The hidden cost of travel - CO2

A reader asked how it was possible for an MPV travelling 15,000 kilometers to generate 4,000 kgs of CO2?  If you think of it, its quite amazing that the CO2 generated is almost 3 times the weight of the vehicle!

The truth is that when your car burns fuel, the resultant CO2 generated weighs more than the fuel itself.  Here's a quick conversion:  burning 1 KG of fuel will generate roughly 3.25 kgs of CO2.

Did you know that on average, a Boeing 747 can burn about 200 tons of jet fuel per trip?
And, this is how much fuel burnt (and the resultant CO2 generated) to carry 1 person from Kuala Lumpur to:

• Bangkok: 100kg fuel       --> 325kg CO2
  
• Tokyo: 400kg fuel           --> 1300kg CO2
  
• Sydney: 480kg fuel         --> 1560kg CO2
  
• London: 750kg fuel        --> 2440kg CO2
  
• New York: 1090kg fuel  --> 3540kg CO2

You can try out how much fuel is burnt from flying here.

Here's another number:  The aviation industry alone, contributes to 2% of the world's carbon emission!  Talk about a guilt trip!!

So what am I talking here, do we not fly?  Do we just take ourselves back to the pre-Wright era in this modern day Flat world?  Well, here are some alternatives....

• Use trains (for long- and shorthaul) -- they generate about a quarter of CO2 compared to planes
• Use cars (for short trips) -- still generate half of the CO2 of planes
• Don't travel -- video conference or Skype! (no, seriously, many business are turning to this!)
  

But if you must fly (and many of us do), there is a way you can help...

Many environmentally conscious Airlines around the world have started to implement a carbon offset program.  Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Continental, Virgin are some names who have offered either carbon neutral flights or an option for passengers to participate in their carbon offset programs.

Closer to home, Malaysia Airlines (together with sister companies MASwings and Firefly) have also recently opened its carbon offset program to all its online customers.  This is a voluntary program where passengers have the option of contributing a sum of money to help fund selected UN programmes to reduce greenhouse gasses.  

If you like, you can even make one-off contributions without even needing to travel.

So next time when you book a ticket through MAS, have a think and consider contributing to their program for the sake of the environment. You can check out MAS' initiative here.  Happy tree hugging!! :)

Hi, i'm back!

I do apologise for my long silence... have been up to my eyeballs with all manner of stuff.

Am working on a review of IBM's Lotus Symphony suite. Some interesting things there which i hope to share soon, in my next post.

In the mean time, many thanks to the voices of support for our environment -- both online and offline.

I think we live in an age where we no longer have the luxury to ignore the damage mankind has been inflicting on our planet. And until we find another habitable blue-planet to mess up, this is still our only one.

At the risk of sounding trite and corny... please.... Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!

A word on our Environment

Most people love to accessorise -- I know I do! Whether it be nice fashion items, some bling, or cool gadgetry -- its as much fun looking for stuff as it is owning it.

It could be a $10 costume jewelry from the flea market, or a $2799 Samsung Omnia, or a $35,000 hand-stitched Hermes handbag or even a $550,000 Hummer -- if you like it and can afford it, there's nothing wrong in getting it. Right?

Well, financially, perhaps. But these days, we have to look beyond just the price tag and understand what is the true cost of a given item -- stated in terms of the (usually negative) impact of our choices and lifestyles have on the environment.

Take my 7-seater MPV for instance. I just learnt that if I traveled a modest 15,000 kilometers a year, it would have generated -- get this -- nearly FOUR TONNES of carbon dioxide. Our other family car equivalent, although spotting a fuel-efficient engine, would still put out another 2.4 tonnes of CO2!

So just from commuting and weekend driving alone, the two cars would have added 6.4 tonnes of greenhouse gasses to our atmosphere, contributing yet a bit more to global warming.

It is because of this that some bodies are advocating attributing an environment cost to a product. That means besides the usual specifications of a product, manufacturers are encouraged to also state the environment cost of:

1. Producing the item -- how much pollutants were generated in the production of one item


2. Maintaining or operating it -- how much more will be generating with its continued use (think: fuel / power consumption / CO2 or pollutant emissions etc)


3. Disposing it off eventually -- impact to landfills; threat of dangerous chemicals leaching into groundwater etc
   

Now that we've started talking about the amount of CO2 generated by a car, should we also look at other aspects of our lives that also contribute to global warming?

• How about your food choices?
• How about your garbage dispossal?
• How about the things you own and use -- do you repair or replace?
• What are your at-home habits -- are you using more resources than you need to?
• Selling off old newspapers is fine, but what about the other garbage -- do you separate them for recycling?
  

I started poking around the Internet, to see what was the impact to my lifestyle on Mother Nature... and honestly, some of the numbers surprised me. And you're talking to someone who *think's* he's already quite environmentally cautious:

• We only switch on the a/c when it is very warm (over 31c), and even that for an hour just to cool things down
• We actively use recyclable bags to avoid unnecessary use (and subsequent disposal) of plastic bags
• We try to carpool and avoid single-occupancy driving as much as possible.....

So it was quite a disturbing but good learning experience when I took some quizzes and realized that there are so many other of my choices and actions that also impact the environment, that I'd never thought about so far!


Did you catch that number?
99 tonnes of CO2 a year! That's what the survey tells me what my family's lifestyle is likely producing. And that means we are living as if we have got 2 planet Earths to support us. We are living as if we have 3.7 hectares of land absorbing enough CO2 to offset what my family is producing!


I'd say this is a wake up call! Are we aware what is the impact our actions are having on the earth... and what is it our children will be inheriting from us.... our mistakes or our conservation efforts?


Read up more
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/



Test yourself

http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/

http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx