000-9000km of flights.